Michelle Pfeiffer cuts Jonathan Jackson's role

According to Michelle Pfeiffer, the Jacquelyn Mitchard novel ”The Deep End of the Ocean” is a little too deep — at least for the movies. ”The book was so full we couldn’t possibly get all of it in,” says Pfeiffer, 41, who stars in and produced the film version (now in theaters). ”We had many, many different versions of the story because of that. In the book, all the characters were a lot more troubled, but because you can’t give everyone the nuances and backgrounds to explain their behavior (in the film), audiences would just end up not liking them.”

One of the more troubled characters was played by Jonathan Jackson (best known for his role as Lucky on ”General Hospital”), who stars as Pfeiffer’s son Vincent. Not only was the 16-year-old’s role trimmed down from the novel — much of which is told from Vincent’s point of view — more than a few of his scenes hit the cutting-room floor. ”There was a big section that took place after Pat (Treat Williams) had a heart attack that didn’t end up in the movie, a lot of stuff in the hospital,” Jackson tells EW Online. ”(Also) cut were little scenes establishing the growth of my character.”

Even so, Jackson diplomatically shrugs off his character’s downsizing. ”I was okay with not having all that stuff in there,” says the actor, whose previous feature-film appearance was in ”Camp Nowhere.” ”It’s a 125-page script, and there are just certain things you’ve got to cut.”