“I just wanted to hit him”: Why was Burt Reynolds so angry with his own revival?
Even though he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the apex of his popularity, Burt Reynolds could have been a much bigger deal if he didn’t end up turning down a slew of iconic roles or gaining the unwanted reputation of being a bit of a dick.
After capturing mainstream attention with his breakthrough role in Deliverance, Reynolds quickly became synonymous with box office success, and there were far too many people inspired to grow a moustache when his signature facial furniture became a key part of both his persona and wide-ranging appeal.
During that hot streak, he landed two Golden Globe nominations for ‘Best Actor – Musical or Comedy’ for The Longest Yard and Starting Over, with White Lightning, Smokey and the Bandit, Semi-Tough, The Cannonball Run, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas all combining to further burnish his drawing power.
Success in Hollywood can often be fleeting, though, and Reynolds eventually experienced a downturn that it looked like he may never get out of. Times have changed, of course, but in decades past, an established film actor signing on to play a major recurring role on television was seen as not only a step-down but an admission of defeat, which is where he found himself in the early 1990s starring on sitcom Evening Shade.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but he was a long way removed from being the incandescent performer who didn’t think twice about rejecting the James Bond franchise, The Godfather, Star Wars, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Fortunately, a second chance was lurking just around the corner, but for some reason, the actor was pretty pissed off about the whole thing.
Having won plenty of praise for his micro-budget debut Hard Eight, Paul Thomas Anderson had already been marked out as a fast-rising auteur well worth keeping an eye on, but he was still a relative rookie. Reynolds was far from being the first choice to play Jack Horner in Boogie Nights, and perhaps that was what stuck in his craw.
While it was entirely true that he was a big deal once upon a time, Reynolds’ previous theatrically-released credit prior to Boogie Nights came when he took sixth billing in Rowan Atkinson’s Bean. Suffice to say, most ex-superstars in his predicament would have bitten the hand of any director who offered them such a well-rounded and challenging part, but even when he got onto set, he hardly behaved with the utmost professionalism.
Anderson was only 27 years old when it hit cinemas, but long before then, he had to deal with a particularly tetchy veteran. Even though he’d put pen to paper and signed on the dotted line, Reynolds had so little confidence in Boogie Nights that he reportedly fired his agent for recommending it to him as a potential comeback vehicle in the first place.
History tends to favour the victor, though, and there must have been at least the tiniest twinge of second-hand embarrassment when the drama was released to rapturous critical acclaim, putting Reynolds on the Academy Awards shortlist for the first and last time when he was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor’.
Did that make it water under the bridge? Of course not, because Reynolds never met a feud he couldn’t finish. When quizzed by Conan O’Brien about the rumours he’d wanted to sock Anderson square in the chops, he denied it. Sort of. “No, I didn’t want to hit him in the face,” he clarified. “I just wanted to hit him.”
Reynolds could have realised the error of his ways when he snagged his Oscar nod and Golden Globe win, put his issues with Anderson to the side, and basked in the glory of Boogie Nights. Instead, he continued to harbour feelings of resentment towards the filmmaker and made a habit of highlighting their feud in the years to come. People don’t need to get along on set by any means, but harbouring a deep-seated desire to punch the guy doing a stellar job of rehabilitating a dilapidated career seems unnecessary.
Boogie Nights was the movie that gave Reynolds the second wind he’d been desperately crying out for, but he wasn’t half enraged about it.
