Two cops go undercover to an island of kink to bust an international diamond smuggler.
"Woo, woo, woo," giggles Mercurio like Lou Costello, informed about the book. How much of this saucy stuff makes the film? "There is a character in the film called Elliot," he says. "There's a character in the film called Lisa. And I think that's about it." In the Hollywood version, directed by Garry Marshall of Pretty Woman fame,
Mercurio plays Elliot, and Dana Delany, from the television series China Beach, the corseted seductress who won't take no for an answer. While it's being billed as more romantic comedy than steamy blockbuster, it's the love scenes which are attracting most of the attention.
As we take tea, Mercurio lets loose about Exit to Eden's "smut week": "On Monday I made love to Dana. On Tuesday I went down on Dana. On Wednesday I was washed by a couple of semi-naked girls in the bath. On Thursday I had my bottom slapped and I had to cry. On the Friday we had to reshoot the going down scene which was very difficult. And then I had to wash Dana in the bath." Not exactly Endless Love. At one point, his wife, children, and mother visited the Los Angeles set for a looksee, prompting one bewildered toddler to ask why daddy was kissing another woman.
A big budget Hollywood film. Nude scenes. An American accent to master. Although he concedes it was an unnerving experience, Mercurio adopts a Nike-style approach when posed with a challenge: "I just did it."
Elle, September 1994
