A Star Back For The "Blue."

Kris Kristofferson is in an old haunt - a bar where he used to spend considerable time. Of course that was back in the days

when he used to keep company with other Hollywood wildmen like the late director Sam Peckinpah, for whom he starred as

outlaw Billy the Kid in the l973 western "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid." Dressed in black, with tousled hair, choked-up, raucous

laughter and a hint of eternal rebellion in his sharp eyes,
Kristofferson suits the "hanging-in-there" demeanor of The Formosa Cafe. This little old bar has hung on, has survived efforts to

 tear it down, and is now considered something of a landmark in the Hollywood landscape. Kristofferson himself is no longer

 just "hanging-in-there" but is swinging pretty high in the game once again.

"I'm sure it's because of the Sayles movie that I'm getting these work offers," says the 60 year-old performer. Kristofferson
played the role of Charlie Wade, the evil sheriff in John Sayles' critically praised "Lone Star." Though making it in the movie
world now, Kristofferson achieved fame first as a songwriter, penning such ballads as "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down." "Since
'Heaven's Gate' I've not had a whole lot of work," he says, refering to the flop l980 western by director Michael Cimino. The
film was widely deemed a benchmark in terms of self-indulgence and profligacy, and Kristofferson speculates that it nearly killed his

career.
Regardless of why his acting career petered out, it did. And regardless of petering out, Kristofferson is back, being talked
about as a potential nominee for the next Supporting Actor Oscar.
"I'm flattered to hear that," Kristofferson admits, "and I feel a debt to John Sayles just as I felt a debt to Barbra Streisand)
for 'A Star Is Born,' which lifted me to a whole different level," he says.
Though thankful, Kristofferson is still puzzled that Sayles should have thought of him, a longtime liberal, for the role of a
racist killer, a man who represents "everything I've taught my kids not to do, think or be." It was a challenging role, but just
putting on the rogue cop's uniform, Kristofferson says, went a long way to helping establish the necessary authority and attitude to
play the ultimate bad guy role. "I don't think I take on any of my characters' personae when I am working, but my wife claims I do,"
he laughs.
In "Blue Rodeo," which airs Oct 20, Kristofferson plays a "charming, handsome cowboy." He laughs again, wrinkling his lined
face and tugging at his greying moustache. "I look like an iguana when I'm not looking more and more like Charles Bronson," he
assesses. The surface charm of this cowboy hides a secret which is gradually revealed as he becomes involved with his neighbor
(Ann-Margret) and her hearing-impaired son (Corbin Allred).
Kristofferson describes his cowboy skills as passable. "I love riding and I can swing a rope and rope a calf, if it's not
moving!" Though once an avid athlete, he admits he's getting a bit old to throw himself into major action scenes.
He reflects for a while on old times, detailing his transition to feature films. Admitting that memory is not one of his most
reliable qualities, Kristofferson says he is sure that he tried out for the '71 road movie "Two-Lane Blacktop." Unfortunately, the
role went to singer James Taylor, instead.
Kristofferson's first film was "Cisco Pike" in '72, in which he starred as a blackmailing ex-rocker who gets mixed up in drug dealing with a
crooked cop, played by Gene Hackman. The film featured one of Kristofferson's songs, "Lovin' Her Was Easier." Kristofferson
also appears, as "the bad guy" opposite Steven Segal in the action hero's latest film "Fire Down Below," now shooting in
Kentucky.
Without formal training Kristofferson doesn't get too wordy about what it means to be an actor. Early on he remembers
established actor, Anthony Zerbe, advising "Just ignore the camera and have a good time.... Later I had the actual audacity to ask him
what he thought of my acting. He said 'You're the best you there is."'
Regrets don't haunt Kristofferson, despite the tone of his most successful songs. He's still writing and though he hasn't had a hit
of the "Me and Bobby McGee" rank for a long time he is pleased with the caliber of his last album "A Moment of Forever." He
believes he'll never run out of songs, but has no sense of urgency about getting them all out to the public.
"I may not always have done the right things down the years, but whatever it was I did it's got me right here, today, and I'm so
much happier than I was forty years ago, twenty years ago, at any time, so how can I complain," he stresses with a hoarse laugh.

-Bridget Byrne, Entertaiment News Wire, 1996