SHORT TAKES : ‘Always’ Screened in Hometown

Actor Brad Johnson gave a couple of hundred hometown friends a private screening of the new Steven Spielberg movie “Always” for Christmas.

Johnson plays the amiable pilot Ted Baker, who falls in love with air traffic controller Dorinda, played by Holly Hunter of “Broadcast News” fame, after her boyfriend, Pete, is killed in a rescue. Pete is played by Richard Dreyfuss.

A former rodeo competitor and model, Johnson says the film pokes fun at perceptions of ruggedly handsome men.

“We didn’t take the generic route when you have a tall, dark-headed guy, and make him macho, a heartbreaker who can do no wrong,” Johnson said. “Ted is klutzy; that’s how people really are. I can identify with that kind of guy more than with someone who’s perfect.”

Working with stars like Dreyfuss, Hunter, Audrey Hepburn and John Goodman can be daunting in an actor’s first film, but Johnson has a three-picture deal with Spielberg.

“A person starts to wonder, what does this guy have that other people don’t?” Johnson says of Spielberg. “It’s his incredible imagination, the way he sees things.”