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The public radio story that made my wife cry this morning was Euan Kerr’s interview with Jason Reitman on Minnesota Public Radio.
Especially this part:
He’s the son of Ivan Reitman, who’s produced and directed a slew of hit movies, including “Animal House” and “Ghostbusters.” As a youngster Jason was interested in film, but he knew as the son of a famous director people would expect the worst of him.
“Most likely you are a spoiled brat, you have no talent, and more than likely you have a drug or alcohol problem,” he said. “And I thought, ‘Why go into a career where these are the presumptions going in. Best case scenario: I live in my father’s shadow. Worst case scenario: I fail on a very public level. And I actually went pre-med. I thought I was going to be a doctor.”
And that would probably have been that, except his father stepped in. Ivan Reitman told the story of how he had once approached his own father asking for the money to open what would have been Toronto’s first submarine sandwich shop.
“And my grandfather said ‘You know Ivan I am sure they are very popular, and they are very delicious, and if I gave you the money you could open one of these shops and you could make a lot of money. But there is not enough magic in it for you.’”
That launched Ivan Reitman on the path that led to Hollywood. Now years later, he told Jason he didn’t think there was enough magic for him in med school.
