The terrible movie Woody Harrelson only made for the money: “It’s the worst motivator”
One of the easiest ways for an actor to slip down the industry’s pecking order is by taking an extended sabbatical, which placed Woody Harrelson in an unfortunate position when he decided to end his self-imposed exile and return to the screen.
The role might have landed him on the Academy Awards shortlist for ‘Best Actor’ and remains one of the best performances of his career, but playing the title role in The People vs Larry Flynt had a hugely detrimental effect on Harrelson. The backlash towards the film soured him on Hollywood and convinced him that the best way to preserve his sanity was to take a breather.
It wasn’t an immediate decision, though, after Harrelson continued working for the next couple of years. However, following the release of Ron Howard’s EDtv in March 1999, the next time Harrelson played a major role in a wide theatrical release wouldn’t be until Brett Ratner’s heist caper After the Sunset premiered in November 2004.
Actors might get paid more than the average 9-to-5 worker, but going almost five years without a substantial part in any production will affect anyone’s bank balance. It was time for Harrelson to make his long-awaited return to cinema, and the simplest way to get back into the groove was to take an easy paycheque.
“When I came back, I was like, ‘I’m really gonna focus on just doing stuff that I love,'” he explained to The Varsity before immediately confessing he went and did the exact opposite. “I kind of got talked into a commercial endeavour. Which, any time I’ve ever done a movie with the concept of, ‘This will be commercially successful’, it just never goes that way.”
The sun-kissed crime flick starred Pierce Brosnan as a retired jewel thief who gets drawn back into the life he’d left behind when he discovers a mythical diamond is on a cruise ship docked in his island paradise. Harrelson’s federal agent knows the valuable prize is in close proximity and makes it his mission to ensure it doesn’t go missing.
Every bit as trite and formulaic as it sounds, After the Sunset flopped at the box office after barely recouping its budget and took a critical thrashing. “It’s just the worst way, and it’s the worst motivator,” Harrelson said of chasing the money and ending up with a terrible movie. “So many people today are motivated by, they really have the equation in their mind of success equals happiness.”
It did at least get him back into the groove after so long away, even if After the Sunset crashing and burning on the critical and commercial front wasn’t the ideal way to announce that Harrelson’s next chapter had begun. On the plus side, he got paid well for it, so it wasn’t a total loss.
