“To be honest with you I think my parents made the biggest difference in my life,” Sam Elliott has said. “[My father] was a man’s man, and that rubbed off on me. My mom has always been completely supportive of my work”. These are not your typical Hollywood responses. One might expect mention of some awesome mentor such as an older actor who took him under his wing or a director who gave him a chance. Instead we see a more personal and human attitude.
Anyone who has ever known Sam Elliott sees that he has never looked at the world through the eyes of a jaded Hollywood star. That intimate sense of solid realness has played no small part in giving him the career and life he has had.
Fond Memories
When Sam is asked about his favorite movie project, instead of answering in terms of movie or role, he prefers to talk about the crew and work conditions instead. The way he likes to put it is,“I think what I remember most about films are the people rather than the films themselves”. And as far as that’s concerned, his best on set experience has been on The Hero.
Sam says the cast and crew of The Hero were a dream to work with, and that the whole project was a “labor of love”. One would hope so, given that the role -- indeed, the whole movie -- was written just for Sam.
Fits Just Right
You know how sometimes something fits so perfectly, it’s like it was meant to be? Well that was certainly the case with Sam Elliott and the role of Lee Hayden in The Hero. The writer and director of the movie, Brett Haley, had enjoyed working with Sam so much in their previous movie I’ll See You in My Dreams, that he created this entire movie just for him.
It’s not every day that an actor has a movie made to order for him. And as successful and respected as Sam has been, he’s certainly not an A-level superstar. So this was a rare and beautiful event for which he felt “totally flattered”. The movie itself was a beloved and acclaimed success.
Doesn’t Feel Typecast
“I think there’s a real truth to Westerns and a real simplicity to them that appeals to people”. These are not the words of a man who feels trapped or typecast as a one-dimensional cowboy. Sam Elliott sees the Western genre as a valid and very human form of cinematic artistic expression, and one that really speaks to him.
And why not? Crime, comedy, romance, war are all movie genres that have included indisputable classics. And the Western is no different. The entire human condition, in the right hands, can be portrayed on the screen.
It’s Not All About The Money
Who doesn’t like money? In that sense, Sam Elliott is no different from anyone else. But he does not put money at the center of his life. As for his voiceover work that he is so well known for (especially in commercials), he actually says he enjoys it because it’s easy and it gives him the financial security and freedom to be as picky as he wants to be about the movie roles he accepts. And it is that pickiness that he credits for his Hollywood longevity, as we’ve read before.
As a matter of fact, Sam often advises younger actors to avoid the temptation of accepting a job just for the money. He himself was forced to do that a few times when he was young, struggling, unknown, and poor. But it was never the path he had planned for himself, the path he has walked ever since.