In February of 2002, my friend Dan called me from LA to tell me about a new band he was managing. They were going to be play at House of Blues, and he offered me a photo shoot. So I went down there and did a shoot with them in a tunnel connecting the venue with the hotel across the driveway. When we were done shooting most of the band walked back to the dressing room. One guy stayed and offered to help me carry my stuff back to my car. He looked kind of familiar- I soon figured out that he was the kid from the Bill Murray movie “Rushmore.”
We became friends, and the next year I was road managing Brian Wilson, and we were playing in LA. I invited Dan and Jason to the show, knowing Jason was a big Brian fan. After the show, I offered to bring him upstairs to meet Brian. His face turned white, and he told me that he was too scared to actually meet him! This from a guy who’s cousin is Nik Cage, and who’s mom is Rocky’s wife- Talia Shire. Also his uncle is Francis Ford Coppala! And he didn’t want to meet Brian. Then he tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if he could go up on stage and take the empty Diet Rite can off of Brian’s keyboard. My guess is that he still has it!
He has since quit the band and gone into acting full time- TV and film. This week a new film came out starring Jason and Elisabeth Moss. Here is a quote from Entertainment Weekly’s review:
“I can’t think of anyone under 40 who plays arrogant, self absorbed jerks more convincingly than Jason Schwartzman. I have no clue what the actor is like in real life, but if he is not a complete prick, he deserves an Oscar.”
So get the Oscar ready for Jason! He is one of the nicest guys I have met in this business!!
So, this past Friday, the Music Box Theater had a showing of Jason’s new film. He appeared after each showing to answer questions from the audience. So I asked his manager if I could meet up with him for a quick shoot. We arranged to shoot during the first showing of the film. Traffic delayed him, and he arrived right as he had to go on stage to answer questions. As he charged by me, he asked me if I could wait until after his question session. I had planned to shoot right in front of the theater, so he came back out as the first crowd was leaving through one door and the second crowd was entering through the other door. We stood in the middle of all of them to do photos while he signed autographs and did selfies with anyone who asked.
Once again, one of the nicest guys in the business!!