5/18/2023 0 Comments 2525035355 scott schwartz![]() ![]() His "eye" for scenes and set-ups was amazing he could just see things before they happened. I tried to watch him as much as I could to see how a director works, but I ended up laughing as much as I did learning things. He'd be laughing and joking quite a bit during filming. His charm and sense of humor was really unexpected as normally a director is very serious during filming and he wasn't that way at all. What do you remember about your experience working with him? What did you learn from that experience? ![]() Q: The film was directed by the great Richard Donner. Off screen he was pretty quiet, basically saving the energy he had for his onscreen time, but we had a LOT of conversations during down-time. Gleason taught me how to shoot pool, told me all kinds of stories about his life. He and I got along really better than most people expected as I showed him very early on I wasn't out to steal scenes, I knew WHO he was and appreciated his work. At the core, though, are lessons for the characters in friendship, love and respect. The boy, who can pick out anything he wants at the toy store, is really desperate for somebody to play with and demands that he wants the actual cleaning guy (Pryor) instead of a toy (cue the slavery comparisons). It is about a spoiled boy (Schwartz) who does not get the love and attention he desires from his wealthy father (Gleason). I loved this film when I saw it as a kid, but looking at it now there are some racist undertones that can be interpreted many of which are due to the storyline. It was the 14th highest grossing film of that year. The Toy is a 1982 comedy directed by Richard Donner and starring the legendary Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason alongside Scott Schwartz. It took 8 auditions, several screen-tests. Scott: I auditioned for it, like everyone else, over 5,000 real actors tried out and another 5,000+ went to their local Toys-R-Us store where they had a contest for a "Jackie Gleason" look-a-like. Q: How did the role of "Master Eric Bates" in 1982's The Toy come your way? From commercials to Off-Broadway to Broadway, 150+ commercials later. A guy there produced some commercials and asked if I wanted to do one. I was going to an "old movie" club in New York City with my dad. ![]()
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