“Everyone has their own version”: when Donald Sutherland’s bare arse remade ‘Rashomon’
The late Donald Sutherland was one of the greatest actors of his generation, able to elevate the humour of any project with his natural charm and bring nuance and sensitivity to his dramatic roles. With a career spanning over six decades, the actor worked with some of the most influential directors, such as Nicholas Roeg, Robert Redford and Robert Altman. Despite the emotional weight of some of his roles, Sutherland was always able to bring light and fun to each set, perhaps best encapsulated through one story, in particular, on the set of John Landis’ Animal House.
Sutherland was a frequent collaborator of Landis, working with him at the beginning of the director’s career on a low-budget comedy called Kentucky Fried Movie. At the time, Sutherland was at the height of his fame, but Landis asked him if he would make a cameo appearance as a waiter who drops a cake. Although brief, it marked the duo’s first collaboration, with Landis describing Sutherlands appearance in the film as “…the equivalent of Brad Pitt appearing in a student film today”.
The pair subsequently worked on Animal House, however, the film had a rocky production and was nearly scrapped multiple times due to the casts lack of big-name actors. At the time, Sutherland was the only A-list actor that Landis knew, so he asked him to be in the film. The dying production was resurrected, and Landis owed the success of the project to Sutherland. Sutherland has only spoken highly of the project, besides expressing regret at not accepting a cut of the overall sales, with the film unexpectedly going on to do very well at the box office.
However, there was one particular moment during the production of Animal House that perfectly demonstrates the level of vivacity and play that Sutherland brought to each project.
In one scene, Sutherland’s character finds out that his professor is sleeping with a fellow student, played by Karen Allen. Then, as Sutherland was about to exit the scene, he pulled down his trousers and exposed his bare arse for the whole crew to see, something that Sutherland did to entertain the crew and editors when cutting the rushes.
However, Allen was reportedly very nervous about one of her more intimate scenes, in which she was required to be partially nude. Landis said that Sutherland had an ulterior motive, revealing, “Karen was nervous, and I talked to Donald about it, and that’s why he did it. And she was like, ‘If he can, I can”.
When told about Sutherland’s description of this stunt, Landis said, “Here’s the thing about movies: It’s ‘Rashomon.’ Everyone has their own version.”
Whether or not Sutherland’s decision to do this was influenced by Allen’s own qualms over her upcoming scene, it only highlights the actor’s larger-than-life persona, always finding the fun in any situation and bringing people together (even if at his own expense). He later went on to win an Academy Honorary Award and continued working until his tragic passing earlier this year, always committed to entertaining and sharing stories right until the very end.
