Handy-Man

by Louis B. Hobson of Calgary Sun

Devon's digits got him the part in Idle Hands

HOLLYWOOD — It's the craziest audition Devon Sawa has ever had.

When the 20-year-old Vancouver actor arrived to audition for the lead role in the new horror comedy Idle Hands, the producers were only interested in his right hand.

They already knew Sawa could act.

They'd caught his performances in such films as Wild America, Robin of Locksley, Night of the Twister and The Boy's Club. What they wanted to know what just how good an actor his hand was.

Idle Hands — which opens April 30 — is the story of Anton, a teenager stones whose hand is possessed by an ancient evil.

The demon goes on a murderous rampage, quickly dispatching the teens' parents and best friends, as well as the two detectives working on the case.

"I heard that most of the guys who auditioned were doing really serious auditions. I just went in and let my hand toss me around the room. I was literally bouncing off the walls," recalls Sawa.

"The first time I read the script, I envisioned Jim Carrey playing the part. That loose, flexible body thing he always has going for him was definitely my biggest inspiration for Anton."

Sawa's intuition paid off. He got the role and then the real work began. Columbia Pictures hired Harold Guskin as an acting coach — for the hand.

"Harold and I decided Anton should be Elmer Fudd and the hand should be Bugs Bunny. Those were the two conflicting energies we went after," says Sawa, who got his start playing a ghost in the 1995 family film Casper.

Sawa only appeared in the final minutes of the film as the human incarnation, but it was enough screen time to turn him into an overnight teen idol.

Within two years, Sawa became the most popular face in teen magazines and was receiving bags of fan mail each week.

Internet web sites devoted to him keep popping up.

"I was very lucky to get Casper. Those few minutes gave me more exposure than a couple of movies could have.

"It also led to a whole string of great roles, but now I'd like to move as far away from my Casper image as possible."

To this effect, Sawa has begun accepting more adult roles. He is filming the psychological thriller The Guilty in Vancouver, playing Bill Pullman's 23-year-old son.

He has had such a great time working in his home town that Sawa is contemplating moving back.

"I've been doing some spec apartment hunting in Vancouver. When I moved down to Los Angeles two years ago, it was a necessary step in my career.

"The move worked and I'm established now, so it wouldn't matter as much if I wasn't actually living in Hollywood."

Sawa admits he's enjoyed the party life of a teenager actor in Hollywood, but he stresses "I've always known my limits.

"There's a great deal of temptation in Hollywood and a lot of crazy things going on that you could easily get involved in.

"I didn't because I have really great parents who cement my feet to the ground."

He adds slyly that he "doesn't have to do drugs in real life because it seems every character I've played lately is getting high."

As soon as he finishes filming The Guilty, Sawa will return to L.A. to begin work on Flight 180, in which he plays a teenager who has premonitions on an air disaster.

He also plays an alcoholic basketball player in the independent film S.L.C. Punk, which will get a limited release this month, and he can be seen on video in A Cool Dry Place opposite Vince Vaughn.

Back 12.31.2007.