#remembering river

River was a self-admitted quick-change artist. “I have a lot of chameleon qualities,” he once said. “I get very absorbed in my surroundings.” This may be a clue to his untimely demise. Some time earlier, he told a reporter that working on The Mosquito Coast had a powerful impact on him. “It was the first time I really escaped from myself and became another character,” he said. “I have to be careful what movies I take on…” because, of course, that ability to become part of his surroundings had its dark side..

River was uncomfortable with the idea that he had been born with some kind of innate gift. He felt he had to work hard at what he achieved. Likewise, he was obsessed with trying to find a way to live with integrity, and terrified that all the praise over his acting was going to affect his identity. He told me that he had to get up every morning and fight to remain himself.

As I watched River do his work, I was impressed by his generosity with the other actors. He was never competitive. In dailies, I would often notice that Jadrian Steele, the actor who played River’s younger brother, would try to place himself in a prominent position on-screen. River always seemed to hang back to the furthest recesses. But the more he stepped out of frame, the more your eyes were drawn to him. There is a certain breed of actor who can show you everything they’re thinking without uttering a word. They are like emotional gladiators, nakedly putting themselves on the line so the audience can achieve a catharsis. But they’re more than thin-skinned - they almost have no outer coating at all. With their heightened sensitivity, they walk through the world like someone with a hearing disorder - everything is a clattering phantasmagoria to them because they feel too intensely to have a normal life.