Tom Berenger Net Worth

Tom Berenger's Quotes

• [on playing bad guys] I enjoy playing them. I find something human in them, with the exception of Looking for Mr. Goodbar. It was such a slimy character with no redeeming qualities. To me it was like playing Charles Manson. I had nightmares after I finished shooting it. I felt dirty. Bad guys are interesting, even if you don't like them.
• [in 1975] I first started thinking about being an actor when I was in college at the University of Missouri. I auditioned for a television play, and the director, who has some professional New York credits, encouraged me to pursue acting. In college I had a double major--drama and film editing. I worked with 16 millimeter film upon graduating, and from Kansas City I went on to Dallas. All of this time I suppose I had an unrealized commitment to acting. But then, I guess I ran away from acting. I was afraid of the business--I still am.
• Even my agents say, 'We don't know what this business is anymore.' These days, you can do a TV series for five years and all of a sudden be on top of the business. Features don't even run in theaters very long anymore before going right to television. And every other movie is one of those action things. I mean, Lost in Space (1998)? - a bunch of good actors running around shooting at special effects on a soundstage? I took my kids to see that and almost felt like I was on an acid trip. Most of what gets made now, you laugh your way through, go home and forget you've seen it.
• [in 2002] Since the '70s I've seen myself as a poet. Sometimes I express that poetry through acting, sometimes through cooking, and sometimes just having a good chat, you know, one of those chats you have when you're stoned and the hour is getting late. I don't know what's gonna come my way, but I think Berenger's gonna be big these next couple years.
• [on Charlie Sheen] I've always liked him, and I always worry about him like his parents do. He was always a good listener, which is probably why he is a real good actor.

Interesting Facts about Tom Berenger

1. Listed as a "Promising New Actor of 1977" in vol. 29 of John Willis' Screen World.
2. Berenger has six children: Allison, Patrick, Shiloh, Scout, Chelsea Berenger, and Chloe Berenger. He also has a stepdaughter, Julia (by wife Laura Moretti Moore).
3. Earned the highest rating (3 stars) from "The Bare Facts" -- a printed guide to on-screen nudity -- for eligible scenes in In Praise of Older Women (1978) and At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991).".
4. Considers Flesh & Blood (1979) as one of his best films.
5. He was offered his role in Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006) and had 24 hours to decide if he wanted. He agreed without even getting a chance to read the script. He read it for the first time on the flight to Australia for the filming.
6. His father was a traveling salesman.
7. Lived in Puerto Rico for several months in his 20s.
8. Lives in Beaufort, South Carolina when not working on films.
9. Admitted he hated making Sliver (1993) due to endless reshoots and script changes.
10. Turned down the part of Det. Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice (1984). The studio was hoping to land a big star, and also approached Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges.
11. Was the second ill-fated Timmy Siegal on One Life to Live (1968).
12. Berenger's interest in Civil War history has led him to collect on and research the Civil War era in his personal life as well. One of his favorite roles was as Lt. General James Longstreet in Gettysburg (1993).
13. Prior to acting, he was also a bellman at the former Alameda Plaza Hotel (now the Inter-Continental Hotel) in the Country Club Plaza section of Kansas City, Missouri.
14. Berenger's earlier career before he became an actor was as a flight attendant for the now-defunct Eastern Air Lines.
15. Berenger lent his likeness for Frank Jaeger, in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990).
16. As of 2014, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Big Chill (1983), Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Inception (2010). Of those, Platoon (1986) won in the category.
17. Tom's first play was in high school was performed in the Spanish language for an advanced Spanish class. Being an extremely shy guy, he was forced to be in it by his teacher.
18. He established the Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund in 1988 to award theatre students for excellence in performance.
19. He won the role of Butch Cassidy in Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979) because of his resemblance to Paul Newman.
20. He missed out on two roles that went to Peter Weller: he was originally cast as Sam Firstborn (1984), but had to drop out when he was injured in a car crash. He was also in talks to star in RoboCop (1987).