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What the Hell Happened to Jason Patric?
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Jason Patric was supposed to be a movie star. He was good-looking and
talented. He starred in a hit movie and dated America’s Sweetheart.
Critics loved him. And yet somehow Jason Patric never became a star.
In fact, I’m willing to bet most people reading this article won’t
remember who he is until they read the article and see which movies he
starred in and who he dated.
What the hell happened?
Jason Patric is the son of Academy Award-nominated actor and Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright Jason Miller. You probably know Miller as
Father Damien Karras from the Exorcist. Patric’s full name is Jason
Patric Miller. His mother is Linda Mae Gleason, daughter of the
legendary comedian Jackie Gleason.
Patric first appeared in a 1985 TV movie called Tough Love. After
that, he made his big screen debut in the 1986 sci-fi schlock,
Solarbabies.
Patric starred opposite Jami Gertz and Lukas Haas who played
futuristic orphans in a world where water is scarce. The kids play a
violent sport which combines lacrosse and roller-hockey. They find a
magic sphere which turns out to be some kind of alien intelligence.
Naturally, the sphere can make it rain.
Reviews were terrible and the movie bombed at the box office. I mean,
it’s called Solarbabies. What did you expect?
In 1987, Patric scored the lead role in Joel Schumacher’s teen vampire
movie, The Lost Boys.
Patric and Corey Haim played brothers who move to the fictional beach
community of Santa Carla, California. Patric’s character, Michael,
falls for a local girl played by his Solarbabies co-star, Jami Gertz.
Through Gertz’s character, he becomes involves with a gang of teenage
vampires lead by Kiefer Sutherland.
The Lost Boys was produced by Richard Donner. The original script was
about “a bunch of Goonies-type 5th-6th grade kid vampires”. The
screenwriter, James Jeremias, came up with the idea that Peter Pan –
a character who flies, visits children at night and never ages – could
be a vampire. Originally, the script included more obvious references
to Peter Pan. The brothers were named Michael and John, their mother
was named Wendy and Sutherland’s character was named Peter.
Donner, who directed The Goonies, originally intended to direct The
Lost Boys himself. But when he committed to make Lethal Weapon, he
hired Schumacher to direct instead. Schumacher hated the script and
only agreed to direct if he could age the main characters to
teenagers.
The end result was a very hip, stylish vampire movie. The mix of
horror and comedy was a hit with critics and audiences. Schumacher
tried for years to make a sequel, Lost Girls. Eventually, two direct-
to-video sequels were made.
In 1988, Patric starred in the war movie, The Beast.
Patric played a Russian tank driver who gets separated from his group
during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The film was originally
titled The Beast of War. After a regime change at Columbia Pictures,
the studio was no longer interested in promoting the movie. The new
studio head dumped the movie in a limited number of theaters with
little to no advertising.
The movie was largely ignored by critics and audiences alike. But
eventually, it gained a small cult audience when it was released on
video.
In 1990, Patric appeared in three independent films. The first was
Denial Which costarred Robin Wright and Rae Dawn Chong.
Wright and Patric played a couple on-screen, but they were also dating
in real life.
Later that year, Patric starred opposite Rachel Ward and Bruce Dern in
the neo noir, After Dark My Sweet.
Patric played an ex-boxer who escapes from a mental hospital. The
drifter falls in with a widow who tries to embroil him in a kidnapping
scheme.
After Dark My Sweet received positive reviews, but was ignored at the
box office.
Finally, Patric played Lord Byron in Roger Corman’s Frankenstein
Unbound. The low-budget horror flick also featured Bridget Fonda as
Mary Shelley.
None of Patric’s three movies in 1990 made much of an impression with
audiences. But he was building a name for himself that would lead to
bigger movies.
In 1991, the notoriously private Patric got thrust into the public eye
not for a film role but because of who he was dating. At the time,
Julia Roberts was America’s Sweetheart. Her star was on a meteoric
rise. And her personal life played out on a very public stage.
Roberts had been engaged to her Flatliners co-star Kieffer
Sutherland. Roberts broke the engagement three days before the
wedding allegedly because Sutherland had been meeting with a
stripper. On the day of what was supposed to be their wedding date,
Roberts ran off to Ireland with Sutherland’s friend and Lost Boys co-
star, Jason Patric.
It was a real life Hollywood love triangle. No scripted drama could
hope to match the real life soap opera. Roberts was a real runaway
bride before she ever made a movie of the same name. And she ran away
with her ex’s pal!
In 1991, Patric starred opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh in the crime
drama, Rush.
Leigh and Patrick played undercover cops who get in over their heads.
Their narcotics investigation turns them into addicts. Both actors
were seen as being on the cusp of breaking out as big stars. But
despite mostly positive reviews, audiences avoided Rush.
Two years later, after Patric and Roberts split up (and Roberts
married country music singer, Lyle Lovett), Patrick and Leigh would
become a couple offscreen.
In 1993, Patric appeared in Walter Hill’s Western, Geronimo: An
American Legend.
In the wake of 1990′s Dances With Wolves and 1992′s Unforgiven,
Westerns were hot in the early 90s. A slew of Westerns were released
during this time. A friend of mine used to claim that Gene Hackman
starred in all of them. While that may not be 100% accurate, Geronimo
did have an impressive ensemble that included, Patric, Hackman, Wes
Studi, Robert Duvall and an unkown actor names Matt Damon.
Hill disliked the title which he felt was no representative of what
his film was about. “It’s not about Geronimo. It should have been
called The Geronimo War… It’s as much about the Army as it is
Geronimo. That came out of my reading of historical accounts, and
realizing that so much of what we think we know about the Indian
campaigns is wrong. The Army is generally depicted as the enemy of the
Apache, but in many cases, the people who were most sympathetic to
their plight were those soldiers.”
Hill was forced by the studio to trim the runtime by 12 minutes which
brought the movie under 2 hours. According to Hill, the uncut version
of the movie is “damn good”.
Reviews were mixed and Geronimo flopped at the box office.
In 1995, Patric starred opposite Thandie Newton in the period drama,
The Journey of August King.
Patric played a farmer who discovers an escaped slave girl and is
faced with the decision of whether or not to help her find freedom.
Reviews were mixed and the movie disappointed at the box office.
In 1996, Patric starred in Barry Levinson’s revenge drama, Sleepers.
The story centers on a group of friends played by Patric, Brad Pitt,
Billy Crudup and Minnie Driver. As kids, they are counseled by a
priest played by Robert DeNiro. The kids nearly kill a man while
pulling a prank and they are sentenced to jail. While in prison, the
kids are abused by a guard played by Kevin Bacon. As adults, two of
the kids exact revenge on the guard. Patric and Pitt attempt to free
their friends with the help of a lawyer played by Dustin Hoffman.
Sleepers is an excellent film to keep in mind when playing 6 Degrees
of Kevin Bacon. Although Bacon never met co-stars DeNiro or Hoffman.
Author Lorenzo Carcaterra claimed that his book on which the film is
based was a true story of his childhood. When the New York legal
community went on record stating that no cases resembling the events
of his book could be found in any court records, Carcaterra refused to
discuss the discrepancy. His claims have been neither proven nor
disproven.
Reviews were mixed to positive. Sleepers performed moderately at the
box office.
By this point, people were already asking what the hell happened to
Patric. Entertainment Weekly even ran a cover asking “Why isn’t Jason
Patric a star yet?” It seemed like a forgone conclusion. But Patric
kept making uncommercial movies and turning down roles like the lead
in The Firm. It seemed like the only person who didn’t care whether
or not Patric was a star was Patric.
His next career move seemed like a bid for commercial success.
Unfortunately, Patric’s bid for box office stardom was a notorious
flop.
In 1997, Patric starred opposite Sandra Bullock in Jan de Bont’s
action sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control.
Three years prior, Bullock became a household name starring opposite
Keanu Reeves in the original Speed. Speed had been a surprise
success. So much so that Bullock and Reeves were not obligated to
appear in a sequel. When Speed turned out to be a huge success, Fox
assumed that Reeves and Bullock would reprise their roles. They were
only half right. Bullock agreed to return in order to get financial
backing for her movie, Hope Floats. But Reeves decided he would
rather tour with his band, Dogstar.
At the time, it seemed like Reeves was making a huge mistake. But as
it turns out, passing on Speed 2 was probably one of the better
decisions of Reeves’ career. Reeves claimed that Fox was furious and
launched a propaganda campaign against him. De Bont said the role in
the sequel could be played by any young actor, as long as he could
have chemistry with Bullock. Given that Bullock was basically a
chemistry machine, any actor should be able to fit that description.
Bullock initially suggested Matthew McConaughey to replace Reeves.
But McConaughey passed to star in Contact. Several other actors
including Christian Slater were also considered. After McConaughey
passed, Bullock recommended Patric, whom she had wanted to work with
since seeing his performance in After Dark, My Sweet. De Bont wanted
a bigger star, but was reminded that Bullock was an unknown when she
made the original Speed. After watching Sleepers, De Bont cast Patric.
After accepting the role, Patric admitted that he never saw Speed and
had no plans to watch it. Reeves said he was looking forward to
seeing Patric in the sequel and that it was “going to be entertaining
with another actor”.
Several story ideas were submitted to De Bont. But the director
rejected them all in favor of his own idea. He had a recurring dream
about a cruise ship crashing into an island. So at De Bont’s
insistence, the sequel to Speed was set on a slow-moving boat.
De Bont wanted his sequel to feel “bigger” than the original. So he
insisted on a larger budget. The first Speed was made for $30 million
dollars. Speed 2 was budgeted at $100 million dollars. The
production was plagued with problems. Stories circulated that said De
Bont was out of control. De Bont demanded that his stars perform most
of their own stunts. There were accusations that working conditions
were unsafe.
Speed 2 was released to terrible reviews and flopped at the box
office. It received a then-record 8 nominations for the Golden
Raspberry Awards including Worst Couple for Patric and Bullock. It
won Worst Sequel or Re-make.
Later that year, Patric starred opposite Irene Jacob in John Badham’s
crime thriller, Incognito.
Patric played an artist who uses his talents to paint a fake
Rembrandt. His dying father, played by Rod Steiger, pleads with him
to stop forging paintings and to concentrate on his own work.
Originally, the film was supposed to be directed by Robocop star,
Peter Weller. But Weller clashed with producer James G. Robinson over
the budget. “Their idea of a budget, is going to a hot dog stand,”
Weller complained.
Reviews were negative and the movie was unnoticed at the box office.
In 1998, Patric produced and starred in Neil LaBute’s comedy-drama,
Your Friends and Neighbors.
Ben Stiller, Aaron Eckhart and Patric played upper middle-class
friends who live unhappy lives. In one scene, the men hang out in a
steam room talking about their best sexual experience. Patric’s
character speaks glowingly of the time he raped a male high school
classmate in the locker room at his boarding school. Stiller’s
character is reluctant to answer, but eventually admits that his best
sexual experience was with Echhart’s wife.
Patric reported used his Speed 2 salary to produce Your Friends and
Neighbors.
Reviews were mostly positive. Patric won a couple of critics’ awards
for his supporting role. But the movie was not a hit at the box
office. Your Friends and Neighbors also has the distinction of being
the first movie listed on Rotten Tomatoes.
After a four-year absence from the screen, Patric appeared opposite
Ray Liotta in the 2002 crime drama, Narc.
Liotta and Patric played under-cover cops investigating the murder of
another police officer. The movie was filmed in 28 days on a
shoestring budget. Liotta and Patric worked for very little money.
at one point during production the cast and crew’s paychecks weren’t
coming through due to legal and budgetary issues, so Liotta and Patric
worked for free.
Tom Cruise saw the movie and was so impressed he stepped in and became
an executive producer. With Cruise’s funding, Narc received a wider
release than originally planned.
Reviews were mostly positive and the movie performed moderately at the
box office.
In 2003, Patric starred opposite Ashley Judd and Ned Beatty in a
Broadway rival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Reviews for the production
were lukewarm in spite of the star power. Only Beatty and Margo
Martindale were singled out for praise.
In 2004, Patric played James Bowie in The Alamo. Dennis Quaid and
Billy Bob Thornton co-starred.
Originally, Ron Howard intended to direct Russell Crowe and Ethan
Hawke in The Alamo. But Disney balked at Howard’s request $200
million dollar budget. Crowe and Hawke walked. Howard and his
partner, Brian Grazer, were credited as producers. And John Lee
Hancock was hired to direct with a budget nearly half the size Howard
wanted.
Reviews were mixed to negative and the movie bombed at the box office.
Around this time, Patric turned down the role of Jesus in Mel Gibson’s
The Passion of the Christ. Gibson had previously tried to cast Patric
as William Wallace in Braveheart, but Patric turned down that role as
well.
In 2006, Patric starred opposite Drea de Matteo, Bruce Dern and Sam
Shepard in the period drama, Walker Payne.
Patric also had an uncredited role in Alec Baldwin’s update of The
Devil and Daniel Webster, Shortcut to Happiness.
Shortcut to Happiness starred Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anthony
Hopkins and Dan Aykroyd. The movie was filmed in 2001, but was not
released until years later. Baldwin was so unhappy with the final cut
that he had his name removed and is credited as Harry Kirkpatrick.
In 2007, Patric starred opposite Samantha Morton in the indie comedy-
drama, Expired. Patric and Morton played parking attendants. The
movie was shown at several film festivals including Sundance and
Cannes. But it has never been released theatrically. Reviews were
mixed to positive.
Later that year, Patric had a supporting role in Paul Haggis’ military
drama, In the Valley of Elah.
In the Valley of Elah starred Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon as a
couple searching for their son. Their son was a war vet recently
returned from Iraq but gone missing. Charlize Theron played a police
detective who becomes involved in the investigation.
In spite of mostly positive reviews, the movie performed poorly at the
box office.
In 2008, Patric starred opposite Maria Bello in the drama, Downloading
Nancy. Bello played a woman who seeks out a man to torture her to
death. Patric played the man who fulfilled that request. Reviews
were mostly negative. It played at Sundance where it was both admired
for its production values and Bello’s performance and also reviled for
its subject matter. It was never released theatrically.
In 2009, Patric appeared in Nick Cassavetes’ drama, My Sister’s Keeper
which was based on the novel of the same name.
Patric and Cameron Diaz played a couple who have a second child
specifically to be an organ donor for her sister. The savior sister,
played by Abigail Breslin, hires an attorney played by Alec Baldwin to
sue her parents for medical emancipation.
Reviews were mixed and the movie performed modestly at the box office.
In 2010, Patric appeared in the comic book adaptation, The Losers.
Patric played the boss of a black ops team that included Jeffrey Dean
Morgan, Idris Elba, Chris Evans and Zoe Saldana. Reviews were mixed
and the movie did so-so box office.
In 2011, Patric starred opposite Isabella Rossellini in Keyhole, a
Canadian film that is part gangster movie and part haunted house
story. The experimental movie draws on Homer’s Odyssey. Reviews were
mostly positive and the movie played at several film festivals.
Patric also returned to Broadway in a revival of his father’s Pulizer
Prize-winning play, That Championship Season. The revival cast Patric
and his old friend and Lost Boys co-star Kiefer Sutherland as
brothers. Sutherland said he had long since forgiven Patric for
dating his ex-fiancee, Roberts. He claimed that there were never any
hard feelings between them. Reviews for the play were mixed.
In 2012, Patric began filming the Civil War movie, Copperhead.
Several weeks into the shoot, he was fired by the director for
“failing to take direction”.
Patric recently made headlines for a rather bizarre custody battle.
In 2009, Patric broke up with his on-again off-again girlfriend,
Danielle Schrieber. Apparently, Patric told Schrieber he didn’t have
any money he could give her. But he would donate sperm so that she
could have a baby on the condition that she never tell anyone or ask
for money. Once Schrieber had her baby, she and Patric got back
together and Patric formed a bond with his son. When the couple split
again, Patric sought 50/50 custody. However, his request was denied
because he was considered a sperm donor by the court.
So, how did Jason Patric go from Hollywood’s next sure thing to an
actor most people have never heard of?
Quite simply, Patric never seemed especially interested in stardom.
He turned down roles that could have made him a star. When he finally
took a role in a big Hollywood movie, it was a disaster. But Patric
never seemed overly concerned about that either. He used his paycheck
to continue making the kinds of movies that interested him.
Jason Patric was supposed to be a movie star. He was good-looking and
talented. He starred in a hit movie and dated America’s Sweetheart.
Critics loved him. And yet somehow Jason Patric never became a star.
In fact, I’m willing to bet most people reading this article won’t
remember who he is until they read the article and see which movies he
starred in and who he dated.
What the hell happened?
Jason Patric is the son of Academy Award-nominated actor and Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright Jason Miller. You probably know Miller as
Father Damien Karras from the Exorcist. Patric’s full name is Jason
Patric Miller. His mother is Linda Mae Gleason, daughter of the
legendary comedian Jackie Gleason.
Patric first appeared in a 1985 TV movie called Tough Love. After
that, he made his big screen debut in the 1986 sci-fi schlock,
Solarbabies.
Patric starred opposite Jami Gertz and Lukas Haas who played
futuristic orphans in a world where water is scarce. The kids play a
violent sport which combines lacrosse and roller-hockey. They find a
magic sphere which turns out to be some kind of alien intelligence.
Naturally, the sphere can make it rain.
Reviews were terrible and the movie bombed at the box office. I mean,
it’s called Solarbabies. What did you expect?
In 1987, Patric scored the lead role in Joel Schumacher’s teen vampire
movie, The Lost Boys.
Patric and Corey Haim played brothers who move to the fictional beach
community of Santa Carla, California. Patric’s character, Michael,
falls for a local girl played by his Solarbabies co-star, Jami Gertz.
Through Gertz’s character, he becomes involves with a gang of teenage
vampires lead by Kiefer Sutherland.
The Lost Boys was produced by Richard Donner. The original script was
about “a bunch of Goonies-type 5th-6th grade kid vampires”. The
screenwriter, James Jeremias, came up with the idea that Peter Pan –
a character who flies, visits children at night and never ages – could
be a vampire. Originally, the script included more obvious references
to Peter Pan. The brothers were named Michael and John, their mother
was named Wendy and Sutherland’s character was named Peter.
Donner, who directed The Goonies, originally intended to direct The
Lost Boys himself. But when he committed to make Lethal Weapon, he
hired Schumacher to direct instead. Schumacher hated the script and
only agreed to direct if he could age the main characters to
teenagers.
The end result was a very hip, stylish vampire movie. The mix of
horror and comedy was a hit with critics and audiences. Schumacher
tried for years to make a sequel, Lost Girls. Eventually, two direct-
to-video sequels were made.
In 1988, Patric starred in the war movie, The Beast.
Patric played a Russian tank driver who gets separated from his group
during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The film was originally
titled The Beast of War. After a regime change at Columbia Pictures,
the studio was no longer interested in promoting the movie. The new
studio head dumped the movie in a limited number of theaters with
little to no advertising.
The movie was largely ignored by critics and audiences alike. But
eventually, it gained a small cult audience when it was released on
video.
In 1990, Patric appeared in three independent films. The first was
Denial Which costarred Robin Wright and Rae Dawn Chong.
Wright and Patric played a couple on-screen, but they were also dating
in real life.
Later that year, Patric starred opposite Rachel Ward and Bruce Dern in
the neo noir, After Dark My Sweet.
Patric played an ex-boxer who escapes from a mental hospital. The
drifter falls in with a widow who tries to embroil him in a kidnapping
scheme.
After Dark My Sweet received positive reviews, but was ignored at the
box office.
Finally, Patric played Lord Byron in Roger Corman’s Frankenstein
Unbound. The low-budget horror flick also featured Bridget Fonda as
Mary Shelley.
None of Patric’s three movies in 1990 made much of an impression with
audiences. But he was building a name for himself that would lead to
bigger movies.
In 1991, the notoriously private Patric got thrust into the public eye
not for a film role but because of who he was dating. At the time,
Julia Roberts was America’s Sweetheart. Her star was on a meteoric
rise. And her personal life played out on a very public stage.
Roberts had been engaged to her Flatliners co-star Kieffer
Sutherland. Roberts broke the engagement three days before the
wedding allegedly because Sutherland had been meeting with a
stripper. On the day of what was supposed to be their wedding date,
Roberts ran off to Ireland with Sutherland’s friend and Lost Boys co-
star, Jason Patric.
It was a real life Hollywood love triangle. No scripted drama could
hope to match the real life soap opera. Roberts was a real runaway
bride before she ever made a movie of the same name. And she ran away
with her ex’s pal!
In 1991, Patric starred opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh in the crime
drama, Rush.
Leigh and Patrick played undercover cops who get in over their heads.
Their narcotics investigation turns them into addicts. Both actors
were seen as being on the cusp of breaking out as big stars. But
despite mostly positive reviews, audiences avoided Rush.
Two years later, after Patric and Roberts split up (and Roberts
married country music singer, Lyle Lovett), Patrick and Leigh would
become a couple offscreen.
In 1993, Patric appeared in Walter Hill’s Western, Geronimo: An
American Legend.
In the wake of 1990′s Dances With Wolves and 1992′s Unforgiven,
Westerns were hot in the early 90s. A slew of Westerns were released
during this time. A friend of mine used to claim that Gene Hackman
starred in all of them. While that may not be 100% accurate, Geronimo
did have an impressive ensemble that included, Patric, Hackman, Wes
Studi, Robert Duvall and an unkown actor names Matt Damon.
Hill disliked the title which he felt was no representative of what
his film was about. “It’s not about Geronimo. It should have been
called The Geronimo War… It’s as much about the Army as it is
Geronimo. That came out of my reading of historical accounts, and
realizing that so much of what we think we know about the Indian
campaigns is wrong. The Army is generally depicted as the enemy of the
Apache, but in many cases, the people who were most sympathetic to
their plight were those soldiers.”
Hill was forced by the studio to trim the runtime by 12 minutes which
brought the movie under 2 hours. According to Hill, the uncut version
of the movie is “damn good”.
Reviews were mixed and Geronimo flopped at the box office.
In 1995, Patric starred opposite Thandie Newton in the period drama,
The Journey of August King.
Patric played a farmer who discovers an escaped slave girl and is
faced with the decision of whether or not to help her find freedom.
Reviews were mixed and the movie disappointed at the box office.
In 1996, Patric starred in Barry Levinson’s revenge drama, Sleepers.
The story centers on a group of friends played by Patric, Brad Pitt,
Billy Crudup and Minnie Driver. As kids, they are counseled by a
priest played by Robert DeNiro. The kids nearly kill a man while
pulling a prank and they are sentenced to jail. While in prison, the
kids are abused by a guard played by Kevin Bacon. As adults, two of
the kids exact revenge on the guard. Patric and Pitt attempt to free
their friends with the help of a lawyer played by Dustin Hoffman.
Sleepers is an excellent film to keep in mind when playing 6 Degrees
of Kevin Bacon. Although Bacon never met co-stars DeNiro or Hoffman.
Author Lorenzo Carcaterra claimed that his book on which the film is
based was a true story of his childhood. When the New York legal
community went on record stating that no cases resembling the events
of his book could be found in any court records, Carcaterra refused to
discuss the discrepancy. His claims have been neither proven nor
disproven.
Reviews were mixed to positive. Sleepers performed moderately at the
box office.
By this point, people were already asking what the hell happened to
Patric. Entertainment Weekly even ran a cover asking “Why isn’t Jason
Patric a star yet?” It seemed like a forgone conclusion. But Patric
kept making uncommercial movies and turning down roles like the lead
in The Firm. It seemed like the only person who didn’t care whether
or not Patric was a star was Patric.
His next career move seemed like a bid for commercial success.
Unfortunately, Patric’s bid for box office stardom was a notorious
flop.
In 1997, Patric starred opposite Sandra Bullock in Jan de Bont’s
action sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control.
Three years prior, Bullock became a household name starring opposite
Keanu Reeves in the original Speed. Speed had been a surprise
success. So much so that Bullock and Reeves were not obligated to
appear in a sequel. When Speed turned out to be a huge success, Fox
assumed that Reeves and Bullock would reprise their roles. They were
only half right. Bullock agreed to return in order to get financial
backing for her movie, Hope Floats. But Reeves decided he would
rather tour with his band, Dogstar.
At the time, it seemed like Reeves was making a huge mistake. But as
it turns out, passing on Speed 2 was probably one of the better
decisions of Reeves’ career. Reeves claimed that Fox was furious and
launched a propaganda campaign against him. De Bont said the role in
the sequel could be played by any young actor, as long as he could
have chemistry with Bullock. Given that Bullock was basically a
chemistry machine, any actor should be able to fit that description.
Bullock initially suggested Matthew McConaughey to replace Reeves.
But McConaughey passed to star in Contact. Several other actors
including Christian Slater were also considered. After McConaughey
passed, Bullock recommended Patric, whom she had wanted to work with
since seeing his performance in After Dark, My Sweet. De Bont wanted
a bigger star, but was reminded that Bullock was an unknown when she
made the original Speed. After watching Sleepers, De Bont cast Patric.
After accepting the role, Patric admitted that he never saw Speed and
had no plans to watch it. Reeves said he was looking forward to
seeing Patric in the sequel and that it was “going to be entertaining
with another actor”.
Several story ideas were submitted to De Bont. But the director
rejected them all in favor of his own idea. He had a recurring dream
about a cruise ship crashing into an island. So at De Bont’s
insistence, the sequel to Speed was set on a slow-moving boat.
De Bont wanted his sequel to feel “bigger” than the original. So he
insisted on a larger budget. The first Speed was made for $30 million
dollars. Speed 2 was budgeted at $100 million dollars. The
production was plagued with problems. Stories circulated that said De
Bont was out of control. De Bont demanded that his stars perform most
of their own stunts. There were accusations that working conditions
were unsafe.
Speed 2 was released to terrible reviews and flopped at the box
office. It received a then-record 8 nominations for the Golden
Raspberry Awards including Worst Couple for Patric and Bullock. It
won Worst Sequel or Re-make.
Later that year, Patric starred opposite Irene Jacob in John Badham’s
crime thriller, Incognito.
Patric played an artist who uses his talents to paint a fake
Rembrandt. His dying father, played by Rod Steiger, pleads with him
to stop forging paintings and to concentrate on his own work.
Originally, the film was supposed to be directed by Robocop star,
Peter Weller. But Weller clashed with producer James G. Robinson over
the budget. “Their idea of a budget, is going to a hot dog stand,”
Weller complained.
Reviews were negative and the movie was unnoticed at the box office.
In 1998, Patric produced and starred in Neil LaBute’s comedy-drama,
Your Friends and Neighbors.
Ben Stiller, Aaron Eckhart and Patric played upper middle-class
friends who live unhappy lives. In one scene, the men hang out in a
steam room talking about their best sexual experience. Patric’s
character speaks glowingly of the time he raped a male high school
classmate in the locker room at his boarding school. Stiller’s
character is reluctant to answer, but eventually admits that his best
sexual experience was with Echhart’s wife.
Patric reported used his Speed 2 salary to produce Your Friends and
Neighbors.
Reviews were mostly positive. Patric won a couple of critics’ awards
for his supporting role. But the movie was not a hit at the box
office. Your Friends and Neighbors also has the distinction of being
the first movie listed on Rotten Tomatoes.
After a four-year absence from the screen, Patric appeared opposite
Ray Liotta in the 2002 crime drama, Narc.
Liotta and Patric played under-cover cops investigating the murder of
another police officer. The movie was filmed in 28 days on a
shoestring budget. Liotta and Patric worked for very little money.
at one point during production the cast and crew’s paychecks weren’t
coming through due to legal and budgetary issues, so Liotta and Patric
worked for free.
Tom Cruise saw the movie and was so impressed he stepped in and became
an executive producer. With Cruise’s funding, Narc received a wider
release than originally planned.
Reviews were mostly positive and the movie performed moderately at the
box office.
In 2003, Patric starred opposite Ashley Judd and Ned Beatty in a
Broadway rival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Reviews for the production
were lukewarm in spite of the star power. Only Beatty and Margo
Martindale were singled out for praise.
In 2004, Patric played James Bowie in The Alamo. Dennis Quaid and
Billy Bob Thornton co-starred.
Originally, Ron Howard intended to direct Russell Crowe and Ethan
Hawke in The Alamo. But Disney balked at Howard’s request $200
million dollar budget. Crowe and Hawke walked. Howard and his
partner, Brian Grazer, were credited as producers. And John Lee
Hancock was hired to direct with a budget nearly half the size Howard
wanted.
Reviews were mixed to negative and the movie bombed at the box office.
Around this time, Patric turned down the role of Jesus in Mel Gibson’s
The Passion of the Christ. Gibson had previously tried to cast Patric
as William Wallace in Braveheart, but Patric turned down that role as
well.
In 2006, Patric starred opposite Drea de Matteo, Bruce Dern and Sam
Shepard in the period drama, Walker Payne.
Patric also had an uncredited role in Alec Baldwin’s update of The
Devil and Daniel Webster, Shortcut to Happiness.
Shortcut to Happiness starred Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anthony
Hopkins and Dan Aykroyd. The movie was filmed in 2001, but was not
released until years later. Baldwin was so unhappy with the final cut
that he had his name removed and is credited as Harry Kirkpatrick.
In 2007, Patric starred opposite Samantha Morton in the indie comedy-
drama, Expired. Patric and Morton played parking attendants. The
movie was shown at several film festivals including Sundance and
Cannes. But it has never been released theatrically. Reviews were
mixed to positive.
Later that year, Patric had a supporting role in Paul Haggis’ military
drama, In the Valley of Elah.
In the Valley of Elah starred Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon as a
couple searching for their son. Their son was a war vet recently
returned from Iraq but gone missing. Charlize Theron played a police
detective who becomes involved in the investigation.
In spite of mostly positive reviews, the movie performed poorly at the
box office.
In 2008, Patric starred opposite Maria Bello in the drama, Downloading
Nancy. Bello played a woman who seeks out a man to torture her to
death. Patric played the man who fulfilled that request. Reviews
were mostly negative. It played at Sundance where it was both admired
for its production values and Bello’s performance and also reviled for
its subject matter. It was never released theatrically.
In 2009, Patric appeared in Nick Cassavetes’ drama, My Sister’s Keeper
which was based on the novel of the same name.
Patric and Cameron Diaz played a couple who have a second child
specifically to be an organ donor for her sister. The savior sister,
played by Abigail Breslin, hires an attorney played by Alec Baldwin to
sue her parents for medical emancipation.
Reviews were mixed and the movie performed modestly at the box office.
In 2010, Patric appeared in the comic book adaptation, The Losers.
Patric played the boss of a black ops team that included Jeffrey Dean
Morgan, Idris Elba, Chris Evans and Zoe Saldana. Reviews were mixed
and the movie did so-so box office.
In 2011, Patric starred opposite Isabella Rossellini in Keyhole, a
Canadian film that is part gangster movie and part haunted house
story. The experimental movie draws on Homer’s Odyssey. Reviews were
mostly positive and the movie played at several film festivals.
Patric also returned to Broadway in a revival of his father’s Pulizer
Prize-winning play, That Championship Season. The revival cast Patric
and his old friend and Lost Boys co-star Kiefer Sutherland as
brothers. Sutherland said he had long since forgiven Patric for
dating his ex-fiancee, Roberts. He claimed that there were never any
hard feelings between them. Reviews for the play were mixed.
In 2012, Patric began filming the Civil War movie, Copperhead.
Several weeks into the shoot, he was fired by the director for
“failing to take direction”.
Patric recently made headlines for a rather bizarre custody battle.
In 2009, Patric broke up with his on-again off-again girlfriend,
Danielle Schrieber. Apparently, Patric told Schrieber he didn’t have
any money he could give her. But he would donate sperm so that she
could have a baby on the condition that she never tell anyone or ask
for money. Once Schrieber had her baby, she and Patric got back
together and Patric formed a bond with his son. When the couple split
again, Patric sought 50/50 custody. However, his request was denied
because he was considered a sperm donor by the court.
So, how did Jason Patric go from Hollywood’s next sure thing to an
actor most people have never heard of?
Quite simply, Patric never seemed especially interested in stardom.
He turned down roles that could have made him a star. When he finally
took a role in a big Hollywood movie, it was a disaster. But Patric
never seemed overly concerned about that either. He used his paycheck
to continue making the kinds of movies that interested him.
dmgo...@gmail.com
Jun 12, 2020, 9:58:30 PM6/12/20
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