Kevin Kline Picks up French, Chess for ‘Queen to Play’

Kevin Kline, pictures, picture, photos, photo, pics, pic, images, image, hot, sexy, latest, new, 2011NEW YORK – Kevin Kline likes roles that teach him something.

The Oscar winner brushed up on his French to play a French-speaking American in "Queen to Play," an offbeat drama set for release Friday in the U.S. Kline also "upped" his chess game for the film, in which his character employs a Corsican cleaning woman who picks up the game.

Kline learned to play the piano for his role in the 2004 film "De-Lovely."

The actor has another film, "The Conspirator," due out April 15. He says the post-Civil War drama was educating, too: He learned a chapter of American history he didn’t know and discovered what it’s like to work with director Robert Redford.

Kline says he’s always searching for "different" kinds of roles to avoid boring him and his audience.

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