The celebrated actor, James Caan, has sadly passed away. The prolific performer left an
indelible mark on Hollywood, but he always looked to reinvent himself with each role.
That's why it's so interesting to learn about the wish James Caan had one year before his death.
Hollywood is still reeling over the tragic death of actor James Caan,
who died on July 6th. Caan's family confirmed his passing through one of Caan's favorite
forms of communication: Twitter. Caan was active on the platform in recent years,
even earning the nickname "America's Twitter grandpa," and fans took notice — particularly
how he ended every post with "End of tweet." When his family confirmed his death on the
social media platform, some fans couldn't help but smile at the inclusion of "End of tweet."
The actor, best known for portraying Sonny Corleone in 1972's "The Godfather," somehow
eschewed typecasting and played a variety of notable roles throughout his lifetime.
His characters included a revenge-seeking cowboy in "El Dorado," a football player
with a terminal illness in "Brian's Song," and a career criminal attempting one last
score before going straight in "Thief." He also gave unforgettable performances
as a vulnerable romance novelist held captive by a psychotic Kathy Bates in
"Misery," a gangster paying to sleep with a gambler's wife in the comedy "Honeymoon
in Vegas," and the estranged father of one of Santa's helpers in the holiday classic "Elf."
"I'm your number one fan."
Caan told CBS Sunday Morning,
"I fought to always never be the same person. I mean the
fun of being an actor is being somebody else for three months."
And yet Caan still didn't feel satisfied. Though he had more
than 137 credits to his name, there was still more Caan wanted to do.
He played many interesting roles over his 60-year career,
with at least one credit every year from 1961 to 1983, but then took a hiatus from
acting between 1983 and 1987. He worked on recovering from substance abuse and grieving
the death of his sister from leukemia. During that period he's quoted as saying,
"Sometimes it takes terrible things in your life to make you realize
what's really important. I realized that passion is the most important
thing in my life. And I had lost that passion about the movie business."
He returned in 1987 following a similar schedule. He had at least one credit,
often more, nearly every year between 1987 and 2021. He even
released projects during the pandemic. And yet, despite all these eclectic endeavors,
in a July 2021 interview with CBS Sunday Morning, he still felt unfinished. He told Ben Mankiewicz,
"I want to do a good piece of work. I'm frustrated, I'd love to do a real character
thing. I can't take it easy. To me, I enjoy working. I love to work with good people.
I have more fun when I'm working, and I have a lot of laughs. And I get respect too sometimes."
Caan worked until his death at age 82, appearing in the 2020 television movie,
"JL Family Ranch 2," and the 2021 comedy, "Queen Bees," opposite Ellen Burstyn in a
sort of assisted-living "Mean Girls." He'll return to his gangster roots in
the 2023 film "Fast Charlie," which is currently in post-production.
James Caan clearly expressed his desire to never stop working,
but it's less clear what roles he still hoped to play. He told the "Los Angeles
Times" that he was always looking for something different, but there were
certainly movie genres he avoided when he returned to the screen in 1987. Caan said,
"I also think one of the reasons for the self-induced hiatus was
that it was better than having to act in that whole spree of kid movies going
on. I just didn't see myself being a goonie, or captain of a spaceship."
We all know now what a juggernaut "Star Wars" has become, and the writing was long on the wall when
the third film, "Return of the Jedi," premiered in 1983. All but three of the highest-grossing
box office films for that decade were special effects blockbusters, including "Raiders of
the Lost Ark," "Ghostbusters," "Back to the Future," and "Batman." And Caan had already
turned down roles in "Star Wars," "Superman," and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
The '80s also ushered in the era of coming-of-age teen films like John Hughes' "Sixteen Candles,"
"Stand by Me," and "The Goonies," and Caan knew his brand wasn't in demand then. He revealed,
"I think the directors were taking themselves way too seriously. And it's my belief that
they would hire actors who didn't distract from either their prowess or the special effects."
James Caan was an eclectic actor with a clear sense of himself. His death is
a true loss for Hollywood and movies in general.