The two actors John C Reilly never wants to be like: “They pay a big price”
For a little while, John C Reilly was the epitome of an actor who could do both comedy and drama. In 1999, he starred in For the Love of the Game, a sports drama; Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling, spiderweb of an epic; and Never Been Kissed, a romcom starring Drew Barrymore. His eclectic choice of roles has continued since then, but has almost always resulted in success.
Reilly’s varied career has allowed him to work with all sorts of big names. In Magnolia, which spawned one of his best performances, he shared the billing with several top stars. One of these was none other than Tom Cruise, making a rare foray into auteur-driven drama. Then, one year later, he appeared in the disaster flick The Perfect Storm opposite a raft of A-listers, including George Clooney.
When asked by the BBC whether he would want a life and career similar to his powerhouse co-stars, Reilly was dismissive: “I have a lot of respect for Tom, he’s an incredibly hard-working guy, and a very good actor. But having experienced first-hand what their lives are really like, it’s tough.” He continued, “For all the fame, glory, and money that they get, they pay a big price. I worked with Tom a couple of times, and I worked with George Clooney on The Perfect Storm and watched what he went through every day with hundreds of people constantly after him. When he is not working, he is fleeing. So no, I don’t want that. I cherish my anonymity, I have a really great family life, and am very domestic when I am not working. That is fulfilling to me, that is how you learn about life.”
It should come as no surprise that the personal lives of the actors of Cruise and Clooney’s calibre have suffered greatly as a result of their successes. They are amongst the most recognisable people on the planet, unable to go anywhere in public without being swarmed by a baying mob. On the surface, it seems like they’ve both adapted well to being in the spotlight and are quite comfortable with having so much influence. However, this isn’t the case for everyone, and Reilly is clearly happy with his own level of renown.
Apparently, Reilly’s attitude towards fame also results in him getting better roles. “I’m friends of guys like Brad Pitt and George Clooney, and they’ll come up to me quite often and say they want the parts I play because I get the interesting stuff,” he revealed, although this did come with a caveat. “They get the girl!” he joked. “Let’s switch for a day and see if they still want my parts.”
In recent years, Reilly has scaled back his movie career, but has still been able to find the balance between serious and silly. He had a brief cameo in another PTA flick, Licorice Pizza, before lending his voice to the cutesy holiday animation flick, An Almost Christmas Story.
The fame and recognition that come with being a big-time actor can obviously be a double-edged sword. Reilly has recognised this and accepted his place on the totem pole, although it sounds like he’d maybe like a few more gigs where he gets the girl at the end.
