The Paul Thomas Anderson movie earned Burt Reynolds his only Oscar nomination
In the mid-1990s, Burt Reynolds hit an especially rough patch. A number of questionable career moves had caused the charismatic actor, once the highest-grossing in the business, to fall out of public favor. Bad investments and spending habits - coupled with a very public, very expensive divorce - led him to file for bankruptcy. His star was fading, and quickly.
Until Boogie Nights, that is. Paul Thomas Anderson's second feature, set in the porn industry during the late 1970s, hit theaters in October 1997 and received a great deal of critical acclaim - something Reynolds, who played auteurist porn director Jack Horner, hadn't experienced in years. It earned the actor, who died Thursday at 82, his only Oscar nomination. He ended up losing the best supporting actor award to Robin Williams for Good Will Hunting.
The Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert and the New York Times' Janet Maslin agreed that his portrayal of Jack Horner was a career highlight: "Burt Reynolds rises to this occasion by giving his best and most suavely funny performance in many years," the latter wrote, adding that he gave Jack "an extra edge by playing a swaggering, self-important figure very close to the bone." The Los Angeles Times observed that Reynolds' "veteran been-there presence" brought "an essential stability to the father figure role."
But the actor had the opposite reaction: He was so unhappy with Boogie Nights, despite never having seen it, that he fired his agent afterward. He told Conan O'Brien earlier this year that he had turned down the role seven times. It "just wasn't my kind of film," he explained, and "made me very uncomfortable."
And what was that about Reynolds wanting to hit Anderson in the face?
"No, I didn't want to hit him in the face - I just wanted to hit him," he corrected O'Brien. "I don't think he liked me."
