The one movie Burt Reynolds swore he would never make: “That would destroy everything I’m trying to do”
Few actors, if any, have turned down as many iconic roles as Burt Reynolds, and the constant battle between the two sides of his personality ultimately defined his career.
On one hand, Reynolds was a massive star. He spent half a decade ruling the box office as America’s most bankable actor, but once his signature brand of high-octane action comedies went out of fashion, he never came close to reclaiming those heights for the remainder of his professional life.
On the other hand, Reynolds was aware that his A-list tenure had a finite shelf life. And yet, he was constantly caught in an internal tug-of-war that made him afraid to venture too far outside his comfort zone. The offers were there, and with the benefit of hindsight, he wished he’d taken them.
In another timeline, he could have been James Bond and Han Solo, and played at least one character that won its eventual actor an Academy Award. Understandably, he was reticent: Reynolds had waited years for Deliverance to come along, and once he was finally famous, he didn’t want to do anything other than star in movies with the best chance of mainstream success.
The downside was that when his leading man days had drawn to a close, nobody took him seriously as an actor, ruling him out of the dramatic parts that helped many of his peers remain relevant into their 60s and 70s. Boogie Nights was an aberration, all things considered, but he did at least maintain a set of principles.
Perhaps driven by his ill-advised cameo in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, when he visited the set and was convinced to appear on-camera in a decision he couldn’t have regretted more, Reynolds didn’t want to see history repeat itself.
Admittedly, there’s some irony in the actor reprising a role less than a year after reprising another and hating every second of it, but Cannonball Run II was nonetheless a box office hit. JJ McClure was undoubtedly one of his most profitable characters, but one he never wanted to see ever again.
In a 1987 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Reynolds confirmed that the studio had repeatedly come calling with offers to headline Cannonball Run III, offering him a lot of money. He wasn’t averse to the occasional paycheque gig, but in a time when he wanted to prove himself as an actor, he was adamant he’d never play the role again.
“That would destroy everything I’m trying to do to become an actor again and not a personality or a parody,” he said. “I’m not battling my way back to the top either. I had a good run at the top, which I never expected to last as long as it did. Now I feel I’ve gotten better at my craft.”
There were still plenty of terrible movies to come as Reynolds’ attempts at reinvention repeatedly failed, but he did stick to his guns. A third Cannonball Run was never made, even if the actor’s efforts to rebuild and rehabilitate his image didn’t go according to plan.
