LOS ANGELES—Tom Hanks and Ron Howard, whose adaptation of Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code” were box office successes (the former grossed $152 million worldwide when it opened last weekend), are trying to get the novelist to tell them about his hotly anticipated next novel, “The Lost Symbol.”

“At the premiere in Rome, we were all surrounding Dan, refilling his wine glass, trying to get him to tell us what the book is all about,” Ron, who directed both the “Angels…” and “Da Vinci…” films, told us in a recent interview in New York. “But (a), Dan can hold his liquor and (b), he was not going to tell us a thing except that he believes it’s very cinematic and when the time comes, he is eager for us to look at it. He hopes it’s a movie. And yes, it’s another Langdon story. He has not told me anything more than he did when I began filming ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ He said then that it was set in Washington. I also know that he’s gone back and deepened the story. He reworked it several times.”

In a separate interview in New York, Tom, who continues the adventures of Dan’s protagonist, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in “Angels,” said that despite their efforts to persuade the author to spill details of his coming novel, they have been unsuccessful. “We don’t know what it’s about,” the actor admitted. He joked, “Dan is going to charge me $24.95 for a copy.” “The Lost Symbol” is scheduled for release on Sept. 15.

Religious conspiracy theories

Once more featuring Langdon as he solves religious conspiracy theories, “Angels” features many exterior shots of Rome’s famous sites, including the Pantheon. Ron said that they didn’t bother to apply for permits to film in the Vatican or its churches in Rome because they knew the answer would be a no. Tom offered an interesting story about filming in front of the Pantheon. “It’s a complicated place to shoot in front of,” he said of the ancient domed Roman temple that has been used as a Roman Catholic church since the seventh century. “I think we only had two days to shoot there. There were only brief periods of sunlight, lots of people walking around and complicated stuff.”

He continued: “On the second day, we found out that at 3 p.m., a fleet of limousines was going to show up in our shot because a wedding party was scheduled. So we said, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’ Lo and behold, the bride did show up. Luckily, the limousine came down the wrong street. They have barriers that make it impossible to get anywhere so I leapt into the fray.

“I introduced myself to the bride and said, ‘We’re making a movie here but you have to get married so please allow me the honor of escorting you to the steps of the Pantheon.’ I asked if I could perform the marriage (laughter). Alas, I’m not an ordained minister in any religion. So I just walked her up the steps. I told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world at that moment. She said, ‘I’m glad you don’t have the hair like in the first movie’ (laughter). Then she got married. She was at the premiere. She and her husband are having a baby.”

Short and straight

Going back to Tom’s hairstyle, the shorter one he sports in “Angels” is getting better reviews than the long one he had in “Da Vinci.” Long or short, Tom has it straight in both movies. Asked if he prefers his hair straight or in its natural curly state, Tom gamely answered, “My hair is naturally... what’s the word I’m looking for? Full-bodied? Curly? Bushy? Uncontrolled? When you got to have straight hair for a role, you have to go to the beauty parlor a lot of times. You sit there and read the fashion magazines (laughter). You can only do that a few too many times a year but if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes. Do I have more fun having straight or curly hair? Either way, I have fun all the time.”

In one scene, Tom’s much-talked about hair gets wet as he comes up wearing swimming trunks after doing laps in a pool. “You’re 52, and yet you wear Speedos in ‘Angels & Demons’ … is that legal?” — a journalist had teased him in a published interview.

“It was not a body double,” Tom, eyes twinkling, said about the swimming scene. “That was me. A body double was there but quite frankly, he wasn’t a very good swimmer. He was a stuntman. He was in great shape but he couldn’t swim (laughter).”

Looking good at 52

Only in Hollywood — even for a short and simple scene like that, a swim coach was brought in. Tom revealed, “I thought I knew how to swim until I got in the pool with a guy who used to be on ‘Baywatch.’ That’s how good a swimmer Mike Newman is (laughter). He said, ‘Give me a couple of laps. Let me see what you can do.’ He used to be a competitive swimmer. I went back and forth a couple of times and felt a little tired. Mike looked at me and said, ‘You don’t know s**t about swimming.’ He completely remade how I do everything — kick, paddle and so on.”

Looking good at 52, Tom was asked how he maintains the spark in his 21-year marriage to actress Rita Wilson. “I have the hots for her,” he said with a smile. “It’s as simple as that. I’m married to the most gorgeous, beautiful woman on planet Earth. She makes me laugh. She smells great. She puts up with me. Case closed.”

Ron, whose marriage to actress Cheryl Howard is going on its 34th year this June, told us that he’s in the mood to resume his acting career. The former child star, who acted in films and TV shows, including the popular 1970s sitcom “Happy Days,” said, “Now that my children are grown, I wouldn’t mind doing a little bit of acting. For 20 years or so, I really felt that I wanted to be a filmmaker. I worked enough and made enough films that I didn’t want to use my free time to act. But now, if something came along, maybe I’d take advantage of it. I wouldn’t mind trying to act again.”

Vatican tour

Ron had his own interesting tale to share about the Vatican. He narrated: “After ‘Da Vinci Code’ was in the theaters, I was seriously considering ‘Angels & Demons.’ So I decided to go on a tour of the Vatican again, this time a more in-depth tour. So we made reservations for some of the semi-public tours. I became very anxious about it because ‘Da Vinci’ was in the theaters. It was being written about and it was popular. I thought maybe that will really annoy them because it’s such a success. I wore my baseball cap, sunglasses and I was always looking around for the Swiss Guard.

He continued: “In the first tour, down into the necropolis, an American priest was our guide. I thought, oh no, maybe he grew up watching ‘Happy Days’ (laughter). I stayed in the back and tried not to make eye contact with him. But I stayed close enough to hear what he was saying. Every time a Swiss Guard would walk by, I’d flinch a little.

“During the second day, the guards were looking at me. I thought, now, they’ve really seen me. At the end of the day, several Swiss Guards actually started to walk over toward me. They were in their uniforms and everything. We were in the Basilica. I thought again, this is it. I’m going to get escorted off. At the very least, it is going to be an embarrassing situation. They came over and one of them asked, ‘Ron Howard?’ I said. ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Can we get your autograph?’ They had a piece of paper and they also wanted to take some pictures. So I wound up having great pictures with the Swiss Guards (laughter).”

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.