THE PREMISE: I have been an avid (some might say obsessive) fan of David Cronenberg's films for some years and have noticed certain actors showing up in more than one of them. Sure, there are the obvious ones like Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers, Dead Ringers and M. Butterfly, but I'm talking about the not-so-obvious ones: the character actors who pop up in various supporting roles.
The first one I noticed was Robert A. Silverman, who has appeared in five of Cronenberg's films, as well as "Faith Healer," the episode of Friday the 13th: The Series Cronenberg directed in 1987. Watching the films closely, I found others. Scouring the filmographies at the backs of the various books on Cronenberg, I found even more. Then I discovered the Internet Movie Database and...well, I guess this is the inevitable conclusion.
WARNING: It is assumed that anyone reading this list has a certain amount of familiarity with the films in question. Because of this, there are a number of descriptions in here which would be classified as "spoilers." So, if you don't want to have certain scenes (such as the one in The Brood where Dr. Hal Raglan tries to rescue Candice Carveth from the sleeping brood while her father Frank tries to keep her mother Nola -- who is also the asexual progenitor of the brood -- calm) ruined for you, then read no further. Likewise, if you don't want to know that media prophet Brian O'Blivion is already dead before the action in Videodrome even begins, then for God's sake do not read this sentence. Well, you get the idea. At any rate, for those of you who are still with me, here is...
Mort Ritts Rafe Macpherson Ronald Mlodzik Jack Messinger Paul Mulholland Iain Ewing Norman Snider Fred Doederlein Joe Silver Vlasta Vrana David Cronenberg Cedric Smith Susan Hogan Gary McKeehan Frank Moore Géza Kovács Louis Negin Richard W. Farrell Denis Lacroix Jérome Tiberghein Victor Désy Malcolm Nelthorpe Robert A. Silverman Nicholas Campbell Cindy Hinds Reiner Schwartz Stephen Lack Murray Cruchley Lynne Gorman Peter Dvorsky Les Carlson Jeremy Irons Damir Andrei Ian Holm Return to the mainpage.
Ritts was there from the beginning, appearing in Cronenberg's first two short films, "Transfer" and "From the Drain." Naturally, these are the only films of Cronenberg's he has appeared in. And, as such, he lacks a listing on the IMDb. Pity.
Macpherson starred in "Transfer," and went on to appear in Crimes of the Future.
Macpherson is also the first Cronenberg regular to contact me about this page. He e-mailed me on 05/30/02 to say that it was "strange ... to have some sophomoric marginalia referred to in so reverent a manner." Not only did he call "Transfer" "unwatchable," but also "a real embarrassment." The next day he wrote back to say that he "may have been a little harsh" and that it was he who was unwatchable in it.
It seems Macpherson and Cronenberg were pals at the University of Toronto, which was how he came to be in "Transfer," and Crimes of the Future. In the latter film, by the way, Macpherson is the obscure hotel concierge with the root growing out of his nose, which "produced the biggest gross out reaction" at its premiere at the Ontario Science Center. Later, he was offered a part in Shivers, but couldn't take it because of another commitment. His last contact with Cronenberg was an audition for Scanners, in which he had to enact peeling a Band-Aid off his forehead, sticking a finger in a hole that it covered and freaking out. "Somehow," he wrote, "I couldn't take it seriously, sitting on a hotel bed with my old college buddy so I totally blew the audition." Too bad.
To close: "I've run into David from time to time, since then, and always remarked on his gentle manner and gorgeousley [sic] long HAIR."
Appearing in Cronenberg's first four feature films -- as well as one of his early '70s TV films -- Mlodzik was the earliest frequent member of Cronenberg's "stock company." He played one of the mute telepaths in Stereo and was also the main character, Adrian Tripod, in Crimes of the Future. Later he appeared in the 1972 TV film "Secret Weapons," and had minor roles in Cronenberg's first two commercial features. He was memorable as Merrick, the smarmy concierge in Shivers, but was little more than a cipher in Rabid, playing the Man Patient at the Keloid Clinic who -- as an injured Rose is carried past on a stretcher -- rather bitchily says, "You'd think they could cover it with a sheet or something." Where art thou, Ronald Mlodzik?
Also appearing in both Stereo and Crimes of the Future, Messinger apparently had a longer shelf-life as an actor than Mlodzik, showing up as the Policeman on Highway in Rabid, the Scanner at Door in Scanners, and a Therapist in The Dead Zone.
Mulholland also appeared in both Stereo and Crimes of the Future, and the following year was the Narrator for Cronenberg's 1971 CBC documentary Letter from Michelangelo.
Ewing appeared in Stereo and Crimes of the Future, but nothing else (at least for Cronenberg).
First appearing in Crimes of the Future, Snider was also the Scientist in the TV film "Secret Weapons," for which he wrote the script. Sixteen years later, Snider co-wrote the film Dead Ringers, which proves that Cronenberg doesn't forget old friends.
Doederhein had an auspicious debut, playing Emil Hobbes, the parasite-creating scientist in Shivers. He later showed up as yoga master Dieter Tantz in Scanners -- quite a turnaround, I'd say.
The first actor to have a major role in two of Cronenberg's commercial films, Silver played Rollo Linski, the business partner of Emil Hobbes who gets a mass of parasites stuck to his face in Shivers, and Murray Cypher, the business partner of Dan Keloid who meets a similarly nasty end in Rabid. Sort of like the "red shirts" on Star Trek, one should never be a business partner in a Cronenberg film.
This oddly-named actor played the equally oddly-named character Kresimer Sviben in Shivers. (He's the one being shown the Starliner Towers with his wife at the beginning of the film.) He moved on to the easier-to-pronounce Cop at Clinic in Rabid. He also appeared in Scanners II: The New Order, but that is neither here nor there.
Cronenberg first showed up in Shivers (look for him in the mob near the end of the film when Dr. St. Luc and Nurse Forsythe are attacked in the storage room). It wasn't until 1986 when Cronenberg used him again, this time as the Gynaecologist who delivers a giant maggot in The Fly. After this rather disgusting feat, Cronenberg then moved behind the scenes, providing the voice of the Auto Wreck Sales Man in Crash. It is not known when Cronenberg will be brave enough to step in front of the camera again.
Smith appeared in two of Cronenberg's TV films and Fast Company, which was finally released in the U.S. on DVD recently. First he was the Man on Park Bench in "The Victim" (which Cronenberg made on video for Peep Show in 1975). Next he was Luke, the art collector's "new acquisition" in "The Italian Machine." Last he was Gary "The Blacksmith" Black in Fast Company. In case the name didn't tip you off, he's kind of the bad guy in that film.
The first woman to appear in two Cronenberg films, Hogan played the part of Carol in "The Lie Chair" (which Cronenberg also made for Peep Show) before moving on to the big time as Ruth Mayer, the schoolteacher who feels the wrath of The Brood.
McKeehan is the second Cronenberg regular to contact me (on 10/31/02) about this page, having been sent here by his son. He called it "impressive" and that it "brought a lot of memories back." That means I'm doing my job.
McKeehan was kind enough to give me some info about "The Italian Machine," in which he first made his mark as the lead, Lionel Douglas. The film -- which was actually meant to be 60 minutes before the head of CBC Drama removed Cronenberg from the editing of the final cut to create her own cut at 30 minutes -- was based on the life of a real and legendary acid and pot dealer and fine photographer, who was killed in a freak motorcycle accident. His little son in the film, by the way, is played by McKeehan's then four-year-old son, Luke, who went on to do some kids television (including the venerable You Can't Do That on Television) and a feature or two.
McKeehan went on to play Smooth Eddy, the truck driver who turns Rabid after picking up a hitch-hiker with a penis in her armpit, and Mike Trellan, the needy patient who introduces us to the horrific reality of Psychoplasmics, in The Brood. Currently, he is "squirreled away up here in the Laurentian Mountains, writing novels in the style of 'policer transcendental'." We can look for the first one, The Hunt, in a bookstore "next May or so."
It seems a lot of Cronenberg cross-overs began with "The Italian Machine." That's where Moore first showed up as Fred, before Cronenberg cast him as ineffectual boyfriend Hart Read in Rabid. He later appeared in Blood & Donuts, which also featured a cameo by Cronenberg.
Same for Kovacs. He was Ricardo in "The Italian Machine," then moved on to the big time, playing the Killer in Record Store in Scanners and Sonny Elliman, right-hand man to slimy politician Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone.
The final actor to begin his association with Cronenberg in "The Italian Machine," is Negin, who played art collector Edgar Mouette, who buys a rare Ducati 900 just to display it in his living room. He reappeared the following year as the character Maxim in Rabid.
I did a double-take when I found out that Farrell, who plays the Camper Man who tries to make a K-turn and causes the accident at the beginning of Rabid, also shows up as the Dean of Medicine in Dead Ringers. Bra-vo!
The Drunken Indian in Rabid, Lacroix went on to play the Killer in Barn in Scanners.
He's Dr. Karl in Rabid! Now he's the Killer in Attic in Scanners! Now he's nobody! (Actually, that's bit unfair. He has been in other films [like Oh, Heavenly Dog!] and did stunts for The Dead Zone and The Stupids, which featured cameos by Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan [couldn't they just tell John Landis "no"?].)
Yet another person I have to do an e acute for, Désy was Claude LaPointe in Rabid and Dr. Gatineau, who is made to give himself a shot of Ephemerol in Scanners.
Wow, lots of people show up just in these two films. This time it's Nelthorpe, who is the Older Cop in Plaza in Rabid and Security Two Car Driver in Scanners.
Okay, it's time to take a moment to recognize the superior acting talents of Robert A. Silverman, one of my favorite actors in Cronenberg's stable. He started with a marginal role as the Man in Hospital in Rabid (credited as Bob Silverman). We don't know what was wrong with him in that film, but we find out much more than we would ever want to know in his next role, when he plays Jan Hartog in The Brood. A shining example of psychoplasmics gone horribly wrong, Hartog's response is the catchy slogan, "Psychoplasmics causes cancer."
Silverman also represents the extremes to which mutation can go in Scanners, where he plays Benjamin Pierce, who claims his art keeps him sane. Yeah, right, Ben. Silverman then returned to the joys of physical abnormality as Jerry Scott, Jack's "decidedly peculiar" debunking friend in "Faith Healer," Cronenberg's episode of Friday the 13th: The Series. He also played the nefarious drug dealer Hans who ends up addicted to Mugwump juice in Naked Lunch.
Bob can also be seen as D'Arcy Nader, a virtual software vendor in Cronenberg's last effort, eXistenZ. Cronenberg has high praise for his work on the film on the Alliance DVD's commentary track.
Also in it for the long haul, Campbell has appeared in four of Cronenberg's features, starting with Fast Company, in which he played Billy "The Kid" Brocker. Cronenberg considers him something of a discovery, and he was quick to use again immediately as Chris, Dr. Raglan's assistant in The Brood. Later, he made quite an impression as serial killer Frank Dodd in The Dead Zone, then did an about-face in terms of character as Hank, the writer who is worried about self-censorship in Naked Lunch. Wouldn't mind seeing him show up again.
Hinds, who as Candice Carveth suffers mightily at the hands of her mother and The Brood, later shows up in The Dead Zone as Natalie, the girl Johnny Smith is tutoring before he is hired as the rich kid's tutor. For some reason this also gets a separate IMDb listing, under the name Cindy Hines. Weird.
Also making his debut in The Brood as Dr. Birkin, Schwartz went on to play Moses, Max Renn's business partner in Videodrome. And we all know what happens to business partners in Cronenberg films.
Besides Jeremy Irons, Lack is probably the most visible of Cronenberg's cross-over actors. Then again, it doesn't hurt when your first role is as prominent as Lack's was, playing good scanner Cameron Vale in Scanners. Of course, it was some time before Cronenberg used him again, this time as Anders Wolleck, the artist who makes Beverly Mantle's "gynaecological instruments for operating on mutant women" in his masterpiece, Dead Ringers. The eyes have it.
My most recent crossover discovery, Cruchley's first appearance in a Cronenberg film was playing Programmer 1 in Scanners. Like Lack, he returned in Dead Ringers as an Assisting Surgeon.
First cast as Masha, the delightfully past-her-prime pornography producer in Videodrome, Gorman also puts in an appearance as Sylvia, the diseased woman in "Faith Healer" who confronts the title character in an alley. Gorman is unfortunately no longer with us, having died November 1, 1989.
A topic of discussion on alt.cult-movies.cronenberg some time ago, Dvorsky has had prominent roles in two Cronenberg films. In Videodrome he played video pirate Harlan, who hooks Max Renn on the "Videodrome" signal and gets his hand turned into a grenade for his troubles. Dvorsky also appeared in a smaller role as Dardis, the reporter at the press conference who calls Johnny Smith a freak (among other things) in The Dead Zone.
Another favorite actor of mine, Carlson started out as Barry Convex, the sinister Spectacular Optical operative in Videodrome. Carlson, like Dvorsky, then moved on to a small role in The Dead Zone, playing blackmailed newspaper editor Brenner. Unlike Dvorsky, however, Carlson completed the hat trick by playing Dr. Cheevers, the abortionist in The Fly. He later appeared as Larry Proke in "Regina Versus Horvath," which Cronenberg made for the Canadian TV series Scales of Justice in 1990. Most recently, Carlson appeared in Croneberg's 2000 Toronto Film Festival short Camera, credited as Leslie Carlson. Very well, Leslie.
Irons played Beverly Mantle, the sensitive twin in Dead Ringers, Elliot Mantle, the crass twin in Dead Ringers, and René Gallimard, the French man who fucks a Chinese man up the ass without realizing it in M. Butterfly.
Another recent addition to the Cronenberg stable, Andrei played Birchall in Dead Ringers and Intelligence Officer #2 in M. Butterfly.
Lastly we come to Holm, who was most remarkable as the American writer Tom Frost in Naked Lunch. Holm also appears in eXistenZ as the almost impenetrably-accented Kiri Vinokur. (Where does he come up with those names?) Speaking of names, it's now Sir Ian Holm as he was knighted in June 1998. Woo hoo!
Well, that's it for now, kids. Still, as lists go, this is pretty impressive as it is. Of course, if you happen to know of any Cronenberg cross-overs I may have missed, do not hesitate to e-mail me at cjclark1973@yahoo.com to tell me what an idiot I am.