Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service(47)

In October 1995, I went to the Halloween parade at my children’s school and ran into Brian Grazer, Ron’s producing partner. Brian’s children went to the same school as mine, and I’d worked with Brian on Apollo 13, so I asked how everything was going with Ransom. Brian said Ron hadn’t cast the role of the villain yet, and Brian wondered if I was rethinking my decision. I admitted I was.

When I got home, I called my agents and mentioned I’d run into Brian and we’d discussed Ransom. My agents told me that the role had not been cast yet, but Ron was in discussions with another actor. I indicated that if the part was still available, I’d like to do it. My agents hung up the phone. Fifteen minutes later, my phone rang. It was Ron Howard, who asked, “Now, is this just good agenting, or are you really second-guessing doing this part?” I laughed and said, “Well, Ron, my agents are good, but yes, I’d be interested if the role is still available.” Luckily for me, Ron gave me the part.

I’d played a villain before in Jack the Bear, but the villain in Ransom was creepier. It was a major role, too, with the story arc cutting back and forth between Mel’s character and mine. At first I didn’t like absorbing the thoughts of such a dark character, but after a while I started to really get into it and gave the role my all. Some moments of accidental slapstick during shooting helped me get through it. In one scene, I was supposed to knee Mel in the stomach, but I landed too low. Luckily, Mel had performed these types of scenes before and was prepared: he wore a cup. Later in the week, I had a gift basket with an assortment of pecans, almonds, and pistachios sent to Mel’s room with a note saying, “Sorry about your nuts. Maybe you can use these. Enjoy the basket.”

We shot Ransom in New York City during awards season. On the morning the Oscar nominations were announced, Mel received a nomination for his outstanding work directing Braveheart, but Ron Howard was passed over for his work directing Apollo 13. We were all happy for Mel, but I was disappointed for Ron, because he’d really poured his heart into Apollo 13. The movie received a lot of other nominations, just not for Best Director. There wasn’t exactly tension on the set that morning, but there was definitely a strange vibe. I decided we needed to get the elephant out of the room. That same morning, Ron was directing both Mel and me in a scene, giving both of us instructions, and there was some discussion about what should happen. I stopped Ron cold, pointed at Mel, and said, “Hey, maybe we should listen to the guy who just got the nomination for Best Director.” Everybody laughed, including Ron, and we patted Ron on the back. We all knew how hard Ron had worked on Apollo 13.

In the end, Ransom was a big hit. Critics liked the movie, a very different film for Ron Howard, a tense, suspenseful drama. It ended up earning more than $309 million at the box office.

The SAG awards were held during the filming of Ransom, and I was up for an award for Truman, but I couldn’t fly to the West Coast and back to New York in time to be back on set. When they announced that I’d won, I was watching the show on TV. “Gary Sinise couldn’t be here tonight, so we accept this award on his behalf.” Eating a lonely dinner in my hotel room, I had to chuckle.

So many other things were happening during this time. I was here, there, and everywhere. In addition to the film work, in the fall of 1995 I had directed Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer-winning play Buried Child for Steppenwolf, and in the spring of 1996 we moved it to Broadway. The play was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Play. The 1990s were proving to be a very productive period. Overall, I felt tremendously thankful for the opportunities.

But it wasn’t all success.

In 1996, director John Frankenheimer asked me to play the lead role in a made-for-TV movie about controversial Alabama governor George Wallace. Frankenheimer was already legendary by then for directing Birdman of Alcatraz, The Manchurian Candidate, Grand Prix, and French Connection II, and I read the script and liked it. But I’d recently played Truman, so I wanted to do a feature film next, always trying to move from supporting roles into leading roles. When I turned him down, John became emphatic over the phone and said, “No—you can’t do that! Let me come out to your house right now and bring you some material.” He drove out right away, and he showed me books, and we watched a video of George Wallace, and John talked me into it.

I’m so glad I said yes. John was a strong, sure-handed, master director, and playing the lead in this movie was going to be a great challenge. George Wallace was a complex, contentious character who was steeped in controversy throughout his political career. He became sucked into a backdoor allegiance with the Klan and made a series of wrong decisions, famously stating at his inauguration for governor, “Segregation now. Segregation tomorrow. Segregation forever.” He stood in the schoolhouse doorway to block African American students Vivian Malone and James Hood from registering for classes at the University of Alabama. Yet he finally experienced a redemptive moment in real life, shown at the end of the film, where he apologizes to the African American community for all the wrongs he’d done. While I certainly didn’t agree with the bulk of George Wallace’s actions, this was a big movie role, Shakespearean in depth and power, and as challenging as anything I could imagine.

The wonderful Mare Winningham played George Wallace’s first wife, Lurleen, and Angelina Jolie, only twenty-one at the time, played Wallace’s second wife, Cornelia. My old pals from Steppenwolf, Terry Kinney and Francis Guinan, were also in the film, along with a terrific supporting cast. In the end, Angelina won a Golden Globe. I was nominated for a Golden Globe and won an Emmy, a SAG, and a CableACE Award.