‘Five Easy Pieces’ Star Lois Smith Remembers Director Bob Rafelson: ‘It Was a Time of Generational Change’
variety.comBrent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNo movie better captures the maverick spirit of Bob Rafelson and the impact he had on the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s than “Five Easy Pieces.” The film follows Jack Nicholson’s Bobby Dupea, a former piano prodigy who has turned his back on his privileged lifestyle to embrace the life of a blue collar drifter.
Dupea’s rejection of his upbringing struck a cord with the counterculture and turned “Five Easy Pieces” into a critical and commercial sensation, making it a rare film that tapped into and reflected the zeitgeist.Rafelson, who also directed “The King of Marvin Gardens” and helped create “The Monkees” television series, died on July 23 at the age of 89.
Lois Smith, a Tony-winning character actress who would later work with the filmmaker on his 1987 thriller “Black Widow,” played Partita Dupea, the sister of Bobby Dupea, in “Pieces,’ who helps set the plot in motion when she urges her brother to return to his childhood home to see their ailing father.
Smith spoke to Variety about Rafelson’s directing style and the reasons she thinks his work will endure. My memories of shooting “Five Easy Pieces” on location are among the happiest of my career.
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