In 1976, Sam Elliott played the leading role in the film “Lifeguard.” The studio spun it as a film about hard bodies having fun at the beach.
Under the fluff, though, was the story of a man at a crossroads.
With his family pressuring him to find a real career, Elliott’s 32-year-old Rick has been invited to his 15th high-school reunion. Seeing how his classmates have moved on, knowing he’s the old guy at the beach forces Rick to re-evaluate his life.
“It was like someone telling me to get a real job rather than pursue an acting career,” quips Elliott, now 72.
The actor says fans still talk to him about “Lifeguard,” a film that helped bring him to national attention. Now, a lot of people will want to talk to him about “Hero,” opening Friday. It’s about another man at a crossroads, albeit some 40 years down the line.
The role looks like it was drawn from Elliott’s life.
And it was in some ways.
A couple of years ago, director Brett Haley cast Elliott as the love interest to a grieving woman played by Blythe Danner in “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” The two enjoyed working together so much that Haley then decided to write a film for Elliott.
“I’ve had parts written for me over the years, but I’ve never had anybody write a script for me where I’m on virtually every page. It was a gift,” says the lanky actor known for his bushy mustache.
In “Hero,” he plays an aging Western star named Lee Hayden who is finding roles are sparse and mostly makes his living doing voice-overs in commercials. The film opens with Lee being asked to repeat a line for a barbecue sauce ad over and over. Elliott’s recognizable voice has been heard in ads for Coors, the American Beef Council, Dodge Ram trucks among others.
Like Lee, the actor has been associated with Westerns for much of his career, and like the character he has a daughter (played by Krysten Ritter in the film). Katharine Ross plays Lee’s ex in “Hero.” However, unlike the characters, Ross and Elliott have been together for 39 years and married for 33. They have a daughter.
So don’t go thinking this is a Sam Elliott documentary. It isn’t. What sets Lee off on his journey of self-discovery is a troubling medical diagnosis, and he has been self-medicating with help from his pot dealer (Nick Offerman).
Elliott stresses that drugs haven’t been part of his life. Yet despite the many differences between him and the character on the “truth level,” the actor still identifies with Lee in many ways.
One is that “Western thing.” Somewhere along the way in his career, Elliott — who grew up in Oregon — become identified with a 10-gallon hat. So much so that Joel and Ethan Coen’s screenplay for 1998’s “Big Lebowski” even referenced him for the character of The Stranger, before they offered him the role.
There is no getting around it, Elliott has made a lot of Westerns in his career, and for a while he felt boxed in by the image and wanted out of it.
“Finally, I just made peace with it and thought, ‘You’re lucky to be doing anything. Quit worrying about it,’ ” he says.
Lately, though, Elliott hasn’t had to worry about that.
“I’ve got so many balls in the air,” he says about the number of projects he’s involved in.
And he has been allowed to stretch.
Before “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” in 2015, he played an angry old flame of Lily Tomlin in “Grandma,” something opposite of the amiable type Elliott is often cast to play.
Not long ago he finished shooting the third season on Netflix’s “The Ranch,” which drops on June 16. Elliott plays the rancher patriarch of a dysfunctional family consisting of two brothers — Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson — and his separated wife and local bar owner (Debra Winger). It’s a comedy with a strong edge, shot in front of a studio audience.
“It’s new ground for me to shoot in front of four cameras,” he says. “It’s fun and it’s funny and it’s funny to hear people laughing like that.
Though he hasn’t done a lot of comedy, Elliott is no stranger to it. He knew Offerman from doing a few episodes of “Parks and Recreation.” Coincidentally, one of his co-stars in “Hero” is another former “That ’70s Show” alum, Laura Prepon, who plays a woman who helps Lee figure out his life.
The day before we talked last week, Elliott had just finished shooting “A Star Is Born,” which he went to immediately after doing “The Ranch.” It stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, whom he refers to by her real name, Stefani Germanotta.
Elliott plays the manager of Cooper’s character. It’s the fifth time around for the story of a fading star and a rising one crossing paths, and the actor says, “I don’t think there’s been anyone more right for the roles than Bradley and Stefani.”
Elliott finds it incredible to have so many opportunities nearing his 50th year in the business.
“I suppose it is something to do with my body of work and winning the war of attrition. There is not as many guys out there my age,” he reasons.
The actor attributes much of his success to a focus on what he wanted to do and his work ethic. “Work is work in any field,” he says.
That includes marriage. Elliott had a bit part in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Ross was the female lead in the film that starred Robert Redford and Paul Newman, but they didn’t meet until they co-starred in 1978’s “The Legacy,” a gothic horror film.
“I think if you want to be married, you can stay married somehow,” he says.
Interestingly, Haley told the actor “Hero” was about legacy — what Lee will leave behind.
Elliott, though, says he’s never been interested in his legacy and sees the role a bit differently. “It’s about Lee recognizing his mortality, and the things that he would like to clean up before it’s over with.”
The actor says that when he finishes doing promotion for “Hero,” he and Ross are heading to Oregon for a while before starting an independent film. He calls the role ”totally different” than anything he has ever done.
“To think at this time in my life I’d be doing new things is a real blessing.”
