Hollywood floods Huntingburg.

• Author: Derk, James
• Position: Filming of 'The Flood'

Fat & Sassy Cafe sells lots of cappuccino.

A couple days after actor Christian Slater arrived in the Dubois County town of Huntingburg to film "The Flood" - a $50 million high-crime thriller set against a backdrop of a Midwest flood - there came a flood of reports that he spent an evening watching movies at a Newburgh theater.

Those reporting insist Slater - known for his distinctive looks and 32 movies including "Broken Arrow," "Heathers" and "Interview with a Vampire" - either was at the theater or has an identical twin. Slater's handlers wouldn't confirm or deny the star sighting, saying only that Slater sometimes enjoys being a "normal guy."

He apparently also has a sense of humor. When he first popped into Huntingburg in August to shoot a few scenes, he told local news media that several other major Hollywood stars would be part of "The Flood." As the last week of October approached, reporters kept asking who and where the other stars were.

Slater always had an answer, but he frequently dropped names of stars who not only weren't in Huntingburg but apparently had nothing to do with the film - among them Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Mary Tyler Moore, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and David Letterman, whom Slater said would be making a cameo appearance. According to members of the production crew, Slater enjoys throwing the media false leads.

So who besides Slater really is in "The Flood"? Hard to say, but the cast list that the movie's publicists will confirm includes only Slater; Randy Quaid, most recently seen in "Independence Day"; and Minnie Driver of "Sleepers." We may have to wait until Memorial Day, when the film is due out, to learn for sure.

By the time filming started, the town of...