Author: Ann Barsness
Date: December 24, 2000

Nuclear red.

That's the color Patrick Flueger dyed his hair the night before the screen test, the color that caught director Garry Marshall's eye, the color the California makeup ladies grew to detest.

Flueger, a Red Wing resident, earned his first movie role as a supporting character in the Disney film "The Princess Diaries," scheduled for a mid-July release.

The movie unfolds when 16-year-old Mia (Anne Hathaway) learns from her grandmother (Julie Andrews) that she is the sole heir to the crown of Genovia. Mia must then decide whether to assume the life of a princess.

Flueger plays Jeremiah, a transplanted Midwesterner with a crush on Mia's best friend, Lily (Heather Matarazzo). A young computer wizard, Jeremiah has money in stocks, an affinity (if not talent) for magic tricks - and bright red hair.

Kim Flueger helped her son dye his hair in their front yard the night before he auditioned at a Twin Cities casting company.

"I said, 'You know, Patrick, you go up and try out for these movies, you should maybe have your natural hair.' He just shrugged his shoulders," Kim Flueger said. "When we found out (he got a part), it was because Gary Marshall liked his red hair. In all those hundreds of tapes they watched, he stood out with that red hair."

Patrick and four others auditioned for the lead male role last summer in Los Angeles. That part went to Robert Schwartzman, but Marshall liked what he saw in Flueger and found another spot for him.

"It was definitely the hair. There are a lot of actors that kick my butt," Patrick said. "Truthfully, I think it was the Midwest mentality. You go out there and you're fresh and you don't have that Los Angeles corruption about you."

Dark blond.

That's the color that returned once nuclear red wore out. Flueger and his friends insist the hair was the only thing that changed during his introduction to the movie business.

"It's hard to come back because a lot of people expect you to be different," Patrick said as he sprawled out on the couch with the family cat a couple of weeks after the final shoot in late November.

Ryan Heesch, a friend since the fourth grade, said: "Patrick's always been the same person, the same warmhearted, loving, caring guy. ... He's like, 'Don't tell people about this because I don't want them to see me as this big movie star."'

Still, when Flueger missed the first four weeks of his junior year for the initial round of filming, rumors circulated in Red Wing: He was a star. He was an extra. In reality, his role was somewhere in between.

With cousin Valerie Flueger working in the movie business as an assistant producer, Patrick knows the odds of becoming a professional actor. He continues to audition for advertisements, TV and movie roles.

But he's still enjoying his first break.

Flueger didn't know who was starring in "The Princess Diaries" until he attended the first read-through. He looked at the place cards and saw the name Mandy Moore. The night before, he had watched the pop star on the MTV Teen Video Awards.

"The next day, I was sitting three seats away from her ... and Hector Elizondo was there, and Mary Poppins was there," Patrick said.

If Flueger was star-struck, it was only temporary.

He worked on a song with Moore, picked up acting tips from Elizondo ("Always go back to the theater," the "Chicago Hope" TV star advised.) and exchanged pleasantries with Andrews. ("Hello, Patrick. How are we this morning?" he mimicked in a British accent.)

"When you associate our friend Patrick with Mandy Moore the TV girl, it kind of brings it to another level," Heesch said. "It's not a joke. He's actually out there hanging out with people who my friends idolize."

"He didn't spend much time in the trailer," said Kim, who accompanied her son for the first two weeks of shooting in the Los Angeles area. Patrick's father, K.C. Flueger, accompanied him for a week of shooting in San Francisco.

"His part grew as he was out there. I think that says something - that they liked what they saw. Valerie says they like to build you up. A lot of people said nice things about Patrick, but I think they meant it," K.C. Flueger said.

Other options.

That's what Flueger's parents saw when they looked past the actors and the cameras to the abundance of jobs in the movie business.

"I did tell him (he) maybe should do something to fall back on. Everybody who was driving us around, everybody at the restaurants - everybody wants to be an actor," Kim said.

Flueger said he will apply the money he earned this fall toward college, though he hasn't exactly settled upon a course of study.

"I don't know, psychology? Music? Acting? I think it'd be cool to be a chef ... or a teacher ... or run a tavern in Scotland," he said. He hopes to move to Los Angeles with three friends after he graduates from Red Wing High School.

But more than ever, he wants to act.

"I know it's what I want to do. It's a lot more work than you would ever think. It's really long days," Patrick said. "I'm pretty much a glorified background extra, but I had to work pretty long days."

His immediate future held another local performance. Flueger played the lead role in "Evergreen: A Christmas Story," which recently ran at the Sheldon Theatre.

Flueger said performing for a live audience is a lot different from acting in front of a camera. Marshall helped him make the transition by filming the background scenes first.

"There's a lot to think about. You have to be able to see the camera, but you can't look at the camera, you've got to hit your mark," he said.

"Onstage, you've got to be a lot bigger and show emotion with your hands and with your body," Patrick said. "On camera, it's real. People never play anybody but themselves on camera."

He used Mel Gibson's performance in "Braveheart" to illustrate.

"That whole movie you feel everything you can possibly feel. It's got romance and adventure. An actor can make somebody laugh or cry or be empathetic ... You can just have such an effect on people - lots of people," he said.

"Braveheart, it makes me go 'wow.' If you could bottle that up and sell it, you'd be rich. That's why I want to act."