MovieChat Forums > Forces of Nature (1999) Discussion > One of the actors killed himself the wee...

One of the actors killed himself the weekend this was released


Anyone remember that? That the weekend this opened, the actor who plays Ben Affleck's fiancee's old flame, the one trying to steal her away- he killed himself in Las Vegas right as the film went theatrical.

I was working at a theater and was puzzled by this. Is the movie THAT bad? What did he do, and WHY? Someone told me he was depressed that they cut most of his scenes and made him look dumb (his singing scene)

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It was David Strickland. He was also on "Suddenly Susan'. Yes, the movie was awful, but that's not why he committed suicide. Like in most cases, there's never a easy reason people take their own lives.

Now the producers of this movie, maybe *they* should've done themselves in. It would serve a greater purpose.

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So why did he ACTUALLY do it... he was just getting his big break into the mainstream

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Why did Owen Wilson try and do it? If anybody's got more going for them, it's him.

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but what does Owen Wilson have to do with this guy? If I wanted to talk about Owen Wilson, I'd go to the Owen Wilson boards. Now back to my question, still unanswered... ?

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It's because he was suffering from bipolar disorder. It's a chemical imbalance in the brain. People who suffer from these types of mental illnesses have suicidal thoughts and suffer from manic depression, it doesn't matter if someone is the wealthiest person on the planet and has a lot going for them, they can still be depressed by suffering from mental illnesses.

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Hollywood is a very seedy environment. The things they see and are exposed to for fame is too depressing.

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Supposedly he was already someone who battled depression and anxiety (according to some that knew him closely) but after his role in that movie was cut down a lot in editing, he was really depressed over it. Despite his successes, he seemed very hard on himself. When he saw the film for the first time at the premiere he fell into a funk by how much they trimmed down his part. That was supposed to be his big breakthrough into comedic films, but after seeing how small his role became, he fell into a funk because he knew it would do nothing for him. And supposedly he put a lot of time into his part.

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