Daily Front Row

2008 April 28

Southern Comfort

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Sissy Spacek in Maggie Norris Couture with Allison Sarofim in Alexader McQueen
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(NEW YORK) As an actress, Allison Sarofim has played an uptight Upper East Side mom and a pint-sized nymph, but for her latest role in the indie flick Lake City, the Big Apple socialite donned little more than white acrylic nail tips and a purple silk robe as she’s thrown around like a rag doll by Dave Matthews.

“They wanted to give me padding, but I was having none of that,” she said during the film’s Friday night premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. “We were on a strict budget,” she added, “so most of the wardrobes came from Target.”

Written and directed by Perry Moore and Hunter Hill and produced by 66 Productions (the duo’s company formed with Sarofim), and based loosely on the life of one of Hill’s friends from Memphis, the film’s homecoming theme resonated with guests. “There were chicks crying all around me,” said Bill Powers, while wife Cynthia Rowley sighed, “I feel like I should go home and get in bed with the kids.”

But Sarofim's invitation to a midnight dinner at her West Village townhouse resonated even louder. Packed shoulder to shoulder were Marisa Tomei, Miles Redd, Tony Shafrazi, Kate Spade (still teary-eyed from the film), Brett Ratner, Adam Lippes, Tatum O’Neal, and co-stars Troy Garrity, Sissy Spacek, and Colin Ford. And while co-star Rebecca Romijn sent her regrets from the set of Ugly Betty, her in-laws Linda and Michael O’Connell subbed in.

“Allison has better castings than Calvin Klein,” laughed Carlos Mota, who admired the hunky waiters in fitted tees, jeans, and lumberjack shirts. Marjorie Gubelmann arrived fashionably late from Jeff Klein’s birthday dinner at Lupa, while Andrew Saffir enjoyed a rare night off from his Cinema Society galas. “I feel like Marcus Schenkenberg,” he cracked, enjoying that rare opportunity to be a guest instead of a host.

For Moore and Hill, the latter of which was joined by his Paper magazine family members Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovitz, life was looking pretty surreal. “We wrote this movie with a picture of Sissy Spacek taped to the wall for five years,” Moore admitted. “She trusted us as first-time writers/directors. We’re all New Yorkers, but by way of the south.”

Adding to the southern hospitality that night was the cameo made by Garrity’s mom Jane Fonda, who stayed just long enough to dote on her son. “The only advice I gave Troy was to always be honest,” she said. “Now hopefully the film will sell this weekend!”
JIM SHI