FOR TOMMY LEE JONES, 'VOLCANO' REFRESHING FUN.
Sure he won a supporting actor Oscar in a big movie, ''The Fugitive,'' but Tommy Lee Jones is on totally new - if kind of shaky - ground in ''Volcano.''
''The scale of this movie appealed to me. It's one of the biggest movies I've ever thought of working on,'' Jones said. ''Large crew, large budget. Just a large, large scale. I thought that would be an interesting and new set of problems.''
''Volcano'' had other advantages for Jones:
''The crew never left Los Angeles County, and I have a house here that I like a lot, so I could stay at home and not be confined to a hotel or some other discomfort.
''And I needed a job, and it was a pretty good business deal,'' he said.
Admittedly, though, it was a much different business deal for Jones. He's no supporting actor in ''Volcano''; he's the star. The first time he was the star.
''Volcano'' is a big-time special effects movie, too, and Jones said he was definitely up for a little playtime.
''I do have the kid kind of fun when I go to work. It's very important. I am a kid,'' Jones said.
''That's one of the privileges of being an actor - you call them a player. And why? Because you play.''
What's not fun for Jones is getting involved in Hollywood controversies, such as the one over this year's Academy Awards, when the movie industry took it on the chin for producing too many blockbuster special-effects movies along the lines of ''Volcano.''
''I try not to participate in controversies,'' said Jones. ''I'm certainly not going to criticize trends and the structure of the industry. It's my job to make whatever movie a studio wants to make.''
