LOS ANGELES, June 12, (Agencies): In a town known for famous moviemakers, Queen Noor of Jordan is something of an anomaly in Hollywood — until you consider the movie she has helped make. Queen Noor, the widow of King Hussein of Jordan, sat down with a small group of reporters at a private luncheon on Friday to discuss the documentary, “Countdown to Zero” about nuclear bomb proliferation, which hits US theaters in July. As founding leader of Global Zero, a movement aimed at phasing out nuclear weapons around the world, Queen Noor served as a special consultant on the film in her first foray into Hollywood moviemaking.

“For me, this is a whole new world,” she said over lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills — a favorite haunt of Hollywood celebrities.
She was joined by producers Lawrence Bender and Diane Weyermann of Participant Media, who were both part of the team responsible for Oscar-winning global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”
“Countdown to Zero” is a 90-minute documentary written and directed by Lucy Walker that explores the history of the atomic bomb and today’s threat of nuclear proliferation.
The documentary features interviews with the likes of former UK prime minister Tony Blair, ex-US president Jimmy Carter, one-time USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and the late former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, among many others.
With nine nations possessing nuclear weapons the world is in danger of an explosion, whether through an act of terrorism, a failed diplomatic mission, a technical glitch or human error, and Queen Noor sees the movie as an effective way to get that message across to broader audiences.

“Film is the most powerful tool in the arsenal of so many of us — not just Global Zero — but others in the world that are collaborating with us on this issue,” she said. “I’ve given a million speeches but it’s the visual images, the storytelling” that can impact mass audiences.
As a consultant on the film, Queen Noor’s input was invaluable, said Bender and Weyermann.
When she felt the first version that screened at January’s Sundance Film Festival was too “American-centric,” she offered suggestions on images and archival footage that might make it more accessible to global audiences.
“Queen Noor’s perspective became important in the tweaking of this movie,” said Bender. “She brought a global perspective and gave the film a more international feel.”
Bender said Queen Noor functioned almost as a type of producer, but the Queen, however, demurred at that thought.
“I look at this from the perspective of trying to promote understanding between the Middle East, the Arab and Muslim worlds and the West over the past 35 years,” she said.
Queen Noor explained that preventing and resolving conflicts and promoting peace in the Middle East have long been causes she supports, as well as development that provides hope and opportunity for people.

American Film Institute honoree Mike Nichols serves up perspectives on some of the famous actors he’s directed:
n Elizabeth Taylor: Toward the end of filming “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966), Taylor was worried about getting through an intense sequence where she was required to cry. While in the midst of nailing the scene, a crew member could be heard — snoring. “It was so loud,” Nichols recalled. “I say, ‘Cut!’ And she said, ‘Don’t fire him. Please don’t fire him.’ Now, you can’t find that. You can’t find a person who is concerned about the guy who screwed it up. And that’s Elizabeth.”
n Dustin Hoffman: When shooting the screen tests for “The Graduate” (1967), Nichols was impressed, but not sold, on the relative newcomer. “He was very good on the floor, but we weren’t sure. He tested with Katherine Ross. And then, the next day, seeing the dailies, I thought, ‘Oh, look at this. He’s like Elizabeth. He has a deal with Technicolor. And when the film was in the bath, overnight, it’s much more than what you saw on the floor. He’s the real thing. He’s a movie actor.”

n Meryl Streep: Nichols has worked with the Oscar winner on numerous projects, including the big-screen “Silkwood” (1983), “Heartburn” (1986), “Postcards From the Edge” (1990) and the telefilm “Angels in America” (2003). “I think that the thing she has more than anyone I’ve ever worked with, besides her indescribable gift, is the joy (acting) gives her. I have never, ever seen her anything but happy to do this another day.”
n Jack Nicholson: While working on their first film together, “Carnal Knowledge” (1971), “the one thing I learned from him was not just how he was with everyone on the set, but on the ring behind: the wardrobe people in the trailers, and the people behind that. He was connected to every single person. And when he had to do a nude scene, they were rolling on the floor. He was so funny — what he said, what he did. He made it everybody’s.”
n Julia Roberts: “When we did a certain scene in ‘Closer’ (2004), there was a point in the scene where she blushed every time. Many actors have to work up emotion before a scene. She has to hold it down. And she’s got it licked. She’s got life licked. She’s got making movies licked. And she does it all with happiness and adoration for her amazing family. She’s a kind of — I don’t know what? — lesson in what can be done with making your life simple, true and happy.”