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Why did Sarah Douglas + Jack O'Halloran hate working w/ Chris Reeve?

posted 10 years ago by TMC-4
22 replies | jump to latest

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=7902846&postcount=30

Another caped actor, Chris Reeve.....even though he could act like a pompous douche according to Douglas/O'Halloran he still didn't deserve his horrible fate.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/superman_movies/news/?a=5093

"I never really knew him that well. I socialised with everybody else but not him. But at the beginning he was a very fresh-faced young American and at the end it was difficult. He definitely got caught up with his own Superman image."

http://www.supermanhomepage.com/movies/movies.php?topic=interview-jack -ohalloran

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081573/trivia

[–] lenlarga 10 years ago

Well, you know, you throw a bunch of actors together on a big production and some will get along with each other better than others.

Also, I think there was some anger at Reeve because he didn't take a stand when Donner was fired.

But realistically, what could Reeve really do? He had finally made his breakthrough as an actor, and was he really going to risk his career over what essentially was a smart business decision by the Salkinds. I'm not trashing Donner, I think he's the greatest, but from a business perspective cutting out Brando and his 12% 'Mafia like' fee for appearing less than 10 minutes in Superman II was a no-brainer'.

[–] DarthBill 8 years ago

Well, you know, you throw a bunch of actors together on a big production and some will get along with each other better than others.

Yep, just like any other work place.

Also, I think there was some anger at Reeve because he didn't take a stand when Donner was fired.

But realistically, what could Reeve really do? He had finally made his breakthrough as an actor, and was he really going to risk his career over what essentially was a smart business decision by the Salkinds. I'm not trashing Donner, I think he's the greatest, but from a business perspective cutting out Brando and his 12% 'Mafia like' fee for appearing less than 10 minutes in Superman II was a no-brainer'.

I was actually about to say - there probably wasn't anything Reeve (who was undoubtedly under a lot more pressure than Douglas & O'Halloran) really could have done in that situation. He wasn't some iconic mega-star A-lister who could snap his fingers and make industry wheels turn, he was still "the new kid on the block", even if he had objected his words probably would have fallen on deaf ears.

[–] riverwalk 10 years ago

''But at the beginning he was a very fresh-faced young American and at the end it was difficult. He definitely got caught up with his own Superman image."

I think that says it all for why douglas didn't like him, she probably felt he was fill of his own self importance because of his overnight fame and she likley saw him evolve from another typical young 25 year old man to a man who thought he was everything-people who are successful sometimes can be downright arrogant, self infatuated and even horrible and mean. I've seen it myself. And before any of us here stick up for reeves[and i'm not bashing him] well it's kinda silly as unless we knew him personally we can't comment on him.

[–] dm7686 10 years ago

Yeah well i think as much as they will never admit it, a lot of it might have been jealousy, maybe he was getting all the attention because he was Superman and they didn't like it, Chris Reeve didn't seem like that bad of a guy, i mean i didn't know him personally or anything but from what i've seen in interviews and from what people have said, like Richard Donnor, Margot Kidder and a few others he's worked with, i know one thing, they could not have picked a better person to play Superman, i mean there's no doubt about it, he was born to play the character, he had the perfect look, attitude and personality, the best person to ever play Superman.

[–] riverwalk 10 years ago

Yeah jealously perhaps but a film set is just like every other workplace people forget-there will always be people that don't gel with each other and there will always be cliques, tension, backbiting, resentment and bitching in all walks of every workplace. A lot of is it is usually down to petty matters and trivial stuff and or personality clashes but other reasons are because of creative differences[and these do not just happen on movie sets but any workplace] were people disagree over how things are done in a place. For example I left my job as a teacher once in a school as I was in big conflict with my boss over how the kids should be disciplined.

[–] TMC-4 9 years ago

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18007108&postco unt=25

I have heard that Christopher Reeve was a real jerk to everyone who served him in any way, or was "beneath" him on the pecking order. He only became a saint after his accident.

[–] MrsBuckyBarnes 9 years ago

^^ i don't see the point of the above link - it appears to be completely anonymous. why does anyone not get along with anyone else? sometimes people don't gel. i don't know why it even matters since the poor man is long dead.

before we get started, does anyone want to get out?

[–] TMC-4 9 years ago

And what, just because Christopher Reeve is no longer with us, we aren't at all allowed to discuss anything potentially negative about his professionalism during his Superman days (at least)?

[–] MrsBuckyBarnes 9 years ago

^^ what are you talking about? My comments say nothing about what you can and can't talk about, just that the link seems pointless and poorly referencd aa it is anonymous.

Never, never to be squandered...the miracle of another human being.

[–] TMC-4 9 years ago

The way that I interpreted it, it seemed like you were suggesting that after Christopher Reeve's accident and his untimely death, it was deemed "inappropriate" to discuss possibly negative connotations regarding his off-screen personality/behavior.

[–] GorchBrother 9 years ago

Never heard anyone say he was a douche before his accident or death. Seems more like people brave enough to slate a dead man.

That doesn't mean that people who knew him and worked with him can't have unflattering opinions. He was a young unknown at the beginning of production in 77. By the middle of shooting Superman II he'd become the star and linchpin of a major franchise. It would be even more remarkable if his attitude wasn't affected by that.

"I don't need to believe it's real. I just need to believe it."

[–] afsana_bahar 9 years ago

There are going to be some people who you get along with, and some people who you just don't gel/click with. You're not necessarily going to have a pleasant experience with every single person you meet. For instance, Sarah and Jack may have hated working with Christopher, but I know Margot Kidder (she has always said he was like her brother), Richard Donner, and Jane Seymour (his Somewhere In Time co-star) loved him.

[–] raf-33 9 years ago

Christopher Reeve was notorious for being a dick. My mum thought he was a prat when she would read about his escapades in the papers ordering extras around and making absurd demands of producers.

Anyone who gets an affliction suddenly becomes an angel overnight, because those that worked with them are not exactly going to bash a cripple are they? When someone gets cancer, parkinsons or injured in a car accident suddenly there's only good things being said about them, regardless of what they were like.

I still wish what happened to him had not happened, because just being an ass is not the same as being a racist or anything like that, but he was very sure of himself due to him being #1 and playing a THE superhero.

Ya Kirk-loving Spocksucker!

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TMC-4 9 years ago

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Superman-Villain-Just-Said-Horrible-Things-About-Christopher-Reeve-70564.html

Christopher was a young young-minded guy. It [Superman] was the first thing he ever did of any consequence. He believed his own publicity a little bit too much. … He was like a child. He was like a little kid. He wanted to be Superman and Clark Kent all the time. … You know when he became a nice person is when he got hurt. When he got hurt he became a really different person altogether. He became a lot humbler and he cared about people a lot more, you know? Prior to that he wouldn't show up for certain things with kids and stuff. He was a bit of an ass.

[–] Hendry_William_French 9 years ago

Jealousy.

Everyone loves Christopher Reeve's Superman. He's etched into almost every movie fan's hearts and minds as one of the great all time cinematic heroes. Ask anyone if they know who Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran is and they'll say "who?". They were nobodies who were jealous of Reeve and his success. Simple.

I am Djour Djilios. could you spell that please? I don't think so. Try it with a "D".

[–] franzkabuki 8 years ago

This jealousy thing doesn't really make any sense, considering that this O'Halloran guy, for instance, not only also worked with Hackman and Brando in Superman, but also Robert Mitchum in Farewell, My Lovely and Jeff Bridges in King Kong - all bigger stars and better actors than Reeve ever was - and yet had nothing bad to say about them. And what's the big deal, anyway - Reeve wouldn't be exactly the first overnight success whose manner becomes negatively affected by the sudden fame.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan