The one movie Lewis Pullman said can never be remade: “I bet your mom’s life”
In a classic case of Hollywood nepo privilege, Lewis Pullman landed his first film role opposite his father, Bill Pullman, in the movie The Ballad of Lefty Brown, even starring alongside Hollywood icon Peter Fonda.
You can hardly blame someone for taking on a role in such circumstances, though, because wouldn’t you do the same? Hollywood runs on who you know, not what you know, and these days, you’ll struggle to find a star who doesn’t have some familial connection to the industry prior to joining.
However, if a nepo actor can prove themselves to be a genuine talent with a clear appreciation for cinema, then it’s easier to let their privilege slide a little, and it seems like Pullman knows what he’s doing, as the actor has already appeared in everything from mega-hits like Top Gun: Maverick and Thunderbolts to more critically acclaimed works such as Battle of the Sexes and The Testament of Ann Lee.
If Pullman’s Letterboxd profile is anything to go by, it seems like he appreciates proper filmmaking, with Five Easy Pieces and Badlands sitting in his top four favourites. It appears that he has a real penchant for 1970s cinema, in fact, with a particular love for one of Five Easy Pieces director Bob Rafelson’s lesser-appreciated works, the crazy Stay Hungry.
Featuring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appears alongside Jeff Bridges and Sally Field, the movie is a tale of bodybuilding, fraudulent businessmen, and gym fights, which Pullman admitted he absolutely “loved”. He even bets that the movie could never be made today because of how ridiculous it really is, writing, “I bet your mom’s life you can’t get the financing to remake this movie, and if you do, I’ll give you the financing to remake this movie”.
The film was adapted from Charles Gaines’ novel of the same name, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rafelson, and it bleeds with an unsuspecting eccentricity that has taken many viewers off guard. I mean, in one scene, a bunch of bodybuilders run through the street in very little clothing, intent on finding Schwarzenegger’s character, but instead they just end up posing for people on top of cars.
It’s the kind of movie that you just can’t imagine being made at any other time, a bizarre romp through oiled bodies and corruption, laden with comedic scenes. It was one of Schwarzenegger’s first onscreen performances, and it even earned him a Golden Globe, marking the start of an iconic Hollywood career for the bodybuilder-turned-actor.
Stay Hungry might not have fared as well as Five Easy Pieces, but it remains an underappreciated gem that really takes you on a joyride through the stranger side of the New Hollywood era. With an impressive cast, there are appearances from pre-Freddy Krueger Robert Englund and Scatman Crothers, Rafelson’s film is a bit of a fever dream.
For Pullman, it’s the epitome of a movie that just wouldn’t exist today, but maybe he could use his Marvel money to fund a remake, and perhaps he could take on Bridges’ role, too.
