Boxing and Ballet Clash in 'Billy Elliot'
SYDNEY: OK, what happens when a little boy from an English coal- mining town, surrounded by a macho dad and brother, decides to put down his boxing gloves and strap on ballet shoes? The answers lie in "Billy Elliot," a highly-anticipated new British film starring an Academy Award nominee and a talented young newcomer. Mark Scheerer taps out the details.</s>MARK SCHEERER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He knows he'll never be "Rocky," so he takes a swing at "Swan Lake." (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BILLY ELLIOT") UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Why don't you join in?</s>SCHEERER: In "Billy Elliot," the 11-year-old title character, played by Jamie Bell, has a hard enough time living in a northeastern English coal-mining town torn by labor strife. The last thing he needs is for his dad to find out he's taking ballet lessons. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BILLY ELLIOT") UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You, out, now!</s>SCHEERER: Bell, the now-14-year-old whom director Stephen Daldry and the film's producers found after a lengthy search, turns out to have had a similar background since taking up dance at age 6.</s>JAMIE BELL, ACTOR: Eventually, the boys at school found out, and they kind of said the usual hassle, like, "poof," "ballerina boy," "tutu girl." And they used to do, you know, that stupid thing where they kind of do that. And they kind of do that -- and then they kind of do that. They did that and all the rest of that kind of thing. But them saying that just gave me more determination to do it, because I wanted to prove to them that it wasn't just for girls, it was for boys, as well. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BILLY ELIOT") JULIE WALTERS, ACTRESS: This will sound kind of strange, Billy, but for some time now, I've been thinking about the Royal Ballet School.</s>BELL: Aren't you a bit old, Miss?</s>WALTERS: Not me. You. I'm the bloody teacher!</s>SCHEERER: Julie Walters, who earned an Oscar nomination opposite Michael Caine in "Educating Rita," plays Billy's dance teacher. She says she studied a British documentary about small-town dance teachers, and also observed the one who actually teaches the young actor, Jamie Bell.</s>WALTER: She's ancient, for a start. And she'd say: "All right, class, we're getting ready to start now. In position." So she'd get them all in position. And then she would switch on a tape recorder and there would be a French woman saying, "le premiere positione," (ph). And that was it. She'd never do anything else. And occasionally, she'd do a stretch, you know, a bit of a wheezy old stretch down with them and things like that. But she never -- she couldn't dance at all.</s>SCHEERER: "Billy Elliot" vents his frustration and anger through the soles of his feet. Does he silence all his foes by making it to the Royal Ballet School? We're not telling. But Jamie Bell didn't exactly silence his.</s>BELL: I think they just got fed up with picking on me. And I think they just got a bit bored, so they moved on to somebody else. I don't think they've changed or anything.</s>SCHEERER: Mark Scheerer, CNN Entertainment News, New York.</s>SYDNEY: Tomorrow on SHOWBIZ, Joan Allen contends with controversy as the vice-presidential candidate in her new film. And Tim Meadows is super suave, as he brings his "Ladies' Man" character from the small screen to the big one.