Burt Legend on role made for him
70s MOVIE IDOL BURT GETS AN ENCORE AT 82
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, 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 reignited 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,” said 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 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 said. “But I thought ‘Hey, what a great actor this guy is. “Would I give my younger self any advice? “Well, where would I start?” Deliverance
should have won him an Oscar nomination. But he blew his chances by famously posing for Cosmopolitan magazine – lying naked on a bearskin rug with his left arm covering his wedding tackle.
He meant it as a joke but found he got wolf-whistles everywhere and said fans “cared more about my pubes than they did about the play.”
Burt admits: “It seemed like a good idea at the time – but now I think it was really stupid. But you can’t regret things like that, you have to move on.”
He was soon sporting another rug (the hairpiece that for years kept fans guessing.) But that didn’t stop him becoming THE 1970s sex symbol.
Burt fuelled a million female fantasies – and Queen star Freddie Mercury also considered him his dream date. He romanced Goldie Hawn and Farrah Fawcett, but actress Sally Field became “the love of my life.”
They dated for five years but split in 1982 – and he still blames himself.
“I miss her terribly, even now,” he said. “Men are like that. You find the perfect person and you screw it up.”
In 1977 came Smokey and the Bandit. Only Star Wars beat the tale of two booze smugglers in box office takings.
From 1978 to 1983, Burt was Hollywood’s top box office draw.
No one since – not Mel Gibson or Tom Cruise – has matched that. At his peak he earned $10million [£8million] a year and had six mansions and estates across the US. There was also a jet, helicopter, custom-made cars, 150 horses and $100,000 of designer toupees.
But he lost a fortune by investing in a restaurant chain, nightclub, theatre and football team,
And soon, lazy film choices like Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 and Cannonball Run II hit his bankability.
Then in 1984 he broke his jaw doing a stunt in cop drama City Heat.
Unable to eat, he lost 40lb and it was rumoured he had Aids. His career nosedived. In 1988, Burt wed actress Loni Anderson. They adopted a son, Quinton, and things looked up when he landed a part in TV comedy Evening Shade, which won him an Emmy.
But Burt claimed shopaholic Loni blew tens of thousands on clothes and jewels. In 1993 they had a high profile divorce. (Loni alleged Burt was carrying on with a barmaid.)
Film roles and endorsements dried up and he ran up debts of $11.2million, In 1996, he filed for bankruptcy.
Yet again he battled back and his 1998 performance in Boogie Nights won a Golden Globe, a string of other awards and an Oscar nomination.
But, in 2009, Burt had spinal surgery, a heart op and then went into rehab for pain killer addiction.
In recent years, his frail looks and difficulties walking alarmed fans. But Burt insists he’s in better health than for years – and is “getting in shape” for three films he’s lined up. Playing Vic has clearly given him a new lease of life – which he sees through his favourite rose-coloured specs.
“I learned a lot about myself though this role,” he said.
“There were times when I really felt very vulnerable. One was at a football stadium where I’d played when I was a kid. I feel I am, only now, ready to show what I’ve never shown before.”
Maybe that will be in the new Quentin Tarantino film – Once Upon A Time in Hollywood – in which Burt will star alongside Brad Pitt, Leonardo di Caprio, Tim Roth and Margot Robbie.
“I still haven’t done the best work I can do and I’d like to do something people really wouldn’t expect,” he said.
The Last Movie Star is available on digital now.
I learned a lot through this role. There were times when I felt really vulnerable