SamboraBlog

Perfect fit?
Heather & Hilary agree there's no such thing
By LOUIS B. HOBSON

Take it from Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear there is no perfect man.

The ladies are not complaining.

They're just stating a fact.

"Perfect doesn't really exist. No perfect man, perfect woman or perfect person. It's people's imperfections that make them exciting," says Locklear, who married Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in 1994 after a seven-year marriage to rocker Tommy Lee.

"There are people who can be perfect for each other," chimes in Duff, who dated pop singer Aaron Carter.

Locklear takes the final word by adding "but not perfect for just one other person."

What has Duff, 17, and Locklear, 43, ruminating on male perfection is their new romantic comedy The Perfect Man that opens today.

It's the story of a daughter played by Duff who tries to help her mother, Locklear, stop dating losers by creating an imaginary perfect man who corresponds with her mom by e-mail.

Locklear admits she was a bit taken back when director Mark Rosman approached her to play Duff's mother.

"Two years ago I played Dakota Fanning's mother. That wasn't too bad, but I had to swallow a bit of pride to play the mother of a 17-year-old," says Locklear, whose daughter, Ava, with Sambora, is seven.

Duff tries to smooth over the slight by insisting "they make it very clear in the movie that you had me when you were very young."

The ploy doesn't work.

"No, they don't. They just present me with two daughters and desperate for a man."

Duff tries one more time.

"Heather is so attractive. No matter what you put her in she isn't going to look hideous," says Duff.

"It goes to show that you don't have to be frumpy to be desperate for romantic fulfillment.

"Everyone goes through that stage, no matter what you look like."

Though they play mother and daughter in The Perfect Man, Duff reveals that Locklear "was more like a friend and a confident than a mother."

DEVELOPED RAPPORT

For her part, Locklear recalls that Duff's real mother being on the Toronto set most of the time "was really valuable. Because we're closer in age, she and I talked a lot about Hilary.

"The stories she told me helped me see Hilary as my daughter, other wise I would have considered her more as a girlfriend.

"That's the kind of rapport we developed. We banter back-and-forth and finish each other's sentences," says Locklear.

Locklear says she was both amused and amazed by the fan and paparazzi attention Duff received in Toronto.

"That never happened to me when I was starting out. Maybe I just wasn't that interesting," says Locklear, though she concedes "the focus of entertainment magazines has changed so that the emphasis really is more on celebrities Hilary's age."

When Locklear isn't filming, she travels with her husband.

"It's real vacation for me. I get to stay in great hotels and catch the shows in the evenings.

"It's anything but a holiday for Richie. He performs all night and then does interviews during the days."

Duff can empathize.

"As a singer you have to tour to support your album.

"It's really taxing.

"I have a really great girl friend travel with me.

"It make things easier to have someone my own age around me. It allows me to act my age.

"When you grow up in the entertainment business, they expect you to be more mature than you really should be."