More 'Speed Racer' Fallout: Emile Hirsch Exits United Talent; "Total Shocker"

37 Comments »

1. Looking at his filmography, with Girl Next Door being his break-out role, Lords of Dogtown cementing it, then Into the Wild, Alpha Dog, and his Gus Van Sant pic all have ten times the artistic credibility of Speed Racer and a tenth the (supposed) commercial appeal. Either Emile loved the TV show, or an agency saw a bigger 10%.

   If UTA told their client to “do one for the studio” and this is the one, they absolutely deserve getting dumped for his manager, who seems to have capably led him to a slew of other roles which are much more fitting a “high-profile” under 30 actor. I enjoy Emile’s work and look forward to seeing him in future quality films. What I won’t see him in (any time soon) is Speed Racer.

   Comment by observer — May 12, 2008 @ 4:24 pm

2. Ummm… sure. Everything is relative. They did a great job I suppose. He’s not a complete nobody and he has work. But it doesn’t really change the fact that virtually nobody even knows this guy’s name. Nobody.

   Comment by ckn8 — May 12, 2008 @ 4:28 pm

3. Nikki, you said “Look, UTA helped make Hirsch one of the best-known young leading men of his generation in films like Into the Wild (for which he was nominated for several awards), Alpha Dog, and Lords Of Dogtown, The Girl Next Door.”

   That’s laughable. No one saw ANY of those movies, and no one knows who Hirsch is. In fact, as awful as the Speed Racer opening weekend gross was, its opening weekend is still larger than the TOTAL domestic box office for any of the four movies you listed. Sure, critics and insiders know him and like him, but he has virtually no name value to the general public.

   Comment by Can't Take it Anymore — May 12, 2008 @ 4:39 pm

4. Let’s be honest, Alpha Dog, Lords of Dogton, and Girl Next Door are hardly films to brag about. Hirsch did well (and Dogtown caught Sean Penn’s eye so he cast him in Into the Wild) but it has been Hirsch’s talent that has made him one of the more respected actors of his generation, not the gigs that UTA has been getting him.

   I’d almost argue that Hirsch is a star in spite of those films, not because of them.

   Comment by Kevin — May 12, 2008 @ 4:42 pm

5. Well, he didn’t want to do it and they pretty much forced him. And it bombed. He’s probably mortified. Sucks for them.

   Comment by Akimbo — May 12, 2008 @ 5:05 pm

6. Shani is an pretty good covering agent. She is out of her league with a star or a potential star. So is Sam Maydew. Sam and she covered each other on Emile. caa has been up his ass with the help of sean penn for a long time.

   Comment by figures — May 12, 2008 @ 5:10 pm

7. Kevin, I’d argue that Hirsch ISN’T a star by even a loose interpretation of the word. Ask 100 people across America who he is, and I’d be stunned if even 10 could tell you.

   Comment by Can't Take it Anymore — May 12, 2008 @ 5:28 pm

8. Akimbo–

   How do you know this?

   Comment by Bill — May 12, 2008 @ 5:46 pm

9. Shani has excellent taste. CAA had Emile, but lost him to Shani and UTA a long time ago where he developed into who he is today, with Shani as his primary, if not sole, agent. Granted the worldwide blockbuster public may not be familiar with his name yet, but to leave like this is unfortunate. She deserves way more loyalty than this.

   Comment by agencyobserver — May 12, 2008 @ 5:49 pm

10. “One of the best-known young leading men of his generation”? He’s given exactly one good performance in exactly one good film.

    Comment by Chilly — May 12, 2008 @ 6:43 pm

11. Kevin,

    Do you work in this industry? I know you’re not an agent.

    Emile did not get those gigs because of talent (Their all talented)

    An actor doesn’t just decide he’s talented and meets Sean Penn. (Could you Imagine the line to Sean’s door!!! Puhleeze!

    There is hard work behind all of it.

    His agents got him in the doors and connected the dots.

    Agents are always the easy sacrificial lamb when the movie gets slaughtered.

    Comment by Agent Provocateur — May 12, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

12. “Nikki, you said “Look, UTA helped make Hirsch one of the best-known young leading men of his generation in films like Into the Wild (for which he was nominated for several awards), Alpha Dog, and Lords Of Dogtown, The Girl Next Door.”

    That’s laughable. No one saw ANY of those movies, and no one knows who Hirsch is. ”

    Those movies did one thing–they got him the lead in a $100m+ budget film.

    Comment by Sarcastic Cynic — May 12, 2008 @ 8:10 pm

13. “UTA doesn’t deserve this.”

    No, that loving, altruistic, humanitarian agency doesn’t deserve to get dropped by the evil, money-grubbing actor who’s all about the bottom line. Shame on him.

    Comment by Nick — May 12, 2008 @ 8:15 pm

14. perfect example of why stars can’t be represented by junior agents. serving up your only hot client in order to curry favor with the studio you cover wears thin quickly when the films bomb.

    Comment by agenting101 — May 12, 2008 @ 8:38 pm

15. Im confused. I dont see what is wrong with advising act actor to do the first Wachowski brothers movies since The Matrix. Doesnt seem like bad agenting. Hindsight is 20/20. Think about it when the movie was coming together - and not now after you know the opening grosses.

    Comment by Kevin — May 12, 2008 @ 10:00 pm

16. Agent Provocateur,

    “Emile did not get those gigs because of talent (Their all talented)”

    Well, you have to ignore Sean Penn who said talent was the reason that he wanted Emile Hirsch to play the role in “Into the Wild”. I’m not saying that agents aren’t very important pieces of the puzzle but I don’t think there’s any reason for Emile to think that he shouldn’t try a new direction (especially if UTA did indeed push for him to be in Speed Racer).

    After all, as you said:
    “His agents got him in the doors and connected the dots.

    Agents are always the easy sacrificial lamb when the movie gets slaughtered.”

    Well, if the agents were the ones who got him in the door and connected the dots, shouldn’t they also get the blame when the movie get slaughtered? You seem to be arguing that Emile’s agents deserve all the credit and none of the blame for a career that, aside from “Into the Wild”, isn’t any better than many less talented, less respected young actors.

    Comment by Kevin — May 12, 2008 @ 10:11 pm

17. Oh please agenting101 - pretty JV of you if you think for one minute that Shani Rosenzweig was the only person at UTA who told Emile to do Speed Racer. Junior agent or not, she had the back-up of her senior team members and was not out to curry favor with the studio…

    Comment by Anonymous — May 12, 2008 @ 10:15 pm

18. Assuming UTA pushed him to star in this project, and it was not what he wanted, but they got him onboard anyway - I see it like this:

    1. Movie cost 180 million.
    2. Movie earned 20 million.
    3. UTA gets kicked in the nut by Hirsch, who is not happy about being onboard a project that bombed… So he blames the agency.

    And Kevin - Speed Racer is not the first siblings’ movie since the Matrix, V for Vendetta was.

    And seriously - any agency would have rushed to place their client in a movie worth 180 mil. It’s hard to blame UTA for that.

    Comment by Andy — May 13, 2008 @ 2:00 am

19. Personally I think Emile’s with the wrong UTA agent (and yes I *had* heard of Emile before…I was fortunate to see him in ‘The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys’, Jodie Foster’s film with Jena Malone and Kieran Culkin and after maybe 5 minutes of watching him I knew the kid had the potential to become a really good actor when he grew up and not just a pretty boy who looks cute on camera and can be manipulated around like a doll or an acton figure. He may not be as famous as some his age but he’s clearly more talented and smart than many of them.

    About a year ago when I heard Emile was getting cast in the lead of an adaptation of ‘Speed Racer’, I was curious as to why he would do such a film. The cartoon really didn’t have anything going for it but its 60s vintage cheesiness. I figured it would have a crappy script, not the kind of thing that a young man who wants to act and be taken seriously as an actor would be into. Maybe it was the idea of working with the Wachowski brothers and the challenge acting in something that would for sure be visually interesting and yet holding his own (or if he was lucky making himself more interesting to watch than the ‘eye candy’). I was hopeful for Emile but prepared for the film to fail.

    Well the film has come out as I expected it to…the visuals are gimmicky, the script thin, the box office takings disappointing. A whole lot of talented actors in ‘Speed Racer’ (Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Christina Ricci and Emile) I am sure are now questioning their agreement to do such a film.

    But if Emile’s agents urged him to do this, and he still wants to do films that build up respect for his talent (which he clearly has) and be taken seriously, then he needs to ditch agents whose vision for his career don’t serve his own.

    It would be nice to see him paired with say Tracey Jacobs over at UTA (who reps actors like Johnny Depp and Vincent D’Onofrio, actors who people in the industry take seriously) but whoever takes over representing Emile needs to remember that they have to serve him as well as they serve their other clients. Maybe UTA being a packaging agency has too many conflicts of interest to serve someone like Emile especially if he’s interested more in his craft than his bottom line. But that Emile’s reconsidering who represents him is a good thing as far as I am concerned. I wish him the best in finding representation that serves him better.

    Comment by VDOVault — May 13, 2008 @ 6:31 am

20. Hey Andy, the Wachowski siblings didn’t direct “V for Vendetta”.

    Comment by mitchell Gross — May 13, 2008 @ 7:34 am

21. How is it that the Agent is the scapegoat and the manager gets away unscathed???

    Comment by whatabiz — May 13, 2008 @ 7:46 am

22. IMO Emile is a goodlooking, talented (though not especially deep) actor who will never be a leading man in the mainstream Hollywood sense. There is a lacking in the charisma and empathy department, a certain cold and remote quality.

    Comment by Mikey — May 13, 2008 @ 8:50 am

23. As big a turd as Speed Racer is, it’s probably already grossed more internationally than anything else this no-name has ever (or will ever) be in.

    I would say that he’ll go back to obscurity but other than being known by a few Hollywood insiders he was never out of obscurity in the first place.

    Comment by flyover — May 13, 2008 @ 8:50 am

24. V for Vendetta was directed by the 2nd Unit Director for the Matrix Trilogy. The Wachowski’s just produced the film. And Speed Racer cost 80. Not 180. Iron Man cost 180. So I think Speed Racer will recoup it’s budget.

    Comment by Racer X — May 13, 2008 @ 9:54 am

25. Yes Mitchell, my bad. Wachowskis are only credited as writers on V4V, not directors, I assumed incorrectly.

    And about speed racer - I dont understand how it managed to bomb so hard.
    180 million budget - down the drain… With 13 million granted by the German Film Fond towards the project ?
    And to top it off - they suicide-release it against Iron Man ?

    I assume that the earnings from Lego sets, branded products and other gizmos will have a hard time recouping the production costs ?
    But then.. maybe not.

    Comment by Andy — May 13, 2008 @ 9:55 am

26. Remember when Shani was married to Sam?

    Comment by Anonymous — May 13, 2008 @ 10:06 am

27. I thought Shani and Sam were married…is that no longer so?

    Comment by Anonymous1 — May 13, 2008 @ 11:39 am

28. The Wachowskis absolutely DID direct “V”. That movie was such a mess after the initial few weeks that they took over, only DGA rules prevented the director from being fired. They directed while he took a back seat. So everyone was happy politically they refrained from putting their names up as directors…

    Comment by Inside Man — May 13, 2008 @ 2:02 pm

29. I would like to know from Nikki what UTA actually was doing for Hirsch that makes her so rightously sure is worth not only their 10% of his work to date but also 10% of his future. It’s a crazy idea but maybe agents are supposed to be working for the talent and not the other way around!

    Comment by sacha — May 13, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

30. just saw Speed Racer; i was expecting something a little more “grown up”… but maybe that was misguided; it looked like a cross between anime, a kaleidoscope, the flinstones, and video game and the dukes of hazard

    Comment by patrick — May 13, 2008 @ 11:28 pm

31. I haven’t seen Speed Racer, although Patrick’s comment, strangely enough, kind of makes me want to more than anything else I’ve read about it. For what it’s worth, I’m an old-timey over-50 year old housewife and mom living near podunk, USA, and even I know who Emile Hirsch is from as far back as Emperor’s Club. Not sure if that makes me exceptional or not, but I figure if I know who he is, surely a lot of other regular folk do too. What I definitely don’t know is how all this Hollywood agent/actor stuff works, so no comment on that, but just wanted to point out that maybe the movie-going public knows more than folks in Hollywood think we do.

    Comment by barbara — May 14, 2008 @ 7:16 am

32. Heya Racer X
    Speed cost 160-180 mil, not sure why you’re even pretending to try and low ball for effect- the cats out of the bag and for a while. As for Emile: box office should have nothing to do with it: if handlers got him involved in something that aesthetically was not in tune with his desires and skill, then he’s right to move onto someone else.

    Comment by onorere1 — May 14, 2008 @ 5:11 pm

33. I always laugh when I hear actors ditching their agents - it’s a good thing. It keeps agents “on their toes” when they get too comfortable with their clients and get lazy or stupid.

    Comment by buddy — May 14, 2008 @ 11:44 pm

34. I know Shani and she built Mr. Hirsch just as much as Sam did. On paper, “Speed Racer” looked like a slam dunk — pre-awareness, big directors, etc. I imagine UTA would have been fired if they LOST the gig for him.

    If the film turned out like “The Matrix,” we wouldn’t be having this debate. It’s not like they dumped him into a sub-par concept with nobodies.

    I imagine Hirsch made a chunk of change as well. If I were an actor, I’d sign with Shani in a second. She’s the only talent agent I’ve ever met who READS and actually cares about developing a client.

    I agree with Ms. Finke. She doesn’t deserve this. As for UTA, I could give a shit about them.

    Love and kisses,
    A former UTA-er

    Comment by None of Your Business :) — May 16, 2008 @ 6:56 pm

35. Nikke, you’re the shit. The kid has no idea how well he was represented. If he didn’t have the personality of a peanut and think he was Sean Penn the people in East Troy Wisconsin and Nobelsville Indiana might have a better idea who he is with a little PR.

    The kid wanted to get paid but didn’t want to sell out. Shit happens and then you get paid or fired.

    Bet that 10% payday sounds pretty good right about now eh?

    Comment by Kid Behind the Curtain — May 19, 2008 @ 10:35 pm

36. I think that the determining factor in deciding whether Emile was represented well is, “Whose idea was Speed Racer?” If Emile’s, then he’s out of line; if Shani’s, then he made the right decision.

    Comment by Do the Robot — May 21, 2008 @ 6:14 am

37. I thought it was a little harsh for someone to call Emile a “evil, money-grubbing actor who’s all about the bottom line”. I very much doubt that it was about the money itself. I myself thought Speed Racer was awesome, but maybe the movie just had too many special effects for certain people. He was probably extremely upset that this movie did not do as well as everyone anticipated, and he has a perfect reason to feel that way. I can only imagine how someone would feel if an audience does not respond to a piece that he/she put months and months of his/her heart and soul into. It would be heartbreaking, and I feel for that whole cast and crew. I don’t care, personally, what the critics think. I thought the movie was fabulous and was a BLAST to watch. It was amazing! However, everyone has their own opinion. It is the same case for Emile. He is entitled to GROW as a person, and if he feels he just needs a change by leaving his agency, it is his right as a person to take that change. I believe, at least from what I read, he was very cordial about his departure. He decided that he simply “no longer wanted an agent”. He could have been very cold and nasty about it, but he was not, and I admire him for that. He was very mature and showed a lot of class.
    As for his talent, as some other comments I read, I think that he made all of the roles that he has ever played a success because he himself is a talented actor. Anyone can play a part, but it takes a TRUE ACTOR to put everything he has into the part. I have seen that enthusiasm in all of the movies I have seen him in (which include Alpha Dog, Lords of Dogtown, The Girl Next Door and Into the Wild). Every role he knocked right out of the park, and he has received critical acclaim in ALL of them. Even if his movies were not well-noted, unfortunately, it does not mean that his performances weren’t made just as well as actors twice and three times his age. All of his parts, to me, were very diverse and creative, and he truly made them his own. As well as he did an amazing job playing them. Yes, it’s true, not many people know of him, but as far as I’m concerned, that doesn’t matter. As well, he has said in interviews that he is fine with that. And as far as I’m concerned, as a fan, as long as he’s happy with what he’s doing as far as work and loves what he does as a whole, then I am happy with that, too. Emile, if you’re reading this, always continue to be yourself and follow your heart. Keep being the humble, mature gentleman that you are! Thanks!

    Comment by Jess — June 8, 2008 @ 8:08 pm

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