How did you end up working on HOOK?
Agent submitted me, Vincent Patterson (well known choreographer) cast me with Spielberg's approval; two auditions. I began taking tap and ballet at 4 and turned professional as an actor/dancer/singer at five - 1948. Only one other Mouseketeer had a lot of credits and Sharon Baird's were mostly dance, the rest were amateurs.
I have maintained my dancing throughout my life and became a choreographer in my late teens. Well known choreos for whom I have worked include Bob Fosse, Gower Champion on Broadway, Twyla Tharpe (film), Kenny Ortega ("High School Musical", etc. - he used me as an actor/dancer/Irish thug in the Disney film NEWSIES and last on the final season of "Chicago Hope" for an unusual dance number. Mandy Pantinkin's character undergoes neurosurgery on the brain and along with the pretty, young boys and girls, they needed an adult male who could cut the dancing and be mature enought to work on someone's brain).
My last dancing was: 1) 2005 at Disneyland for their Park 50th celebration, which preceded ours re MMC but was the first TV appearance of the Mouseketeers on July 17, 1955 and 2) Grandpa Joad, stage version of "The Grapes of Wrath" is in his early 80s but I did it in 2003 at Ford's Theatre in DC, where Lincoln was assassinated; I came back in the role of the Mayor in Act II and choreo know my work and put me into the number in a third makeup/costume guise.
What do you remember about the audition process for your role?
Too many people and a lot of sweat but Vincent (he did Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Madonna's "Vogue" schtick) was cool. I met Dustin and Julia, but most of my scenes were with Robin and Bob Hoskins. I played a drunken, cockney, peglegged pirate in full regalia as a mate/buddy of Hoskins in the Smee role. Bad News: much of my work was cut. Good News: I still get full residuals.
Spielberg was concerned with this 15 min. segment introducing Robin/Pan to Never-Never Land would make folks think the film was a musical, which there is in a stage version. There are a couple of songs but they are incidental to the character and plots, they are not intrinsic.
So what did they ask you to do at these two auditions? Is this to assume that talents in both acting, singing and dancing were required for (all) the (pirates) auditions for HOOK? Does this mean they casted the movie as if their first intention was to do a (movie) musical?
The majority were dancer/extras or dancer/stunt people; almost all had to dance to some degree, some of us needed to do much more. Dancing in pain with your leg tied up to your boot on a peg leg, doing turns and so on, is very difficult and dangerous.
A few of us had lines and group and solo singing lines. I had some solo lines a la Cockney, cut, natch but loved working with John Williams who was very together and on top of everything and NOT prima donna. Not all but too many conductors are divas and difficult.
There were more than two auditions. I said I had two auditions, some had more. They wanted to make sure the mature dancers, me and three guys older than me, one of them also a TV choreographer, dance teacher, buddy of mine (Bob Banas; google him), could cut the work on the peg legs and Vincent knew only our resume for none of us had worked for him before.
But they were interested in our singing ability and acting acuity.
Some of the extras did not have to dance; many of the stunt people did not have to dance; MOST of the Pirates had to dance unless they were in the above group - hangers on while we sweated.
The movie was never intended to be a musical but a fantasy/comedy/drama WITH some music. Again, Steven was concerned about confusion with the stage musical "Peter Pan".
Screen writing 101 concisely is three acts: Act I sets up characters and situation, Act II has some "pivotal point" - in this case Robin/Pan's journey to Never-Never Land; this act is twice the length of the first and second; Act III is the outcome (in plays called denoument) in which the lead(s) have to conquer or fail, live or die - here, Peter has to save his kids and get back home. Of course, this is a generalization for MOST movies. "Citizen Kane," "2001 A Space Odyssey", "Ghandi" and others do not fit the "normal" film, which runs 90 mins+ for a comedy and 120 mins+ for a drama.
You said "much of my work was cut": we, as a matter of fact, are very interested in all the scenes that were filmed but not used in the final version of the movie! Could you possibly elaborate on all your cut scenes?
The 15 minutes John W. and Vincent P. put together was ALL MUSICAL, hence, primarily cut. There were three parts to this intro of Pan to N-N Land: 1) the hookers, of whom more was left in, 2) the gay/effete, British, Period wigs, powder, makeup, bright costumes (check out Dustin's garb and change of hooks etc.) and 3) us, the cohorts of hard drinking, womanizing, Smee (Hoskins). I later actually got a "accidental" copy of the uncut, unedited takes in my section but they did not include any closeups, just the masters.
According to the IMDB trivia section for HOOK, "Bob Hoskins bought beer for 300+ extras after a lengthy and complicated scene was cut." Any truth in that?
Not while I was there - I was on the lot for about three weeks but many of the extras lasted months!
I read in some movie magazine that "on one day of principal photography, they did a shot where the pirate town was waking up. Steven did some amazing camera moves over and above the soundstage. The place was chock-a-block full of people and was great fun." But there is no such shot in the final movie. Does this ring any bell to you?
This is the section I was in and Steven was playing with his $750,000 remote control boom flying whatever while Robin incessantly did his club act and we all sweated and waited and I endured the pegleg pain.
In the novelization, during the whole intro of Pan to Never-Neverland sequence, on top of the three parts you mentioned, there's also a bit where slave children are supposed to be seen, to establish Captain Hook as a slave trader, using children to count his treasure, etc. Do you know if this part of the scene was filmed too?
Must have been shot elsewhere or at some other time; I have no knowledge of it. The huge Neverland set had these three areas for the hookers, dandys and grog heads.
PS: I did get a nice black "fisherman's" vest (the bulky ones with many pockets also used by photogs and ADs (Assistant Directors) on sets). Started me buyin them in different colors and always travel with one. Dusty's was stolen from me at a sushi place. [He never told me to call him Dusty, but that his Dustin's nickname, which I assume you know.]
By any chance, do you know anything or have you ever heard about other deleted (filmed but not used) scenes from HOOK?
Nope. But there is always film on the floor even if the director is not an "over shooter".
I'm just curious: you said you were on the lot for about three weeks whereas other extras lasted months. Why didn't you stay all along? Because the filming ran over schedule? Because you had other (previous) commitments?
Extras cost less than actors and can be carried to change looks and be in different scenes, plus, they always needed them in the pirate scenes. I was on a "drop and pick" on "Newsies". Translated this means that they could drop me and pick me back up IF I was free. I was doing Hook for the three weeks and was off and that is what happened; I went back to "Newsies".
If they carry you they pay your salary whether you work or not and as a strike breaker I would only be in strike dance and fight scenes, except for the lines in the prestrike in the office or post strike in "Newsies", hence, I could sit around the set and make decent bucks until they decided to return to or shoot other scenes that I would be in, so they decided to gamble that I would be available, which worked out for them - this time.
In which scenes of the final cut can one best see (or spot) you?
Like Hook, it ain't easy, but I have a line in a prestrike scene as an Irish hooligan.
I was thinking about HOOK: when can you best be seen in HOOK?
I believe I averred previously that it is near to impossible. I have never done a stop/frame look, nor will I. Most of my work was cut by Spielberg along with Robin & Hoskin's and the rest of us. The significant factor for me is that I still get residuals.
I read in several trade magazines that a lot of famous people did come to visit the HOOK movie sets during the shooting and that some of them even made cameo appearances in the film... Do you remember or have heard of any names of visitors or uncredited actors?
I've heard Glenn Close but I did not work with any of these star cameos; all would have been disguised by wigs, facial hair, costumes and any number of other things.
Another thing I read about and would like you to comment on (or should I say, do some rumor control on): "For adult pirate extras [on HOOK], 150 surly types were recruted at biker hangouts in and around L.A. Strictly forbidden to fraternize with actors, they were herded off to their own humble rest area between shots. When the bikers realized they wre being fed pretzels and water while stars snacked on soup and chili, several all but mutinied." Any truth to that, or is this some publicity nonsense?
I have no direct knowledge of it either by seeing it or hearing of it but it would not surprise me. They are VERY indiscriminate about extras in large numbers PARTICULARLY when they are supposed to be bad types: Bikers, Gangbangers, Pirates, Security muscle guys, etc.
In "The Hospital" with George C. Scott, among others, in the early 70s I was an intern and there were many group PROTESTOR scenes and there were some very bad dudes from not too far away (abover 100th, East) and definitely some from gangs. They think they can control these violent freaks but they cannot and you can be very endangered in the middle even though you are not a part of the group for you have to mingle with them.
The casting people and director are looking for faces: MEAN faces, ugly faces, tough faces, and so on and quite frequently these are not the sophisticated Cary Grant types - or had you not noticed.
Sorry I cannot be of more help. I tend to stay as much to myself as I can on a set with that many extras. "Lionheart" was not as bad bust I was in a number of the fight scenes and the same element found their way to over $100 a day and free food for standing around and screwing around.
It kills the editors because there are so many people that the director and ADs can miss one or two people doing something antithetical to the scene, the film, the main characters, etc.
When someone shoots the dog you cannot have an idiot laughing in frame.
You said you loved working with John Williams. Does this mean he was there during the shooting of your scenes?
There were too many people there and too much concentration on my work to know for sure when John was there or not. Usually not during filming unless Spielberg requested it to "tune something up", i.e. change what they have.
But a film composer usually starts working on his score after the shooting is done, right?
The score is done for a musical film or a film with original music and LYRICS before the shooting so the singers or actor singers or, in my case, actor/dancer/singers can learn their music and lyrics and prerecord the tune, for on camera you always lipsynch (mouth or sing to a playback). This was not always the case, e.g. the first year of the MMC we had live music on set and sang live, making it easier for one person to screw up an entire take by getting off lyric.
Second year we sang/mouthed to playback and I believe all film and TV has been done that way since, unless for a special talk show appearance that must be live, e.g. Tony Bennett, not Milli Vanilli.
We worked with John the first day rehearsing and with choreo Vincent Paterson, meeting Dustin, Julia, etc. but no work with Spielberg. We rehearsed for about five days before shooting and prerecorded our numbers with full orchestra before camera.
You are thinking of a film score to a dialogue and/or action film with no origingal music, or if original, like 007 Tom Jones, layed down to me edited into the script by the film composer or music head for the movie in coordination with the director and, frequently, the editor.
After they get into editing they cut, change, rewrite or add as the film is cut, then do a final music edit before the final cut.
So music was played during the shooting of your scenes?
Yes, always.
And do you remember, by any chance, whether the same music was used in the finished film?
As stated before, most of our long interlude (about 12 to 15 minutes) was ostensibly cut, ergo, two or more tunes and musical bridges, interludes etc. were cut. I have not seen the film since the opening except for part of it on TV but my take is that, once more, most of these tunes, certainly my cockney solos and some other solos were cut, but they did keep part of the "whores" bits because they were so character looking, sounding and costumed.
Thank you