WEBVTT - Gone Too Soon 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.520 This show contains mature content and adult themes, it may 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.080 not be suitable for young audiences. 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:09.959 And the mysterious death of actor Phoenix is also shaking 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.960 the film community tonight. The twenty three year old Phoenix 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.680 collapsed early this morning and died a short time later. 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:18.560 It happened outside of West Hollywood Nightclub. 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:24.000 From Variety and iHeart Podcasts, this is Variety Confidential, the 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:35.320 Life and Legend of River Phoenix. I'm Tatiana Siegel, Executive 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:39.600 editor of Film and Media Variety. In the first two episodes, 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.360 we explored River's rise to fame, his ground baking films, 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.320 and how the filming of My Own Private, Idaho set 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:50.239 the actor on a dangerous path. Today, we will uncover 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.479 the final days of River's life up until that fateful 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.120 night in October nineteen ninety three when Hollywood lost one 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.720 of its brightest stars. Let's listen to this interview from 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:01.720 the early nineties. 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.080 How do you see yourself fitting in with the younger 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:06.679 Hollywood acting? 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:12.000 I don't see I don't see myselves. Boy, that's I 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.240 wonder what that means selves. Yeah, a few of those 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.080 guys in me, I don't see any of them in 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.560 the perspective or in the limelight idea of Hollywood, or 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.320 I just I really don't ever want to get that 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:30.199 objective or self conscious of my place in this world 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:31.720 concerning showbiz, you know. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.840 By nineteen ninety three, River Phoenix's struggles with substance abuse 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.720 had become an open secret within Hollywood, but the actor 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.640 kept taking on more projects, even as one of his 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.400 closest friends, Matthew Ebert, begged him to take a break 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:52.160 and focus on sobriety. Despite his friends please, River began 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:56.040 shooting Dark Blood that fall, the twisty thriller co star 0:01:56.200 --> 0:02:00.600 Jonathan Price and Judy Davis. Matthew remembers of her calling 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:02.640 him after a difficult day on set. 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:07.600 He called me during that time, and there's a horrible 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.880 thing that happened between him and Judy Davis, and she 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:16.000 had just read in the Riot Act one day, and 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:20.560 he really admired Judy very much, and it just crushed him. 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:22.840 I remember talking to him about it, and he was 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:28.440 just devastated, just devastated by what she had said and 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.560 what he could no longer control. And I thought to myself, 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:36.600 why is no one in that production saying, dude, we're 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.040 gonna get some help. We're gonna close down, We're gonna 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.760 start over. Judy was very disciplined. I think she was 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.320 trying to be hard love. She's being tough love. You 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:46.720 couldn't not know he was using because he was a mess. 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:51.120 He had come to set literally fucked up, speedy, not 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.800 the same guy. There was no support for him to 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:59.040 get sober. It wasn't hey, this is really an illness. 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.400 We got to figure out how quietly and calmly, how 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.919 do you do that with a huge celebrity in nineteen 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.760 ninety ninety one, ninety two, How do you do it 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.280 without the media and everything on top of it back then? 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:12.640 How do you do it in a culture that only 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.200 wants to shame you, that only wants to point out, Oh, 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.280 he's so healthy. Now look at him. I guess he's 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.359 not so healthy. I guess he's really a scumbag. He's 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.160 not a vegan, and he's a heroin addict. So it 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.919 gave the whole narrative to anyone who was jealous. And 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.560 we know how Hollywood is. You know, if you're up, 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.600 somebody's always got to shive out. In the last year 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.480 of his life, I was really trying to stay stober, 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.320 and he would call me like like let's go do 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.560 this thing, Come go see and I really had to 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.480 avoid it. I had to avoid him. Was heartbreaking to 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.040 me now that I couldn't see him because I was 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:46.840 trying to clean up. 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.960 River died before Dark Blood was finished. The film has 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.480 never been seen in theaters outside of a few film festivals. 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.600 The speed with which River descended and died, I've never 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:04.000 seen anyone go that fast. Never. In many years now 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:08.320 of counseling people and being a sponsor and many many 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:12.960 years sober, I've never seen anyone deteriorate so quickly in 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:18.560 my life. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:25.200 In nineteen ninety three, River Phoenix celebrated the Halloween holiday 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:29.160 at the Viper Room, located on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.560 The nightclub and music venue, partly owned by actor Johnny Depp, 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:38.160 quickly became a hotspot among Hollywood's most popular young stars. 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.400 River was there with his girlfriend Samantha Mathis, brother Joaquin, 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.800 and sister Rain. It was meant to be a night 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:50.880 of celebration, but it ended in tragedy. Michelle Sabrino, Stearn's 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:54.120 Variety CEO and group publisher, was there that night. 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.480 He was a heart throb, but he also had he 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:00.600 had a cool factor. He was the cool guy and 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:05.040 entertainment and I just remember seeing him sitting there. I mean, 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:09.200 we were all young women. We all had crushes on 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:13.080 River Phoenix. He was one of the biggest stars in 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.280 the country, if not the world. He had a massive 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:21.120 fan base, and we were thrilled to be in the 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:26.120 same room as River Phoenix. I didn't think that this Unfortunately, 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.440 something would happen like him passing away. 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:31.960 What do you remember when you saw him? 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.480 We were out. It was Saturday night. It was October thirtieth, 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:39.640 nineteen ninety three. It's a big night in LA. Halloween 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.159 is a big deal. Halloween was actually the next day, 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:44.800 but everybody was celebrating. It was Saturday night and it 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:48.840 was vibrant and exciting, and we were all in costumes, 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:51.039 and you know, when you're young, you really do it up. 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.400 So somebody from the Viber room came over and invited 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:57.840 us to bypass the line. And this is one of 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.640 those fun LA moments that we took advance, and so 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.800 we did. And I remember walking in and seeing people 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:07.000 in costumes and it was just fun and music was 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.480 blasting and people were drinking, and it was just very 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:14.920 exciting and very fun. It was highly exclusive. We didn't 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:16.200 even think we would try. 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:16.920 It was that. 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:22.479 Exclusive, and when we were invited and escorted in, I 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.800 just remember it being and I didn't expect it to 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:29.599 be fancy. It was actually gritty, and I loved that. 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:33.479 It was like music was blaring, and everybody kind of 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.640 seemed to know each other, and it was very from 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:38.919 today's standards now that I'm in the industry. It was 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.039 very Hollywood, if you will. Everybody kind of knew each other. 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:47.080 Everybody was talking with each other, and I felt comfortable, strangely, 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:49.159 even though I didn't know anyone in the room and 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.799 I was young. Almost everybody in that room was highly, 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.440 highly intoxicated. It was a bar, and it was a 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.599 very fun party. It was a Halloween party. 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:00.440 Did it surprise you at all what you saw? 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:04.800 Yeah, it surprised me. Of course. You see somebody in 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.920 all these movies that you love, and you picture them 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:11.680 differently than sitting on a couch. But it was obviously him. 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:14.160 We were all excited to see him, but he looked tired, 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:17.280 and we just assumed that, like everyone else in that room, 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.600 he had had a few too many drinks. The Viper 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:24.320 Room was that cool place that all the celebrities hung out, 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.239 and it was private, And to your point, we weren't 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.440 running around with phones taking pictures of each other and 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:31.119 posting it on social media at the time. 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.760 So how'd you find out the next day that he 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:35.480 had passed to what? 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:36.720 I think? 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.760 I remember hearing about it on the news. I actually 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.360 remember my parents talking about it. River Phoenix was an 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.679 incredible actor. So even though all of us young women 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:52.000 were in love with him, he spanned all generations and 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.000 people admired him for being a tremendous actor. And I 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.040 remember my parents talking about it. I was horrified. My 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:02.080 girlfriends and I called each other and it was just very, 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:02.679 very sad. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.040 Yeah, had such a career ahead of him. 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.360 Yeah, he was tremendous. 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.280 A Variety report published on November eighth, nineteen ninety three 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.360 reads as follows. Though it's been said that Fever Phoenix's 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.400 band was going to play at the Viper Room in 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:24.320 West Hollywood when he died early Sunday morning, they didn't. 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.160 It's more likely he was there to see the band 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:31.680 that did, called p The combo consisted of Flea of 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.080 the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Gibby Haynes of the 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:40.360 Butthole Surfers on vocals, Tom Petty keyboardist benmont Tench on organ, 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:45.880 actor and Viper Room employee Sal Jenko on drums, and 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:50.559 the unlikely guitar duo of Al Jorgenson Ministry and producer 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:55.079 of Nirvana's latest effort in Uterow, the Actor club owner 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:59.440 Johnny Depp. Perhaps the eerious moment of the evening came 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:03.760 during this second song, when Haines's impromptu vocals turned into 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:08.840 a meandering ramble about RIM's Michael Stite and River Phoenix. 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.959 Please there again? Gun down over, Okay, what's the other's 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:21.640 lab at the Viper Road. 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.880 Variety reported at the time that River was leaving the 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.599 Viper Room at about one am when he fell to 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.160 the ground, adding that friends reported that the actor had 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:36.360 been acting strange. He was rushed to Cedar Sinai Medical Center, 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.280 where he was pronounced dead at one fifty one am 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:45.560 on November fifteenth. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office confirmed 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.679 to Variety that River had died of a drug overdose. 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:54.800 Toxicology tests later showed lethal levels of morphine heroin and cocaine. 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:59.040 Traces of marijuana, vallium, and over the counter cold medication 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:03.800 were also found. His death was ruled accidental. The actor's 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.800 passing sent shockwaves through Hollywood and beyond. The News of 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.040 his passing reached the front page of Variety, which called 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.920 him quote one of the most versatile and prominent of 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:18.760 contemporary young actors end quote. Variety's executive editor Brent Lang 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.880 recalls the response from the Hollywood community in the weeks 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:23.280 following the actor's death. 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.360 Well, I think in a lot of ways, his death, 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:30.520 because it was so shocking, is analogous to what happened 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.600 with John Belushi, where you had this kind of blazing 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:37.000 talent that their flame was sort of extinguished at such 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.160 a young age. The impact was really seismic, and it 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.520 was a wake up call too. I think for people 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.439 that if you played around in a certain kind of 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:51.240 pool with a lot of very very dangerous drugs, this 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.160 was something that could end up happening to you. He 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:57.880 was both an inspiration for a lot of people in 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:01.640 the way that he acted on SCO and his kind 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:06.280 of magnetism, his natural sort of innate charisma. But he 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.760 was also a cautionary tale about the perils and the 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:13.160 price of fame, and if you look at a kind 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.760 of how people responded in real time, it was I 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:17.880 think there was sort of a generational shift there that 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.120 happened after. I don't have evidence of this, but I 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.360 would I would assume that a lot of people who 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.920 were sort of moving in the path of doing really, 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:30.920 really dangerous drugs might have reconsidered that after what happened 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:31.200 to him. 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:35.600 River's longtime friend Matthew Ebert still remembers getting the call. 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.120 I got a call from a fellow actor in my 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.679 own private Idaho. He was in tears. It's like, what's 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:46.679 going on? Ever died? Totally? 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:54.840 Remember it? You don't. 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:58.480 You don't forget something like that. 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.600 I felt. I felt a shame that I hadn't worked 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:04.959 harder to get him out. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.280 The outpouring of grief highlighted the profound impact he had 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.080 on those who knew him off camera and those who 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:13.559 admired his on camera work. 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:17.760 From Afar, he was definitely an environmentalist. He came from 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.960 sort of a hippie family. He was a vegan before 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:24.679 people really knew what vegans were, and I think that 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.760 was also sort of shocking to people because he seemed 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:31.280 to have this kind of clean living persona. And I 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.360 know that people in the industry knew that he was 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:38.199 having drug issues, but the general public was shocked to 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.400 discover that that was something he was grappling with at 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:45.160 the time because of his kind of persona. 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:49.720 Matthew Ebert recalls taking Rivers ashes to the Phoenix family. 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:54.400 During that trip, Matthew remembers feeling angry with Rivers team 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:58.240 and those around him who could have prevented River's death somehow. 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.199 After he died, I went to mickin Opie, where the 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.920 family is. I spent six weeks there. I brought his 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:09.640 ashes home to his mother. Never forget that, as long 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.280 as I live. I went with his sister and brought 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:17.079 him home and she cradled that like a baby. That 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:22.120 earned Never forget that, as long as I live, or 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:27.360 what it was like to hear he was dead and 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:29.359 he's gone on like just gone. 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:30.839 Like that. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:33.240 It's so fast. 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:38.600 Never ever saw somebody move so quickly from playful drug 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:43.760 use to death. And it's because you have all this money, 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:45.800 you have all this power, you have a huge machine 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:50.319 in the studio. Nobody's saying shit like you know, that's 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.280 an agent's job. That's really like your your manager and 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.800 your agent's job is to watch out for your health 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.640 and your and your welfare. That there's no other place 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:04.240 to put that. Your agent, your manager, your team, the 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.880 people around you, they're responsible when that happens. That's your 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.760 job to protect that person when the pressures and everything 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:17.800 from the outside are killing them. You know, that is 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:23.120 why I was so upset with the team, because it 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.640 was so obvious, it was so self evident. All you 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:27.680 had to do was go sit in the rushes. You'd 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.200 see a completely different person on that screen than you 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:33.280 did three years ago. There was all this stuff and 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.800 all these pressures. You take all these different rays of 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.200 light and you put it on the you shine a 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.120 light on it. You realize there was all these different 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:44.400 things working to make this perfect storm. There were all 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.520 these different pressures, not only from the drugs and the 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.800 people in the community and the study and your friends 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.240 then as now, if you're a celebrity, somebody's going to 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:56.760 throw you a bag. Somebody's going to do you know, 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:00.720 people want its currency. Back then, it was the currency 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:04.160 of cool. You know, you could go you know, I 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.280 could take them to see a band or there was 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.520 just it was everywhere, the night of the viper room. 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.840 Everywhere you want something, here it is and nobody's filtering 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:14.920 it and saying, you know, back then we didn't have fentanyl, 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.160 but certainly you could mix cocaine and heroin in a 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:23.040 bag and kill somebody like that and no one. It 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:24.200 went so fast. 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.960 Nearly a week after River's death, Variety reported that simultaneous 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.680 funeral services were held for River. His family hosted one 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:38.200 in their home in Gainesville, Florida, while another private service 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.960 was held in La organized by Rivers A Night in 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.640 the Life of Jimmy Rearden co star Ione Sky Matthew, 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.760 can you describe the funerals? How well attended were they? 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.960 They went to La and went to a few one 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:55.840 or two services there. Remember like all the young actors 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:57.640 were there, like Ethan Hawk I think was there, and 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:01.440 a bunch of mother and I spoke a little bit there. 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.040 There were a lot of people there at the farm 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:09.520 at the compound, and I wouldn't say there was kind 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:13.120 of a There was definitely like a service and all that, 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:19.840 but there wasn't like very non traditional outdoor and my 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:25.840 time there, I remember trying to take care of his father, 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.320 who was really in bad shape. And I would attend 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:34.000 to his father, it soak his feet, put him to bed. 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.160 His father was really in bad shape. The whole family 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:52.520 was in bad shape. I stayed six weeks and you 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:54.880 cry every day, you know, you're just like, oh God, 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:57.800 you know, they're like, what are we going to do? 0:16:58.720 --> 0:16:59.880 I don't really remember. 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:01.720 I remember the. 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:08.359 Vibe around everybody by the water, but I think it 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.280 was just too emotional to have to really lock in 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.080 on any of it, Like it all just seemed like 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:18.440 a nightmare, a weird dream. To say that he was, 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.199 you know, it just seemed so corny to say all 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.040 the stupid shit people say about him, But it's really true. 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.040 No one else was like him, nobody on that set, 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:29.520 nobody on that no one had what he had. River 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.200 was really at the peak what would have been the 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:37.320 peak of his power, and without those drugs, he'd still 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:38.280 be at the peak of his power. 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:45.280 In nineteen ninety three, River Phoenix's death shocked Hollywood and 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:49.520 the world. Very rarely has his then girlfriend, Samantha Mathis 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:53.880 spoken about him. Samantha, who was with River when he died. 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.160 Details were memories, including co starring in The Thing called Love. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.600 His last film was released, and I know you've talked 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:04.920 about it, but for many years you did not talk 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.600 about River. Correct, Correct? Like decades? 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:09.959 Like two decades? All right? 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:10.960 Yeah? 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:17.639 Yeah, I mean I'm very protective of his memory and 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:23.040 his family and my memories. So I feel it's a 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.159 really delicate matter, and there's some things that I want 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:26.959 to keep for myself. 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.360 I guess I'll start with heading into this thing called Love. 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.000 You did not know River before signing on. Correct? 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.680 We had met, ever so briefly in a nightclub when 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:41.960 we were both nineteen. Obviously I was very aware of 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:45.159 who he was. He was really the one of the 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:48.159 greatest actors of our generation. But no, we didn't know 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:49.800 each other when I signed onto the movie. 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:56.320 Okay, so heading into the film, what were your expectations 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.760 and how did they ultimately turn out to be different 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:01.040 than what you were expecting. 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:03.600 I don't know. It's hard to speak to what my 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:07.040 expectations were in nineteen ninety three, when I was nineteen 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:09.679 ninety two, when I was twenty two years old. I mean, 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:15.119 I had seen most of his work and found him 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:21.480 to be extremely compelling and iconic and really inspiring and 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.399 quite frankly, though I knew who Peter Bogdanovitch was, it 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.080 was really River that compelled me to say yes to 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:28.520 the movie. 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:33.080 What were your first impressions when you did meet River 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:33.960 face to face? 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:40.119 I mean, he was dazzling. He was just dazzling. He 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:46.040 had that spirit. He was feisty and smart and quick 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:53.240 and present. He was such a present person and a 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:59.640 bit of mischievousness to his personality, with a kind soul 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:04.240 and a true artist. He was a true artist. He 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:05.160 was very impressive. 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:11.479 People often describe him and other actors that they're very 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:16.080 generous with how they allow you to as the co star, 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:20.119 to have your breath and space in the scene. Was 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:23.919 that kind of how it worked in terms of how 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:27.520 you played opposite one another and off of one another. 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:31.080 Obviously, we're talking about nineteen ninety two, so it's in 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.680 some ways really hard for me to speak with definitively 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:38.600 about what my experience was shooting that movie with him. 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:44.960 What I do remember clearly is that he was incapable 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:49.560 of being dishonest in his work, and that challenged me 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:53.400 in a way that I found really exciting and also terrifying. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:58.200 I was not a confident performer at that age and 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.600 not as into une with my instrument as he was. 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.800 And it made me, I hope, a better actor because 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.399 he challenged me to be really present in the moment 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:13.920 and to be spontaneous and to really react to what 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:18.080 was happening. And I think that at that point I 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:20.240 was less confident to be able to act in that 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:23.040 way and more someone who plotted out what I was 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:28.000 going to do, you know, And so he was exciting 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:33.399 and generous, and it also felt a little dangerous in 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:38.080 a really vital way that makes something pop on the screen. 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:43.040 And we obviously had great chemistry, so that was also 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:47.640 all there on camera. We were taken by each other 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:49.440 and enjoyed each other. 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:54.040 Do you remember where it was in production? Like midway 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:57.560 towards the beginning, towards the end, when you realize like 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.000 we're in law or I'm trying to love with this person. 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:07.560 It's complicated. It's complicated. I can't say exactly when it happened, 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:10.280 but you know, unfortunately I was with someone else at 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:13.000 the time that it happened, and so it was messy. 0:22:14.359 --> 0:22:17.080 But it was also something that was undeniable between the 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.520 two of us, you know, eventually we did end up together. 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:27.040 Okay, what was the most memorable scene looking back all 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:30.000 these years and what do you remember from it? Kind 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:31.000 of take me back to it. 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:34.520 I mean, there are many memories that I have that 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:37.320 are so fond. I don't know which one is the most. 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:39.880 There's a scene between River and I in the back 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.119 of the pickup truck where we're supposed to be sitting 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:46.600 outside of Graceland, and it's just such a charming scene 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:49.200 between the two of us, getting to really let the 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:53.119 scene breathe and be with each other and be under 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:57.840 the stars in a romantic moment, and to just be 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:02.440 with him and and have this sort of languid quality 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:05.760 and scene where we could really find our beats was 0:23:05.840 --> 0:23:10.560 really exciting. But also this this whole cast was amazing, right, 0:23:10.680 --> 0:23:13.200 I mean, we had dermotmulrooney, and we had a then 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:17.520 unknown Sandra Bullock, and there was an electric energy between 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.160 all of us on set together that was really exciting. 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:24.760 River thought that Sandy was a star. I remember him 0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:27.320 saying that to me, She's going to be a big star. 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:33.280 I remember it so clearly, and he was right, he was, Yeah, 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:34.399 he could see it in her. 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:37.800 Yeah, and it took a while for her to get 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:43.439 that those roles that really could show her amazing range 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:44.240 as an actress. 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:49.120 But well, I think that doing the thing called Love 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:52.600 gave her the film that helped to get her speed. 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:57.240 That was a moment in time where her life completely 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:03.280 completely changed. H yeah, and we could all see it. 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:09.840 I mean, she was also had this sort of shiny spirit, 0:24:10.200 --> 0:24:15.720 this this undeniable spark of in her case, like a 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:21.639 great sense of humor and ability to just be fearless 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:26.480 and make a complete fool out of herself. She could 0:24:26.520 --> 0:24:29.240 make fun of herself and had a sense of humor 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:33.119