Strolling the Boardwalk With Actor Jeff Daniels

“Jim Carrey! Jim Carrey!” a group of teenagers chant as they hang over the railing at Santa Monica pier, pointing at an actor sitting on a bench below. But it’s not Carrey. It’s his “Dumb and Dumber” co-star Jeff Daniels, who doesn’t seem to notice their cries.

During a short walk on the boardwalk from Shutters on the Beach hotel to the pier, Daniels has already turned a lot of heads. Despite his casual outfit--cowboy boots, beige pants, a striped shirt and a blue windbreaker--Santa Monicans recognize the actor, who is clutching Elmore Leonard’s new novel under his arm. People whisper discreetly, or blatantly turn their heads to stare. “I’ve learned not to notice,” Daniels says. He has also learned to eat a late lunch and early dinner to avoid restaurant crowds, and to wear baseball caps and shades, “all that silly stuff,” when he wants to watch his son’s hockey games unnoticed.

Traveling incognito is one reason he prefers Michigan to Los Angeles. One among many.

Michigan is his home state, the home of his Purple Rose Theatre company, and it’s where he’s based his independent production company, Purple Rose Films. Michigan is also where he just finished directing his second feature film, the comedy “Super Sucker.”

“Everybody is doing serious, meaningful, important movies,” says Daniels, adding that comedy’s status as a “second-class citizen” was another reason he wanted to do “Super Suckers.” He had learned a simple lesson from his directorial debut (a small film, seen mostly in the Midwest, called “Escanaba in da Moonlight”). “It didn’t have an edge,” he says. In short: “There wasn’t enough sex.”

There’s more sex of a sort in this new movie, the story of rival vacuum cleaner salesmen in a small town. Daniels’ character eventually outsells his competitor when he discovers that some appliances have several unintended applications. “We came up with the ‘homemaker’s little helper’ [idea], and it took off from there,” Daniels says.

As Daniels stops in front of the hotel, a woman comes over, asking for “$1.50.” Daniels empties his pockets and puts the pile of quarters in her hand. She saunters off. A weathered man who’s missing a couple of teeth and wearing a battered KISS jacket follows. He leans in to take a look at Daniels. He doesn’t want money.

“I love your movies, man,” he says. “I really do.”

“Thanks,” Daniels offers.

As the man walks out of earshot, he nods. “That’s my fan base,” he says.

Talk About Cleaning

Out the Garage

Nicolas Cage will put a $4-million portion of his vintage car and motorcycle collection on the auction block next month.

Up for bid will be some classic vehicles, though Cage will retain about 30 favorites. He decided last fall to part with some of his collection, as “the cars were not getting the use that they should because of his busy schedule,” said David Gooding, president and chief executive of Beverly Hills-based RM Auctions Inc., which will conduct the auction in Amelia Island, Fla. (The March 9 sale is timed to coincide with the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance car show, which draws an estimated 40,000 people.)

Looking for new owners: six motorcycles, three Porsches, two Lamborghinis, two Jaguars, two Bugattis, a 1999 Rolls-Royce limousine, a 1991 Ferrari, a 1973 Triumph Spitfire, a 1968 Corvette and a 1957 Ford pickup.

The most valuable of the cars is a 1956 Jaguar D-Type XKD 546 valued at between $800,000 and $1.2 million, Gooding said. The least valuable is Cage’s first collector car, a 1973 Triumph Spitfire estimated to be worth between $15,000 and $20,000.

Quote/Unquote

“When we shot that scene, it was a really strange atmosphere. The apartment was really hot, Robert [Wisdom] was sweating all over my back--it felt very real. But in a way, it was easy. I was naked, doing things that were horrifying, but I felt bold, like I had the permission to break taboos. It was refreshing.” Selma Blair, in the March issue of Details magazine, recounting the experience of shooting an MPAA-banned scene cut from Todd Solondz’s new film “Storytelling.”

City of Angles runs Tuesday through Friday. E-mail: angles @latimes.com.