Richard Dreyfuss on doubting 'Jaws,' dealing with Bill Murray on 'What About Bob?' and more

listen to my favorite subject is myself so I don't care [Music] look she's alright she's upset and she's screaming but it's okay now shall I get the cops what I'll get the cops Mike Nichols was a a uniquely graceful man every kid went up for a part in that film every one of them was offered a role in the movie I'd so desperately wanted Mike to like my performance and so I would do it and then I would look at it then he would go and that was hit do you drive a white t-bird well personally I didn't know what was so magical about the movie I didn't understand it we are going to remember all of the good times is what we're gonna do George is the only film director I've ever met who doesn't like directly he would say is that the way you want to do it and we said yeah okay Haskell puts every camera there and you just knew that he couldn't wait to not direct he couldn't wait besides it's in question his it's the principle and support and then George did something he took one of his points and he divided it up among the ten leading actors and I have made more money off of that one-tenth of one girls point and anything that's a pure gesture there's he didn't let anything stand between him and the gesture that he believed in ain't no thing could beat him and he's got the fast nobody North Harrison and the leader of the gang one night the two of them got drunk and I was walking by and they threw me into the pool and that was okay except if who put they threw me into the shallow end and I got an egg on my forehead and then it was the usual who's gonna that it was a shark there was this young man the kind of leather hat this is Steven Spielberg and he's got destiny written all over him and all that and I said me too I can get him close enough to this cage I think I could get him in the mouth putting me into the cage and I have a line which was as I said it the winch went and the cage fell I was caught inside the cage mask is gone breathing apparatus is gone the top of the cage is gone and I have to you know I have to not panic all this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all everyone thought that they had struck gold and I said what are you talking about it's just a little movie and so when the film was released I found myself going back to the talk shows and saying I'm the guy that didn't believe in it have you recently had a close encounter between uh between close encounter with something very unusual why are you people he was originally written for gene Hackman nothing was gonna keep me from that role I'd walk by Stevens office and I'd say see a lifer in the military walk away and I did that to every actor in Hollywood no matter what was going on and the day I got that part was the day I said Steven you need a child for this role and he looked up at me and said you got the part and I knew that character and what does he do he leaves his wife and kids Steven says now you wouldn't make the film of the same ending when I say he chuck it all he has no choice we are both in a bind the two of us and I think the only practical solution is that we share the apartment I accept what I get a phone call did you hear that Bobby DeNiro was fired this morning I said both who's gonna fire Bobby De Niro so I called race stark races I'd like you to do a reading of Bogart at my house this week and so and I am a wonderful actor and I know it pound for pound I got the biggest ego this side of st. Louis two weeks later maybe three weeks I get in the mail the script now it's called the goodbye girl then he had a story down perfectly my admiration for Neil went right through the roof I added one phrase I added the line a buffer I sleep in the nude a buffalo winter in summer rain or snow with the windows open it happens sometimes friends come in and out of your life like Busboys in a restaurant I worked on that film for one day generous creative people would come together in the morning and they would work together it has spoiled me what how's your brood y'all getting a chance to relax Bob I thought I made it clear to you that I'm on vacation I didn't talk about it for years bill just got drunk at dinner he was an Irish drunken bully is what he was he came back from dinner he walked in and I said read this I think it's really funny and he put his face next to me nose to nose and he screamed at the top as long everyone hates you you are you are tolerated that there was no time to react because he leaned back and he took a modern like glass blown ashtray he threw it in my face from closer than you are and it weighed about three-quarters of a pound and he missed me he tried to hit me I got up and left [Music] was good it was a film I admired and it was a film that really did a whole checklist on the things that I wanted my films to be about and I was proud of all of it the crew when the cast and the extras all bonded together and why now listen and see if you can hear the connective tissue between what I just played and this I don't like rock music after the Beatles I think they certainly served a great purpose until that mr. president this is a fulcrum point in history your presidency well it's a lot easier to do that than you might think because there's a little bit of Cheney in all of us and all you got to do is extrapolate so what is our real exit strategy on Iraq Nick there is no exit we stay however I heard him say well you're so old and look so old and I said I do I needed that money and so I put up with it we drain the swamp like Don says we rebuild it you

Channel: Yahoo Entertainment

Views: 1,032,664

Keywords: Richard Dreyfuss, Richard Dreyfuss interview, Bill Murray, What About Bob movie, The Graduate, American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Stand By Me, Mr. Holland's Opus

Id: yDB-rICAnnM

Length: 8min 42sec (522 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2019