And He's Got a Cool Name Too

The New York Times Magazine on the perils of being a hotshot actor on the cusp of the New Hollywood revival:

[Rip] Torn's most famous career turn occurred in 1967, when he had dinner with the writer Terry Southern and his wife and the actors Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper to discuss the possibility of his appearing in a film they were pulling together called "Easy Rider." Of course, the role eventually went to Jack Nicholson, and years later Hopper maintained that Torn lost the role after he pulled a knife on Hopper at the dinner. Torn recalls the event differently: it was Hopper who pulled the knife on him, and Torn merely disarmed him. At that point, Torn told me, "Dennis jumped back and knocked Peter on the floor, and I said, 'There goes the job."'

The article paints an interesting picture of life as a mild screen-acting success—often in demand, but never above the title. It’s a nice antidote to the continual array of Hollywood success stories, in which the young performer dreams of making it big and does, as well as to the all too familiar tales of struggling, starving actors who circulate through the highly connected worlds of hemorrhoid commercial acting and chain restaurant table waiting. As for Rip, well, I have to say that I’m glad things turned out the way they did, because, let’s face it, we need all the crotchety, wheelchair-bound codgers throwing wrenches at Vince Vaughn that we can get.