Photo: Getty Images
Zebras and Missiles: Inside Roland Emmerich’s Awesome House
Pop quiz! Which of the following items are actually features of Independence Day director Roland Emmerich’s 1830 London townhouse, as shown and described in today’s can’t-miss New York Times slideshow, and which are crazy things we made up?
a) A diorama of torture at Abu Ghraib.
b) At least three stuffed zebras.
c) A throw pillow embroidered with the profile of Josef Stalin.
d) A large ball made of glued-together nude Barbie dolls
e) A desk made from the wing of a World War II airplane.
f) A diorama of Hugh Grant’s encounter with Divine Brown.
g) A life-size waxwork statue of Pope John Paul reading his own obituary.
h) A coffee table made of an Iraqi missile.
i) An Iraq-vs.-America chess set featuring pieces carved in the shape of a suicide bomber and the exploding World Trade Center towers.
j) A silver-painted replica of a door in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.
k) A framed photo of Princess Diana giving the cameraman the finger.
l) A diorama of the Kennedy assassination.
m) Dolls of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in a fireplace.
n) A headboard made from the wing of jet plane.
o) A guest room with a flight-suited George W. Bush doll sitting attentively on the bed.
p) A framed photograph of a bare-chested Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
q) A chair made out of Shell oil cans by children in Ghana.
r) Stone benches laser-cut with the words “insurgents” and “infidels.”
s) An enormous white birdcage in the shape of the White House.
t) A statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Thinker pose.
u) Chalkboard walls covered in terrible ideas for movies.
Solution
Real items in Roland Emmerich’s house: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t.
False items: u. The movie ideas are awesome!!
A London Home to Shock the Neighbors [NYT]
Zebras and Missiles: Inside Roland Emmerich’s Awesome House