70S MOVIE IDOL
He’s an ageing, washed-up, screen heart-throb with bad health, a pricey toupee, and a catalogue of regrets over work, women and wealth stretching back six decades.
And when director and screenwriter Adam Rifkin penned the role of Vic Edwards in The Last Movie Star, he had only one man in mind to play him.
So the first thing I ask the legendary actor concerned is: “How the heck did they pitch that one to you then Burt?” Isn’t it, erm, a bit close for comfort...? “Well,” chuckles Burt Reynolds, 82, “I guess it wasn’t too big a stretch for anyone to imagine me in the role.
“Adam wrote it specially for me and did a real good job.”
But Burt, Hollywood’s hottest hunk in the 1970s before slipping into B-movie hell, does an even better job of portraying faded star Vic as he reflects on his life at a backwater film festival.
And, while it could easily have been one last performance, Burt says it has re-ignited the acting fire that once saw him ranked alongside Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
“I didn’t just show up and be myself,” says Burt. “Vic isn’t me, even though we share some experiences. In fact playing him proved quite a stretch. I did things I haven’t done in a long time, emotionally. I went to places I needed to go.
“When you’ve been driving fast cars and punching and shooting people all the time you don’t get much of a chance to show vulnerability. I’ve never had a chance to show there is a soul there.
“But this movie gave me a chance to really do some soul searching and show some of the things actors go through.
“Some crash and burn and never get up again while others fight their way back and get working again.”
Burt always managed to fight his way back and keep working, but not in the roles he was capable of. And he blames that on bad choices. “I don’t think there’s any actor who doesn’t think he’s made bad career choices,” says Burt.
“I was recently with my friend Clint Eastwood, who’s had one of the most successful careers of all.
“We were laughing about the mistakes we made and he talked about a couple of films he wished he hadn’t made. I have a lot more than that! You learn from it though – you learn to be a better actor.”
Born in Michigan, Burt grew up in Florida and won a university football scholarship. But a knee injury wrecked his dreams of becoming a pro player.
He took acting classes and moved to Hollywood where he worked as a stuntman – sustaining the injuries that leave him in constant pain today.
After early TV roles he made his first film, Angel Baby in 1961.
Other roles followed and Burt was soon being compared to Marlon Brando, whom he disliked. So he grew a the moustache which became his trademark.
When Sean Connery quit as 007 Burt turned down the role saying: “An American can’t play James Bond.” He later rejected the part of Han Solo in Star Wars. In 1963 he wed British actress Judy Carne. They divorced after two years. In 1972, he won huge praise for his role in Deliverance. A scene from the movie is used in The Last Movie Star with CGI allowing Vic/Burt to talk to his younger self. “It was weird to see that later,” he says. “But I thought ‘Hey, what a great actor this guy is!’ Would I give my younger self any advice? “Well, where would