Lucky in Love
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 14, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Photos courtesy of Campus Events Jerry
O’Connell stars in the upcoming film "Tomcats."
By Aphrodite Manousos
Daily Bruin Contributor
Jerry O’Connell is the cat’s meow.
The actor stars in the upcoming film “Tomcats,”
which he will be promoting on campus today in conjunction with
Mediatrip.com, a Web site that hypes various independent and
small-scale films.
The cast of “Tomcats” will appear at Westwood Plaza
from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Co-stars Jaime Pressly, Jake Busey and
Shannon Elizabeth will join O’Connell to sign autographs and
pose for photographs. Afterwards, O’Connell and former chair
of 20th Century Fox Tom Sherak will host a mini film and animation
festival, showcasing the “Tomcats” theatrical
trailer.
In the film O’Connell plays Michael Delaney, a man looking
for love who can’t quite seem to get it right.
“He’s a bit of a sensitive guy, which is a stretch
for me because if you have seen me on any given Monday night at
Acapulco’s, I’m not that sensitive,”
O’Connell said jokingly about the character in a recent
interview.
 Shannon Elizabeth is one of the cast
members in the movie "Tomcats." The basic premise of the film is
that six friends make a $1,000 bet in college, after one of their
friends gets married, that whoever gets married last will get the
pot. Ten years later, the only remaining bachelors are Delaney and
Bremmer (Busey), a Wall Street playboy who has no intention of
getting married.
Threatened with financial ruin, Delaney needs the money fast but
the only way to get it is to convince Bremmer to marry his
ex-girlfriend (Elizabeth). The only glitch is that Delaney falls in
love with his friend’s soon-to-be wife.
O’Connell found the attractive women in
“Tomcats” to be an extra incentive to head off to work
everyday.
“”˜Tomcats’ was a lot of fun for me because
every day I went to work I’m having these sex scenes with
these really cute women,” he said.
Not to fret though, the film has plenty of tantalizing eye candy
for women to enjoy as well.
“I definitely show my ass on a number of occasions which
is bad because as a Hollywood star you have to start thinking about
things like, “˜Wow, should I be shaving my back
today,'” O’Connell said.
O’Connell’s back hair proved to be a persistent
problem on the set of “Tomcats.”
“There were a couple of make-up people that suggested I do
something about the hair on my backside,” he said. “All
I know is they had to stop production one day to de-fuzz my
ass.”
Free “de-fuzzing” was not the only perk that came
with this job. O’Connell’s favorites were the free food
and, of course, getting to make out with costar Shannon
Elizabeth.
“Sometimes if I have a make-out scene with Shannon
Elizabeth, I’ll maybe start to get into it and then
I’ll realize, “˜Oh my God, there are 50 guys standing
around me ““ this isn’t for real,'”
O’Connell said.
When asked about any undue excitement he might encounter in the
midst of such scenes, O’Connell said, “I wear very
tight underwear to control any excitement I may have.”
Identifying with his character was not a difficult task for
O’Connell.
“He’s sort of a young, single male looking for as
much action as he can get,” he said. “And yes, I do
identify with him. I know a lot of actors look for sort of dramatic
roles to play. Right now, being that I’m a 26-year-old male,
I’m just looking for as many numbers as I can get, if
possible.”
Like his character, O’Connell is a dedicated bachelor. He
revealed his technique for meeting women, saying, “I have my
own game plan and it has occurred on dollar margarita nights over
at Acapulco’s.”
“I’ve dated more girls from UCLA than the playboy
mansion,” O’Connell continued. “I would much
prefer to go to Westwood at night than the Playboy mansion. You get
to hang out with real girls that like to have a good time and are
fun as hell.”
Despite being swinging and single, O’Connell finds the
time for new movie roles. He will head to Australia to start
production on “Down and Under,” a movie about two guys
from New York who get lost in the Australian outback, and he
recently sold a script he wrote called “First
Daughter.”
O’Connell’s busy schedule hasn’t kept him from
visiting UCLA, however, and it hasn’t kept him from checking
out the works of aspiring filmmakers at Mediatrip.com.
As a graduate of New York University’s film school,
O’Connell understands the opportunities Mediatrip.com
provides are very valuable for young filmmakers.
“It’s a great little outlet for smaller films that
can never see regular distribution because they don’t have
that mass market,” he said.
O’Connell also believes that filmmakers can get away with
more cutting edge material on the Internet.
“People on the Internet tend to be a lot crazier and
hipper,” he said.
The “Tomcats” UCLA appearance is part of a national
promotional tour that will visit 35 cities around the country.
O’Connell will not follow the entire trip, as he will leave
for Australia to begin filming his next movie.
“My favorite part of the site is that it caters to young
males,” O’Connell said. “In a lot of ways,
it’s a kind of “˜Maxim’-like Internet site. Not to
generalize or stereotype, there are a lot of scantily clad women
(on Mediatrip), so it tends to get my attention more than
HomeandGarden.com does. You’re more likely to see me logging
Internet hours on Mediatrip than Martha Stewart’s Web
page.”
EVENT: The cast of “Tomcats” will
be at Westwood Plaza from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. The film screening
will take place in the Northwest Campus Auditorium at 7 p.m. The
cast will hold an after party at the Westwood Brewing Company from
9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
