Burt Reynolds looked like the guy who couldn't believe he was being paid to make movies. He always looked like he was having a good time, and it was a contagious feeling that struck the audience.
The rare movie star who didn't always seem tortured and captivated by struggle, Reynolds lent his talents to the world of film for more than 65 years spanning 186 different gigs. I don't think he had a care in the world or an ounce of vanity for a second during his career.
From the time he first came onto the scene with the 1958 television series, Flight, to the final film role he completed this year, Defining Moments, Reynolds never let your attention wander. He was the comedian who had movie star looks, and he never stopped laughing or making the audience laugh.
Don't get me wrong. Reynolds' work in Deliverance, Boogie Nights, and other hard-hitting dramas will always carry the torch for his legacy, but for my money, the man's talent for humor is the first thing that came to mind today when I heard the actor went into cardiac arrest in a Jupiter, Florida hospital and passed away at the age of 82.
The first thing that came to mind was his voice work in the FXX animated series, Archer. Playing himself and romancing the super spy's mom, much to Archer's chagrin, Reynolds breathed so much life into a single episode of hilarious dialogue. The old school Casanova movie star teaching the younger man some tricks while engaging in a high-speed chase with bad guys, Reynolds' true talent shined through.
Striptease ranks among the worst films of all time, but Reynolds' Congressman David Dilbeck still makes me laugh out loud. A natural horndog who has the hots for Demi Moore's stripper with a heart of gold, try and convince you didn't pee yourself when Dilbeck comes out of the bathroom covered from head to toe in baby oil. In many of his roles, Reynolds took a part that other actors would get lost in, and made it something more. He gave it something extra, a timeless grace that actually made you laugh.
Don't kid yourself, though. The man was a legit movie star who never had to try hard to look like the guy you dreamed about being and someone who could steal your wife's attention. A former high school football star who had a scholarship to play in college, Reynolds used those physical talents to play arguably his most legendary role, Paul Crewe in The Longest Yard. It was a movie that struck many young men, because Reynolds was what they envisioned themselves as being.
When I first spoke to Frank Grillo back in 2013, he talked about being taken aback by Reynolds on screen. "The first movie I saw with my pop. Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds. I remember thinking to myself, 'I wanna be that guy,' " Grillo said. Today, in an Instagram post, Grillo elaborated on the late actor's greatness. "Burt Reynolds was everything you wanted a movie star to be. He had it all. The definition of masculinity and vulnerability," said Grillo.
People will remember Reynolds playing cute while looking ultra cool in the Smokey and the Bandit films, or when he posed nude on a bearskin rug. A certain generation may only know him as the coach in the painfully inept The Longest Yard remake with Adam Sandler, a film that even Reynolds would not watch after it was completed.
Boogie Nights, where Reynolds should have won an Oscar for his work as porn director, Jack Horner, was another film that the actor reportedly hated. Reynolds fired his agent after the Paul Thomas Anderson came out, thinking it was going to bomb and be terrible. When it turned out not to be, Reynolds was the most surprised. That's who he was. A guy who made it look so easy, he thought he didn't belong at times.
Sharky's Machine. Heat. City Heat. Films that still play due to Reynolds' presence and authority. He had as many television roles and cameos as he did movie parts, relishing the opportunity to poke fun at his ego and past. How cool was Reynolds? He played himself in a role eleven different times. It's like the producers just told him, "you don't need a role, just come and play yourself for a few minutes."
To Reynolds, it was effortless. A good time. He made acting look like a day at the beach.
Even in recent years when his roles were limited and he was simply playing to the pre-packaged caricature of himself, Reynolds found a way to make it work and watchable.
One of his last roles happened to be one of his best, and that was 2017's The Last Movie Star, where he played Vic Edwards. National critics didn't take to it, thinking it was basically a posturing tactic. To me, it was Reynolds finding a sly way to look back on his career while also examining how movie stars find the aging process to be harder than it looks. It was his moment to headline a film one last time.
When I lay my head down tonight and think about Reynolds, I'll just want to shout his name like H. Jon Benjamin's spy did in that car. "BURT REYNOLDS!"
He was a movie star who could do drama, action, or comedy-but never had a problem making fun of his own persona, especially if it made the audience laugh. Burt Reynolds will always be the effortless talent who was in on the joke the entire time, winking at the screen with full understanding of how show business worked and what it was meant for.
Rest in peace, Turd Ferguson.
