Stephen Dorff On 'Somewhere,' Sofia Coppola

Stephen Dorff is showing off his struggling actor side in Sofia Coppola’s latest directorial effort, Somewhere. Dorff was born in Atlanta, raised in Los Angeles. Not a fan of traditional education, he was expelled from five schools during his childhood. His acting career started off small with commercials for Kraft and Mattel and then moved to minor roles on television shows such as Diff’rent Strokes, Roseanne and Married with Children. Dorff worked his way up the Hollywood ladder after playing one of the lead roles in the horror film Blade alongside Wesley Snipes. He has had a lead role in a number of serious films since, including Cold Creek Manor opposite Dennis Quaid, Shadowboxer with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center with Nicolas Cage.

But now Dorff is taking on a whole new character in Somewhere. He plays an out of work actor living in a luxurious hotel who faces coming into adulthood when his daughter Cleo, played by Elle Fanning, shows up for an indefinite surprise visit. Dorff concedes he faked looking bored for a scene in which twin pole dancers perform for him. “So I kept thinking, 'What am I doing when I’m smoking a cigarette.' I thought, ‘Oh why not call the twins over for a show,’ says Dorff, “Musters up enough energy to give them a round of applause after, it almost felt like it was out of a Kubrick movie when we were doing those scenes.”