Los Angeles Clippers star Elton Brand jumps into film business

The Los Angeles Lakers have always been the more Hollywood basketball team in town, the one that draws the celebrities to those pricey courtside seats to see and be seen.

But Los Angeles Clippers star Elton Brand is turning into a Hollywood player himself as co-producer of the new movie "Rescue Dawn."

Inspired by a true story, the film stars Christian Bale as Navy pilot Dieter Dengler, who was shot down over Laos at the start of the Vietnam War and escaped a POW camp. Werner Herzog directed the $10 million movie based on his own documentary, "Little Dieter Needs to Fly."

"Rescue Dawn" comes from Gibraltar Films, which the 28-year-old Elton Brand co-founded; he spent a month on location in Thailand during the hot, physically demanding shoot.

The 6-foot-8 power forward sat down to talk about movies, basketball and movies about basketball.

Q. Why use your off-season time making movies?

A. I write — I write a lot of stuff — and I actually wrote a screenplay.

Wow, what’s it about?

Well, I wrote a few — I don’t want to give it away. There are some talented people that could take it up real fast.

What is it about movies that appeals to you?

Just that you can take your mind to a different place. It’s like an escape — even if it’s a scary movie and you’re fearful, or a romantic movie and you’re sad, or a comedy and you’re laughing. I enjoy that aspect of watching movies and moviemaking.

So growing up, you must have loved movies.

Growing up, we didn’t have cable or nothing. There was cable in Peekskill (N.Y.), but I didn’t have it. But when I got the opportunity to go to the movies, it was a special treat. I would go to see "Rocky" and — I don’t know if I want to mention this — but like, "(Teenage Mutant) Ninja Turtles." And I was just very excited and happy to just go to the movies.

A lot of athletes make an album, make a movie … and it can seem like dabbling. How do you convince the world that this is something you take seriously?

I think I took the right step in convincing the world that this is something I take seriously by doing a serious movie. It’s an intense film. You know, it’s action, and it’s exciting, but it’s very intense and very current. It’s about a POW in Laos getting shot down, and he’s at a POW camp, and how they survive, and the bravery and kinship that was formed, the bond that was formed. And it portrays Dieter Dengler — that’s who Christian Bale plays — as he was.

What else would you want to do, movie-wise?

I like character-driven movies, and I want to tell a good story. You know, we’re independent, so we don’t have a big budget for special effects and things like that anyway, and that’s why I really liked "Rescue Dawn." We wanted to make it real — feel real, seem real. When Christian Bale eats maggots, those were real maggots.

Oh, seriously? Those weren’t stunt maggots?

Stunt chewy candy maggots, no, those were real maggots he was eating.

Best basketball movie?

I liked "Hoosiers." And I liked the one with Shaq and Penny (Hardaway) (“Blue Chips”).

Worst performance by a basketball player in a movie?

I would say Walter McCarty; he was in that movie with Ray Allen.

"He Got Game."

"He Got Game." He was on the bench. But that’s my friend, so I can throw him under the bus.

I was gonna go with Gheorghe Muresan in "My Giant."

Oh, yeah! That was terrible. I’m gonna switch mine — that’s what I’m going with.

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