Wow...I see there's a lot of hate for this guy. I don't see where he said anything wrong. So his role wasn't that big in the first movie. I thought he did pretty much all that could be done with the material. There was nothing dynamic about the role at all. It was basic. Basically his character was a carpet to be walked all over and I think he took the footsteps quite well. Its not his fault that they agreed to pay a high salary for a small supporting role. If they didn't think he was worth it they wouldn't have agreed to it. He's a big name and they obviously wanted his name attached to the project.
Don't get me wrong, Howard is not the best actor on earth, but he's definitely competent and much better than he was early in his career. His performance in Dead Presidents, Crash, and Hustle and Flow were excellent. My biggest problem with all of the bashing of this guy concerns his statement about the contract. If you are contracted for one thing and its not fulfilled then you would be pissed too. What if you were offered a job and they told you that it paid $20/hr. and when you got your check it was $15/hr. I don't think any of you would be happy.
If they were supposed to give him a chunk of the profits and didn't then the studio is in the wrong. Then, and this is pretty well known, they offered a low-ball figure for the sequel to him and other members of the cast. The offers had to be pretty insulting for so many actors to balk. Its not like it was just one or two. Nearly everyone complained. I'm sorry but that's not good business, and if you think he's wrong to be angry then I will assume that you also would do that sort of thing to your employees. Greed is a bad thing. Its easy to point the finger at the actor and call him greedy for wanting more, but when the corporations are raking in this sort of cash and refuse to fulfill their agreement...key word...agreement...then who's the villain then?
If Howard is lying about his contract not being fulfilled then that negates everything I've already said, but ask yourself...why would he lie about it? He's done so many movies he certainly doesn't need the money. I'm sure he wanted to reprise his role and he was offered it. They obviously didn't want to fulfill his previous contract nor did they want to pay a reasonable sum for an expanded role in the sequel. If you don't like him as an actor that's understandable. There are many actors that people like whom I despise. Whatever floats your boat...but from everything that has come out its the greedy corporation that's in the wrong from where I sit. A man's word is everything and a deal is a deal and it appears they broke it.
|