Brotherly Love
Watching comedian Chris Farley self-destruct inspired Kevin-Star of a new MTV
movie-to help others.
For his role in "2gether," the upcoming "Spinal Tap'-ish MTV movie about a
fictional boy band, Kevin Farley had a hard time finding his inner 'N Sync
member. "I'm the big-brother guy who looks too old and is losing his hair," says
Farley. "In ever boy band, there's the shy guy, the heartthrob, the bad one and the
older-brother type. The others really had the voices. I just tried not to ruin the
songs."
Despite issues with five-part harmony, the 34-year-old actor finds ensemble
work a good fit. The younger brother of the late Chris Farley, who died from an
accidental drug overdose in 1997, Kevin was a regular in sketch-comedy troupes
in his hometown of Madison, Wis. He performed with Chris when the latter came
home on breaks from Saturday Night Live, and like his famous sibling--whom he
resembles, albeit after a few Slim-Fasts--Kevin trained with Chicago's Second
City. There is even a third Farley performer, youngest brother John; he and
Kevin played squabbling corn-pone mechanics in last falls' The Straight Story.
In the music networks' first foray into made-for-TV movies, airing Feb. 21,
Farley plays Doug, a show-biz hanger-on who, to impress his estranged wife and
child, begs to join the teen supergroup that a band manager has to put together in
seven days, Doug gets a spot--the elder member with fake braces.
"I like characters who have an optimistic outlook on life but go about it the
wrong way," says Farley. "There's a sadness to Doug because he's had a rough
time, losing his family."
The loss of his own brother was a galvanizing event for Kevin, as well as for his
family. Chris Farley's death at 33 came just after Kevin has moved to Los
Angeles, having landed a role on UPN's blink-and-you-missed-it sitcom Head Over
Heels. In 1998, family formed the Chris Farley Foundation, which helps steer
young adults away from the vices that claimed the beloved comedian.
"We're trying to find funny ways to say that drugs aren't cool," says Farley, who
has managed to avoid the pitfalls that trapped his brother. "We want to use humor
because that's how Chris communicated with people." The foundation held its
second-annual fund-raiser last November in Madison. "You're never the same
person as you were when you lose someone who's close to you. It's been hard, but
as the wounds heal, we've come together to deal with it in creative ways. We're
focusing on the foundation's next plan of attack."
After 2gether, Farley's career plan may involve singing lessons. He and his
co-stars have shot a video for their first "single," "You+Me=Us (Calculus)," and
may appear in character sometime in the future.
But that doesn't mean Farley is ready for his Tiger Beat close-up. At a photo
shoo, he says, after the other actors did their sessions, "I get up there and have
no idea how to pose, and the photographer lady is laughing as I'm trying to be
sexy. So I give the ol' thumbs-up. That's about as sexy as I get." --Joe Neumaier
