The worse job in the world gets even worse.
The company had landed back in Los Angles after arduous weeks in the Utah desert. The film was Dark Blood…Judy Davis, Jonathan Pryce and River Phoenix. Tough jobs bring out the best in crew members. I’ll never forget our caterer. He was a Vietnam vet. He told me all he wanted to do now was to take care of people.
On the morning of November 1, 1993 I was driving down LaBrea Avenue. We finally had the day off after many six day weeks. We were all thrilled to be clean of the fine sand that marched into every piece of equipment and every fold of clothing. The music cut on the radio. There was a little dead air. The DJ announced that River had died of an overdose the night before. I slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop.
We mostly see these young actors, dancers and athletes whose talents have garnered fame and fortune as adults. They are not.Our brains are fully developed around 25 and our emotionally maturity peaks between 32-45. River was 23. Every kid needs time without adult pressures to become themselves. This industry has a long history of demanding too much of the too young. When Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka took time off to take care of themselves I could feel the tears well up. So proud of these two young women. Fame and fortune are nothing without peace of mind, peace of heart. I hope our country, obsessed by celebrity and wealth, will come to deeply understand and embrace this.
At the end of the work in Utah we burned the set down to film it. I was wedged in an out building with two other crew members as the SFX team began to torch the wooden structure. When the helicopter swooped in the blades kicked up the wind and pushed the fire unexpectedly into the sky and toward our building, I felt the heat wave over my face like a predator playing with its prey. We grabbed our gear and ran for our lives.
