VINCENT CASSEL - PRODUCERS HATED CASSEL'S GAY BLOND LOOK

French actor VINCENT CASSEL's bid to go gay by dying his hair blond in new movie EASTERN PROMISES backfired on him - studio bosses hated the look. The Ocean's Thirteen star plays the closeted gay son of a Russian Mafia boss in the film, and felt the best way to present his character was by dying his hair. He says, "When I first got on the set I had this idea that I wanted to do this little not over the top thing, but a feminine thing for a Mafioso, and so I came on the set blond. "The first time (director) David Cronenberg saw me he freaked out and said, `I'm not sure about that.' "We did the screen tests and the people from the studio freaked out because they thought my character was too `L.A.', which was a funny statement to me. After the tests they had me change my hair back."