Halfway through the busiest year of his career, Burt Reynolds is looking back on more than five decades as an actor, director and movie star, with mixed emotions.
At 69, he's appeared in more than 100 movies, including some of the most popular titles of the 1970s, when he was named America's Number One Box Office Star for six consecutive years by the National Association of Theatre Owners.
Reynolds co–stars in "The Dukes of Hazzard," opening Friday, as southern hard guy Boss Hogg. The big–screen remake of the 1980s TV comedy is the fifth of seven movies he'll appear in before year's end.
A native of Riviera Beach, Reynolds has lived in the Jupiter area for most of his professional life. He opened the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in 1979 and ran it, along with a drama school, for 14 years (it's now the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, with which he is not involved).
He has a house on eight acres in south Martin County, near Hobe Sound and Tequesta; his 16–year–old son, Quentin, lives with him for six months at a time. (He spends the rest of the year with mom Loni Anderson in California.)
The Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum houses a collection of memorabilia from his storied career, including his Emmy (for the TV series "Evening Shade") and his nine Golden Globe Awards; Reynolds still finds the time to teach acting classes there, a practice he began in the '70s.
This interview was conducted by phone; from Reynolds' was in his office in Los Angeles. He was due to fly to Canada the next morning to continue working on "Dungeon Siege," a film based on the popular video game, with Ray Liotta, Claire Forlani and Jason Statham.
Q: How much time do you spend down here these days?
A: It's funny, I used to be down there every minute that I wasn't working. And then I realized I wasn't working! I guess they've got to see you, because you go from young, old to "Gee, you look … good." I had to get out there and show 'em I was alive. So I sat around in the Beverly Hillshotel and other places with my publicist looking like he was a producer, scripts piled all around us, and four pictures came out of that. And I haven't been back to Florida in 10 ½ months.
And the only wonderful feeling about getting old is they think a little gem is going to fall out of your mouth. I never expected to get the Jimmy Stewart treatment, but the young actors are giving it to me. On the one hand, I'm thrilled by it, and on the other hand, I'm thinking, "They think I'm going any second now."
Q: When you're not here, do you miss it?
A: I miss it terribly. The heat out here, when it's 102, is like a microwave. When it's 102 down there, you sweat, and the breeze blows off the ocean, and everybody's cool. They're dressed for it and it's OK. I was raised on it, and I love it.
The thought that people can go out in uniform in August and practice … these California boys, they don't get it. I mean, USC may be No. 1, but take 'em to Tallahassee for a month. They'll all quit and join the volleyball team.
Q: Why do you still make this your home?
A: My closest friends are the guys I played ball with in college, and the guys that are left from high school. I have friends out here that are actors, 40–year friends, but when you've got 55–year friends that absolutely don't give a hoot about show business, and just want to talk about whatever they want to talk about, it's a real refreshing kind of feeling.
And I thought Florida would never catch up to California in outrageous real–estate prices, but they caught 'em and they passed 'em. They're building $30 million spec homes; it's a joke.
But Jupiter is Jupiter. You see Greg Norman and it's "Hi, Greg" and "Hi, Burt." People are just kind of used to it. It's a haven for jocks and old movie actors, you know?
Q: Have you taken any interest in the Maltz Jupiter Theatre?
A: I have, and I wish it hadn't gone the way it did. I don't know what kind of building it looks like, but it doesn't look like a theater. But I really do miss it enormously, and I think had they come to me at a certain time and said, "Do you want to make this a state theater, not–for–profit thing?" I would have probably jumped at it. That's the good part for me—the bad part is I wouldn't have been doing a lot of movies.
I still feel like we don't have a big enough space at the museum to teach at, and we have some wonderful, talented kids—and older people—that want to learn, and the theater would be priceless for me.
Q: So have you ever set foot in the new theater?
A: You know what? It'd just be too painful for me. I loved it so much. I don't even drive by it. I've driven by it twice, and both times I looked the other way. I loved it with such passion. For 14 years, we employed over 4,000 actors, and I'm constantly having them say to me, "Working there was the best time of my life." It was the best time for me, too.
Q: You seem to be playing more character roles lately. Why is that?
A: Paul Newman has done it beautifully. And what is it says is that you're an actor, as opposed to "It's a Burt Reynolds movie," whatever the hell that means—or meant in the '70s. If you can do that without too many bumps in the road, you can work as long as you want. There was a time when I'd say "How many days off do I have?" and "What's the location?" and "Who's the leading lady?" and then I read the script. Now I read the part and find out who I'm going to be working with. It's a way to keep your chops up and have a little fun.
Q: What did you bring to the role of Boss Hogg?
A: I purposefully played the guy darker than anybody had planned, but I thought that if these young kids (the Duke brothers) were going to be heroic, they ought to be heroic over something that comes against them pretty good. I tried to give the guy a little danger; I have all the respect in the world for the actor who played him in the series; it was very bumbling and comedic. I was thinking of more of a dangerous guy.
A: I used to, in a joking way, say "Dear God, don't tell me we spawned 'The Dukes of Hazzard.'" But I watched it and I thought it was fun and all that good stuff. Somehow, in spite of the horn that played "Dixie" and the Confederate flag on the front of the car, "Smokey" was successful in the North. I'm forever having African–Americans come up and say, "I'm the black Bandit." But you don't see that flag on their cars!
Q: What about the recent Adam Sandler remake of "The Longest Yard"?
A: They asked me to come over for a meeting, and I thought "This is great; they want me to direct it," and they didn't. And I said no, I'm not going to do a cameo where I just give you the Good Housekeeping seal. I said "Either give me a part, or I'm getting out of here." They gave me a very nice part. But I never felt that we were very down, dirty and gritty. With the first one, we were hitting, and guys were getting carried off.
This was different, but it was funny, there was no question about it. "The Longest Yard" No. 2 was funnier. Is it gonna be every football player's favorite movie? I'm not sure.
Q: Are you still adding things to the museum?
A: Yes. I know this sounds like I'm the biggest pack rat in the world, but I could fill two more buildings. So what I constantly try to do is change things. And my house is so big, I'm interested in finding a smaller place. Maybe one of the wonderful penthouses that are right across the street from the museum—but just about the time I do that, somebody'll buy the damn building. If Quentin doesn't write a book about me, one day it'll be his.
I feel a little bit like that woman in "Sunset Boulevard" when I'm home: I'm going to be caught in a room watching myself on old movies. So I'm thinking it might go the way of all huge real–estate properties.