Exclusive: Emilio Estevez responds to Alex Cox
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Editor’s note: On Monday, Decider published an interview with director Alex Cox, during which he made some comments regarding his Repo Man star, Emilio Estevez. The very next day, we received an e-mail response from Mr. Estevez himself (addressed to the article’s author, Scott Von Doviak), who sought to clear up some of Cox’s assertions. We reprint it here verbatim and without additional comment, except to say: Holy shit! Emilio Estevez reads Decider! How cool is that?
Scott,
Regards to you and to Austin, TX—which is by far the coolest city I have ever spent time in, and perhaps one of the greatest places to shoot a picture.
I was disappointed to read the Alex Cox comments about me in your interview with him in Decider on Monday. I have nothing but respect for Mr. Cox and consider Repo Man one of the finest experiences I've had shooting an independent film.
With respects to his comment about "having difficulty raising money with Emilio Estevez, because his career hadn't been very illustrious," that may or may not have been true from his perspective, or that of his financiers and producers. But the fact of the matter was the screenplay, as presented to me, did not make any sense on the page. Unlike my reaction to reading Repo Man for the first time, which had me FDOTFLMAO from page one to the final scene, Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday was difficult to understand from the opening sequence. More importantly, Alex and his producers had no business calling it a “Repo Man sequel,” but they insisted it was so.
In my conversations with both Alex and his producers, I mentioned that I was suffering from "sequelitis," having done two Young Guns films, two Stakeout films, and three Mighty Ducks movies. I told them I was officially getting out of the sequel business. I never committed to their picture, contrary to Alex's comment and memory.
All one has to do is look at where I was "12 or 13 years ago"—per Alex's recollection of when I was “un-hirable” by Hollywood standards—and lo and behold, by God, I was in Austin, Texas, shooting an independent film called The War At Home, which I also produced, directed, and starred in alongside Kathy Bates and Martin Sheen.
In my further discussions with the producers of Waldo's, I explained that I was taking my career in a new direction that included entertaining this fantasy I had about becoming a filmmaker, hence I would not be available to be a part of the film, even if I loved it. It should also be noted that during the same time period Mr. Cox reminisces about, I was cast in the first installment of Mission: Impossible. While the role was clearly a cameo, the film's opening weekend was over $70 million, which, at the time, made it far from being a liability to cast me in a low-budget indie.
Obviously Mr. Cox is feeling snubbed by me, as I have passed on participating not only in his Repo Man sequel, but on most other events related to the film as well, be they film fest retrospectives, re-release of the DVD with actor's commentary, and many other gatherings to celebrate the film. I remain proud of Repo Man, but my focus is on what's ahead of me, not what's in my rearview mirror.
I am grateful to have been chosen for this part, which I auditioned for several times before Alex cast me as “Otto.” Being in the film changed my life and career, and I am grateful for this as well. And as I said previously, I have respect and admiration for Mr. Cox. But his comments about Waldo's are from the point of view of a director who so desperately wanted to get his film made and, when failing to do so, blamed the most visible actor instead of taking stock in the fact that the script simply didn't work. He unfairly taints me and my character in this interview, and it is contrary to what I know to be the truth in this matter.
I have no way of contacting Mr. Cox, nor do I wish to at present. I wish him all the very best with his new picture, and all of his future endeavors.
Very best to you and keep up the great work,
Emilio Estevez
