Many of you have asked me how did I ever get a chance to do a movie with Sir. Anthony Hopkins, FRACTURE! This is just another one of those John J. Nazarian experiences, many years before that movie was produced I was blessed to have met and worked for a great human being, her name is Debra Farentino. Debra had a serious ‘issue’ and I was hired to take care of it and that is all I can or will say about it. The travel and the games in catching my target/problem was priceless, he moved fast, I moved faster! Hope that fat bastard is still in an Italian prison, he did move fast, or should I say rolled fast! During the assignment I spent sometime with Debra and her family, just a great bunch of people, nothing but great memories for me.
There was a time a few months later ( 2007 ) that my phone would ring and on the other end was Gregory “Greg” Hoblit, Greg was Debra’s husband at the time and asked if I would like to be in a movie? Hell Ya! Was the response as I recall on my part —that is the long story short. My agent for over 30 years has been Alec Shankman and talk about another blessing! Alec is, I think, without any question one of the brightest agents in the entertainment industry. I was very lucky to have Alec. I owe Harry Abrams a big thank you for all of that, Alec and I are friends to this very day.
Well the deal was made and I showed up, I even had a trailer with my name on it. My waiting room was a trailer just down the way from a guy who would become a pretty hot commodity, Ryan Gosling (I had never heard of him at the time and now Goslin is everywhere). David Stathairn, who I recognized from movies and TV was on set too, a very fascinating person to speak with. The ultimate of course was Sir Anthony Hopkins. John J. Nazarian’s trailer, it was not as great as the big guys, but who the hell was I? Just a gumshoe who got lucky to be involved in a major motion picture at the time, all thanks to Greg Hoblit.
The opportunity to meet Sir. Anthony Hopkins in itself was worth more than I could ever pay. There I was sitting with and talking to “Hannibal Lecter”. The first time I walked on set and heard Hopkin’s voice, was as recognizable as my own father’s voice….. My part was to be Hopkin’s private investigator “Dick”, you will hear that in the movie, funny right? It was one of the very rare instances that I got a photo with a “star”. It has been my policy that I never asked for or took photos with 99.9% of my clients. You never knew what could happen to those photos or how they could be manipulated and affect my clients’ lives or careers. Greg, wanted the photo so who was I to argue? As a policy I understand that I work in a very nasty business and vengeance is always very close by. The ‘takes’ and ‘retakes’ were an education to hear how Hopkins could reword and his facial expressions as he spoke was something I will never forget. Sir. Anthony Hopkins is a genius of the big screen and I hung out with him for 2 weeks on set. Everyone on the crew simply called him “Tony”, class act and another one in a million.
I remember being given a pass to be in the film as I was not a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Well, all that was taken care of with some paperwork and I was good to go. I was paid $30,000.00 as my initial fee and since 2007 I have received thousands of dollars in residuals, what a gift! It was just another incredible highlight of an incredible career, I am eternally grateful to Greg Hoblit. A year ago I called and spoke to Greg and thanked him again, it was obvious that having me on the film credits of this movie I would receive money a few times a year for life, I still get residuals to this very day, 2024!