(Old, but new to us…) We guess we never did write up a story on, “My Dinner With Herve,” a biopic of the “Fantasy Island” little guy, Richardo Montalban sidekick Herve Villechaize that was announced in the trades last October (we swear we did, but search seems to refute that).
It’s being directed by our pal Sacha Gervasi, the director behind the excellent documentary, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” that comes out this weekend in limited release (and you should see if if you live in NY/LA).
Gervasi, a former journalist, who’s first foray into well-known screenwriting was penning Steven Speilberg’s “The Terminal” (not a bad start, huh?), was actually the last person to interview Villechaize just days before he committed suicide in 1993 and is writing and directing the project.
“Herve wasn’t just a pop culture icon; he was one of the most charming, cultured and dangerous people I’ve ever met. His is the story of a unique misfit trying to find his place in the world,” Gervasi told Variety in October.
The project would be his first drama and in a recent interview with ComingSoon the director revealed that he spent three days worth of interview time with Villechaize in the last week of August, 1993 (he died September 4; any journo knows that spending three days with a subject is a luxury and a massive amount of time). “Like ‘Anvil’ the idea’s been in gestation for 15 years,” Gervasi said. “I wrote it as a short [initially], and then knew it was going to be a feature film and I’ve just come back to it. I just finished the script.”
“It’s the untold story,” he said. “Everybody knows Tattoo and [‘Fantasy Island,’] but nobody knows anything about him. So that really answers that question. I think people are going to be surprised.” The picture is now in pre-production and will apparently start shooting some time in the Fall.
Picture of Gervasi from Vulture who have a great interview with him, re: “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” check it out. Go see the film. You’ll thank us for it later, trust us.