Thursday September 28 9:16 PM ET

'Survivor' Castaway Colleen Lands Movie Role

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By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS television castaway Colleen Haskell, widely regarded as the ``cutest'' of the 16 original ''Survivor'' contestants, has become the first to land a role in a feature film.

Haskell, 24, a student at Miami Advertising School in Miami Beach, Fla., will play the love interest of comic actor Rob Schneider in the upcoming Columbia Pictures film ``Animal,'' the studio announced Thursday.

The film is due for a June 2001 release.

Schneider, an alumnus of ``Saturday Night Live'' who starred in the TV sitcom ``Men Behaving Badly,'' was recently in theaters in the hit comedy ``Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.''

In ``Animal,'' he plays a man who undergoes multiple transplants of animal organs after a bad car accident and awakens to find himself taking on the traits of those beasts.

Haskell, who previously rejected an offer to pose nude for Playboy magazine, was among the last five ``Survivor'' castawaysvoted off the Malaysian island of Pulau Tiga on the hit summer series. She was perhaps best known for hinting at an island romance with fellow contestant Greg Buis about midway through the show's run. The two later denied there was any hanky panky.

She is the latest of the ``Survivor'' gang to capitalize on their newfound celebrity.

Sole survivor and $1 million jackpot winner Richard Hatch hosted a radio talk show in his native Rhode Island and signed a book deal.

Dr. Sean Kenniff, the neurologist with the nipple ring, recently began his new career as a medical correspondent for the syndicated magazine show ``Extra'' and also landed a guest appearance playing a doctor on the daytime drama ``Guiding Light.''

Gervase Peterson, the youth basketball coach, snagged an appearance on the prime-time sitcom ``The Hughleys,'' while other castaways have done various print and TV ads.

All 16 members of the ``Survivor'' cast have made various appearances on late-night and morning talk shows in recent weeks.

``Survivor,'' which delivered monster ratings for CBS during its original 13-week run, has garnered tepid viewership for the network in counter-programming reruns against NBC's Olympics coverage from Sydney, Australia.

A follow-up series, ``Survivor: The Australian Outback,'' debuts Jan. 20, immediately following the Super Bowl telecast.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), September 28, 2000

Answers

Hmm:

It doesn't seem to require much talent if someone notices you and likes you. Monica Lewinsky recently got a gig doing 10 6-minute slots on Great Britain's Channel 5. [or was it 6 10-minute slots?]

Monica's New Gig

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 28, 2000.

Yeah, talent? Who the hell needs talent? Just look at Pamela Anderson- Lee! Holy cow what a hack! But she has good looks and big udders, so she is a hit. And don't forget Sly Stallone! Somebody slap that bastard hard enough to dislodge tha marbles in his mouth, wudja please?!? For all we know Colleen may end up looking like Bergman next to those two, it could happen.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), September 29, 2000.

Deedah:

Stallone was actually good in a supporting role of a little seen movie titled "Copland". Good flick about all too rampant corruption in the police departments of New Jersey. Good cast including Harvey Keitel.

-- FutureSHock (gray@matter.think), September 29, 2000.

Uncle Deedah,

While I am not saying that Sylvester Stallone has the acting talents of someone such as Tom Hanks, I do believe that I have read somewhere that he has some sort of facial paralysis on one side of his face that has made it difficult for him to speak clearly.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), September 29, 2000.

Fair enough.

I hereby retract my remark about Sly's speaking ability. Let it never be said that Deedah picks on the handicapped, well, cept for al-d, but other than that, I'm clean.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), September 29, 2000.