I WAS SURPRISED WHEN AMC, A FEW DAYS AGO, AMC AIRED THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOVIE WARGAMES.
I GUESS MY TIME SENSE IS A BIT OFF, IT SURE SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY. BUT THEN, SO DO A LOT OF THINGS.............
IN 1982 0R 1983, I WAS CALLED IN TO MEET WITH THE DIRECTOR, MARTY BREST. IT WAS NOT AN ACTUAL AUDITION, I REMEMBER MARTY AND I JUST SITTING OVER A DESK AND CHATTING.
HE TOLD ME SOMEONE HAD RECOMMENDED ME.
(AS A SIDEBAR, I GOT A DEFINITE MAJORITY OF MY EARLY ON-CAMERA ROLES OVER THE YEARS BY "RECOMMENDATIONS" OR "KNOWING SOMEBODY". BY ACTUAL AUDITIONS, I GOT LESS THAN 50% OF MY ROLES).
I WAS HIRED TO PLAY THE ROLE OF "MALVIN", A COMEDY PARTNER OF MAURY CHAYKIN, A YOUNG CHARACTER ACTOR. I ONLY WORKED A DAY OR TWO - I WAS ONLY IN ONE SCENE.
MAURY CALLED ME UP THE NIGHT BEFORE SHOOTING. HE WANTED TO REHEARSE OUR SCENE BEFORE WE SHOT. BEING LAZY, I SAID, IT'S NO BIG DEAL. LET'S JUST DO IT ON THE SET". WELL, IT'S A BIG DEAL TO ME!, MAURY SAID, CORRECTLY. MY OWN ARROGANCE WAS ASTOUNDING, MAURY BROUGHT ME BACK DOWN TO EARTH. I HAD JUST FAKED MY WAY THROUGH SO MANY B-MOVIES, I WAS NOT ACTING LIKE A PROFESSIONAL. I HONESTLY THOUGHT "WARGAMES" WAS JUST ANOTHER B-MOVIE. AS WE REHEARSED IN OUR DRESSING ROOM, MAURY TOLD ME I'M GOING TO CALL YOU "MISTER POTATO HEAD" IN THE SCENE. I LOVED HIS IDEA, I KNEW IT WOULD WORK IN THE SCENE AND IT DID. TO THIS DAY, I GET CALLED "MISTER POTATO HEAD" BY STRANGERS SOMETIMES!
I WAS DRIVEN TO THE SET WITH MATTHEW BRODERICK, A YOUNG ACTOR - IT WAS MATTHEW'S FIRST FILM. HE WAS A WONDERFUL GUY, I REMEMBER THAT FIRST DRIVE TO THE SET.
MATTHEW AND I TALKED A LOT IN THE CAR. MATTHEW'S FATHER (ACTOR JAMES BRODERICK) HAD RECENTLY DIED, AND MATTHEW REMINISCED ABOUT HIM.
I SWEAR, I CAN STILL SEE THE TEARY LOOK IN MATTHEW'S EYES AS HE TOLD ME, AND OUR DRIVER ABOUT HIS FATHER. HE REALLY LOVED HIS DAD, IT WAS OBVIOUS TO SEE.
MY ONE SCENE HAD ME, MATTHEW AND MAURY IN IT, (PLUS ALLY SHEEDY, THE LEAD ACTRESS) STANDING AROUND A COMPUTER. WELL, I FLUBBED MY LINES OVER AND OVER, MANY, MANY TIMES. ONE LINE KEPT SCREWING ME UP, IT HAD THE WORDS "DATA ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM" IN IT. WHILE I KEPT SCREWING UP TAKE AFTER TAKE, I WATCHED AS MARTY, THE DIRECTOR, DID A SILENT, SLOW BURN.
EDDIE, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU, HE CALLED ME OVER. LET'S TAKE A WALK, HE INTONED.
AS WE STROLLED AROUND OUTSIDE, MARTY PUT A FATHERLY ARM OVER MY SHOULDER AND SPOKE:
YOU'RE COSTING THE STUDIO A LOT OF MONEY. NOW, WE ARE GOING TO PRINT YOUR LINES UP ON WHAT WE CALL "IDIOT CARDS", SO YOU CAN JUST READ THEM OFF.
I WAS VERY SURPRISED, BUT IT SOUNDED OKAY TO ME. (MAYBE I'M WRONG, BUT HE SEEMED TO PUT A LOT OF EMPHASIS ON THE WORD "IDIOT").
OF COURSE, ALMOST ANY DIALOGUE PEOPLE REMEMBER FROM THE PAST WILL USUALLY BE NOT 100% VERBATIM, BUT THE LINE I REMEMBER, CLEAR AS A BELL: YOU'RE COSTING THE STUDIO A LOT OF MONEY - THAT LINE REALLY STRUCK ME! MARTY MIGHT HAVE SAID IT WAS "THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS" OR SOME SUCH VAGUE AMOUNT, BUT I AM NOT SURE.
MY LINES WERE WRITTEN ON BIG PIECES OF CARDBOARD AND I EASILY READ THEM AND WE FINISHED THE SCENE - IT WAS A PIECE OF CAKE. MAYBE IT SPOILED ME THOUGH. I USED THE CUE CARDS IN MOST EVERY FILM I DID AFTER WARGAMES. I READ MY ENTIRE ROLE IN POLAR EXPRESS OFF CUE CARDS - BOB ZEMECKIS WAS THAT NICE OF A DIRECTOR! NOT BEING ABLE TO MEMORIZE LINES HURT MY ON-CAMERA CAREER A LOT, AND IS THE MAIN REASON I SWITCHED OVER TO VOICE-OVERS, WHERE THE ACTORS JUST READ THEIR LINES OFF A SCRIPT.
I MET ALLY SHEEDY, WHO BECAME A FRIEND, ON WARGAMES. ALLY WAS ACTUALLY IN OUR SCENE TOO, BUT SHE HAD NO LINES. ALLY WOULD SOON BECOME FAMOUS AS ONE OF THE 80'S "BRAT PACK". ALLY WAS GOING OUT WITH ERIC STOLTZ AT THE TIME AND I USED TO PLAY A LOT OF POKER WITH ERIC AND WE DID A B-MOVIE TOGETHER CALLED SURF II.
ERIC WAS TO SOON STAR IN THE INCREDIBLE FILM MASK AND A FEW YEARS LATER, HE WAS IN PULP FICTION. ERIC WAS A GREAT GUY, VERY FUNNY.
INTERESTINGLY, MY DIRECTOR, MARTY BREST, WAS FIRED FROM WARGAMES BECAUSE THE STUDIO DID NOT LIKE HIS RUSHES (THE FILM HE HAD SHOT ALREADY).
HE WAS ONLY ON THE FILM FOR 12 DAYS BEFORE HE WAS FIRED AND REPLACED BY JOHN BADHAM. I THOUGHT FOR SURE THE STUDIO WOULD CUT OUT MY ONE SCENE, BUT LUCKILY FOR ME, THEY DID LEAVE MY SCENE IN, INTACT.
ONE OTHER ODD FACT ABOUT WARGAMES THAT IS HARDLY EVER SPOKEN OF. IN WARGAMES, I ACTUALLY PLAYED THE MOVIE'S FIRST "COMPUTER NERD". PAULINE KAEL, THE FILM CRITIC, POINTED IT OUT IN HER REVIEW. MOVIE "COMPUTER NERDS" WERE TO COME OUT IN DROVES AFTER WARGAMES, BUT I AM PRETTY SURE I WAS THE FIRST ONE.
WARGAMES TURNED OUT TO BE A WONDERFUL MOVIE, I THINK IT WAS THE 4TH HIGHEST GROSSING FILM OF THAT YEAR. MARTY WENT ON TO DIRECT BEVERLY HILLS COP WITH EDDIE MURPHY.
I WAS HAPPY FOR MARTY'S SUCCESS I WROTE HIM A THANK YOU NOTE AND HE SENT ME A VERY KIND REPLY NOTE.
IRONIC, ISN'T IT?
THESE WERE THE DAYS BEFORE COMPUTERS WERE MAINSTREAM ITEMS AND PEOPLE STILL WROTE NOTES TO EACH OTHER BY HAND.
