State of the Art

John Taylor

by Alicia Potter

It's hard to know what's a compliment and what's an insult when talking to former Duran Duran member John Taylor about his acting debut in the new Allison Anders/Kurt Voss film Sugar Town. Just how do you tell a has-been '80s rocker that he aces the part of, uh, a has-been '80s rocker?

The self-satire isn't lost on the Brit-pop icon, who still sports the skunk-streaked hair and broody pout that, almost 20 years ago, sent a generation clamoring for their MTV. "I tried not to take it personally," says Taylor, whose role as a former video heartthrob includes such stinging lines as "Yeah, we were big in our day."

"When I was alone with the script and it was all about me," he adds, "I probably did get in my head a bit about it. But once the film starts rolling and you're interacting with other characters, it's not about you anymore. You're serving a greater whole. It would have just seemed like sour grapes to have said, `I think this is a bit too close to home.' "

Certainly he's not the only cast member who might find this acerbic study of LA's rock underground uncomfortably familiar. Besides starring Rosanna Arquette (with Taylor in photo) as Taylor's aging actress wife, the film convenes such Reagan-era rockers as Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet, John Doe of X, Michael Des Barres of Power Station, and musician/record producer Larry Klein. Still, not everyone was ready for some ribbing: Taylor reveals that former Sex Pistol and fellow Neurotic Outsiders member Steve Jones turned down his custom-written part.

For Taylor, the film's greatest truth lies in its portrayal of the addictive lure of super-celebrity, a stratosphere he knows well thanks to Duran Duran's chart-topping second album, 1982's Rio. "It's the idea that we can become obsessed with something that we think is going to satisfy us. But when we're not looking, we get something else instead that turns out to be just as satisfying. We think we know what's best for us, but we don't always."

He continues, "I went through that. I remember getting to my late 30s and feeling sort of empty. My career wasn't going well, and I didn't really like where I was at that particular point. It was a pretty dark period for me."

Today, of course, the 39-year-old Taylor, who just got married and is living in LA, isn't a likely candidate for a VH-1 post-mortem. Although no longer a part of Duran Duran (who are touring these days), he's recently released a collection of solo electronica tracks, Musings, which he recorded prior to Duran Duran's The Wedding Album in 1992. He's also been touring with his band Terroristen.

As for pursuing the acting bug, Taylor admits that Sugar Town "has made quite a difference in my life." Since the film's unveiling at Sundance this year, he's collected small parts in Drowning on Dry Land with Barbara Hershey and Four Dogs Playing Poker with Forest Whitaker. And lest you think the ex-Duranie pokes fun only at his own graying rock-star status, he'll play a prehistoric version (is there any other?) of the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards -- "Keith Richrock" -- in The Flintstones 2: Viva Rock Vegas.

Still, he doesn't see a whole lot of difference between life on the set and life on the stage. "I guess actors and musicians are similar in the fact that they're always looking for a home. They think that home is a six-month tour or a two-month shoot. This film felt like home."

Sugar Town is now playing at the Coolidge Corner Theatre.