Adrien Brody | Adrien Brody Picture

Adrien Brody in no rush to get married

2006-11-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

ADRIEN BRODY is fed up with being constantly asked when he's getting married to his Spanish actress girlfriend, insisting he's in no rush. THE PIANIST Oscar winner has only been dating SNAKES ON A PLANE beauty ELSA PATAKY for a few months, but already gossip columns are convinced they are set to walk down the aisle. But the 33-year-old says, "I haven't felt the pressure to get married. I'm pretty young. "One day maybe, but not right now - even though people keep bringing up."

Brody's 'Hollywoodland' Challenge

2006-11-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

Adrien Brody discusses "Hollywoodland" on "The Early Show." (CBS/The Early Show)

(CBS) Adrien Brody has built a successful career mixing blockbusters such as "King Kong" with critically acclaimed dramas like "The Pianist." Now he's playing a detective investigating a mysterious death in the new thriller "Hollywoodland."

Many people have forgotten the scandal caused when actor George Reeves, the original superman, was found with a bullet in his head. But that story of sex, romance and betrayal will come to life for a whole new generation, including Brody

"It was before my time," he told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "But the interesting thing is the character. The detective doesn't know that much about the events that took place. I didn't have to know all the details, but it's unclear what happened."

Some people think Reeve's scandalous death has still not been solved even though it was ruled a suicide. Brody said it remains an intriguing mystery because the movie studios were so powerful that they controlled much of the information surrounding Reeve's death. Even police worked for the studios, Brody said.

"The fact that Reeves was having an affair with the studio executive's wife, there could have been other motives and easy to cover it up," he said.

Brody plays a fictional detective who investigates the death, and also leads a troubled life. He said the role was challenging because detectives have been played so well in other movies.

"What I tried to do, and discussed with Allan Coulter, who directed the film, is to focus on the reality of my character's life, which is actually that middle class guy in the valley, separated from his wife but has aspirations of being a much bigger detective than he is," Brody said.

After he won an Academy Award for best actor for "The Pianist," Brody said he has upped the ante for himself. In his next movie "Manolete" with Penelope Cruz, he plays a legendary bullfighter and actually has to fight bulls.

"Well, people have been killed fighting them, but they are less dangerous, obviously, because they are smaller and their horns are smaller and there's — there are less risks. But it was interesting," he said. "It's a fascinating world and one that I knew nothing about growing up in New York."

Not enough mystery

2006-11-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

"Hollywoodland" and "The Black Dahlia", two films based on two different crimes, both claim to be the greatest unsolved murder in U.S. history. You could argue that neither is the greatest unsolved murder in Los Angeles history, let alone the U.S., but that doesn't matter.

One can find more virtue and loyalty in a drug deal than in Tinsel Town, and Hollywood crime has become a guilty pleasure like "Cops."

"L.A. Confidential" continues to be the best film made about the underworld immorality of Hollywood. Director Allen Coulter's "Hollywoodland" makes a bold attempt, but comes up short of that standard.

The movie is based on the notorious suicide of TV's Superman, George Reeves (Ben Affleck), who reportedly shot himself June 16, 1959. His fianc鬠Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) hosted a small party earlier in the evening while Reeves spent much of it in alone in his room. As the party wound down and only a few guests remained, Reeves came downstairs and sat in his living room with the others. He played one song on his guitar, then slowly got up and went back upstairs. Moments later, according to Lemmon and the other guests, a gunshot rang out. They ran upstairs to find Reeves naked on his bed with a gunshot wound to his head.

It seemed like an obvious suicide until police found two bullet holes in the floor just feet from the bed. Further investigation showed Lemmon had suspiciously waited 45 minutes to call police. It was also discovered that Reeves had previously had an affair with Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), wife of MGM vice-president Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), a man Reeves indirectly worked for while playing Superman. Mannix was rumored to have strong mob ties and also was under suspicion for staging the car accident that killed ex-wife Beatrice. All of these characters are based on real people. The one fictitious character is Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a private investigator the film revolves around.

The story itself is attractive enough, and Coulter (HBO's "Rome," "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City" and "Six Feet Under") weaves the tale in between truth and conjecture as he establishes the possibility that Reeves was murdered.

One complaint is that he focuses too much attention on Simo's personal life. Simo quickly becomes the film's main character and we discover new evidence as he does. But who's interested in his personal struggle in dealing with his estranged son and ex-wife? The movie's most riveting parts dealt with the investigation and Coulter should have stuck with that.

Another minor complaint is the notion everyone in the 1950s was a hard-drinking chain smoker is slightly overdone. Every character in this film had a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other. Were they all alcoholics back then?

Any negative is minor compared to the positives, particularly the acting. Lane and Brody are perfect and Hoskins steals every scene he's in. And then there's Affleck. When did he become the most hated actor in Hollywood? This guy was America's sweetheart 9 years ago when he won the Oscar for co-writing "Good Will Hunting." He became a superstar with "Armageddon." It's a shame the media-induced nausea that was "Bennifer" erased his credibility as an actor. Affleck became almost comical, and as a result, he's a perfect choice to play Reeves. Reeves was humiliated by what he did to make a living. He wanted to be considered a serious actor and was embarrassed and emasculated every time he put on the Superman costume. He became typecast and was laughed at whenever he attempted to branch out. Affleck might relate to that, and his Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival was deserved.

An unlikely, down-to-earth star

2006-11-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES -- In his new movie, Hollywoodland, Adrien Brody plays unhappy 1950s detective Louis Simo, who is investigating the death of an even unhappier actor, George Reeves (Ben Affleck), star of the long-running television series The Adventures of Superman.

NEW MOVIES: Hooray for "Hollywoodland"

2006-11-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

BY ELEANOR O'SULLIVAN
MOVIE WRITER

Oscar winner Adrien Brody stars with Ben Affleck in "Hollywoodland," a period film about a detective's investigation into the death of TV's "Superman," George Reeves. With Diane Lane. Rated R.

Steven Strait and Sebastian Stan star in "Covenant," a supernatural fantasy about the bond among four men being broken. PG-13. In "The Protector," a Thai fighter helps rescue stolen animals in Australia. With Tony Jaa, Nathan Jones.

Possible limited openings this week include a family saga about teen pregnancy in a Mexican-American neighborhood of Los Angeles, "Quinceanera," starring Emily Rios. R.

Adrien Brody stunned by inspiring hoskins

2006-11-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

Oscar winner ADRIEN BRODY was left speechless by BOB HOSKINS on the set of new movie HOLLYWOODLAND by the Brit's ability to jump in and out of character. THE PIANO star has worked alongside many of Hollywood's biggest names, but he has never been so impressed as he was watching MONA LISA star Hoskins at work. Brody explains, "I sat there talking to him on the first day. I had just met Bob, and we were talking. "I thought I was hot s**t. I'd been working on it, got my thing down, been working a few weeks or whatever. Then the director ALLEN COULTER called action and Bob transformed in front of my eyes. It scared the s**t out of me. "I love it when I'm working with someone that inspires me, and is really great, but there was this immediate transformation from his breathing to his accent. "I grew up in New York and he sounded like somebody from New Jersey. He was intimidating and all that. It was fascinating, he just turned it right on. "Then, when the scene was over, he turned it right off and said, 'Alright, love, see you later. Give me a crumpet.'"

Fall Fil Preview

2006-11-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

HOLLYWOODLAND Sept. 8. Superman dies, and it's up to Adrien Brody, as a detective, to investigate the apparent 1959 suicide of actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck). Besides being depressed about insurmountable typecasting after starring in the "Superman" TV series, Reeves had a complicated love life, carrying on an affair with the wife (Diane Lane) of a studio executive (Bob Hoskins). Allen Coulter (TV's "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City") directs.

THE PROTECTOR Sept. 8. Action film spiced with the visceral Muay Thai fight style stars Tony Jaa as a young Thai fighter who travels to Australia on the trail of some stolen elephants promised to the king of Thailand.

COVENANT Sept. 8. Four students at the elite Spencer Academy, descendants of the 17th century settlers of Massachusetts' Ipswich Colony, discover their special powers come with a price when a student is found dead after a party. Renny Harlin ("Die Hard 2") directs.

THE BLACK DAHLIA Sept. 15. Brian De Palma directs Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank as sultry denizens of Hollywood's demimonde in this true-crime noir thriller. Investigating the grisly 1947 murder of starlet Betty Ann Short (Mia Kirshner), an obsessed detective (Josh Hartnett) prowls the seedy nightlife trying to figure out who did it. Aaron Eckhart co-stars. Based on the best-seller by James Ellroy ("L.A. Confidential").

Buzz: The case remains unsolved. Ellroy became obsessed with it in part because he found a personal connection between the Black Dahlia murder and the 1958 slaying of his mother. Director David Fincher spent several years developing the script as a three-hour movie with writer Josh Friedman before DePalma took it over. He filmed much of the movie in Bulgaria.

GRIDIRON GANG Sept. 15. A juvenile detention camp probation officer (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) transforms hard-core teenage felons into a football team in just one month. Rapper Xzibit co-stars in the film, which is based on a true story.

THE LAST KISS Sept. 15. Zach Braff ("Garden State," TV's "Scrubs") stars in an ensemble romantic comedy about a group of friends approaching the big 3-0. Jacinda Barrett ("Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason") and Casey Affleck ("Ocean's Eleven") co-star. Tony Goldwyn ("A Walk on the Moon") directs the screenplay by Paul Haggis.

EVERYONE'S HERO Sept. 15. Animated family feature tells the story of a young boy (Jake T. Austin) who teams up with a sassy sidekick (Raven-Symone) and embarks on a cross-country quest to visit his dream team, the New York Yankees. Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Brian Dennehy, William H. Macy, Mandy Patinkin, Dana Reeve, Robert Wagner and Richard Kind provide voices.

Buzz: This was the "dream project" Christopher Reeve never got to finish, but it's safe to assume the story's uplifting message has remained intact. Real-life Yankees manager Joe Torre provides the voice of the New York Yankees manager.

JET LI'S FEARLESS Sept. 22. Jet Li portrays Chinese martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia. After a shameful accidental death, Huo redeems himself in a historic 1910 bout by practicing his Missing Fist technique against a British boxer, a Spanish swordsman, a Belgian soldier and a Japanese martial artist. Hong Kong action auteur Ronny Yu ("The Bride With White Hair," "Freddy vs. Jason") directs with help from action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping ("Unleashed"). Bill Kong ("Hero") produces.

ALL THE KING'S MEN Sept. 22. Sean Penn stars in this adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel modeled on charismatic Louisiana Gov. Huey Long's rise and fall. Writer-director Steven Zaillian ("Schindler's List") updates the story of an idealist's rise to power in the world of Louisiana politics and the corruption that leads to his ultimate downfall. Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and Patricia Clarkson co-star.

Buzz: Bill Clinton adviser-turned-lobbyist James Carville, a Louisiana native, is a producer; expect plenty of insider perspective. Zaillian, a longtime A-list Hollywood screenwriter ("Gangs of New York," "Hannibal," "Clear and Present Danger," "Awakenings") directs for the first time since 1998's "A Civil Action."

JACKASS: NUMBER TWO Sept. 22. Johnny Knoxville risks life and limb, again, in the apparently critic-proof sequel. Traveling the globe with extreme pranksters Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Steve-O and "Wee Man," Knoxville expands on his MTV-hatched freak fest on a quest to discover more dangerous stunts.

FLYBOYS Sept. 22. World War I story inspired by the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of 38 volunteer aviators who beat back Germany's fearsome "Fokker" fighter planes. James Franco stars as one of three Yankee fliers who join the French squad in 1914, before the United States has entered the war. He and his comrades get whipped into shape for airborne battle by a grizzled French captain, played by Jean Reno ("The Da Vinci Code"). Tony Bill ("Untamed Heart") directs; Dean Devlin ("Independence Day") produces.

THE GUARDIAN Sept. 29. Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher play Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers, an elite program with the motto "So Others May Live." Costner is the former ace swimmer who lost his own crew and spots potential in Kutcher, the cocky but talented protege. When the pair go to Kodiak, Alaska, the tough love pays off during a Bering Sea rescue. Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive" "Holes") directs.

OPEN SEASON Sept. 29. Martin Lawrence voices Boog, a lazy grizzly bear who lives in a garage as this animated feature opens. He's roused by a scrappy mule deer (Ashton Kutcher) to fend off the annual attack of human hunters and take the forest back with other woodland creatures. The voice cast also includes Gary Sinise and Debra Messing. Based on the cartoons of Steve Moore ("In the Bleachers"); directed by Roger Allers ("The Lion King"), Jill Culton ("Toy Story 2") and Anthony Stacchi, with computer animation from Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Buzz: Former Replacements alt-rocker Paul Westerberg provided the songs, the latest in a crop of singer-songwriters recruited to pen cartoon soundtracks, including Ben Folds ("Over the Hedge"), John Hiatt ("The Country Bears") and Jack Johnson ("Curious George").

SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS Sept. 29. "Napoleon Dynamite" star Jon Heder geeks out as a traffic cop who takes a confidence-building course from an exceptionally eccentric teacher (Billy Bob Thornton). The complication: Both guys lust after the same woman (Jacinda Barrett). Todd Phillips ("Old School") directs his own script. Michael Clarke Duncan, Sarah Silverman and David Cross co-star.

Variety is spice of Adrien Brody's Life

2006-11-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

It is 11:45 a.m., and Adrien Brody is looking drowsy but feeling perky.

"I'm enjoying waking up early these days," he says, twisting the cap from a bottle of water. "I'm up by, say, 8 or 9. The daytime, you know? I'm liking it."

The actor can't see daylight from the windowless conference room at San Francisco's Ritz-Carlton, but no matter. Surrounded by a ghastly triumvirate of bad lighting, gold wallpaper and Louis XIV-style furniture, Brody still looks at ease, exuding that lazy charm reserved for the very beautiful, very famous or very thin.

Brody is all three.

As he slouches on a brocade couch, he rocks his rumpled gray hoodie and tennis shoes like King Louis rocked his wigs. He makes looking good look easy. Consider: He broke his nose three times and it came out looking better. On this particular morning, the actor, 33, is also peeling from a sunburn acquired during a Florida vacation.

"The sun seems stronger than it was," he says, rubbing at a Slavic cheekbone. "I was only out for three hours."

"Why were you in Florida in midsummer?" demands his interviewer, pale and blowsy. "Trying to see Havana before the U.S. ruins it?"

Brody shrugs.

"Nah, I've done that already," he says. "My mom (photojournalist Sylvia Plachy) went to photograph it in 2002, and I went as her assistant. It was during a film festival, so we were legally allowed to be there, as artists. And it was bizarre, because they'd seen so many different films of mine, like six or seven small films. I don't know how. Maybe they were all circulating on cable."

His confusion is understandable, considering the Havana trip came just before "The Pianist" and his brilliant performance as Polish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman. It predated his becoming the youngest best actor recipient in Academy Award history. Because after that, for better or worse, global recognition became Brody's inescapable norm.

The hyperreality of fame looms large in his latest film, "Hollywoodland," a noirish mystery set in 1950s Los Angeles that opens Friday in Bay Area theaters. Brody plays Louis Simo, a dissipated private eye investigating the death of George Reeves (Ben Affleck), the equally dissipated star of the "Superman" television series. Directed by Allen Coulter ("The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under"), the film meditates on the self-destructive ways celebrity and delusion can collide, as Simo discovers parallels between Reeves' life and his own even as his reality slowly unravels.

This existential twist on the detective genre was one of the script's attractions for Brody.

"It was an opportunity to play a detective for the first time, which was fun, but also to play it in a manner that hopefully hadn't been done," he says. "I think Allen and I found a way to interpret Simo as a man who is almost playing the role of a detective, as if he's acting and the cameras are rolling, when in reality he's a middle-class guy from the valley who's separated from his wife and having a hard time connecting with his son."

Simo's fractured relationship with his son is both the film's emotional heart and its primary catalyst. It also led Brody to a small epiphany of his own.

"Playing a father on film was new for me, although I'm old enough to be a father," he says. "I'm definitely aware that I'm getting ..." -- he rumples his hair and jiggles his foot, thinking -- "I don't know. I guess I'm getting away from being able to not look like I'm having a midlife crisis driving around on my motorcycle."

This is Brody's way of saying he's confronting adulthood. And motorcycles, in his case, are more a sign of growth than midlife regression. He avoided them for more than a decade after a debilitating accident in the early '90s, when his bike T-boned a car and landed him in the hospital.

"I only got back on them because my friend gave me a motorcycle," he says. "I think that's why he did it. He knew I probably wouldn't have bought a bike myself."

He now owns several.

The interviewer suggests he add a sidecar to transport his two Chihuahuas, Ceelo Vicious and Lolly. Brody looks skeptical.

"I don't think they'd like that," he says. "They're kind of skittish."

"Don't all dogs like sticking their heads out of moving vehicles?" persists the interviewer. "You know, so their ears and tongues can flap around?"

"No. I mean, do they?" Brody rubs his chin and contemplates flapping Chihuahua ears. "OK, maybe," he concedes.

Brody loves his dogs almost as much as he loves his wheels, all kinds of wheels, from motorbikes to muscle cars to a customized Hummer. He's a collector.

Wait. A Hummer? Brody sighs.

"It was just this dream I had growing up," he says wearily. "I always wanted one. Look, I ride around a lot on a scooter, so that evens things out, right? A scooter's a lot more fuel-efficient than any hybrid."

Growing up in Queens, Brody alternated his car obsession with his love for acting. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, then went on to perform in numerous plays and films, from indie productions to Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" and Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam." Critical praise came quickly; stardom did not -- until Roman Polanski picked him for "The Pianist."

Since winning an Oscar, Brody's choice in roles has been eclectic. He portrayed a mentally disabled primitive in "The Village" and a traumatized war veteran in "The Jacket," followed by a proletarian playwright in "King Kong" and his present turn as a soul-damaged gumshoe in "Hollywoodland." He recently finished filming "Manolete," in which he plays the renowned bullfighter Manuel Rodriguez Sanchez.

Brody admits to craving variety and, because he's cool that way, probably means it when he says he doesn't worry about his star status.

At some point, he might emerge in a different medium entirely. The actor-gearhead-Chihuahua-owner is also a lifetime hip-hophead who has been writing and recording his own music for years. Pressed to describe its sound, he reluctantly mentions Portishead and Massive Attack. The interviewer asks what he uses as a ring tone these days. Tricky? Random break beats?

Brody smiles.

"Silence."

The interviewer scans her memory.

"Who's that?"

Brody's smile broadens.

"Me."

"You're using your music as a ring tone?"

"No," he says. "I'm using silence. I turned the ringer off."

"Ah!" The interviewer sags, defeated.

"You mock me, morning person," she says.

Brody laughs and stretches. He looks like a cat.

Adrien Brody and Cruz in tragic Matador tale

2006-11-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

Manolete was a legendary bullfighter in Spain who died a tragic death at the age of thirty. Tragic not just for the goring he received from his final bullfight, but because his true love was barred from seeing him during his final moments in case they married and she became entitled to the inheritance and sullied the famous bullfighters reputation.

It sounds a tragic tale, of both death and love, and it's set to come to the big screen with Adrien Brody as Manolete and Penelope Cruz as his true love Lupe Sino. From the story in Reuters:

Manolete's biographers wrote that Sino had a shady reputation and was said to be after his money, but underlying their words was a basic hostility to women in the bullfighting world...As Manolete bled to death after his fatal goring on August 28, 1947, Sino was barred from seeing him on "doctor's orders" in case the matador tried to marry her in his final moments...
...Experts say Manolete himself became the stuff of legend not only because of his innovation in the ring, but because he made bullfighting more popular than ever as a spectacle, before the arrival of television.

The film is set to explore the relationship that had been so frowned upon, and is written and directed by Menno Meyjes who also wrote The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The story sounds hugely interesting, although I'm not a fan of bullfighting, I'm interested to see what this superbly strong writer can bring to the screen. The love story, and the strength of Manolete, has the potential for an unusual and emotive tale.

Adrien Brody's Filmography

2006-11-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

I'm Not There (2007) (filming)
Manolete (2006) (post-production)
Hollywoodland (2006)
King Kong (2005)
The Jacket (2005)
The Village (2004)
The Singing Detective (2003)
A Sorta Fairytale - Tori Amos (video clip) (2003)
The Pianist (2002) - Academy Award, César Award
Love the Hard Way (2002)
Dummy (2002)
The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
Bread and Roses (2000)
Summer of Sam (1999)
Liberty Heights (1999)
Oxygen (1999)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Bullet (1997)
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
King of the Hill (1993)

Adrien Brody's Career

2006-11-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

Brody hovered on the brink of stardom, receiving praise for his roles in Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line. He finally received widespread recognition when he was cast as the lead in Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002). The role won him an Academy Award for Best Actor, the youngest actor ever to win the award. To prepare for the role, Brody withdrew for months, gave up his apartment and his car, learned how to play Chopin on the piano, and lost 13 kg (29 lb).

Throughout his career, Brody has been compared to Al Pacino and Marlon Brando for his unique looks and method acting. He is also widely known for giving presenter, Halle Berry, a back-breaking kiss after winning his Best Actor Oscar, and as the spokesman for fashion brand Ermenegildo Zegna.

Brody appeared on Saturday Night Live on May 10, 2003, his first TV work, but he was banned from the show after giving an improvised introduction for musical guest Sean Paul (the show's producer, Lorne Michaels, is infamous for hating unscripted performances). Other TV appearances include NBC's The Today Show and on MTV's Punk'd after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher.

After The Pianist Brody has played three different roles in three very different movies. He played Noah Percy, a mentally disabled young man in the movie The Village by M. Night Shyamalan, shell-shocked war veteran Jack Starks in The Jacket, and writer Jack Driscoll, in the 2005 King Kong remake by Peter Jackson. He has also appeared in Diet Coke commercials. Some critics have argued Brody's choices of roles do not reflect a sufficient maturity for an Oscar winner. Brody for his part has said he craves variety.

He also appeared in Tori Amos' music video for "A Sorta Fairytale", as a man who is only a head and an arm, who meets Amos as a woman who is only a head and a leg. Each needs the other to become whole and this is accomplished with a kiss, like in a fairytale. Brody is a big hip-hop fan and plans on becoming a producer. He is being mentored by RZA of the Wu Tang Clan.
On January 5, 2006, Adrien confirmed speculation that he indeed was interested and very willing to play the role of The Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight. However, Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. eventually decided to cast Oscar-nominated Australian actor Heath Ledger as The Joker.

Adrien Brody's Biography - Early Life

2006-11-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

He was born in Woodhaven, Queens, New York (a neighborhood near Jamaica, Queens) to Elliot Brody (a retired history professor) and Sylvia Plachy (a photojournalist). Brody's father is Jewish and his mother, who was born in Hungary, was raised Catholic, although Brody's maternal grandmother was also Jewish. Brody attended New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (famously the inspiration for television's Fame). His parents enrolled him in acting classes to distance him from the dangerous kids with whom he associated.

In 1992, Brody was seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident in which he flew over a car and crashed feet-first into a crosswalk. He spent months recuperating. An avid daredevil, he has broken his nose three times doing off-the-wall stunts.