INTERVIEW by Richard Roeper
INTERVIEW WITH BILLY CRYSTAL
Billy Crystal hasn't directed a movie since 2001's "61*," the story of the 1961 home run race between the New York Yankees' Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle -- but he's behind the camera again and is the co-writer and star of the bittersweet comedy/drama "Here Today," based on a short story by his longtime friend, the veteran comedy writer Alan Zweibel.
"I saw Alan on 'Letterman' telling this story," said Crystal in a recent video chat. "There was this horrific charity lunch he had with somebody who bid on him and he was the prize, and he finds out she only paid $22 for him. Then she proceeds to have an allergic reaction to seafood salad, he then has to call an ambulance for her, he has no idea who she is and she doesn't have insurance, so this charity luncheon cost him $2,300.