The modern classic Burt Reynolds turned down because he hated the director
They say diamonds are created under pressure, and when it comes to Burt Reynolds’ performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s classic 1970s porn drama Boogie Nights, that aphorism couldn’t be more accurate. You see, it’s been well documented over the years that Reynolds and Anderson didn’t exactly see eye to eye on that picture. Despite this, the end product was a stone-cold masterpiece from Anderson and a beloved late-career role for Reynolds. The Smokey and the Bandit star even landed his sole Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Jack Horner. Sadly, the resulting diamond wasn’t enough for Reynolds to forget about the pressure, and he declined the chance to star in another modern classic due to his distaste for the Boogie Nights experience.
What happened to make Reynolds sour so badly on Boogie Nights, though? Well, his disdain mostly focuses on Anderson. The star once diplomatically told GQ, “Personality-wise, we didn’t fit.”
He then added, not quite so diplomatically, “Mostly because he was young and full of himself.” He claimed that Anderson would treat every shot like he was reinventing the wheel of cinema itself, which rubbed the salty veteran the wrong way.
For instance, after the superb opening shot in which Reynolds drives into the storied Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Reynolds claims Anderson said, “Isn’t that amazing?” – to which Reynolds namechecked five movies with the exact same kind of shot. He maintained, “It wasn’t original. But if you have to steal, steal from the best.”
According to an incendiary Oral History published by Grantland, though, the friction between Reynolds and Anderson went a lot further than withering disagreements over the originality of camera shots. First Assistant Director John Wildermuth claimed, “Burt was frustrated because Paul was not allowing him to do free takes, you know, a sense of going off the page.” Producer John Lyons felt Reynolds’ rancour was a case of a bruised ego, as he believed Anderson wasn’t respecting him as a legend of the business.
Lyons said, “Respect is extremely important to him. Like many actors, he is frail in terms of his ego, and Paul didn’t really understand that. He probably understands it much better now.”
Whatever the case, it all led to a huge blow-up, the likes of which movie studios usually want to keep away from the prying eyes of the press. Wildermuth claimed Reynolds dragged Anderson outside of the house they were filming in and cursed him out, calling him a “little punk kid” who had no right to tell him what to do. Anderson reportedly held his own, arguing back with Reynolds, and even returned to set with a sly smile on his face. Then all hell broke loose.
Actor Tom Lenk claimed: “All of a sudden we saw fists flying. We saw some fists flying from Burt Reynolds. I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this. But it was like he was trying to punch our director in the face.” Lyons claimed he stepped in to break up the melee, and quickly spirited Reynolds back to his trailer. His take on the situation? “Paul bit off a little more than he could chew. Burt scared the shit out of him that day. I don’t think Paul was smirking. I think he was literally shaken by it.”
Fascinatingly, many observers have put forth a theory about what lay beneath Reynolds’ anger. Newsweek critic David Ansen claimed, “Reynolds thought he was in a dirty movie and wanted out and wasn’t happy,” and it certainly seems like there’s a lot of truth in that. Reynolds has indicated a number of times that he was uncomfortable with the film’s subject matter, and this would explain why even receiving an Oscar nomination wouldn’t make it any more “worthy” in his eyes.
In light of all this, then, it’s perhaps not surprising that Reynolds said, “No thanks” to starring in Magnolia, Anderson’s follow-up to Boogie Nights. While it would also prove to be a modern classic that scored several Academy Award nominations, Reynolds simply had no interest in going back to that particular well.
In 2015, he told The Guardian, “I’d done my picture with Paul Thomas Anderson. That was enough for me.”
