VARIOUS DOCUMENTS 1

 Part 5 of: The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandoms: Actor RPF, Top Gun (Movies), Heat (1995)

Characters:
Val Kilmer, Tom Cruise, Glen Powell, Miles Teller, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Jake Picking, Tom Holland

Additional Tags:
Wikipedia, Memories, Fake Documents, Movie Industry, Entertainment Industry, Oscar Award 

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html

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Chapter 1: Heat (1997)

Summary:
In every universe, Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise play a couple that becomes part of queer cinema history.

Google FAQ "What is the most watched Oscar of all time?"

The highest audience for the Oscars in its history was for the 1998 edition, in front of 57 million television viewers. The ceremony is famous for several reasons: "Titanic" won eleven awards, a record previously held by "Ben-Hur" (1959). Two films were tied for second place that night, the drama "Good Will Hunting” and the neo-thriller "Heat," with nine awards. Undoubtedly, the most remembered thing about that March 23, 1998, was Tom Cruise's Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in "Heat," for his portrayal of Charles Polesti, a cybercriminal, and partner of bank robber Chris Shiherlis, played by Val Kilmer.

 

Fragment of the chapter "Take the Heat" in Val Kilmer, A Memoir, 2020

Cinema is all about timing, logistics, and the mysteries of fate. In the last days of 1995, Warner Bros changed course. The original plan -to take two years before starting the next Batman film- was scrapped. The studio now insists on doing it immediately to build on the success of "Batman Forever." I just couldn't. That's because I had already committed to doing "The Saint" in London and had been asked to do "Heat," which was in pre-production and would coincide with the filming of "Batman and Robin."

My agent strongly recommended that I pass on "Heat."

"Are you kidding?" I asked.

"Val, the pay is less than your per diem for "Batman."

"But it's Michael Mann directing. And it's Pacino and De Niro. If I do the movie, I'll be able to call them Al and Bob for the rest of my life."

"Financially it makes no sense."

But I wasn't thinking finances. I was thinking folklore. I wanted to be with those two acting beasts.

…

While reading the script, I discovered a change in the story that caught my attention: in the end, Chris Shiherlis was saved by his wife, Charlene, but according to my research, the actual character, Miklos Polesti, was not married. The police simply caught him days after the robbery, and he ended up in prison.

I called Michael to ask why to add Charlene into the mix, who frankly struck me as one of those hollow female characters Hollywood is so fond of. With some hesitancy, Mann confessed to me that it was the only way he could find to acknowledge that Miklos had been in a committed relationship at the time, just with a man. His partner, Charles Shane, was a mild-mannered clerk at a Los Angeles department store, and their relationship had survived Polesti's imprisonment.

I felt like the world stopped, and the ghosts surrounded me.

With a tremendous effort, I forced myself to be reasonable.

"Michael, if Miklos is gay, then Chris Shiherlis must be too. After all, the story no longer takes place in the sixties in Chicago but in the nineties in Los Angeles."

Michael agreed but feared introducing an openly gay character into this type of story would make production more difficult. He was specially concerned about De Niro and Pacino's reaction. They were men from another generation who might show reservations about being associated with supporting gay rights.

Finally, I suggested that he discuss it with them. If they didn't accept, I wouldn't say anything else.

The first reading was in February 1996. Bob flew in from Vegas, where he was shooting "Casino." And Al was shooting "Finding Richard," his documentary about creating the Shakespearean role he is married to, Richard III. As we had agreed, Michael asked for a moment with the two of them in a separate office before beginning the reading with the cast.

It was one of the toughest waits of my entire career. I couldn't walk away from the project because the opportunity to work with De Niro and Pacino wouldn't present itself again. Still, if they said no to acknowledging my character's identity, my image of them would be tarnished forever.

Finally, they got out. Bob came walking right up to me and said so everyone could hear.

"If a criminal and ex-Alcatraz inmate born in 1915 could work with a gay man, I will not be less."

I looked at him in surprise and cast a startled look around. I was never homophobic, but at that moment, I was not above the fear of "what will they say." Bob immediately understood the misunderstanding his words could cause and turned to the rest of the room.

"I'm talking about the character, of course. Val hasn't told me yet that I'm more attractive than Al."

That outing made the whole team burst out laughing and relaxed the atmosphere.

…

We had a round of discussions about adding my boyfriend to the story. A nondescript shopkeeper wouldn't do, of course. Especially since it would be a reprise of Eady's character, Neil McCauley's partner. With his background as Michael Corleone, Pacino suggested adding him to the crew.

"This team works well, they have been operating for a long time, and nobody catches them. Right?"

"Yes," Michael said.

"Then they must have someone to launder their money, an accountant, a financial adviser, it could even be a hacker since it is a contemporary story."

De Niro nodded thoughtfully. Bob is like Vermeer. He carefully lays down one brick after another until the construction is rock solid. What he said next would end up defining the character.

"A financial advisor would be a sophisticated man with other ties. That could be what the police use when trying to force him to rat out Shiherlis, as is now the case with the wife character."

It was agreed that Michael would work on a new script version. Pre-production would go ahead… And I was given the thankless task of finding the actor for the character Charles Polesti.

…

The filming of "The Saint" in London during the spring and summer of 1996 was a period of contrasts. I had a lot of fun on set with Elizabeth Shue and the makeup team. At night, I thought about "Heat” and the still undefined face of cybercriminal Charles Polesti.

I must remind you that it was the nineties. Playing a gay character could make or break an actor, but the latter was far more likely. Also, it was an action movie, not a psychological drama. The day we filmed the confrontation between Simon Templar and Ilya's gang, which ends with a car exploding, I thought this was a scene very similar to the newly released "Mission Impossible," my friend Tom Cruise's 1996 blockbuster, but with a definitely humorous tone.

It was a revelation: Tom was the man to play Polesti.

Tom Cruise and I had never worked together before. I met him through my younger brother Wesley, but we kept in touch even after he died in 1987. The more I thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed and the more daring. Cruise had built an image as an action actor with "Days of Thunder" and "Mission Impossible," but everyone had seen him in "Rain Man" and "Born on the Fourth of July." Bob and Al would not doubt his dramatic ability. What I wondered was if he'd be interested in taking a chance on a gay character in a low-cost thriller.

It is true that in "Interview with the Vampire," the relationship between Louis and Lestat is homoerotic, and nobody has said anything. But Lestat was a monster who used his sexuality as a weapon. In Hollywood, bad gays are not a problem.

…

It was the anniversary of my brother's death, the alcohol gave me the courage, and I called Tom on the phone. As soon as he answered, I told him.

"I want you to play my boyfriend in a film about a bank robbery."

There was a silence on the other end, I thought I had been too direct, and all was lost, but Tom is an exceptional man.

He asked me many questions about the project. The presence of Bob and Al made a great impression on him. It occurred to me that I might have started there. Near the end of our conversation, Tom referred to the elephant between us.

"And you call me on the anniversary of Wesley's death to ask me this."

"I've spent months gathering the courage to call you. Ever since I saw you in that scene hanging from a harness and doing something on a computer, I knew you were the actor for this character."

"I'll have my agent contact Michael Mann," he told me after a moment and hung up.

…

Tom had three conditions for playing Charles Polesti: First, he wanted a scene where he discussed his work laundering money through cybercrime, with De Niro asking him questions if possible -he also wanted some screen time with one of those beasts. Second, he didn't want to run, for Polesti was a sophisticated guy, aware of his value. Third, he wanted something concrete to justify his betrayal of Shiherlis since "we will tell your friends that your boyfriend is a thief" seemed like a vain argument, reinforcing the cliché of superficial and unreliable homosexuals.

Thus "Heat" changed from having a couple of gay criminals -which would have been quite daring- to presenting a full-blow homoparental family, where two men in a stable and loving relationship take care of an orphan with special needs.

We premiered on September 19, 1997. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html