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HEY, WASN’T
HE CAPTURED?
By Jessie Seyfer
Mercury News
January 30, 2004
Saddam
Hussein's capture has put a damper on Jerry Haleva's career.
The
Republican lobbyist who has worked Sacramento on behalf of such
heavy hitters as Pfizer happens to look exactly like the deposed
Iraqi dictator. Ever since a colleague noticed the resemblance in
1989, he has been Hollywood's go-to guy for Saddam parts, appearing
in such films as "Hot Shots! Part Deux" and the cult hit
"The Big Lebowski."
Haleva's
still got his day job, but since the capture, no one seems to want
a movie version of the bedraggled, spider-holed Saddam.
"I
tried to do a little self-promotion around the holidays, pitching
myself for a Super Bowl commercial," Haleva said. "I haven't
generated interest in what I think could be the next 'Where's the
Beef?'"
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The only
show that's called recently was comedian Wanda Sykes' now-canceled sitcom,
which Haleva couldn't do because of a scheduling conflict last fall.
He chalks
up his waning Hollywood appeal to Iraq being a sensitive subject. With
thousands of American soldiers still fighting, it's understandable, he
said.
Last spring,
Haleva took his own stand out of respect for the troops, refusing more
than 50 interview requests about his acting while combat raged in Iraq.
"We
had so many young men and women serving over there," he said.
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But
now that Saddam is behind bars, Haleva hopes that in time, moviegoers
will want to make fun of the despot again. They have since 1989,
after all.
Back
then, a friend passed a photo of Saddam around the state Senate
floor. On it, he wrote: "Now we know what Haleva does on his
weekends."
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Soon, a look
a-like agency was contacting him. He has since appeared in six movies
between lobbying gigs. "Only in America can a Jewish boy get paid
to make fun of Saddam Hussein," said Haleva.
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recently, he had his first and only dramatic role as Saddam in the
2002 HBO film "Live From Baghdad," starring Michael Keaton
and Helena Bonham Carter.
Since
embarking on his acting career, Haleva has noticed similarities
between politics and Hollywood. It's a pertinent theme now that
an actor has taken the governor's seat.
"Whether
you're shooting a movie or at a committee hearing, it never starts
on time," he said. "You're dealing with a lot of very
large egos. ...In both fields, the principals want to be loved."
So
while Haleva's days of impersonating Saddam may have ended, moviegoers
may not have seen the last of him. Turns out Saddam isn't the only
dictator he resembles.
A year
and a half ago, a Russian-immigrant cab driver began to chuckle
when Haleva got in his taxi.
"He
said, 'You look like somebody very un-nice,'" Haleva remembered.
"I figured it was Saddam .Hussein, but I asked him, 'Who?'
He said, 'Joseph Stalin.'"
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