The movie Burt Reynolds called the worst experience of his career: “I thought I’d sold out”
Burt Reynolds appeared in his fair share of classics during his time, like Smokey and the Bandit and Deliverance, but who can forget his turn as Jack Horner in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, a bitingly funny take on the golden age of porn?
The previous few years of Reynolds’ career hadn’t been as successful as they’d previously been, having starred in the critically derided Striptease, several direct-to-video movies, and some mediocre comedies, yet, here he was, cast as the pornographer who takes on the young Eddie, played by Mark Wahlberg, rising from a pot washer to an adult film icon known as Dirk Diggler.
So, Boogie Nights, the second feature from the young indie filmmaker Anderson, was the perfect opportunity to get some semblance of acclaim back, but he couldn’t stand the process of filming the movie. It would soon become a classic, considered one of the greatest films of the 1990s, helping to launch Anderson into the mainstream and give Wahlberg some credibility, but Reynolds wasn’t convinced.
“I hated the experience. I thought I’d sold out, in a way. I wasn’t sure whether that was why they were offering the film to me, but apparently, I did it very well,” he told IndieWire. “It won some awards, and I was proud of that. But I’ve done 60 films or something, and it was just the worst experience I ever had.”
The reason Reynolds hated working on the movie so much was predominantly down to his experience with Anderson, who might be one of the greatest modern filmmakers working in Hollywood, but back then, he was still relatively unknown – and inexperienced.
Getting a veteran star like Reynolds on board was surely going to be nerve-wracking, and if Anderson had any fears, they might have come true, because Reynolds really fulfilled the stereotype of an actor who thinks he knows more because he’s been around much longer. You can see why Reynolds would find it frustrating being directed by someone who doesn’t seem fully equipped to be doing what they’re doing – Anderson was only 26 – but no one forced the actor to sign up for the role. He could’ve turned it down.
In his memoir But Enough About Me, Reynolds expressed his dislike of working on the film, which he didn’t even watch in the end, even though he wound up with an Oscar nomination for it. “I wasn’t crazy about being [directed] by a guy who’s younger than some sandwiches I’ve had,” he wrote.
Anderson admits that maybe his simultaneous inexperience and excitement to be making a film did get the better of him, revealing on Radio Andy, “I was 26 years old and really full of a lot of vinegar and confidence and barking directions at everybody, and I think just trying to get this film made. And I think some of that probably got directed at Burt, and he wasn’t having it, and nor should he have. But that’s not to say there weren’t great, great moments.”
So, Reynolds might have called it the “worst experience” of his career, but it was a pretty iconic role nonetheless, with the actor delivering a stellar performance that was exactly what Anderson wanted from him.
