Operation Clambake

Eonline (www.eonline.com)
Dec. 23, 1999

Pepper Spray I wish you could see this photo--believe me, I'm working on it.
It's a picture of Barry Pepper (The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan) in full regalia from John Travolta's pet sci-fi project, Battlefield Earth, which is already test screening around Hollywood. Pepper is so geeked about the movie he showed me a personal photo during the Green Mile junket.
"It's really cool," says Pepper, who stars as the film's hero, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. "It's awesome."
Pepper, who isn't a Scientologist, admits he was hesitant to join Travolta's galaxy quest to bring Battlefield Earth to life. "I wasn't sure. But once I got started, I had the best time. It has nothing to do with Scientology, which was one of my concerns, and that's the biggest question I'm going to have to answer." Oh, really?
Considering Travolta's the most famous Scientologist ever (next to Tom Cruise), and not withstanding recent Washington Post revelations that Battlefield Earth sets up some major tenets of the church, that seems like a stretch.
As you probably know, the film is based on a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Pepper says the story, a Planet of the Apes-meets-Star Wars sort of thing, is about 12-foot aliens mining Earth. The creatures, led by Terl (a gruesome-looking Travolta), have imprisoned missing-link humans.
Color Pepper impressed. "It's gonna blow your mind."
The star spent three months filming in Montreal, walking around the outdoor sets draped in leather, teetering on seriously platformed boots, sporting knotty, wild dreadlocks and heavy makeup that enlarged his head, making him virtually unrecognizable. The photo he's carrying around could be him. Or it could be some extra, for all I can tell.
"Could they have sabotaged me any worse?" Pepper laughs.
Don't you get photo approval?
"Now I do," he snaps, with a smile.

1