Hot Pepper

Acting up in Rome

Few know that John Pepper, son of writer Curtis Bill Pepper and sculptor Beverly Pepper, is a movie star in Italy. Now, with the release of Specter, an Italian-made adventure film starring him as an archaeologist, the secret is out. "Hollywood on the Tiber is back," says Pepper, who ought to know. Raised in Rome's fashionably bohemian Trastevere, he has been directed by Zeffirelli and mothered by Liz Taylor (as Cleopatra). These days Pepper calls himself "a director who acts and produces." He brought an Eduardo de Filippo play to last year's Spoleto Festival in Charleston, and plans to bring a Christopher Du rang play to Italy. With as many talents as Pepper has, let's hope none are lost in translation.

Amy Engeler