Hawke and Woody Harrelson Swap Redford Stories at Sundance Homage
The two actors took the stage inside Grand Hyatt Deer Valley Friday night during Celebrating Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert Redford to share reflections of working with the man of honor.
Sundance Institute hosted a celebration to honor founder Robert Redford on Friday night at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Park City, Utah, where high-profile presenters nearly stole the show by sharing memories.
Sundance veteran and newly-minted Oscar nominee Hawke had the honor of kicking off the night’s program and revealing the theme, Once Upon a Time. In honor of that, Hawke showed off his talent for storytelling by recalling the first time he met Redford during an audition for A River Runs Through It, the 1992 film directed by Redford and starring Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer and Tom Skerritt.
“I come in the next day, the door opens. ‘You ready to work?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I do my audition. And he looks at me and he goes, ‘Lemme tell you what I do. I give everyone respect to give them notes and see how they respond to changes. And I would give you that opportunity except you just did a brilliant job and you’re too young for this part. I’m not going to cast you, but I want you to know that you’re going to have a wonderful career.’”
“He championed other people. And as you get older you realize, oh wait, he had his own family. He had his own work. The fact that he took time to care about all of us here is so meaningful,” Hawke said.
“I felt two hands in the back of my shoulder,” he said of Redford’s touch. Redford then suggested he stop wearing cowboy hats because “people think you’re losing your hair.”
Woody Harrelson took the stage to share his memories of Redford while wearing not a cowboy hat but a baseball hat with a cannabis leaf embroidered on it. He said that Redford’s daughter, Amy, asked him to come say a few words for the program about his onetime co-star in 1993’s Indecent Proposal.
The plot of the Adrian Lyne-directed film centers on a billionaire, played by Redford, who offers $1,000,000 to a young married couple, played by Harrelson and Demi Moore, for one night with the wife.
“I admit, he’s the only man on Earth I would sell my wife to,” Harrelson said. “I also admit, unabashedly, that he is the only man I would return the money to to take me for a night.”
Harrelson then shared how infatuated his mother was with Redford and how she felt when she came to the set to visit.
“Even before I dreamed of being an actor, he was part of my childhood, so imagine my unbridled euphoria when I got the chance to work with him. Naturally, my first call was to my mother. She’s terrified of flying — refuses to fly — but she got herself on the plane. … I witnessed my mom become a 16-year-old schoolgirl who did everything but squeal as she approached him on the set. And he was so sweet. He took the time to really talk with her. I’ll always be grateful for his generosity and his kindness. I never saw my mother so happy in her life, bubbling over with joy and lust.”
