The director who hated every second of working with Burt Reynolds: “He’s a total cock”
Movie stars, especially the ones who’ve enjoyed the most success, can often let it go to their heads. Even though Burt Reynolds‘ A-list career had almost completely petered out by the early 1980s, he never lost his innate gift to be a nightmare for the people he worked with.
He wasn’t universally disliked by any means, but he had enough squabbles to make sure his reputation preceded him. Reynolds was famously outspoken, and as a result, he feuded with several filmmakers, producers, and co-stars, and some of those altercations even ended in violence.
In his latter years, Reynolds was largely found slumming it in straight-to-video genre films, made-for-TV movies, and the occasional cameo appearance. Fortunately, he’ll be remembered for Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance, and The Cannonball Run, not In the Name of the King, Delgo, and Not Another Christmas Movie.
Once technology had advanced to a certain point, another lucrative revenue stream opened up for actors, whether they were famous or has-beens: video games. Updated graphics meant more characters, and more characters meant more money was spent on creating them, which meant that recruiting recognisable names for the recording booth could drum up interest and give sales a boost.
Reynolds would make his console debut in 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as Avery Carrington, a main character who owns the Shady Acres company. The star-studded roster also featured Dennis Hopper, Ray Liotta, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Danny Trejo, and Debbie Harry, but none of them caused any trouble.
The moustachioed menace did, though, with producer and Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser admitting that he’s one of the main reasons why Grand Theft Auto scaled back its use of Hollywood staples. “I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, poor bugger,” he told Vulture. “But we don’t bring in name actors anymore because of their egos.”
While he was recording his lines, Vice City director Navid Khonsari was exposed to his worst aspects. When he asked him to repeat one of them, he wouldn’t do it without encouragement. “You know, you need to give people an ‘atta boy,” Reynolds said. “People do something good, you gotta give them an ‘atta boy.” Despite being bemused by it, the Rockstar veteran gave the man his props.
Sweltering in a roasting hot studio, Reynolds perspired so badly that he needed a replacement shirt. His manager rushed out and bought him a new one, and when Houser informed him that “your shirt’s here,” he took it as an insult. “There’s going to be two hits here,” he replied. “Me hitting you, and you hitting the floor!”
Houser was so pissed off that he was ready to fire the star and excise him from the game entirely, but Khonsari talked him down from a ledge. Once Reynolds had finished his job, they were equally glad to see the back of him. “We got the performance,” the latter told the former. “He’s a total cock, but let’s move on.”
Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Carrington returned in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, where he wasn’t given any lines and was killed off before being eaten by a cannibal.
