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ARCADIA
|
B I LT M O R E
|
CENTRAL CORRIDOR
Valentine’s
Day!
DATE IDEAS
FOOD OPTIONS
FASHION STYLES
SHAKE
IT UP
TOM
SIZEMORE
THE ACTOR OPENS
UP ABOUT HIS
NEW ARIZONA MOVIE,
DURANT’S NEVER CLOSES
WWW.UPTOWNPHOENIX.COM | RICHMAN MEDIA GROUP | FEBRUARY 2015
MEET OUR
FAVORITE
BARTENDERS
BY SUSAN LANIER-GRAHAM
PHOTO BY MANFRED BAUMAN
TAKES ON AN ARIZONA LEGEND WITH THE LEAD ROLE IN
THE MOVIE DURANT’S NEVER CLOSES, WHICH IS WRITTEN,
DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY PHOENIX’S TRAVIS MILLS
UPTOWN |
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A tough guy on the outside, but a ball of
mush inside. Actor Tom Sizemore was
describing the characters he likes to
play—and perhaps himself, as well. At 53,
the actor is prepping for his next role, a
part in Durant’s Never Closes, a Running
Wild Film about Phoenix legend, alleged
Mafioso, and restaurateur Jack Durant.
Who is Tom Sizemore?
Tom Sizemore was born in Detroit’s
Corktown neighborhood in 1961, the
eldest of three boys (later a half brother,
half sister and one step-sibling joined
the family). His early years were pretty
normal for Sizemore. Although his parents
married early, and both had come from
meager backgrounds—both grandfathers worked the auto assembly lines in
Detroit—the elder Sizemore studied hard,
attended Harvard on a scholarship, and
returned home a scholar and lawyer.
Sizemore was surrounded by family
growing up.
“I had a large family. My dad’s two
brothers were important in my life. I didn’t
realize until I was older that my uncles
were both small-time criminals.”
While his father had gone to law
school and made good, his uncles hadn’t
made the same smart choices. But to
Sizemore, none of that mattered. His parents kept the kids away from any of the
uncles’ problems, and the Sizemore family
seemingly lived an idyllic life.
Until Sizemore turned 13, that is.
That was the year his parents separated.
From the age of 13 until he turned
15, Sizemore says his life was a mess
because of the divorce.
“During that time, I threw myself
into acting,” he explains. “Until I was 13,
I always thought actors had to be born
in Hollywood. Then I read a James Dean
biography and found out he was born in
Indiana.”
Sizemore knew then what he wanted
to do with his life.
Sizemore says his parents grudgingly
supported his acting.
“I think they supported it out of guilt
over the divorce,” he says. “I found out
later that my parents thought it was a
phase and I’d get over it.”
Rather than changing his mind and
attending law school or medical school
as his parents hoped, Sizemore attended
Tom Sizemore as Jack Durant.
Photo by Michelle Palermo.
Wayne State University and then received
a master’s degree in theatre from Temple
University in 1986.
“After college, I moved to New York
City,” he says. “I never really thought
about the odds against making it as an
actor until I moved to New York.”
At the end of his first year in the Big
Apple, he returned home to Detroit, discouraged. Despite the fact that she had
hoped he would choose another career
early on, his mother encouraged him to
keep trying.
“She drove me back to Manhattan,”
Sizemore laughs.
Turns out, mom really did know best
and in 1989, Sizemore had his big break
when Oliver Stone cast him in a bit part in
Born on the Fourth of July.
Over the years, Sizemore has
appeared in films alongside many of
Hollywood’s greats, under the direction of
the industry’s superstars: Kevin Costner’s
Wyatt Earp, Oliver Stone’s Natural Born
Killers, Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private
Ryan, Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out
the Dead and Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk
Down. Now, he’s poised to take the lead
FEBRUARY 2015 |
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role, playing Jack Durant, in Durant’s
Never Closes, written, directed and produced by Phoenix local Travis Mills.
Who is Jack Durant?
Jack Durant is a bit of a legend in
Phoenix. He was born in the obscure
backwoods of Tennessee, played pro
baseball in the minor leagues, and
worked as a pit boss for Bugsy Siegel in
Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel in the
1940s. Married and divorced five times
during his life, Durant ran a whorehouse
in Globe-Miami, and was considered one
of Arizona’s 10 most dangerous men by
the FBI at the time. Some say he was
in the Mafia. In July 1950, he opened
Durant’s steakhouse in Downtown
Phoenix—a restaurant that will celebrate
its 65th birthday this year.
Sizemore says he can relate to
Durant.
“From what I’ve learned so far, he
was a hardass, a taskmaster,” explains
Sizemore. “But underneath, he was loveable and very needy.”
Durant—by all accounts a truly selfmade man—told people that to understand
James Alire on set.
Photo by Michelle Palermo.
Durant’s Never Closes
Travis Mills on set.
Photo by James Alire.
him they needed to eat at his restaurant,
because the restaurant was who he was.
Durant created the restaurant that
still stands as an icon in Central Phoenix.
Back in the day, regulars included Joe
DiMaggio, Clark Gable and John Wayne.
The iconic red leather banquettes and red
floral wallpaper has been silent witness
to dinners with Marilyn Monroe, Lucille
Ball, and every Arizona governor since
1950. The classic pink building with
the red awning (but locals usually enter
through the back door) has changed little
in its 65-year history, even after Durant
himself died in 1987. Now, the restaurant
is being recreated for the big screen, and
Sizemore is eager to portray the legend
behind the establishment.
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Travis Mills traveled the world as a child—
born to expat parents, he grew up in the
Comoros Islands off the east coast of
Africa before finding his way to Arizona in
1997. Mills finished high school here, and
was one of the earliest attendees at what
was then the new Arizona State University
(ASU) film school. Mills’ passion for films
was recognized by one of his ASU professors, Gus Edwards. When Edwards
retired, he started a new venture with
Mills: the two of them founded Running
Wild Films in 2010 with a commitment
to make great films right here in Arizona.
Since founding the company, Mills has
completed five features and more than
100 short films, including the ambitious
52 films/52 weeks project in 2013.
Inspired by the book The Saga of
Jack Durant by Mabel Leo and the play In
My Humble Opinion by Terry Earp, Mills
wrote a screenplay about Durant entitled
Durant’s Never Closes. Mills says that he
wants Phoenicians to learn more about
this iconic figure in our state’s history.
“Durant is a fascinating character,”
explains Mills. “I’d heard rumors about
his Mafia connection, and then I read the
Phoenix New Times article. I found the
book and play and he became more and
more interesting. He’s larger than life.
He was a dynamic, important figure—very
talented but very dangerous.”
Mills says that, despite Durant’s
larger-than-life character, he hopes the
movie will make him relatable to the audience. “It’s really about people in charge of
their own little worlds. We all have to deal
with employees, competitors.”
Once the screenplay was written, Mills
had to decide on casting. He wasn’t certain
at first about who would play the starring
role. Sizemore doesn’t look anything like
Durant, but Mills says that wasn’t the point.
“I want to be accurate to the personalities,” he explains. “When I met with
Tom, I saw everything in the guy—pain,
anger, happiness. He brings a weariness,
life experience, and pain, but also happiness to the story.”
The film will shoot almost exclusively
here in Phoenix.
“Our mission is to prove you can do
it from Phoenix,” says Mills. “The world
is changing. You can make movies anywhere. I don’t want to go to L.A., but I’m
okay bringing L.A. to Phoenix.”
Durant’s will be recreated on a local
set and filming will take place throughout
the Valley. Mills says he has considered
filming some of the flashback scenes of
Las Vegas and Tennessee on location, but
there is a possibility that even those will
be filmed here in Arizona.
Sizemore as Durant
Sizemore’s voice grows excited when
talking about the script and the part he
will play in the movie.
“I didn’t know Travis Mills when I
read the script,” he explains, “but it’s a
really good script. Travis is single-minded
and focused.”
For Sizemore, the director is often
the key as to whether a film succeeds.
“A great director makes the movie,”
he says. Among his favorites are
Spielberg and Stone.
Sizemore loves portraying the tough
guy characters. “I love the guys who are
tough on the outside but inside they’re
just a ball of mush,” he says. “The dichotomy of that fascinates me.”
Sizemore is eager to play Durant and
to film in Arizona. “I’m looking forward to
Tom Sizemore in character.
Photo by Nick Fornwalt.
coming to Phoenix. I’m a huge Suns fan,”
he laughs.
And, he is already getting ready for
the part. “I’ve been reading about him,
and Travis is going to arrange for me to
talk to some of his friends.”
He also plans to spend about two
weeks at a local Los Angeles restaurant,
seeing how the restaurant works behind
the scenes.
Looking Ahead
Sizemore is energized as he talks about
his future. He doesn’t ignore or apologize
for his past. “I made some bad decisions
with women and drugs,” he says without
prompting. “I derailed my career. I did it
myself and I can’t blame anyone else. It
took a long time to pick up the pieces.”
But pick up the pieces seems to be
exactly what Sizemore has done. He has
been acting steadily the past few years,
steering clear of tabloids and scandal.
He enjoys being with his 9-year-old twin
sons, Jayden and Jagger. He has a new
manager and a role on Red Road, the
original SundanceTV drama series about
a small town sheriff, a tragedy, and a
cover up, starring Jason Momoa.
FEBRUARY 2015 |
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Sizemore is also hard at work on
a pet project—producing and starring in
An Honest Thief, written by his brother,
Aaron Sizemore.
“It’s based on my uncles,” explains
Sizemore.
A decade ago, both of his father’s
brothers and his sister died within five
years of each other. It was a hard time for
Sizemore’s father, and the sons wanted
to do something for their dad’s birthday.
“We decided to write a short for his birthday. My brother is a lawyer, but he’s also
a really good writer. The script was great.
It’s a character study about three thieves.”
Sizemore plays one of three thieves
who steal a baseball card collection from
a Detroit pawnbroker. The film is still in
pre-production and the brothers have
been trying to raise the money to film on
location in Detroit.
Sizemore says that most of all, he
just wants to keep on acting. “I love to
act. I know some actors [who are middleaged] who don’t enjoy it as much anymore, but I always enjoy acting.”
Find out more about the upcoming
movie Durant’s Never Closes online at
www.durantsnevercloses.com.