¡¡¡¡DALLAS, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- You might be surprised to find a down-to- earth fellow like Sam Elliott piloting a hot-air balloon through the otherworldly fantasy of "The Golden Compass." Indeed, the veteran actor says even he was a bit amazed to see himself smack dab in the middle of a parallel universe where talking bears wage war, human souls manifest themselves as animals -- and a courtly Texas cowboy named Lee Scoresby flies to the aid of a young damsel in distress.

    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071017/LAW157)

    Source: Cowboys & Indians Magazine

    ¡¤ "Golden Compass" star Sam Elliott ¡¤ Click Here to Download Image Elliott is perfectly cast as Scoresby, the extraordinary aeronaut in "Golden Compass," a New Line Cinema release set to open Dec. 7. But as he admits in an exclusive interview for the December issue of Cowboys & Indians Magazine, on sale Oct. 23, he needed just a bit of coaxing from the film''s director before he accepted the heroic role.

    "Chris Weitz told me that his take on it was that this guy, Lee Scoresby, is a classic, iconic, laconic American cowboy," Elliott says. "How am I going to turn that down? Chris is a very bright man. He pushed the right button -- the one that says ''ego massage.'' Actors like that, you know. I guess we all do."

    For Elliott, whose resume includes many choice roles in Western films and TV-movies, "The Golden Compass" might seem like a dramatic change of pace. But he believes that, for all its phantasmagorical spectacle, the film is very much in keeping with his body of work.

    As he tells Cowboys & Indians: "I''ve been very fortunate during my 40 years in this business that the Western thing has come my way. Some of it I''ve brought to myself. I''ve pursued it, I''ve produced it. And there have been other instances like ''The Golden Compass'' where, here in the middle of this fantastic journey that this picture takes, there''s this kind of grounded American cowboy. It''s another opportunity to kind of keep that Western character alive to perpetuate the myth."

    Elsewhere in the December issue of Cowboys & Indians Magazine, The Premiere Magazine of the West, writer Jordan Rane focuses on a wide range of Westerns -- from Clint Eastwood''s "Unforgiven" to Ang Lee''s "Brokeback Mountain" -- that were filmed on location in Southern Alberta, Canada. "We''ve doubled for all sorts of places around the world -- not just Montana, Wyoming and Colorado," says Calgary-based producer Murray Ord. "But we''re known for our Westerns."

    Also in the C&I December issue: Lyle Lovett talks about returning to his musical roots in "It''s Not Big It''s Large," his new hit CD; former Dallas resident Ellise Pearce movingly recalls the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 44 years after the tragedy in her home town; and Amy Durham profiles Amon Carter and the celebrated Fort Worth museum -- home to an impressive gallery of Western art and sculpture -- that bears his name.

    And just in time for season''s greetings, C&I''s Holiday Gift Guide 2007 offers dozens of ideas to put a little cowboy in someone''s Christmas.

    Source: Cowboys & Indians Magazine
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