Ross links to Matt Zoller Seitz's moving appreciation of actor Owen Wilson, who attempted suicide this week. Excerpt:
Of all the people I'd ever interviewed who seemed to have the potential for stardom, he was the person who seemed best equipped to handle it, because he seemed capable of getting along with pretty much anyone, and had what might be described as a sporting curiosity about fame. ...Wilson's a good-time shaman; when he appears, you smile, because know you're about to have fun. He makes good films better and bad films tolerable. Onscreen, he's a human sunbeam.Offscreen, who knows? I don't -- and frankly, to borrow Wilson's response to his Waterworld-obsessed cousin, it's not my position to speculate on what demons he might have been wrestling with when this horrible incident occurred. But I will say that when I read news stories expressing incredulity that a well-liked comedic actor might be depressed enough to try to end it all, I wonder what planet these writers are from, and if they've every spent time among the humans that populate this one.
What makes this piece honoring Wilson's ability to bring sunlight into this vale of tears even more emotionally resonant is knowing what intense sorrow Matt Zoller Seitz has endured in recent years. Here's a photo of Matt and his wife Jennifer Dawson:
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Owen Wilson is a real sweetheart, sort of (to me) like a less hyper, less-crazed version of Jack Nicholson. I hope he achieves a greater degree of peace and is able to deal with whatever personal demons are tormenting him.
I'm sorry for his pain. He seems a likeable fellow. But, really, I'm quite outraged on behalf of Kate Hudson's husband and children that it is Owen Wilson who is being showered with public sympathy and accolades now that his adulterous relationship with her has come to an end. He wanted to kill himself? Imagine how *they* felt.
And you know that how, Anonymous? I seem to recall Paul having something to say about gossip.
I saw Owen Wilson in Behind Enemy Lines and Meet The Parents. I've, probably, seen him in other things. I've liked him in the films, but I know nothing personal about him. Obviously, he's battling some problems. I'm thankful that he didn't succeed in hurting himself.
Very sad story about Mr. Seitz. That must have been really awful for his daughter. I hope that they are recovering and doing OK.
If this is true, he doesn't sound like a sunbeam, but more like a dark cloud:
foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294996,00.html
Report: Owen Wilson Was Hooked on Heroin, Cocaine
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
By Marianne Garvey
Funnyman actor Owen Wilson was hooked on heroin and cocaine, struggling with depression and hanging out with the wrong crowd in the months before his attempted suicide, according to a bombshell new report.
Wilson's drug use was so frequent, it was even the cause of his Memorial Day breakup with Kate Hudson, according to the report.
And his friends are placing the blame squarely on Wilson's newfound best buddy, British actor Steve Coogan , with whom he starred in several films, according to exclusive interviews in US Weekly magazine.
"I went through it with Steve," Coogan's former girlfriend, rocker Courtney Love, told US.
"I was just out of rehab, and he was right there with the drugs. I tried to warn Owen. I tried to warn his friends. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away from that guy."
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