Things I've Said, but Probably Shouldn't Have: An Unrepentant Memoir - Hardcover

Dern, Bruce; Fryer, Christopher; Crane, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470106379 ISBN 13: 9780470106372

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2007

Synopsis

Bruce Dern has worked with practically every iconic actor and director in the last fifty years, and he’s not afraid to say what he thinks about all of them. His career has run the gamut from B movies to Z movies to becoming an Oscar nominee, and he’s created some of the most indelible performances in modern cinema. Now, in this uniquely funny memoir, he looks back over his amazing career, telling one memorable story after another and giving key insights into how placing artistic challenge over career development has kept one of Hollywood’s greatest actors from also being one of its most rich and famous.

People love reading about red carpet regulars, and Dern doesn’t disappoint. He writes candidly and unforgettably about working with Alfred Hitchcock, John Frankenheimer, Claude Chabrol, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Bob Dylan, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Jane Fonda, John Wayne, and many more. Readers will discover why he turned down potentially career-making roles in The Godfather, Marathon Man, and Gandhi; why his prestigious family disowned him over a typo in the New York Times; and why, after he was already famous, he agreed to star in The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant, the second best two-headed transplant movie of 1971.

As Dern’s career moves full steam ahead in the HBO series Big Love and Astronaut Farmer (his forthcoming film with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton), Things I’ve Said, but Probably Shouldn’t Have is the book not just Dern fans and Hollywood enthusiasts will be talking about this season.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Dern is an Academy Award– and Golden Globe–nominated actor and early member of the Actors Studio. His multi-era career includes memorable roles in genre classics, including They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Coming Home, The Great Gatsby, The Wild Angels, Silent Running, That Championship Season, and All the Pretty Horses. For many filmgoers, he will always be the guy who killed John Wayne in The Cowboys. He currently stars as Frank Harlow on the hit HBO series Big Love. Christopher Fryer and Robert Crane are also the authors of Jack Nicholson: Face to Face.

From the Back Cover

"Bruce Dern is a fascinating man."
?Tom Hanks

"Bruce is one of the wittiest and shockingly wisest men I know. He makes me smile when I see him and laugh when I hear him. There will never be anyone like him on film again in my lifetime."
?Burt Reynolds

From the Inside Flap

Things I've Said, But Probably Shouldn't Have

He is one of Hollywood's hardest-working actors and most outrageous personalities. His career has run the gamut from B movies to Z movies to becoming an Oscar nominee and has included some of the most indelible performances in modern cinema. He has worked with practically every iconic actor and director in the last fifty years and he's not afraid to say what he thinks about all of them.

Now Bruce Dern tells all in Things I've Said, but Probably Shouldn't Have. In this uniquely entertaining memoir, he looks back over his amazing life and career, including his unforgettable work in Silent Running, Family Plot, Coming Home, Monster, and other films. He holds nothing back as he writes about working with Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, Alfred Hitchcock, John Frankenheimer, Claude Chabrol, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Bob Dylan, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Jane Fonda, John Wayne, and many more. He reveals why he wasn't interested in potentially career-making roles in The Godfather and Gandhi, and why, after he was already famous, he agreed to star in The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant, the second best two-headed transplant movie of 1971.

You'll also find out why he became estranged from his prestigious family over a typo in the New York Times and learn about his experiences as father and mentor to actress Laura Dern. Along the way, he gives key insights into how placing artistic challenge over career development has kept one of Hollywood's greatest actors from also being one of its most rich and famous. He also talks about the single best moment he's ever had in a movie in his career and why he would not make that film today.

Sometimes moving, sometimes hilarious, Things I've Said, but Probably Shouldn't Have is a wild ride as compelling as the many roles Bruce Dern has played in his long and adventurous run on stage and on screen.

Reviews

Dern, who got his acting break in Roger Corman films, is best known for roles in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and the Oscar-nominated Coming Home. While he's been an actor for decades, his rambling career account suffers from inaccuracy; for example, when Dern wrongly identifies Elia Kazan as Jewish (he was brought up Catholic). Born a Midwest child of privilege, Dern learned the Method with Lee Strasberg, who suggested he go to Hollywood. And from the moment he gets there, he trumpets his own abilities. His memoir details his fellow actors, directors and pictures, and reveals that he turned down an audition for The Godfather and rebuffed Woody Allen. While briefly touching on his marriages and his obsession with running, Dern saves his eloquence for the magic that can occur on a set. He reserves high praise for directors like Hitchcock, because "we might do something nobody had ever done before." Despite his wild run, his memoir is so dominated by ego, it fails to hold our interest.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sturdy second- and occasionally first-line actor Dern comes clean about his life and career in a memoir that required two as-told-to scribes to whip into shape (it still reads like recording transcripts, bumpy but personal). Dern haled from Glencoe on Chicago's swanky North Shore, where his family occupied one of three contiguous estates owned by the founders of the Carson Pirie Scott department stores (an older cousin was poet and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish). After high school, he decamped for New York and Lee Strasberg's notorious Actors Studio. Directed early on by Elia Kazan on stage, Dern proceeded to a torrent of TV and film work, most notably including cult favorites The Wild Angels and Silent Running as well as Coming Home, which got him a supporting actor Oscar nomination. He costarred in Hitchcock's last film, A Family Plot, but then turned down The Godfather and Marathon Man and accepted The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant. He affects an offhand, entertaining manner here, making this a fun addition for movie collections. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470106379
• ISBN 13: 9780470106372
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 298