"I'd Rather Do This Than Footloose": John Lithgow Almost Missed Out On Five-Time Oscar-Winning Movie Due To Scheduling Conflict

Emmy - winning actorJohn Lithgowreveals that he almost missed out on his function in a five - time Oscar - winning movie due to scheduling conflicts withFootloose . Lithgow first rose to prominence with a role in Brian De Palma’sObsessionbefore scoring his breakout role inThe World According to Garp , for which he received an Oscar nomination . His filmography is diverse , with the actor enjoy acclaim for other roles before branching into clowning with films likeHarry and the Hendersons . Lithgow later expanded to nefarious rolesin pic likeCliffhangerandRaising Cain .

In addition to movies , Lithgow has enjoy success on the small screen , advance Primetime Emmy Awards for roles in3rd Rock From the Sun , Dexter , andThe Crown . He remains one of the most prominent and respected film and television receiver actors in the industry . One ofLithgow ’s most beloved rolescame as Reverend Shaw Moore in Kevin Bacon ’s melodious dramaFootloose , butthe programming of the movie almost cost him another iconic rolein a five - time Academy Award - winning film that was released the year before .

Lithgow’s Role In Terms Of Endearment Was Once Under Threat

Scheduling Conflicts With Footloose Jeopardized His Casting

Terms of Endearmentwas written and directed by James L. Brooks , and is conceive to be one of the specify movies of the ' 80 and one of the heavy Hollywood tearjerkers . It follows the 30 - year kinship between Aurora Greenway and her daughter Emma . Starring Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine , the movie gross $ 165 million against a yield budget of $ 8 million . Lithgow ’s role as Sam Burns earned him his second Oscar nomination , but his work onFootloosealmost threatened to jump his involvement in the motion picture .

Terms of Endearmentwon Best Picture at the Oscars , as well as Best Director , Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Actress for MacLaine , and Best Supporting Actor for Jack Nicholson .

In a career retrospective withVariety , Lithgow uncover that he was shootingTerms of Endearmentconcurrently withFootloose , and thatthe dispute had almost caused him to lose his partin the former . Lithgow explained how it all worked out , with Paramount even getting necessitate when things almost fall apart . He said :

I did this concurrently with Footloose . Herb Ross [ theatre director of Footloose ] had us for two weeks to practice before Footloose started shoot , and I got a call on a Saturday morning from my federal agent saying , " They want you to put back an actor in Terms of Endearment . " There had been another playing the role of Sam Burns , and he ’d played two scenes , and they just decided , " This is not good . "

They necessitate Herb if he would spring me loose for a calendar week to come in and shoot the entire role of Sam Burns . AndHerb said no , that he could n’t do without me for that week . And I had take the script , I thought , " Oh my God , I beat ta be in this movie . It ’s gon na be so expectant . Arguably , I ’d rather do this than Footloose ! "

luckily , both films were produce by Paramount , and Barry Diller and Jeffrey Katzenberg were in charge for footing of Endearment and Footloose . They were both Paramount films . Andthey said to Herb , " You ’re gon na spring him loose , and he ’s gon na be in full term of Endearment . “Otherwise , I never would ’ve been in like the good moving picture I ’ve ever been in . With an Oscar nomination for five day of work .

Our Take On Lithgow’s Scheduling Dilemma

Conflicts Happen All The Time & He Got Very Lucky

Scheduling conflict happen regularly , and actor often miss out on renowned and iconic roles because they were doing something else at the time . Lithgow is rosy that Paramount was overseeing both motion picture , and that each project had the same producers attached . Otherwise , it ’s likely he would not have been able to appear inTerms of Endearment . This is a part that set him on the path to the notable career he ’s had , and Lithgow ’s forthcoming role as Dumbledore in theHarry PotterTV showmight not have happen had he not had this chance decade prior .

Source : kind