Most history books are written for academics and scholars or are written for people who have a lot of time on their hands and who want to sit down and read a long book. JLS: It is the American Revolution for normal people. The other favorite is the history book that I am writing right now.ĪTB: A history book sounds like a pretty interesting and immersive project. So that one really has to be my favorite. I got to shoot in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. I got to spend time listening to him and talking with him and helping out with scenes. JLS: Well, A Walk in the Woods would have to be my favorite film project because it was two months of going to work every day from sunrise to sunset with Robert Redford. That was a very good experience.Īcting keeps me out of trouble, and then when I’m back home, I let the cat in and out of the house and write history stories.ĪTB : Do you have a favorite project that you have worked on? It was based on the Bill O’Reilly book, and I got to play Jimmy Carter. Bob was, as usual, very focused and hard working, and then once he knows you he opens up a little bit. It was two months of working with people like Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson, who is probably the nicest person on the face of the earth. I doubled for him - the back of my head and all of that - for a lot of the scenes on the Appalachian Trail. I went up there and everyone nodded and said, “Oh yeah, he’ll do, he’ll do.” So I got to be his stand-in for about two months. So I got a call to come up and see if I could be his body double and his daily stand-in for the scenes. Then, Bob was getting ready to do A Walk in the Woods, and I had read that book - it is a great book - and he was getting ready to do that in Georgia. That gave me my (Screen Actor’s Guild) card and it took off from there. It was a Civil War movie, and I went up there and got a part after about two weeks. ![]() I let the cat in and out of the house, but that is about it right now.” So I said yes. He said, “You can go on up and be an extra in the movie.” It’s been remarked that Bob (Redford) and I look alike, so the assistant interviewing me said, “Well, since you’re retired, if you have ever wanted to be in a movie, Bob’s getting ready to direct a history movie in your neck of the woods.” He thought Savannah, Georgia, was where Lakeland is. But I really wasn’t interested in leaving Florida and my family. JLS: To make a long story short, as soon as I retired, I had a job offer from the Sundance Resort in Park City to run the Sundance Film Institute, so I went out there and interviewed and it was fine. It is great reading about real events and how real people thought about things and wrote about things during their time. It is an excuse to read other people’s mail. I like to read history books, letters, diaries and journals. Sitting in the audience and listening to his voice and his passion about George Washington and the American Revolution lit a fire in me, and I knew that as soon as I retired and got some of the acting itch out of the way, I would dig into history. I always loved David McCullough he could read the phone book and it would sound great. I was finishing my MBA at UT at the time. My daughter and I went to hear David McCullough on his book tour for 1776 at the University of Tampa. : It was a passion through my life but it really took off just as I was retiring from TECO Energy. Smith took a break from writing his new book to share some insight on how to make it in Hollywood and history.ĪliveTampaBay: Has history always been a big passion of yours? ![]() ![]() “I love reading old letters, diaries and journals it is an excuse to read other people’s mail,” Smith said with a chuckle. He has spent his spare time writing articles and sharing stories of the American Revolution - sifting through oft forgotten letters, diaries, and journals from the past. Since stepping on his first movie set, Smith has had roles in star-studded films such as X-Men, and Iron Man 3. When many people would spend time golfing, Smith spent time studying for roles and studying history, and all of his hard work has paid off. in 2009, Smith began pursuing his two passions: history and acting. Redford even employed Smith as a stand-in for him for scenes in 2015’s A Walk in the Woods. Smith looks so much like his Hollywood doppelganger, in fact, that Redford took a liking to him and gave him his first speaking lines when they met on the set of The Conspirator. They share the same sandy blond hair and energetic smile and are so close in height that you might find yourself doing a double-take. Smith Jr., a Tampa-based actor, is Robert Redford. By Krista Lyons, AliveTampaBay CorrespondentĪt first glance, you might think that John L.
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