You bet. I know when director Milos (Valmont) Forman casts his next movie, Hell Camp, he needs a real meathead to play the heavy. Whoa! No, just "kidding. That is, he needs some guys who weigh in at more than 300 lbs. each to portray sumo wrestlers in a script about an American businessman in Japan.
In response to a nationwide casting notice ("No previous acting experience required. Small men need not apply"), 110 big guys braved the 90°F heat in New York City on June 27 to find out if they measured up. (Heavyweights in L.A. and Chicago will also get a chance to show their menace.)
Claiming Jackie Gleason and John Candy as their role-y-poly models, the aspiring stars of the very wide screen—in real life they include plumbers, bouncers, construction workers, a music teacher and the owner of an Italian restaurant—joked nervously before their auditions. "Can Julia Roberts play opposite me?" one asked. "It's a shot in the dark," said a 310-lb. aspirant, "sort of like Rocky." Another confessed, "Please don't tell anybody, but I weigh only 280 lbs. Don't worry, I can eat on the weight." By the end of the day, Forman hadn't crowned any new king-size stars—but everyone had tons of fun.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
