`ALPHA DOG' HAS ITS DAY FICTIONALIZED ACCOUNT OF THE MURDER OF A WEST HILLS TEEN TOOK YEARS TO GET MADE.

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

You wouldn't expect young Hollywood actors used to catering, air-conditioned trailers and plenty of free time on set to play video games to give all that up for long weeks of push-ups, weightlifting and sweaty male bonding.

But before filming began on ``Alpha Dog,'' the thinly veiled fictionalized account of the true-life murder of a local teenager, Justin Timberlake and other male cast members endured a grueling fitness regime demanded by director-screenwriter Nick Cassavetes.

``It was pretty intense,'' says actor Shawn Hatosy, who plays the trigger man in the film. ``It wasn't something I would want to go through again.''

Cassavetes says the daily workouts -- which included boxing, running, lifting and other physical activities -- were designed to develop the testosterone-fueled ``chemistry'' that bonded the real-life players in the story.

``There's nothing like shared pain to bond people,'' says Cassavetes, who wrote and directed the movie. ``We had to sell it on screen that these guys had known each other since they were little kids, and the boot camp was a way to turn them into a pack. It broke down a lot of defenses. They didn't want to do it -- but I said you had to do it.''

``Alpha Dog,'' which opens Friday and also stars Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis and Emile Hirsch, is based on the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old West Hills boy Nicholas Markowitz in August 2000, and the subsequent conviction of four men and forthcoming trial of a fifth, Jesse James Hollywood.

The notorious case, which has been featured on TV and written about extensively, remained in the news for years because Hollywood, at age 20, was one of the youngest ever to make the FBI's Most-

Wanted List. He spent almost five years on the lam until his capture in March 2005.

Arresting drama

For director and actors alike, the making and release of ``Alpha Dog'' was a long, fraught process. The project was first put on hold when initial distributor New Line Cinema had a falling out with producers Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, resulting in Universal's bid for the drama. At the same time, lawyers for Hollywood fought unsuccessfully to have the film's release halted on the grounds it could deprive the defendant of a fair trial.

``Alpha Dog'' was originally filmed three years ago, but when Hollywood was caught, Cassavetes, the son of actor-

director John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands, had to dump his original ending and called in some of the actors to shoot a new one.

``I had to rethink the movie. It threw us for a pretty big loop,'' he said.

Although it was three years ago, memories of filming ``Alpha Dog'' are still fresh for Hirsch, 21, who plays Johnny Truelove, the Hollywood character. He says he often felt uncomfortable on the set because of the over-amped dialogue and rawness of the action. ``I was pretty afraid in my bones most of the time,'' he recalls. ``But I think that makes the toughness of my character more believable. It's a story about ego -- two guys who wouldn't back down. It wasn't about the money. It was who was going to be the alpha dog.''

Really bad deal

The bleak, painful story takes place over three summer days in which hotheaded local pot dealer Truelove kidnaps the teen Zack Mazursky (Anton Yelchin) as a way to extort money from the boy's brother (Ben Foster), who owed him money.

``It happens during that weird time of adjustment between youth and adulthood,'' says Cassavetes, known for his romantic 2004 hit ``The Notebook,'' and a resident of the West Valley. ``These are not really good kids who just lost their way for 72 hours. These are ugly, stunted children whose personalities haven't developed. This is all about the rough edges.''

The gritty movie was shot partly in or around such Valley locations as North Hollywood's Circus Liquors, famous for its giant neon clown, and, nearby, the weird ``electricity park'' off Whitnall Highway populated by a forest of electrical towers. It is here that Zack is kidnapped off the street in broad daylight.

``When I first read about the case, I just kept saying, `There's no way this is gonna happen,''' says Hatosy, 30. ``I kept thinking, `Someone will stop it; there's no way they're going to kill this kid.' The whole thing could've been avoided every step of the way.''

To illustrate the point, whenever one of three-dozen witnesses is introduced in the film, their name and witness number is flashed on screen.

The movie takes place to a throbbing gangsta-rap soundtrack, involves rampant drug use, misogyny and an atmosphere of impending violence, and is populated by characters who, on the surface, seem awfully familiar.

Another world

``They're not the sort of people I ran with, but I knew them,'' says Ben Foster, 26, whose Jake Muzursky is the older drug-damaged brother of the murdered teen. ``The hard part for me was finding the body of a tweaker (meth addict). He had to be wired and always moving around, but he had to be physically strong. People like that are on the drug all the time, but they work out all the time.''

In addition to the film's ensemble of young actors, veterans Willis and Stone show up for two of ``Alpha Dog's'' few ``adult'' roles.

Apparently like the real case, ``Alpha Dog's'' adults are seen wandering through the kids' lives and their own houses exhibiting little curiosity about what was going on. The real victim was surrounded by various people for the entire three days he was first missing, and many of those were oblivious moms and dads.

And that's why for many, the star of the film will be Yelchin, the teen actor who plays the doomed boy with a mixture of wide-eyed innocence and resignation.

``I felt so sorry for what happened to him,'' Yelchin, 17, says. ``He was a calm, relatively good-natured person in circumstances he didn't understand. He's surrounded by all these apathetic people. That's the terrifying thing -- it could happen anywhere.''

Anywhere, in the case of the true-life tragedy behind ``Alpha Dog,'' is the San Fernando Valley, and as the case shows, this was a group of badly adrift youths with parents who showed up to share joints and drinks and had no idea what was happening under their noses.

``I hope a lot of parents see it,'' Hatosy says. ``This is what can happen when the fabric of communication breaks down. It doesn't matter where you live. You have to be part of your kids' lives.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

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Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) In shadows

`Alpha Dog' sheds light on horrific murder

(2 -- 3) Sharon Stone, above, plays one of the few adult roles in ``Alpha Dog.'' Emile Hirsch, left, plays the character based on Jesse James Hollywood.

(4 -- 5) Below, Shawn Hatosy, left, and Justin Timberlake are part of the pack of guys, including Ben Foster, above right, caught up in the kidnapping and murder of a 15-year-old boy in ``Alpha Dog.''

(6) Director Nick Cassavetes worked hard to get his movie -- and cast -- in shape.