Revenge of the nerd

He dresses like a dweeb, hangs out with the likes of Norman Cook and Mike Myers and played a stormtrooper in Star Wars. Who the hell is he? Maverick film director Spike Jonze. Profiled in this week’s heat magazine, Jonze – who directed the video for Fatboy Slim’s Praise You – is about to become big news with the general release of his feature film debut Being John Malkovich. The movie, which was a huge hit at the Venice Film Festival, stars John Cusack as puppeteer who discovers a doorway into Malkovich’s head. If that seems weird, it’s nothing on some of Jonze’s previous video work including the cheesy Sabotage video for the Beastie boys and the frankly bizarre dog/man who hoisted a ghetto blaster around New York in Jonze’s video for Daft Punk’s Da Funk. Not content with such a successful film debut, Jonze cemented his movie credibility this summer by marrying the scion of one of Hollywood’s more influential families – Sofia Coppola. He’s also reported to be talking to George Lucas about directing one of the upcoming episodes of Star Wars. And the secret of his success? ‘I think I always keep it real,’ he told a recent Channel 4 documentary. ’You get cocky and next thing you know you’re in rehab.’ ![]