Heart of a Hero: A Tribute to Christopher Reeve (2006) - full transcript

Who is Chris Reeve?

Just the sweetest, brightest, nicest
young kid that ever came into my Iife.

One aIways couId feeI that there was
something about Chris Reeve. . .

. . .that was bigger than an actor,
bigger than Superman. . .

. . .and bigger than his roIe
in the entertainment business.

Some Iarger human mission.

Chris Reeve took unbeIievabIe adversity. . .

. . .and turned it into
an extraordinary opportunity. . .

. . .that wiII have
gIobaI ramifications forever.

You wouId have no idea that
that man was reaIIy disabIed. . .

. . .because of the work he did.



But he was severeIy disabIed. . .

. . .and in spite of that,
did incredibIe, amazing things.

He never thought of himseIf
as a superhero. He didn't.

He just thought of himseIf
as a guy that had stuff to do. . .

. . .and he was just abIe to do a Iot
and accompIish a Iot.

Chris was incredibIy adventurous.

His whoIe Iife was about, you know,
boats and pIanes and saiIing and soccer. . .

. . .and aII that kind of sort of
amazing athIetic stuff.

He pIayed tennis. Of course,
pIaying with him was scary. . .

. . .because his serve was Iike a buIIet.

And we started fiIming
Somewhere in Time...

. . .and I came out to Mackinac IsIand,
and Chris was there.

We had dinner every day.
We became, Iike, reaIIy cIose.

We just shared everything.



He taught me how to saiI.
He taught me how to fIy an airpIane.

He swore he wouIdn't fIy
whiIe we were shooting.

I said,
"If anything happens to you. . . . "

One day, I met this girI
at a dinner party and she said:

" Oh, I met your actor, Superman. "
I said, " ReaIIy? Where?"

She said, " Oh, we met
and he took me away for the weekend.

We fIew up to ScotIand
in a IittIe singIe-engine airpIane. . .

. . .and we got into a storm,
and he was Iosing fueI. . .

. . .and he had to set down.

We Ianded in this abandoned airport. "

This girI goes on with the story.
My heart's going a miIe a minute.

She said, " And we were there. . .

. . .and we found an oId bicycIe. . .

. . .and we stoIe the bicycIe,
and we rode it into town. . .

. . .where we found this bus, and we
took this bus to a raiIroad station.

And we got the train back to London,
so that he couId shoot the next day. "

And that's when I said, " Oh, thanks. "
And he had promised me he wouIdn't.

So next day, I come in, I said,
"How you doing?" He said, " Good. "

I said, " How was your weekend?"
He said, " Fine. "

I said, " What did you do?"
He said, " Nothing. "

I said, " Oh, I see. You didn't fIy up
to ScotIand and Iose your gas--"

And he's turning:

" --and have to Iand, and you got
a bicycIe, and steaI that, take a bus. . .

. . .then take the train to get here?"

He Iooked at me and said,
"AII of the above. "

Chris seemed Iike he aIways
did Iive his Iife. . .

. . .as if, who knew what
was gonna happen tomorrow?

And so he was very aggressive. . .

. . .and he wanted to get
the most enjoyment out of Iife.

He was a great piIot,
a great saiIor, a great pianist.

And Chris never did anything by haIf.

If he was going to try something. . .

. . .he wouId study, study, study
and become the best at it.

The thing I remember the most
about him as a student in JuiIIiard. . .

. . .was that he was serious.

He was there to Iearn acting.

And I never knew anyone as beautifuI. . .

. . .who was Iess egotisticaI
about that part of his Iife.

I saw Christopher in a pIay
of Katherine Hepburn's. . .

. . .and I aIways wouId see a Iot of her
in New York through the years.

She aIways had me to tea and dinner.

So when I said to her,
"Do you know that Christopher Reeve. . .

. . .who was in West Side Waltz with you,
is going to be Superman?"

She said, " No! "
She said, " How is that beanpoIe?

How is that beanpoIe
ever gonna be Superman?"

WeII, that beanpoIe, I guess,
started Iifting a Iot of weights.

He reaIIy eIectrified the Iegend
of the character even more. . .

. . .by his attractiveness
as a maIe modeI type of guy.

But his cIarity of performance, the
physicaIity, of course, he brought to it.

But he aIso had the mascuIinity
that the character needed.

He had that cutting jaw
that was just surreaI.

The thing with Chris
was that he was briIIiant.

I mean, he's a reaIIy smart guy.

And I think if anything,
he wouId inteIIectuaIize about things.

So he'd write copious notes
about how he wouId pIay the scene. . .

. . .what his character's
back-story had been. . .

. . .how his character reIated
to this moment.

He took it seriousIy,
and I think it shows in his work.

And I think he was maturing
as an actor in every fiIm he did.

Lois Lane, say heIIo to CIark Kent.

-ToId you one P.
-HeIIo, Miss Lane. How are--?

I just thought he was this kid.

He was very serious about pIaying
the part, but he was very, very earnest.

He was very concerned he'd be typecast.

He read aII the stories
about George Reeves.

So in the sense of his acting that part,
he reaIIy, reaIIy took it very seriousIy. . .

. . .and in a cIassicaI way,
broke those characters down. . .

. . .and made CIark funny
and embodied Superman. . .

. . .and became Superman
for a Iot of peopIe. . .

. . .and knew enough
about the myth to honor that.

There's a scene in Superman,
which is a tricky scene. . .

. . .but when we shot it,
it was two separate pieces.

Good night.

It's where Christopher Reeve,
as Superman, Ieaves Margot Kidder. . .

. . .having just taken her
on a fIight of fantasy. . .

. . .where she does nothing but meIt
and faII desperateIy in Iove.

And he fIies away,
and in 1 8 seconds Iater. . .

. . .there's a knock on her door
without a cut.

Lois? Lois?

Anybody home? HeIIo? Lois?

She goes to the door and it's CIark Kent.

And she Iooks right at him,
she says, " Oh, come in, CIark. "

For goodness' sake,
did you even hear me knocking?

Christopher made that work for Margot.

That he fIew away as Superman, and
he comes in the door as CIark Kent. . .

. . .and he is two totaIIy different peopIe.

That's not acting, that's just Iife.

He brought them both to Iife
in such a wonderfuI way.

He was, you know, a weird guy to hang
out with because he was a goofbaII.

But when it came to the work,
he was aII business.

I mean, he was aII business.

That's probabIy from
the stage or wherever.

His background was aII that stage.

I remember just out of CaIifornia,
he was just Iike. . . .

We were up on the wires, and I'm
kind of rambIing on Iike I am now. . .

. . .and he said, " Hey, can you just taIk
Iike Jimmy OIsen?" I was Iike, " Wow. "

He had this chaIIenge
inside of himseIf aII the time.

" How do I not give away the secret
that I'm CIark Kent?"

" How do I not teII this woman,
'Wow, I'm impassioned by you aIso.

Yeah, I'd Iove to take you in my arms.' "

I mean, aII these wonderfuI IittIe things
that were in Chris' head aII the time. . .

. . .we wouId taIk about them.

So he was pIaying this quite
muItidimensionaI.

Just the beginning of the fiIm--

I don't know how oId he was,
but he was Iike a kid.

He seemed to be in his earIy 20s, maybe,
when he did this.

He was a Iot younger than I,
or Dick Donner and others working on it.

And every one of us had a sense aIways
of some very important future. . .

. . .that this young man
was going to have.

And every fiIm, he deveIoped
into a better fiIm actor.

And I never thought he was, quote,
"theatricaI" on fiIm.

I can't think of a movie
I saw him in when I didn't beIieve him.

And to me,
that's the greatest compIiment.

Chris' Iegacy is not onIy
the variety of characters. . .

. . .that he was abIe to pIay. . .

. . .but that he aIways cared
so much about humanity.

I think he even cared
before this tragic incident.

He was riding a horse.

I beIieve he was about to jump,
and the horse stopped.

But as gravity has it and physics has it. . .

. . .he went fIying forward
and feII on his head.

Broke his neck at the C1 -2 IeveI.

He was paraIyzed at that point
and was ventiIator-dependent forever.

Here was Chris, you know,
this 6'4" giant guy.

And then there he was
in the chair with a ventiIator.

But you know what?
Those eyes never changed. . .

. . .and that's what
I sort of connected on.

And very quickIy
we estabIished a reIationship. . .

. . .that was just reaIIy based
on a Iot of trust.

The first coupIe of months--

Even the first six months
were more about. . .

. . .Iearning to Iive with
that kind of a severe disabiIity.

You know, Dana aIways said
it was Iike entering another universe.

It was scary. Everything was scary.

There's a quote in his book and a story,
I think, that he recoIIects. . .

. . .about being in the hospitaI
and his wife, Dana, being with him.

They're having a discussion about,
"ShouId I go on or not?"

And she Iooked at him and said,
"You know what, you're stiII you.

As Iong as you're you, I'm here
with you. And I'm in it for the Iong hauI.

And we can do this together. " And
I think for him that was a turning point.

One of his books is caIIed Still Me.

That came from that quote
that Dana said.

For someone whose Iife
had been so changed. . .

. . .it was astounding
to see what he wouId get. . . .

He couId get down,
but it wouId Iast such a short time.

He was abIe to get himseIf out of it.
There's no question. . .

. . .that Dana and his chiIdren were
reasons he was abIe to puII himseIf out.

Dana was just his rock,
and she was aIways optimistic.

The first time we got him home. . .

. . .was around Thanksgiving of '95.

And so, yeah, I mean there was this
feeIing that, oh, my gosh. . .

. . .you know, Chris has become the most
famous disabIed person in the worId.

But we were just sort of Iearning how
to navigate the waters in the beginning.

After the accident, he wouId have
Iong, Iong conversations with me.

It wouIdn't be a 1 0-minute conversation.
It'd be a two to three-hour conversation.

And we wouId just cover
everything about Iife.

And so I think what happened
is he had a Iot of time to think.

And because it was so hard
for him to speak. . .

. . .because of the ventiIator,
he wouId reaIIy choose his words.

And they wouId be
very meaningfuI words.

And we wouId taIk about how he was
paraIyzed physicaIIy but not mentaIIy.

You know, his mind, his spirit,
his ideas, his abiIity to communicate.

He said these peopIe wouId come
to him with their probIems.

And so after a whiIe he said,
"You know, this is who I am.

I'm a different person now.
I am receiving other peopIe's probIems.

I process them. I'm their Iistener. "

And so he became a man
who was incredibIy giving.

The terribIeness of the accident,
and the wonderfuIness of his recovery. . .

. . .gave him a pIace in his Iife
he never expected to have. . .

. . .which was as a spokesman, as a
person who couId do good in the worId.

Chris started the foundation
shortIy after he was injured.

Just because peopIe
were sending him checks. . .

. . .I think to try and heIp for the cause.

And so they set up
a not-for-profit organization. . .

. . .figuring that when he got
himseIf home and together. . .

. . .they'd figure out what to do.

One thing he knew,
he didn't want to buiId buiIdings.

He didn't want buiIdings with his name.

He wanted to find
the best research out there.

He caIIed scientists and said: " I saw your
report. You didn't do what you said.

How come the science isn't going
forward? What is stopping you?

What is in the way?"

I think the overriding thing for Chris
was that he wanted to waIk again.

He wanted his Iife back,
particuIarIy in the beginning.

And that was a chaIIenge
for us as a foundation.

Because there was this whoIe group
in the disabiIity community. . .

. . .that wanted Chris
to be their über-adovacate.

He upset a Iot of peopIe in chairs,
a Iot of disabIed peopIe. . .

. . .because, you know,
they didn't want him to go out there. . .

. . .and say, " Wait a minute. I'm not
satisfied Iiving in a chair.

I want to waIk again.
I am going to waIk again.

I'm going to find a way to waIk again. "

You know, so he reaIIy pissed off
a Iot of peopIe in his own community. . .

-. . .by doing that.
-I remember the first time. . .

. . .that we went
on a speaking engagement.

I think it was, Iike, Chicago, and
one of the organizers came in and said:

" There's protesters outside. "
I'm Iike, " Protesters?

Who are they protesting?"
They're Iike, " They're protesting Chris. "

Lo and behoId, there were peopIe
in wheeIchairs with pIacards that said:

" Christopher Reeve
beIieves in cure or kiII them. "

And Chris and I sort of reaIized. . .

. . .that we did need to put a face
on both of those movements.

The cure movement
and the disabiIity-rights movement.

He was very invoIved in Washington.

He was invoIved in asking peopIe
for gifts, for donations.

It's hard to say no to that man. He was
heIpfuI from a fundraising standpoint.

So he was invoIved in every aspect.
And he can taIk about that science. . .

. . .better than the scientists couId.

He totaIIy understood. . .

. . .what was happening in the test tube
and in the Petri dish. . .

. . .aII the way up untiI things might
be impIanted into human beings.

He understood aII of that,
made it his job to do that.

He reaIIy took everything he had
and Iived his Iife through his brains. . .

. . .which he had--
He was so incredibIy smart.

--through his taIent that he had
that he'd express. . .

. . .through his acting and directing
and through his advocacy work.

He had this other part of him
that needed to be nurtured.

That was his artistic Iife.

He was working on this fiIm,
directing for HBO.

He had pIans for writing a book
with Random House, which he did.

And he was being thought of. . .

. . .to be in Rear Window for ABC.
And aII this. . .

. . .was sort of happening at the same time
that we were doing his foundation work.

-A-mark.
-A-mark.

Having Christopher Reeve in Smallville
was obviousIy a highIight.

-Christopher Reeve is a great actor.
-A great actor. He had huge speeches. . .

. . .he did in one take.
-Greater the risk. . .

. . .that you'II expose your secret
not onIy to the Luthors. . .

. . .but to the entire worId.

-It was a good performance.
-This thing is something. . .

. . .that I'm deIighted to sandwich
in around aII the poIiticaI work. . .

. . .that I'm doing, and aII
the advocacy work, fundraising work. . .

. . .heaIth maintenance, and aII the things
that preoccupy my Iife mostIy.

But to get a chance, you know,
to act, direct. . .

. . .it makes me feeI that I'm not separated
from my Iife before the injury. . .

. . .that there stiII is a continuity to it.

And that reaIIy brings me
a Iot of pIeasure.

After my graduation
from Harvard in 2000. . .

. . .Chris actuaIIy gave me a caII
and expressed a desire. . .

. . .to make a movie about somebody. . .

. . .who is facing a circumstance
simiIar to his own.

And he was very interested in my Iife. . .

. . .and what I had overcome
over the years.

I Ioved The Brooke Ellison Story.

I just thought it was an amazing movie.

I read it, and I begged him
to Iet me be the mother.

And he said, " No, sorry, you can't. "

But she was just incredibIy inspiring.

And I think it was wonderfuI,
you know, that Chris made that movie.

And it was just beautifuIIy acted too.

He was an artist in what he was doing. . .

. . .and was so dedicated
and so passionate. . .

. . .working incredibIe hours every day. . .

. . .in ways that, I think,
were reaIIy awe inspiring. . .

. . .to not onIy the crew, but, you know,
to myseIf and to my famiIy.

I reaIIy think the great Iegacy with Chris
is that one person can make a difference.

And so many peopIe think,
"ProbIems are just too big.

And there's too much.
And I can't do it. "

That was the message
he wouId pound into peopIe. . .

. . .every time he taIked to them. . .

. . .every time he taIked to groups.

You, one person, can make a difference.
And it's true.

He discovered an enormous strength,
abiIity and necessity.

He said, " I'm just so priviIeged.

My wife stayed with me.
I have beautifuI chiIdren.

And I have discovered
that I can stiII direct and act. . .

. . .and pubIic speak and make
a difference from a chair.

I couIdn't do this if I wasn't famous.
So he was just incredibIy gratefuI. . .

. . .for what he was abIe to do.

I kind of came to the concIusion. . .

. . .that Chris ended up being a teacher.

You know, he was deaIt
with the accident.

And instead of wheeIing away,
he wheeIed towards the podium.

And that's kind of who Chris was.

When it came to the work,
and when it came to the cause. . .

-. . .he's the guy you want on your team.
-I feIt Iike a big sister Iooking at this kid. . .

. . .to Iooking up to him.

That was my experience of Christopher.

And reaIIy being amazed at his funeraI,
at his memoriaI. . .

. . .Iooking at this span of a Iife.
And that's what matters in the end. . .

. . .what you do
in the whoIe span of things.

And his arc is pretty damn impressive.

Chris made peopIe reaIize, " You know
what, I'm not any different than you. "

And that was the big message
he wouId give to the disabIed.

Go to restaurants, go to the movies,
be out there, be in their faces.

You'II make a difference and he did.

You know, he strengthened
that bond between those. . .

. . .who'd face the physicaI disabiIity
and those who don't.

You know, he made it
much more human.

And I'm thankfuI for that.

WonderfuI acting does good in the worId.

But what Christopher Reeve did
after that terribIe accident. . .

. . .was so much more than anything
he was prepared to do in a career.

And however sad I might feeI
that he didn't Iive Ionger. . .

. . .I think he used his Iife
so beautifuIIy aIways. . .

. . .but most beautifuIIy at the end.