You’d think making an adventure movie with Marlon Brando would be a sweet deal, but apparently not so much. Tom Selleck got the opportunity for ’90s movie Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, and let’s just say he has some misgivings.
He explained as much on The Drew Barrymore Show. “I got offered this movie where I got to work with Marlon Brando,” he states. “Well, he’s kinda the man, in my generation. It actually wasn’t really a very good script, and it turned out to be a lousy movie. I was so thrilled at the idea of getting work with Marlon Brando that I just said, ‘I’ve got to go.'”
Selleck had just finished a sports movie, Mr Baseball, in Japan, and this would require more time away from his family. Right when he was heading off, his daughter Hannah got pneumonia, and though he stayed as long as he could, the distance weighted on him.
“She was outta the hospital the day I left, but it really bothered me,” he explains. “It was the work out of balance with life, and yeah, I went and did the movie, the movie wasn’t really worth doing, frankly.”
Directed by John Glen, the drama movie covers Columbus’ journey to the West Indies, where he eventually came upon the Americas. Selleck doesn’t think Brando’s heart was in it. “I think Marlon was really in it for getting $5 million for two weeks work,” he says. “So I took a year off, and a year off turned into three. I love the work, but it gets out of balance.”
Have a look at our list of the best movies based on a true story for films that are more worth your viewing time, and our new movies guide should help you decide the best pictures to put in your life.