The plot thickens: MacLaine finds cemetery is the perfect setting for 'Valentine's Day'

HOLLYWOOD - Known for her belief in reincarnation, "Valentine's Day" actress Shirley MacLaine had no problem filming a humorous scene in a cemetery surrounded by dozens of extras, both dead and alive.

"Of course, to me, all the people in the graves were watching what we were doing too, because nobody ever dies," the spry 75-year-old said with a twinkle in her eye.

MacLaine, who's appeared in more than 50 films over six decades, is part of an all-star ensemble in the comedy from veteran filmmaker Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman," "Runaway Bride").

Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the L.A. landmark where the scene was shot, serves as the final resting place for many film luminaries. In an only-in-Hollywood tradition, old movies are actually screened in the graveyard to paying audiences who bring picnic baskets and blankets. So Marshall decided to incorporate this strange event into his multiple-storyline comedy.

"That's because films for adults are dying," MacLaine quipped.

In her storyline, MacLaine plays Estelle, a onetime movie actress who spends her golden years raising her young grandson with Edgar (Hector Elizondo), her husband of 51 years.

Their union appears a happy one until she accidentally reveals an old secret that nearly breaks Edgar's heart. Hoping to make amends, she seeks him out at the cemetery, their traditional Feb. 14 haunt, while an old black-and-white movie is projected on a large screen in the background. Film buffs will recognize the movie-within-a-movie as 1958's "Hot Spell," starring a young MacLaine.

"I thought it was a wonderful dramatic and romantic setting," said Elizondo, who has been in every one of Marshall's films.

MacLaine and Elizondo, who got their start as dancers before becoming actors, represent the older generation in this ensemble comedy about love and romance in the City of Angels.

"I loved the idea of working with Shirley," said Elizondo. "It was a no-brainer when Garry called me and said I would be working with her."

The role came to MacLaine circuitously. Though the actress had known Marshall for years - they both have homes in the famous Malibu Colony, just north of the city - she hadn't worked with him before.

"I was working with his son, Scott, on something else," recalls the actress. "He said he was working with his dad on a script that was good and they wanted to have an older couple in this melange of what happens on Valentine's Day."

The economic downturn and an actors' strike delayed production for a couple of years, but Marshall finally got the green light to begin shooting last year.

MacLaine said it was a smooth production. She appears primarily with Elizondo, Emma Roberts and newcomer Bryce Robinson, who plays her grandson.

She had previously worked with Emma's aunt, Julia Roberts, who's also part of the "Valentine's Day" cast, in the 1989 drama "Steel Magnolias." MacLaine sees some similarities between the two actresses. "She's a nice kid and she works hard," MacLaine said of Emma, who turns 19 on Feb. 10. "She definitely has possibilities."

MacLaine, Elizondo and Roberts have an interesting scene in which Emma, playing a high school senior, confides to the older couple that she plans to have sex with her boyfriend. The older folks are taken aback by the revelation and offer advice about abstinence.

MacLaine, who became an adult during the sexual revolution, is a bit less prudish.

"Of course you have to have sex before you decide to buy the farm," she said euphemistically. "What I'd say to my granddaughter is, figure out who you are and then make that clear."

In contrast to her famous younger brother, actor Warren Beatty, MacLaine, who was married only once (for 28 years), calls herself a "serial monogamist."

"Promiscuity never occurred to me," she said.

She figures a romantic comedy about different kinds of love is overdue and credits her longtime friend Marshall for conceiving the ambitious project.

Though she has known the Bronx-born director for years, she had some trouble deciphering his somewhat abstract instructions on the set.

"Hector translated for me because I couldn't understand a word," she said with a chuckle. "I think he has a hologramic brain. He thinks about all these things at once and they garble up as he's trying to explain it."

MacLaine, who's worked with some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder, said Marshall's ambiguous directions simply forced her to follow her instincts to figure out what he wanted.

"He's using this incomprehensible language to get the best out of you," she said.

Born in Richmond, Va., and raised in Arlington, MacLaine is the daughter of a psychology professor father and a drama teacher mother. She started out as a dancer but turned her attention to acting as a teenager. In her senior year of high school, she moved to New York and landed a few gigs on Broadway. After graduation, she returned to New York and became an understudy to actress Carol Haney in "The Pajama Game." When Haney broke her ankle, MacLaine stepped in and a star was born.

She made her screen debut in Hitchcock's "The Trouble With Harry" in 1955. The pixie-like actress subsequently starred in "Some Came Running," earning her first of six Academy Award nominations. Two years later, she was nominated again for her role in "The Apartment," opposite Jack Lemmon. Other credits include "Irma la Douce," "Sweet Charity," "The Turning Point" and "Two Mules for Sister Sara."

MacLaine won an Academy Award in 1983 for her performance as control freak Aurora Greenway in "Terms of Endearment." She also has won an Emmy award (for her 1976 variety special, "Gypsy in My Soul") and earned five additional Emmy nominations. She is a best-selling author, whose works include the autobiography "Out on a Limb" (adapted into a five-hour miniseries in 1987) and the recent best seller "Sage-ing While Age-ing."

Though well into her 70s, MacLaine continues to work. She most recently starred in the TV movie "Coco Chanel," in which she portrayed the famous fashion designer. She also appeared in the 2005 comedy "Rumor Has It" with Jennifer Aniston.

A longtime follower of New Age beliefs, the actress maintains her primary residence in New Mexico. She only comes to L.A. when work beckons.

"To me, L.A. is Malibu because that's where I live when I'm here," she said. "I have to have my visa renewed to go into Beverly Hills because I don't do it that often."

After six decades in show business, MacLaine said she still finds her work exciting.

"I like playing other people," she said, smiling. "Basically, I like the whole transformation of becoming someone else while staying me."