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'Le Divorce': A Comedy Of Manners

For over 20 years, Matthew Modine has been entertaining movie audiences with numerous memorable performances on screen.

In the latest Merchant/Ivory film, "Le Divorce," Modine makes another memorable star turn. This time, he is an enraged American living in Paris.

On The Early Show, Modine discussed his latest role in the American-in-Paris movie.

Modine plays Tellman, who is madly in love with his wife but goes psychopathic when he discovers her affair with a French diplomat.

The actor says working in an all-star cast that includes Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron, Glenn Close, Bebe Neuwirth, Sam Waterston and others, was special. The actors and actresses, he says, just slowly signed on to work on the project, based on a book.

In the movie, Isabel Walker (Kate Hudson) visits her pregnant sister, Roxeanne (Naomi Watts), in Paris. Roxeanne finds her husband is cheating and Isabel finds herself in love with her sister's French diplomat. Adding complexity to the story, the sisters discover a painting worth millions of dollars.

"Le Divorce" was filmed in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower and other major landmarks as the backdrop, and Modine says it was a wonderful three-month experience. He says the city is arguably one of the most beautiful in the world, and he appreciates being able to experience it.

Modine is currently working on a new TNT television movie, where he plays baseball player Honus Wagner. In the movie, a boy finds a magical Wagner baseball card that transports him back to the 1909 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers.

His other future releases include "A Hairy Tale," which is about a man who teaches a chimp martial arts and the comedy "Hollywood North."

Some Facts About Matthew Modine

  • Matthew Modine was born on March 22, 1959, in Loma Linda, Calif.
  • He was raised in a tight-knit Mormon family, which was forced to move every couple of years because his father worked as a drive-in movie operator
  • Modine was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed CBS Mini-series "Hitler: The Origins of Evil," portraying the Munich journalist, Fritz Gerlich
  • Modine was a recipient of the 1993 Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup and a Hollywood Foreign Press Golden Globe Award for best Ensemble Cast in Robert Altman's Golden Lion Award winning "Short Cuts"
  • In 1993, Modine earned Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations for his performance in HBO's critically acclaimed, Emmy Award winning drama "And the Band Played On"
  • Modine has directed short films including "When I Was a Boy (written by himself), "Smoking" (written by David Sedaris) and "Ecce Pirate" (again, which he wrote); all debuted at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim
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