By his own admission, Charles Napier was never a big star. You won't see his name above the titles of any blockbusters, he never banked much of a payday for any single role, and he's received no major awards. For every one of his appearances in Oscar-winning films like "Philadelphia" and "Silence of the Lambs," there are Z-grade titles like "Supervixens" and "Hell Comes to Frogtown II." And though the man has acted with the finest talents ever to grace the screen --Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Gregory Peck --he also counts as his co-stars Mr. T, Tawny Kitaen and the chimp star of "BJ and the Bear."
But while the moment's latest flavors and even major names have come and gone, Napier has stuck around: four decades in the business, 80-plus movies, a gazillion television appearances and the guy, closing in on his 75th birthday, is still ready to hit his marks, spit out some hard-boiled dialogue and fake a punch.
Staying power like that in a cutthroat town like Hollywood? That's real talent.
Now Napier, in reflective mode, has written an uproarious account of his career as Hollywood's go-to tough guy. Interviewed from his Bakersfield apartment, Napier wrote his memoir with collaborator and friend Dante Renzulli over the course of about a year. It was Renzulli who suggested the title.
"A square jaw, I have. But a big heart, I doubt --unless it's a medical condition," joked Napier.
The publicity photo used for the paperback's cover has Napier looking particularly menacing and disheveled, gritting his teeth and pointing an accusing finger at an unseen adversary, who is, no doubt, one sneering taunt away from being flattened. The shot is a still from "Supervixens," a movie Napier made with the late filmmaker Russ Meyer, who specialized in campy sexploitation films that have developed a cult following over the years.
Napier looks back on his time with Meyer and the X-rated films they made together --"they'd be rated R if they came out today" -- with gratitude and affection because the roles captured the attention of industry bigwigs and emerging A-list directors like Jonathan Demme, for whom the actor would do his most impressive work.
But the book is only part rumination on his long career. There are plenty of side-splitting stories of boozing, brawling and general mayhem, plus Napier's appraisal of the dozens of stars he's worked with over the years. At least one such encounter -- with Gregory Peck, beloved by millions as the face of decency in the iconic film "To Kill a Mockingbird" -- is, surprisingly, unflattering.
It's a quick read -- most chapters don't exceed two pages -- and Napier is no slouch as a story-teller. (The language and grammar police will not be amused by the four-letter words, typos and misspellings. But if such offenses are enough to ruin your appreciation of a devilishly fun tale, you probably are not the intended audience anyway.)
The anecdotes read like the overheard remembrances of a particularly garrulous rascal holding forth at a local dive, appropriate since Napier has spent much of his life in bars, making mischief with many of the legendary hell-raisers of his time: Robert Mitchum, David Carradine and Rod Taylor, an Australian he-man type who was a big star in the '60s.
Unlike most actors, you won't catch Napier getting too pensive about the mysteries of his "craft" -- he's more the know-your-lines-and-don't-bump-into-the-furniture sort. But there are moments of real poignancy, as in the story he tells about showing up to a fan event, sitting alongside character actors Hugh O'Brian ("The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp") and Robert Vaughn ("The Man from U.N.C.L.E"). While autograph seekers swarmed John Densmore of The Doors, the two old pros were ignored.
In the middle of the afternoon, with no fanfare, Hugh and Robert got up and left. I got a chill up my spine watching them leave: both of them big stars in the past, now reduced to the humiliation of total rejection. As I watched Robert Vaughn pull away in an old Volvo with Connecticut license plates, I could not help but think, there goes the last member of the Magnificent Seven.
On his co-stars
Napier had several positive experiences with huge talents like Karl Malden, Rock Hudson, Anthony Hopkins ("the best actor I ever worked with"), Jason Robards ("a true artist") and Tom Hanks, who lost a massive amount of weight portraying a man dying of AIDS in "Philadelphia." Hanks went on to win an Oscar for the role ("take it from me, as someone who saw what Tom went through up close, he earned it").
Actors who come off as egomaniacs include Larry Hagman and Rod Steiger, who, unscripted, actually spit in another actor's face during a scene.
Gregory Peck: Peck played Abraham Lincoln alongside Napier in the 1982 miniseries "The Blue and the Gray," Peck's first television role. Napier and his co-stars, including Sterling Hayden, Rip Torn and Lloyd Bridges, were told not to speak to the star.
After Napier and his co-stars played a joke on the Oscar winner that he didn't find particularly amusing, Peck suffered a bigger insult when some children visiting the set bypassed Peck for Napier, a regular in those days on "BJ and the Bear," whose star was a chimp. According to Napier's book, the following exchange between the two took place:
He looked at me as if I was crazy, and muttered, "A monkey? They love you because of a monkey? But I'm a movie star. They're supposed to love me." I didn't have an answer for that one and he walked away muttering, "Monkeys. I don't understand."
Jim Carrey : Ben Stiller tapped Napier for a role in the black comedy "The Cable Guy," which starred Carrey, who, with Stiller's help, intervened when it appeared Napier's part would be cut entirely.
He is very shy off camera. ... I know he has a reputation for being weird, but I didn't see any of that. He was very timid. He's a brilliant actor. He's also the most underrated actor I've been around.
Mr. T: Napier worked with the actor on television's "The A-Team."
He was not a very warm person. I tried to start up a conversation with him, but got nowhere. I did have a fight scene with him, and neither of us held back. At lunchtime, he would eat five peanut butter sandwiches, and then retire to his trailer, listening to taped sermons from his Chicago pastor.
David Carradine: Hot off his "Kung Fu" fame, the actor worked with Napier in a forgettable film called "Thunder and Lightning."
When David arrived on set, he was wearing no shoes, jeans, no shirt, accompanied by a dog held with a rope as a leash. In the fight scenes, David was using his "Kung Fu" skills but he wasn't pulling his punches. He was hitting the other actors with his hands and feet. That's painful, especially when you don't expect it. One actor, Ron Feinberg, says to me, "I've had enough of this (expletive)."
The next time Ron is in a fight scene with David, he hits David with a bottle right between the eyes. He knocked him out cold, but fortunately didn't cut him. When David woke up, Ron explained why he did it. David learned a hard lesson.
On his films
"The Blues Brothers": The John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd classic gave Napier his most iconic line, one he says fans still repeat to him: "You're gonna look pretty funny trying to eat corn on the cob with no (expletive) teeth."
When this was being made, I thought it was a real piece of crap. Of course, it turned out to be one of the biggest hits of 1980 and all time. A lot of times an actor has no idea how a movie will do when it hits the theaters. That's true more times than most. When you're doing your scenes, you're concentrating on your job, saying the lines and moving where you're supposed to. ... You have no idea how the complete movie will come out, or how audiences will react to it.
"Rambo: First Blood II": Napier felt he had arrived when he made this 1985 blockbuster starring Sylvester Stallone, with whom he had worked years before on a "Kojak" episode.
Working on a movie with Stallone was a truly unique experience. Usually when you are making a movie, if there are changes to be made in the script, it requires all kinds of meetings. But with a Sly movie, where changes have to be made, he just goes into his dressing room and writes the changes. ... Sly is the boss. It's a very efficient way to make a movie.
On acting
The gift of fear: I was once under the desk with Tim Robbins, while filming a scene from "Austin Powers." Robbins had fear in his eyes. I know, because I was there. I, too, had fear, but was interested to see that he ... was not exactly on solid ground. ... I must say, there's nothing like having to make an appearance by shooting out from under a desk in an "Austin Powers" movie. You'd better be damn funny.
The Napier brand : When I'm in a movie, I'm going to play "Charles Napier." Charles Napier is not just my name, it is a character I've developed over the years. I'm comfortable playing this character. Directors and producers know what they're going to get from me. That's why they hire me.
― omar little, Thursday, 6 October 2011 06:03 (fourteen years ago)
three years pass...