ICE GUYS HEDER, FERRELL CUT UP IN `BLADES OF GLORY'.

Byline: - Glenn Whipp

With ``Blades of Glory,'' Jon Heder learned an important lesson in acting. If you're going to make a sports movie, make one that involves throwing a ball, not hoisting a man above your head while skating on slippery ice.

Heder and Will Ferrell play rival figure skaters in ``Blades'' who brawl at the end of one heated competition, resulting in a ban from singles skating. Their only path back to the ice is if they skate in pairs. And since no woman wants to skate with either of them, they put aside their differences (sort of) and team up.

``Blades'' originally paired Heder with Ben Stiller, but scheduling forced Stiller to drop out. (He remains on board as a producer.)

``Stiller was into working out, but I could detect a hint of relief when he got off the movie, like he dodged a bullet,'' Heder says.

``These guys aren't jokesters on ice. They're supposed to be Olympians.''

As such, Heder, who had skated maybe twice in his life, strapped on the skates -- and promptly broke his ankle while trying a complicated spin.

``Somebody had to, right?'' Heder says. ``I could still skate circles around Will, though, so I'm glad it was me and not him. But it was kind of scary. There were a few times when my manager said, `It looks like they're gonna pull the plug on the film,' because it was too late to recast.''

The movie ended up being shot in two parts, with the non-skating scenes coming first and the skating sequences later in the summer, when Heder's ankle had healed. The delay also gave Heder a chance to perfect a particular costume he had in mind for his skater.

``I don't want to spoil it,'' Heder says. ``But (reigning U.S. national champion figure skater) Johnny Weir was definitely an inspiration.

``The costume isn't a swan, but it's along those lines. They had to sew me into it.''

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Photo:

(color) Will Ferell and Jon Heder in ``Blades of Glory,'' opening March 30.