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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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[dramatic music playing]
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[screams]
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[music intensifies]
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[presenter]
We are about to meet someone
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who made the whole world
believe that he could fly.
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[Christopher Reeve] There is
something about America,
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which is very short on heroes.
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We need something.
We need all the heroes
we can get.
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Good afternoon, Mr. President.
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Mr. President,
and ladies and gentlemen,
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Superman may be make-believe.
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But, the qualities of courage,
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and of character, that make
him unique are very real.
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[reporter] He starred
in four Superman movies,
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making him one of the most
famous faces in Hollywood.
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How you doing?
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[Chris] Superman
has changed everything.
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Any more at home like you?
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Uh, not really, no.
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Today, Superman.
Tomorrow, what?
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[Chris] I've got another 20,
30 years ahead,
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and a wider range of roles
to come,
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and more interesting parts
to play.
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Do you prefer to be called
Chris or Christopher
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or Mr. Reeve?
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- Or sir? Or Your Excellence?
- [laughs]
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No. Chris is fine.
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[nostalgic music playing]
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[Chris] For the first time,
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my professional
and personal life
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seemed perfectly balanced.
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[woman] Don't they always?
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[Chris] Our plans for the year
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were falling into place
beautifully.
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Just take a second to really
make a wish for the new year.
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Think about a nice wish
for the new year,
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and then we'll all blow out
the candles together.
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One, two, three...
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[music stops]
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[Chris] And then,
in an instant...
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[ventilator hisses]
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[Chris] ...everything changed.
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[slow inspirational music
fading in]
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- [playing gentle music]
- [Chris singing]
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♪ Yes, my dear
Yes, my dear...♪
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[Will Reeve] Most of what
I remember about my dad
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comes from stories
and photos and videos.
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It's coalesced in my brain
as a memory
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and it's kind of
a perfect day.
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Love you, too, Daddy.
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[Chris] Why don't you climb
up on the bed with Mommy?
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[Will] My childhood bedroom
shared a wall
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with my parents' bathroom,
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and when I was
a little two-year-old...
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when I woke up, I would knock
on the... on the bathroom wall
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and my dad,
he would knock back.
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Yeah.
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And then he or my mom would
come around and carry me in.
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My mom was out of this world.
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No.
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[Will] A hug from my mom
was like being wrapped up
by the sun.
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Forever and ever,
we will know
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that this is how I look
in the morning.
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- I love you.
- I love you more.
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- [Chris] Hey, Matthew.
- Yeah?
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[Chris] Hi. Merry Christmas.
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[laughter]
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- [Chris] Al... Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
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[young Will] Merry Christmas.
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[Will] Matthew and Al
are my half siblings,
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but, as we say,
"There's no half."
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They're my brother and sister.
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[Al] Dad and my mum separated
when I was three,
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and so, pretty early on,
we had two households.
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During the school year,
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my brother and I
would be in England
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and then every vacation,
we would come over
to the States.
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- Oh! Thank you.
- [laughter]
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- [Chris] Aw!
- Did you get that? The kiss?
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- [Chris] Great.
- Yep.
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- Oh, my God.
- Oh, we got that.
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[Matthew Reeve]
Usually, you know, we'd get
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like, ten days
or a couple weeks.
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[Dana] You ready
for your close-up, Mr. Reeve?
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[Matthew]
Doing things with my dad,
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it was all about
activity and action.
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Riding bikes, playing soccer,
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skiing, swimming,
horse riding with my sister.
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Hi.
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[Dana] A few words
from Al's trainer.
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- How's she doing, Coach?
- Doing good.
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She's getting ready.
I think we're going to go
for Saratoga,
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and jump the big ones
this year.
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I mean, she really...
could be in the money.
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- [Dana] Good to hear.
- Thanks.
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[Dana] Thanks very much.
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Learning how to ride horses
was strange for me
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because I've always
been allergic to horses.
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[Al] He was cast
in Anna Karenina
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and there were riding scenes,
and he realized,
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"If I'm going to do this
and be on a horse,
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I have to do it for real."
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He injected himself
with antihistamine every day
for months.
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[Chris] I sort of took
a crash course
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enough to get me
through the movie.
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If you look,
that's actually me
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in the middle of the Hungarian
national equestrian team,
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doing a steeplechase.
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Come on!
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I was in the middle
for a good reason,
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because if I was about to go,
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they could catch me
and keep me on.
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- [audience laughs]
- But anyway,
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my wife and I
have riding in common.
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It's become a very
central part of our life.
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[Al] He just
absolutely adored it.
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[Will] He was an intense guy.
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He didn't do anything
half-assed.
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[Matthew] You could
not fail and quit.
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It was like, you try,
you fail, you try harder.
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[Chris] Back in
the Superman years,
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I always used to joke about
needing to be very careful,
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because I didn't want
to read a headline
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in the New York Post like,
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"Superman hit
by a school bus."
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I was getting to be
a pretty good rider.
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[woman] In first place,
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Denver, ridden
by Christopher Reeve.
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[crowd cheers]
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Our latest entry,
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this is Will Reeve. Say, "Hi."
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- Hi.
- Hi.
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[laughter]
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[Will] It was Memorial Day
weekend, 1995.
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My dad was competing
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in a cross-country
horseback riding competition.
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[Al] And was just so excited
to get down there.
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[man] What?
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[Matthew] And my dad had been
in London for some reason
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a few weeks before.
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We said, "Goodbye,"
and I ran upstairs to, like...
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I guess, watch him...
you know, walk away.
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And I remember him turning,
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I guess, instinctively,
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knowing I would do that
and, um... [voice breaks]
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[smacks lips]
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Yeah. He gave this wave and...
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[inhales sharply]
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Um, that was the last time
I saw him on his feet.
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[newscaster 1]
Rumors have been flying
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since 42-year-old
Christopher Reeve
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fell off a horse
this past weekend.
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Well, tonight, many of the
worst reports are true.
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Wendy Rieger joins us now,
with the latest
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from the hospital
in Charlottesville.
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Today, we're hoping
to get an update
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on Christopher Reeve's
condition.
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[newscaster 2] Doctors aren't
saying too much
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about his chances
of pulling through.
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Millions of people
around the world
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are praying
and remembering tonight.
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[reporter] The Reeve family
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has refused to talk
about the injury.
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Their silence prompted
much speculation
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that he was near death.
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[Susan Sarandon]
I just remember thinking,
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"That's impossible."
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We just kept trying to call
and find out
what was going on.
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And was it true and
how could that have happened?
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I mean, there was
so much disbelief.
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[Al] Matthew and I flew
over with my mom.
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It was circus mode
at that point.
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And we still
didn't know a thing
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because nobody knew
what was happening.
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It was this big cloud
of confusion.
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We saw Dana
and she just burst into tears.
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First time I'd seen her cry,
I think, ever.
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What a horror show.
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It wasn't clear
what was gonna happen.
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[reporter]
His doctor met the press.
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The news is not encouraging.
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Mr. Reeve currently
has no movement
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or spontaneous respiration.
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He may require surgery
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to stabilize the upper spine
in the near future.
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You know, he almost died.
His heart stopped.
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He flatlined certainly twice.
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He was given
basically a 50/50 chance
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of surviving
to the end of the day.
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[sniffles] Um...
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You think of your parents
as completely invulnerable.
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And he was always so careful
and so capable and...
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I mean,
he was just Dad, right?
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Like, this constant that you
never even have
to think about.
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[Will] The surgery
that they did on my dad
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had never been done before.
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They reattached his head
to his body.
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Tragic news for the actor
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00:09:53,941 --> 00:09:55,595
known for his role
as the Man of Steel.
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Virginia doctors
now confirm that
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00:09:57,597 --> 00:09:59,947
Christopher Reeve
is indeed paralyzed
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00:10:00,121 --> 00:10:02,427
and unable
to breathe on his own.
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Superman? Crazy.
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00:10:07,476 --> 00:10:09,609
Just that simple little thing
over the horse.
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00:10:09,783 --> 00:10:10,740
It's just crazy.
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00:10:16,050 --> 00:10:16,964
[gas hisses]
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00:10:17,138 --> 00:10:19,096
[machine alarm beeping]
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00:10:19,270 --> 00:10:21,229
[ventilator hissing]
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[Chris] I lay on my back,
frozen,
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00:10:35,809 --> 00:10:39,116
unable to avoid thinking
the darkest thoughts,
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00:10:39,290 --> 00:10:43,077
because it had dawned on me
that I had ruined my life
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00:10:43,251 --> 00:10:45,732
- and everybody else's.
- [tense music playing]
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00:10:45,906 --> 00:10:49,779
I won't be able to ski.
Won't be able to sail...
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00:10:49,953 --> 00:10:52,739
Won't be able
to make love to Dana.
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00:10:52,913 --> 00:10:54,871
I won't be able
to throw a ball to Will.
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00:10:55,045 --> 00:10:56,612
I won't be able to do a thing.
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00:10:56,786 --> 00:10:59,571
- [plays chord]
- Again.
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00:10:59,746 --> 00:11:01,051
[Chris echoing]
This can't be me. Why me?
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00:11:01,225 --> 00:11:02,836
There's gotta be a mistake.
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00:11:03,010 --> 00:11:04,576
Oh, I'm an idiot.
Oh, God. I'm trapped! No life.
223
00:11:04,751 --> 00:11:06,274
What am I gonna do?
I've spoiled everything.
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00:11:06,448 --> 00:11:07,971
I'm going to be
a charity case.
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00:11:08,145 --> 00:11:10,147
[music fades out]
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00:11:10,321 --> 00:11:13,150
He was in and out
of consciousness.
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00:11:13,324 --> 00:11:17,677
He was having clearly what
were horrible hallucinations.
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00:11:17,851 --> 00:11:19,200
[Chris echoing]
I'm in prison. I've got
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00:11:19,374 --> 00:11:20,941
a life sentence.
Please let me out.
230
00:11:21,115 --> 00:11:22,899
For some reason I didn't
get my hands down
231
00:11:23,073 --> 00:11:24,509
- and break my fall.
- [horse neighs]
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00:11:24,684 --> 00:11:26,598
[echoing stops]
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00:11:26,773 --> 00:11:29,514
Witnesses said that Buck was
absolutely willing and ready.
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00:11:29,689 --> 00:11:32,996
That I was going
not excessively fast.
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00:11:33,170 --> 00:11:34,737
[horse neighs]
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00:11:34,911 --> 00:11:36,739
Apparently, Buck started
to jump the fence,
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00:11:36,913 --> 00:11:39,176
but all of a sudden,
he just put on the brakes.
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00:11:43,528 --> 00:11:45,879
It was what riders call
a dirty stop.
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00:11:47,358 --> 00:11:49,230
And I landed right on my head,
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00:11:49,404 --> 00:11:52,407
six feet four inches
and 215 pounds of me.
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00:11:55,671 --> 00:11:58,630
This break is what happens
when the trap door opens
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00:11:58,805 --> 00:12:01,068
and the noose snaps tight.
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00:12:01,242 --> 00:12:04,114
Half an inch to the left,
dead instantly.
244
00:12:04,288 --> 00:12:08,118
Half an inch to the right,
an embarrassing, scary fall
245
00:12:08,292 --> 00:12:09,990
that he got up
and walked away from.
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00:12:11,861 --> 00:12:17,214
♪ [Reeve family singing]
Happy Birthday, dear Will ♪
247
00:12:17,388 --> 00:12:21,697
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
248
00:12:21,871 --> 00:12:23,046
- [applause]
- [Dana] Go on!
249
00:12:26,571 --> 00:12:30,488
[Will] We had my third birthday
party outside the ICU.
250
00:12:30,662 --> 00:12:33,404
[Matthew] Dana threw
like, a birthday party
for Will,
251
00:12:33,578 --> 00:12:35,842
complete with, like,
a really annoying clown.
252
00:12:36,016 --> 00:12:36,886
[in high-pitched voice]
I told you
253
00:12:37,060 --> 00:12:38,714
I brought my suitcase! Here!
254
00:12:38,888 --> 00:12:39,889
[Matthew] And he had,
like, a really good time
255
00:12:40,063 --> 00:12:41,195
and really enjoyed himself.
256
00:12:41,369 --> 00:12:43,414
Hi.
257
00:12:43,588 --> 00:12:46,156
She tried to keep things
normal for Will,
258
00:12:46,330 --> 00:12:48,593
to try and protect him
as much as she could.
259
00:12:50,508 --> 00:12:53,294
[Will] There was some fighting
within the family.
260
00:12:53,468 --> 00:12:56,036
My dad's mom wanted
to take him off life support.
261
00:12:57,341 --> 00:12:59,169
He has low moments.
262
00:12:59,343 --> 00:13:03,957
I think anybody, um, with
an injury as severe as his
263
00:13:04,131 --> 00:13:05,697
is bound to have low moments.
264
00:13:07,395 --> 00:13:09,484
My mom did not
want to do that.
265
00:13:09,658 --> 00:13:11,442
[Dana] He's a fighter.
266
00:13:11,616 --> 00:13:13,140
But this has to be
the toughest challenge
267
00:13:13,314 --> 00:13:14,184
that he's ever faced.
268
00:13:14,358 --> 00:13:16,404
I know it's mine.
269
00:13:16,578 --> 00:13:18,536
[Chris] Dana came
into the room,
270
00:13:18,710 --> 00:13:22,192
she knelt down next to me
and we made eye contact.
271
00:13:22,366 --> 00:13:25,456
And then I mouthed
my first lucid words to her,
272
00:13:25,630 --> 00:13:27,719
"Maybe we should let me go."
273
00:13:27,894 --> 00:13:29,721
[machine beeping]
274
00:13:29,896 --> 00:13:31,332
[Chris] Dana started crying.
275
00:13:34,204 --> 00:13:36,859
She said, "I'm only
gonna say this once.
276
00:13:38,426 --> 00:13:40,558
I'll support whatever
you want to do
277
00:13:40,732 --> 00:13:43,126
because this is your life
and your decision.
278
00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:44,824
But I want you to know
279
00:13:44,998 --> 00:13:46,521
that I'll be with you
for the long haul,
280
00:13:46,695 --> 00:13:48,479
no matter what."
281
00:13:48,653 --> 00:13:51,482
And then she added the words
that saved my life.
282
00:13:51,656 --> 00:13:53,615
[emotional music playing]
283
00:13:56,923 --> 00:14:00,013
[Chris] "You're still you
and I love you."
284
00:14:05,801 --> 00:14:08,108
I think if she had looked away
or paused
285
00:14:08,282 --> 00:14:10,414
or hesitated even slightly
286
00:14:10,588 --> 00:14:15,115
or if I had felt there was
a sense of her being noble,
287
00:14:15,289 --> 00:14:17,247
I don't know if
I could have pulled through.
288
00:14:18,683 --> 00:14:21,686
"You are still you.
And we love you."
289
00:14:23,688 --> 00:14:26,039
So, out of that discussion of,
290
00:14:26,213 --> 00:14:28,737
"Is it going to make sense
for him to stay alive?"
291
00:14:28,911 --> 00:14:31,174
came that capsulation,
in a way,
292
00:14:31,348 --> 00:14:34,177
of the value of... of living.
293
00:14:36,397 --> 00:14:37,833
Everyone is devastated.
294
00:14:38,007 --> 00:14:40,705
But it was not without
moments of grace.
295
00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,534
One that was just incredible
was Robin Williams.
296
00:14:43,708 --> 00:14:45,493
Hello, I'm Robin Williams,
297
00:14:45,667 --> 00:14:47,669
and if you don't know that...
Hahaha!
298
00:14:47,843 --> 00:14:50,280
[Al] Robin Williams
had been Dad's roommate
299
00:14:50,454 --> 00:14:52,021
and had this
deep relationship with him
300
00:14:52,195 --> 00:14:54,719
going back so many years.
301
00:14:54,894 --> 00:14:56,591
[Chris] I think Robin is one
of the great human beings
that was ever put here.
302
00:14:56,765 --> 00:14:58,898
I'm the godfather of his son,
and everything.
303
00:14:59,072 --> 00:15:01,596
What you got with Robin
is just waves of humanity
304
00:15:01,770 --> 00:15:03,467
and respect come from him.
305
00:15:03,641 --> 00:15:06,427
[Will] His wife, Marsha,
became my mom's best friend
306
00:15:06,601 --> 00:15:08,646
and is like a sort
of fairy godmother to me.
307
00:15:08,820 --> 00:15:11,867
And Robin's approach
was a little bit different
308
00:15:12,041 --> 00:15:13,956
than other family members.
[laughs]
309
00:15:14,130 --> 00:15:16,785
They had just taken him off,
you know, the heavy sedation
310
00:15:16,959 --> 00:15:18,265
and I think
he was just coming back,
311
00:15:18,439 --> 00:15:20,920
and I came in
as a Russian proctologist.
312
00:15:21,094 --> 00:15:22,660
[audience laughs]
313
00:15:22,834 --> 00:15:24,184
[Oprah Winfrey] He didn't know
you were coming in?
314
00:15:24,358 --> 00:15:25,489
No, I put... Well, they put me
in scrubs,
315
00:15:25,663 --> 00:15:27,448
- so I just had the face.
- [Oprah] Uh-huh.
316
00:15:27,622 --> 00:15:28,884
And I said,
[in Russian accent]
"If you don't mind,
317
00:15:29,058 --> 00:15:30,233
I'm going to have
to put on a rubber glove
318
00:15:30,407 --> 00:15:31,843
and examine
your internal organs."
319
00:15:32,018 --> 00:15:33,758
[in normal voice]
And I, and I kind of said,
320
00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:34,455
[in Russian accent]
"Oh, look at the size
of this baby."
321
00:15:34,629 --> 00:15:36,196
[all laugh]
322
00:15:36,370 --> 00:15:37,762
[in normal voice]
And I saw he started to laugh
323
00:15:37,937 --> 00:15:38,633
'cause his eyes lit up
and he knew it was me.
324
00:15:38,807 --> 00:15:40,374
[audience applauds]
325
00:15:40,548 --> 00:15:41,810
[Chris] My old friend
had helped me know
326
00:15:41,984 --> 00:15:43,638
that somehow,
I was gonna be okay.
327
00:15:43,812 --> 00:15:45,596
I mean, life's gonna be
very different,
328
00:15:45,770 --> 00:15:48,208
but I can still laugh.
329
00:15:48,382 --> 00:15:51,211
And Robin
is a really good friend.
330
00:15:51,385 --> 00:15:53,909
Anything, if you needed
anything, he would be there.
331
00:15:54,083 --> 00:15:56,129
I think he and Robin
were such good friends
332
00:15:56,303 --> 00:15:58,609
because they could
match each other.
333
00:15:58,783 --> 00:16:00,481
I mean,
Chris didn't have Robin's...
334
00:16:00,655 --> 00:16:03,049
you know, but he could...
he could keep up with him.
335
00:16:03,223 --> 00:16:04,833
[applause]
336
00:16:05,007 --> 00:16:06,182
All right, somebody's fantasy.
337
00:16:06,356 --> 00:16:07,705
[laughter]
338
00:16:09,577 --> 00:16:11,622
And not many people
could do that.
339
00:16:11,796 --> 00:16:13,755
[gentle music playing]
340
00:16:13,929 --> 00:16:17,498
[Chris] As I started to face
reality in intensive care,
341
00:16:17,672 --> 00:16:21,110
moments from my former life
kept popping into my head.
342
00:16:21,284 --> 00:16:22,851
It was like a slide show,
343
00:16:23,025 --> 00:16:25,158
but the pictures
were all out of sequence.
344
00:16:25,332 --> 00:16:26,986
- [audience cheers]
- [Chris] My most
cherished memories
345
00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,858
when I was whole,
healthy, free.
346
00:16:32,078 --> 00:16:33,688
[upbeat disco music playing]
347
00:16:36,299 --> 00:16:38,214
[car horn blaring]
348
00:16:38,388 --> 00:16:40,390
[Chris] After graduating
from Cornell,
349
00:16:40,564 --> 00:16:42,088
I had planned
to go to New York
350
00:16:42,262 --> 00:16:44,090
and join the ranks
of young hopefuls
351
00:16:44,264 --> 00:16:46,875
trying for a career
in the theater.
352
00:16:47,049 --> 00:16:48,659
Juilliard is one of the best
schools in the country,
353
00:16:48,833 --> 00:16:50,183
and you learn how to move,
354
00:16:50,357 --> 00:16:52,011
mime, tumbling,
acrobatics, acting.
355
00:16:52,185 --> 00:16:54,578
You and Robin Williams
were classmates?
356
00:16:54,752 --> 00:16:57,103
[Chris] That's right. We were
in the advanced program.
357
00:16:57,277 --> 00:17:02,325
And we were training
to be Shakespearean actors
358
00:17:02,499 --> 00:17:03,674
in the English tradition,
359
00:17:03,848 --> 00:17:05,981
able to enunciate
for no reason.
360
00:17:06,155 --> 00:17:08,549
[Chris] There was certainly
nothing they could teach him.
361
00:17:08,723 --> 00:17:10,116
Yes, I've already
cleared the theater
362
00:17:10,290 --> 00:17:11,682
with the rehearsal schedule.
363
00:17:11,856 --> 00:17:12,814
In the lights, you will
think it was a proper...
364
00:17:12,988 --> 00:17:14,685
[Chris] John Houseman
365
00:17:14,859 --> 00:17:16,818
had just won the Academy Award
for best supporting actor.
366
00:17:16,992 --> 00:17:18,863
He said, "Mr. Reeve,
it is very important
367
00:17:19,038 --> 00:17:20,865
you become a serious
classical actor.
368
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,867
Unless of course,
they offer you
369
00:17:23,042 --> 00:17:24,521
a load of money
to do something else."
370
00:17:24,695 --> 00:17:25,566
[all laugh]
371
00:17:25,740 --> 00:17:28,264
It's all yours.
372
00:17:28,438 --> 00:17:31,615
[Chris] I probably gravitated
towards the theater
373
00:17:31,789 --> 00:17:35,967
as a way out of uncertainties
growing up,
374
00:17:36,142 --> 00:17:39,797
that the theater became
a neutral kind of territory,
375
00:17:39,971 --> 00:17:41,756
but that felt like home.
376
00:17:43,453 --> 00:17:46,195
I had grown up
between two families,
377
00:17:46,369 --> 00:17:49,111
and neither one
ever seemed truly secure.
378
00:17:50,460 --> 00:17:52,419
The family backstory is...
379
00:17:53,507 --> 00:17:54,464
is complicated.
380
00:17:54,638 --> 00:17:56,118
Uh, I'm not sure how much
381
00:17:56,292 --> 00:17:58,512
I want to get into the whole
Reeve side because
382
00:17:58,686 --> 00:18:01,341
they were
just so fucked up.
383
00:18:01,515 --> 00:18:04,431
[Chris] My father, the poet
and scholar, Franklin Reeve,
384
00:18:04,605 --> 00:18:08,304
courted my mother,
Barbara Pitney Lamb, ardently.
385
00:18:08,478 --> 00:18:11,177
But there was a widening gulf
between my parents
386
00:18:11,351 --> 00:18:13,744
when I was born.
387
00:18:13,918 --> 00:18:15,572
When I was three years old,
my parents got divorced
388
00:18:15,746 --> 00:18:17,661
and there was a kind
of acrimony between them,
389
00:18:17,835 --> 00:18:19,489
- that was really painful.
- Okay.
390
00:18:19,663 --> 00:18:20,925
It was sort of, you had to
call out the National Guard
391
00:18:21,100 --> 00:18:22,623
to keep peace between them,
you know?
392
00:18:22,797 --> 00:18:24,668
[Matthew] Both his parents
remarried twice
393
00:18:24,842 --> 00:18:27,323
and had other children.
394
00:18:27,497 --> 00:18:31,240
So, it was a big family,
quite fractured.
395
00:18:31,414 --> 00:18:33,286
[Al] I think it felt like
he lived on shifting sands,
396
00:18:33,460 --> 00:18:35,157
because he had gone
back and forth
397
00:18:35,331 --> 00:18:38,160
between his mother's household
and his dad.
398
00:18:38,334 --> 00:18:41,468
He never really felt
that sense of home.
399
00:18:41,642 --> 00:18:44,253
Franklin, even if
he wasn't around,
400
00:18:44,427 --> 00:18:47,126
he played a big part
in my dad's life.
401
00:18:47,300 --> 00:18:49,084
[Kevin] I'm sure there was
an element of,
402
00:18:49,258 --> 00:18:50,607
you know, how do you satisfy
403
00:18:50,781 --> 00:18:53,567
the father that,
in a sense, left you?
404
00:18:53,741 --> 00:18:55,525
[Chris] So, there's
this really charismatic man
405
00:18:55,699 --> 00:18:57,658
who could do anything
from translating Dostoevsky
406
00:18:57,832 --> 00:19:00,791
to sailing a boat and chopping
trees and playing tennis.
407
00:19:00,965 --> 00:19:02,445
And it was really scary.
408
00:19:02,619 --> 00:19:03,577
I thought, I'm never
gonna do anything
409
00:19:03,751 --> 00:19:05,361
to impress him, you know?
410
00:19:05,535 --> 00:19:07,450
I'd say, "I was in this play,"
he'd say, "Eh."
411
00:19:07,624 --> 00:19:09,104
"I got good grades here."
"Eh."
412
00:19:09,278 --> 00:19:10,801
Nothing, nothing seemed
to make any difference.
413
00:19:12,716 --> 00:19:14,718
[Chris] But I found relief
from all this uncertainty
414
00:19:14,892 --> 00:19:16,024
in playing characters.
415
00:19:16,198 --> 00:19:18,548
[nostalgic music playing]
416
00:19:24,598 --> 00:19:26,991
I like knowing
the entire storyline.
417
00:19:28,297 --> 00:19:30,604
Beginning, middle, and end.
418
00:19:33,346 --> 00:19:38,351
[Jeff Daniels] We were cast
in the same play in 1977.
419
00:19:38,525 --> 00:19:40,657
He was just another, you know,
420
00:19:40,831 --> 00:19:44,357
good-looking young actor
when I met him.
421
00:19:44,531 --> 00:19:47,098
He had the whole
movie star thing.
422
00:19:47,273 --> 00:19:50,624
You're going, "Oh, well."
"Yeah, great." You know?
423
00:19:50,798 --> 00:19:53,235
What really impressed me
was how smart he was.
424
00:19:53,409 --> 00:19:55,281
Now, I ain't stupid.
425
00:19:55,455 --> 00:19:57,370
I may have been
in Dumb and Dumber,
but I ain't stupid.
426
00:19:57,544 --> 00:20:02,636
In the play was another
new guy named William Hurt.
427
00:20:02,810 --> 00:20:05,247
Second to last weekend,
Chris says,
428
00:20:05,421 --> 00:20:06,857
"I'm going to London tonight.
429
00:20:07,031 --> 00:20:08,685
I have to screen test
for a movie."
430
00:20:08,859 --> 00:20:10,034
For someone to say that
431
00:20:10,209 --> 00:20:11,949
in an off-Broadway
dressing room,
432
00:20:12,123 --> 00:20:13,995
[imitates explosion] it just,
"What are you...
433
00:20:14,169 --> 00:20:15,562
What, when, where, huh?"
434
00:20:15,736 --> 00:20:17,607
And Bill said, "What movie?"
435
00:20:17,781 --> 00:20:19,130
And Chris said...
436
00:20:20,306 --> 00:20:21,742
"Superman."
437
00:20:21,916 --> 00:20:23,918
And Bill went right into,
"Don't go.
438
00:20:24,092 --> 00:20:26,007
You're going to sell out.
You're an artist."
439
00:20:26,181 --> 00:20:27,965
And Chris said, "No, I just...
440
00:20:28,139 --> 00:20:29,663
Brando is gonna play
the father."
441
00:20:29,837 --> 00:20:31,491
"I don't care. I don't care.
You're selling..."
442
00:20:31,665 --> 00:20:34,233
I mean, he just
was really on him.
443
00:20:34,407 --> 00:20:36,452
[upbeat disco music playing]
444
00:20:38,846 --> 00:20:40,500
[Pierre Spengler]
We were frantically looking
445
00:20:40,674 --> 00:20:41,936
for a Superman...
446
00:20:42,110 --> 00:20:43,590
and the casting director
447
00:20:43,764 --> 00:20:47,333
had lined up many, many
people, dozens of them.
448
00:20:47,507 --> 00:20:49,422
The most strange, like,
449
00:20:49,596 --> 00:20:52,425
Neil Diamond wanted
to be Superman, you know.
450
00:20:52,599 --> 00:20:53,861
[chuckles]
451
00:20:54,035 --> 00:20:55,341
Robert Redford.
452
00:20:55,515 --> 00:20:56,951
We made an offer,
immediately got a "no."
453
00:20:58,431 --> 00:20:59,475
[commentator] He goes on now.
454
00:20:59,649 --> 00:21:00,868
Bruce Jenner.
455
00:21:01,042 --> 00:21:02,304
Yeah, that's right.
456
00:21:02,478 --> 00:21:03,958
- [commentator] There he goes.
- Ahhh!
457
00:21:04,132 --> 00:21:05,220
[Spengler] Physically,
he was very good,
458
00:21:05,394 --> 00:21:07,875
but the acting, not so much.
459
00:21:08,049 --> 00:21:10,530
Schwarzenegger
was running after us.
460
00:21:10,704 --> 00:21:12,445
- The main man is back.
- Yes.
461
00:21:12,619 --> 00:21:14,360
He had, theoretically,
462
00:21:14,534 --> 00:21:17,101
the physique
of the comic book.
463
00:21:17,276 --> 00:21:18,755
[chuckles] We cannot
have Superman say...
464
00:21:18,929 --> 00:21:19,887
[in Austrian accent]
"Truth, Justice,
465
00:21:20,061 --> 00:21:21,018
and the American way."
466
00:21:21,192 --> 00:21:22,846
[bleep] you, asshole.
467
00:21:23,020 --> 00:21:24,500
[Spengler] The idea came,
468
00:21:24,674 --> 00:21:27,329
rather than casting
a well-known Superman,
469
00:21:27,503 --> 00:21:31,681
we should go for an unknown
and have stars around him.
470
00:21:34,597 --> 00:21:35,990
[Richard Donner]
We had made a costume
471
00:21:36,164 --> 00:21:37,600
out of a blue leotard
472
00:21:37,774 --> 00:21:39,820
and Chris was sweating
like a stuck pig.
473
00:21:39,994 --> 00:21:43,214
I took black shoe polish,
and we blacked his whole head,
474
00:21:43,389 --> 00:21:48,263
and this skinny little kid did
a scene with various ladies
475
00:21:48,437 --> 00:21:50,396
who were up
for the part of Lois Lane.
476
00:21:50,570 --> 00:21:52,920
I mean, why are you here?
477
00:21:53,094 --> 00:21:55,226
'Cause I'm here to fight
for truth...
478
00:21:55,401 --> 00:21:57,533
for justice,
and the American way.
479
00:21:57,707 --> 00:21:58,752
[whistles]
480
00:21:58,926 --> 00:22:00,275
[Daniels] He flew Sunday night,
481
00:22:00,449 --> 00:22:02,233
screen tested in London
on Monday,
482
00:22:02,408 --> 00:22:03,844
and then flew back
Monday night.
483
00:22:04,018 --> 00:22:06,847
Bill said, "How'd it go?"
Chris said, "I got it."
484
00:22:10,067 --> 00:22:13,419
[Chris] I realized that
if I could pull off this part,
485
00:22:13,593 --> 00:22:14,855
it would change my life.
486
00:22:17,031 --> 00:22:20,251
It's urban myth in our family
487
00:22:20,426 --> 00:22:22,471
that Dad got
the part of Superman
488
00:22:22,645 --> 00:22:27,128
and told his father,
and Franklin ordered champagne.
489
00:22:27,302 --> 00:22:29,826
This is a very
un-Franklin thing to do.
490
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,351
"Cheers. Congratulations.
So proud of you," da-da-da.
491
00:22:32,525 --> 00:22:34,657
There was a miscommunication.
492
00:22:34,831 --> 00:22:36,311
[Al] His dad thought
that he was talking
493
00:22:36,485 --> 00:22:37,878
about the famous play
494
00:22:38,052 --> 00:22:39,706
Man and Superman,
by George Bernard Shaw.
495
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,622
[Matthew] Not the legendary
comic book character.
496
00:22:42,796 --> 00:22:44,972
Franklin didn't approve.
497
00:22:45,146 --> 00:22:47,061
[interviewer]
How did he tell you, uh,
498
00:22:47,235 --> 00:22:49,846
that he got this part
of Superman?
499
00:22:51,239 --> 00:22:54,373
It was after
the contract was signed.
500
00:22:54,547 --> 00:22:57,550
It was not serious enough.
501
00:22:57,724 --> 00:22:59,639
It wasn't academic enough.
It wasn't intellectual enough.
502
00:22:59,813 --> 00:23:00,770
It was...
503
00:23:01,989 --> 00:23:04,034
embarrassing.
504
00:23:04,208 --> 00:23:07,473
[Chris] I was extremely anxious
to please my father.
505
00:23:07,647 --> 00:23:09,605
It was difficult to be myself
506
00:23:09,779 --> 00:23:13,043
or literally breathe easy
when he was around.
507
00:23:13,217 --> 00:23:15,176
[moody music playing]
508
00:23:21,356 --> 00:23:24,228
Since the accident,
I've had time to look back.
509
00:23:24,403 --> 00:23:27,797
Much more time
than I would've liked.
510
00:23:27,971 --> 00:23:29,408
[reporter] Reeve took
to the skies this afternoon.
511
00:23:31,627 --> 00:23:33,542
He was transferred from
Charlottesville, Virginia,
512
00:23:33,716 --> 00:23:35,109
to the Kessler Institute.
513
00:23:47,687 --> 00:23:50,254
[reporter 2]
In a terrible twist of fate,
the actor's last role
514
00:23:50,429 --> 00:23:53,344
was as a crippled policeman
in the movie Above Suspicion.
515
00:23:53,519 --> 00:23:56,739
[applause]
516
00:23:56,913 --> 00:23:58,872
[Chris]
The physical therapy nurses
would work with me and say,
517
00:23:59,046 --> 00:24:00,743
"This is how you get
in and out of the bathtub.
518
00:24:00,917 --> 00:24:02,876
This is how you get in and
out of a car." You know.
519
00:24:03,050 --> 00:24:05,705
Then every time I left that
rehab center, I said,
520
00:24:05,879 --> 00:24:07,663
"Thank God that's not me."
521
00:24:07,837 --> 00:24:11,493
I was very smug about it.
And I regret that so much,
522
00:24:11,667 --> 00:24:13,452
because I was setting
myself apart
523
00:24:13,626 --> 00:24:15,497
from those people
who were suffering.
524
00:24:15,671 --> 00:24:18,500
Without realizing that
in a second that could be me.
525
00:24:19,806 --> 00:24:21,764
Yeah, left is hard.
526
00:24:21,938 --> 00:24:23,113
[Dana] Christopher now faces
527
00:24:23,287 --> 00:24:24,898
what hundreds of thousands
528
00:24:25,072 --> 00:24:26,769
of disabled men
and women face daily
529
00:24:26,943 --> 00:24:28,771
in this country
and around the world.
530
00:24:28,945 --> 00:24:32,601
Limitations, frustration,
sorrow, anger,
531
00:24:32,775 --> 00:24:34,298
humiliation, injustice.
532
00:24:34,473 --> 00:24:35,822
[Chris] When Doctor Kirshblum
took over
533
00:24:35,996 --> 00:24:38,128
the responsibility
for my care,
534
00:24:38,302 --> 00:24:41,305
it was a tremendous
psychological boost.
535
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:42,829
[Kirshblum]
I know it's tedious.
536
00:24:43,786 --> 00:24:45,484
Feel that here?
537
00:24:45,658 --> 00:24:47,181
- No. Nothing, okay.
- No.
538
00:24:47,355 --> 00:24:48,748
[Kirshblum] After this idea
539
00:24:48,922 --> 00:24:51,228
of "Will I live or die?
Now what?"
540
00:24:52,403 --> 00:24:53,970
"What is life gonna be like?"
541
00:24:54,144 --> 00:24:56,103
[moody music playing]
542
00:24:59,715 --> 00:25:01,282
[Matthew]
You think it's just about,
543
00:25:01,456 --> 00:25:02,544
"Oh, you can't move,
or you can't breathe..."
544
00:25:02,718 --> 00:25:05,155
but there's so much shit
545
00:25:05,329 --> 00:25:09,943
that comes with
such a high level
spinal cord injury.
546
00:25:10,117 --> 00:25:12,336
[Kirshblum] The bowel,
the bladder, the skin,
547
00:25:12,511 --> 00:25:14,121
speech therapy,
548
00:25:14,295 --> 00:25:15,383
how to maintain
a relationship,
549
00:25:15,557 --> 00:25:17,690
husband and wife relationship.
550
00:25:17,864 --> 00:25:19,343
[Dana] You can't feel?
[Chris] No, I can't feel it.
551
00:25:19,518 --> 00:25:20,780
Nope.
552
00:25:20,954 --> 00:25:22,782
That is tough.
Because I can feel him,
553
00:25:22,956 --> 00:25:24,000
but he can't feel me.
554
00:25:27,613 --> 00:25:29,092
[Kirshblum]
To re-learn the skills
555
00:25:29,266 --> 00:25:30,616
that people probably
don't even think about.
556
00:25:33,401 --> 00:25:36,317
[Chris] I was still
in a state of disbelief
557
00:25:36,491 --> 00:25:38,101
and very afraid.
558
00:25:38,275 --> 00:25:41,061
I couldn't take a single
breath on my own.
559
00:25:41,235 --> 00:25:43,237
And the connections
of the hoses
560
00:25:43,411 --> 00:25:46,327
on these ventilators
are tenuous at best.
561
00:25:48,024 --> 00:25:50,505
And you lie there
at 3:00 in the morning,
562
00:25:50,679 --> 00:25:52,463
in fear of a pop-off.
563
00:25:52,638 --> 00:25:56,729
When the hose just comes
off the ventilator.
564
00:25:56,903 --> 00:25:58,252
- [machine alarm beeping]
- [gas hissing]
565
00:25:58,426 --> 00:25:59,993
After you've missed
two breaths,
566
00:26:00,167 --> 00:26:02,125
an alarm sounds.
567
00:26:04,432 --> 00:26:06,390
[clicking convulsively]
568
00:26:08,479 --> 00:26:11,308
And now they're saying,
"Okay, where is everybody?"
569
00:26:11,482 --> 00:26:12,571
Because they have
no air going in,
570
00:26:12,745 --> 00:26:14,094
they can't even
scream for help.
571
00:26:14,268 --> 00:26:16,270
[nurse]
I need assistance, please.
572
00:26:16,444 --> 00:26:17,967
You just hang on, okay?
You hang on.
573
00:26:18,141 --> 00:26:19,665
[Chris] You can last
a couple of minutes,
574
00:26:19,839 --> 00:26:23,059
but those are very,
very anxious minutes.
575
00:26:23,233 --> 00:26:24,191
[doctor] There it is.
576
00:26:26,323 --> 00:26:28,151
Okay.
577
00:26:28,325 --> 00:26:30,850
- Oh, God.
- [machine beeping steadily]
578
00:26:31,024 --> 00:26:33,243
[Close] I saw him
when he was in rehab.
579
00:26:33,417 --> 00:26:37,770
He was so terrified
that he could die
at any moment.
580
00:26:40,511 --> 00:26:42,035
[Al] At first,
he really resisted
581
00:26:42,209 --> 00:26:43,950
spending time
with anybody else there,
582
00:26:44,124 --> 00:26:46,692
because in his mind
he was still thinking,
583
00:26:46,866 --> 00:26:48,868
"I'm just
a temporary visitor here
584
00:26:49,042 --> 00:26:51,044
in this land of disability."
585
00:26:51,218 --> 00:26:55,962
And over time, what changed
is the magic of rehab.
586
00:26:56,136 --> 00:26:59,139
[Chris] Little by little,
I began to emerge
from my isolation.
587
00:26:59,313 --> 00:27:01,489
I found myself
talking in depth
588
00:27:01,663 --> 00:27:04,231
with people I wouldn't
ordinarily have met.
589
00:27:04,405 --> 00:27:06,320
And connecting
with many of them.
590
00:27:08,191 --> 00:27:09,932
[Kirshblum] Chris had
just started to wean himself
591
00:27:10,106 --> 00:27:11,891
off the ventilator
592
00:27:12,065 --> 00:27:14,676
and he started to recognize
a little bit of success.
593
00:27:14,850 --> 00:27:16,809
And there was
this one young boy
594
00:27:16,983 --> 00:27:21,814
who had tried to wean
but failed...
595
00:27:21,988 --> 00:27:24,164
and I would try
to speak to him
and speak to his mom.
596
00:27:24,338 --> 00:27:26,732
But he was just adamant.
He was so clear.
597
00:27:26,906 --> 00:27:28,864
"I don't want to fail again."
598
00:27:29,038 --> 00:27:31,388
And Chris went
and spoke to him.
599
00:27:31,562 --> 00:27:32,694
And the boy simply said,
600
00:27:32,868 --> 00:27:34,174
"Christopher Reeve
spoke to me.
601
00:27:34,348 --> 00:27:35,871
I'm going to wean."
602
00:27:36,045 --> 00:27:37,830
It just showed you
the quality of the individual,
603
00:27:38,004 --> 00:27:39,614
that it wasn't all about him.
604
00:27:39,788 --> 00:27:43,226
And I wonder if a case
like that made him think,
605
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,098
"I can probably do more
606
00:27:45,272 --> 00:27:47,491
in helping other people
with spinal cord injury,
607
00:27:47,666 --> 00:27:49,537
not just myself alone."
608
00:27:53,106 --> 00:27:55,282
[Dana] Much of his day
is spent listening
609
00:27:55,456 --> 00:27:57,458
to messages sent
from well-wishers.
610
00:27:57,632 --> 00:27:59,025
I can't begin to express
611
00:27:59,199 --> 00:28:01,941
how important these...
these things are to him.
612
00:28:04,465 --> 00:28:06,119
[Matthew] One letter
from England, it just said,
613
00:28:06,293 --> 00:28:07,511
"Superman, USA."
614
00:28:10,166 --> 00:28:12,734
[Al] And they'd come every day
in these delivery boxes.
615
00:28:12,908 --> 00:28:14,649
And they went the whole way
down the hallway.
616
00:28:14,823 --> 00:28:16,825
And then that's when
I got the call from Dana
617
00:28:16,999 --> 00:28:18,827
and she said,
"Michael, we need help.
618
00:28:19,001 --> 00:28:21,700
I can't manage."
619
00:28:21,874 --> 00:28:25,660
- When we first met in 1985
or whatever...
- A ton.
620
00:28:25,834 --> 00:28:28,619
I said, "You look so much
like that actor,
Christopher Reeve."
621
00:28:28,794 --> 00:28:30,360
Isn't that funny?
I just, I get it all...
622
00:28:30,534 --> 00:28:31,840
and more particularly
when I'm with him
623
00:28:32,014 --> 00:28:33,799
and my hair's longer,
they're like,
624
00:28:33,973 --> 00:28:35,975
- "Are you his brother?"
- "Are you his brother?"
625
00:28:36,149 --> 00:28:37,585
[Manganiello]
She was just funny
626
00:28:37,759 --> 00:28:39,848
and could tell
a really good dirty joke.
627
00:28:40,022 --> 00:28:43,199
We had crushes on the same
boys. It was... [laughs]
628
00:28:43,373 --> 00:28:44,940
She was just a riot.
629
00:28:45,114 --> 00:28:47,247
I started getting things
organized and cut.
630
00:28:47,421 --> 00:28:49,379
So it was like
other celebrity letters,
631
00:28:49,553 --> 00:28:50,641
famous scientists...
632
00:28:50,816 --> 00:28:54,558
politicians, nuts... the nuts.
633
00:28:54,733 --> 00:28:56,865
Other people who are living
with spinal cord injury.
634
00:28:57,039 --> 00:28:58,737
200,000 people
in the United States alone
635
00:28:58,911 --> 00:29:00,260
have the same problem as me.
636
00:29:02,131 --> 00:29:03,742
If the public will demand
637
00:29:03,916 --> 00:29:05,700
that the politicians spend
that little bit of money,
638
00:29:07,571 --> 00:29:08,834
make that investment,
639
00:29:09,008 --> 00:29:11,271
I'll be up
and walking around again.
640
00:29:11,445 --> 00:29:13,882
[Manganiello] Chris wanted
out of that chair.
that was it.
641
00:29:15,275 --> 00:29:17,799
[inspirational music playing]
642
00:29:17,973 --> 00:29:19,235
[Chris] I couldn't give up
643
00:29:19,409 --> 00:29:23,022
because nerves
can find new pathways.
644
00:29:23,196 --> 00:29:24,719
[Kirshblum] He had
tremendous work ethic
645
00:29:24,893 --> 00:29:27,374
and would push himself.
646
00:29:27,548 --> 00:29:30,116
[Robin] Brother Chris
is fighting like crazy.
647
00:29:30,290 --> 00:29:31,987
When you find
people who fight like that
648
00:29:32,161 --> 00:29:35,034
but still keep their humanity,
that gives you great hope.
649
00:29:35,208 --> 00:29:36,687
[Chris] My mind wandered back
650
00:29:36,862 --> 00:29:38,515
to my weight training
for Superman
651
00:29:38,689 --> 00:29:40,474
when I could bench-press
more than my own weight.
652
00:29:42,563 --> 00:29:45,784
[Matthew] He trained
his ass off bulking up.
653
00:29:45,958 --> 00:29:47,481
Two weight sessions a day.
654
00:29:50,527 --> 00:29:52,573
[Chris] The guy, actually,
who played Darth Vader
655
00:29:52,747 --> 00:29:54,270
in Star Wars,
656
00:29:54,444 --> 00:29:57,665
Dave Prowse,
developed a program for me.
657
00:29:57,839 --> 00:29:58,797
He's a former Mr. Universe.
658
00:30:01,016 --> 00:30:02,017
The point is,
is that when I started,
659
00:30:02,191 --> 00:30:03,584
I was a string bean.
660
00:30:03,758 --> 00:30:05,629
And Superman's
not a string bean, so...
661
00:30:08,110 --> 00:30:09,982
Everybody else said,
662
00:30:10,156 --> 00:30:11,592
"You just flushed your career
down the toilet. Goodbye."
663
00:30:11,766 --> 00:30:14,725
Nobody thought
I was in my right mind.
664
00:30:14,900 --> 00:30:16,336
How are they ever going
to pull this picture off
665
00:30:16,510 --> 00:30:17,511
and make the man fly?
666
00:30:17,685 --> 00:30:19,252
And "It's a cartoon."
667
00:30:19,426 --> 00:30:20,949
And very, very skeptical
about the whole thing.
668
00:30:22,646 --> 00:30:25,345
[Spengler] When we signed
the deal for Superman,
669
00:30:25,519 --> 00:30:27,086
the head of production
at Warner Bros.,
670
00:30:27,260 --> 00:30:28,522
who shall remain nameless,
671
00:30:28,696 --> 00:30:30,872
said, "It will never
make a movie."
672
00:30:37,792 --> 00:30:40,099
[Chris] The idea
was new in 1977.
673
00:30:40,273 --> 00:30:42,275
Superman I was the first film
674
00:30:42,449 --> 00:30:44,973
to try to make
this comic book sort of real.
675
00:30:52,198 --> 00:30:54,113
[Spengler]
Christopher is unknown.
676
00:30:54,287 --> 00:30:56,245
He was going to be playing
with Brando,
677
00:30:56,419 --> 00:30:57,638
playing with Hackman.
678
00:30:59,031 --> 00:31:00,815
Brando was considered
679
00:31:00,989 --> 00:31:02,817
the greatest actor
of his time.
680
00:31:02,991 --> 00:31:06,038
Gene Hackman wanted to be
in the film with Brando.
681
00:31:06,212 --> 00:31:08,518
[Chris] Hackman,
his dressing room
was across the hall from mine.
682
00:31:08,692 --> 00:31:11,695
I was very gung-ho,
24 years old and all excited
683
00:31:11,870 --> 00:31:13,088
and I remember
knocking on his door,
684
00:31:13,262 --> 00:31:15,917
asking him
if he wanted to rehearse.
685
00:31:16,091 --> 00:31:18,877
And he was shocked.
He was like... you know.
686
00:31:19,051 --> 00:31:21,618
[man] 626, take one.
687
00:31:21,792 --> 00:31:23,359
This is California.
It's the richest,
688
00:31:23,533 --> 00:31:24,883
most populous state
in the Union.
689
00:31:25,057 --> 00:31:27,494
I don't need a geography
lesson from you, Luthor.
690
00:31:27,668 --> 00:31:29,104
[interviewer] Marlon Brando.
691
00:31:29,278 --> 00:31:30,932
Was it exciting to work
with him though?
692
00:31:31,106 --> 00:31:33,108
- [Chris] Not really, no.
- [audience and Chris laugh]
693
00:31:33,282 --> 00:31:34,240
The man didn't care.
694
00:31:34,414 --> 00:31:35,719
I'm sorry. He just, you know,
695
00:31:35,894 --> 00:31:37,156
took the two million
and ran, you know?
696
00:31:37,330 --> 00:31:38,722
Yeah, well,
he's here tonight, Chris.
697
00:31:38,897 --> 00:31:40,376
- Is he here?
- [audience laughs]
698
00:31:40,550 --> 00:31:41,900
[applause]
699
00:31:43,205 --> 00:31:44,772
[Chris] I just care so much
700
00:31:44,946 --> 00:31:46,556
that it hurts when
someone's phoning it in.
701
00:31:46,730 --> 00:31:48,471
[Al] He was taking it
so seriously.
702
00:31:48,645 --> 00:31:50,299
[grunts]
703
00:31:50,473 --> 00:31:52,040
For Dad,
Superman needed to be art.
704
00:31:52,214 --> 00:31:53,607
Everyone, stand back.
Please stand back.
705
00:31:53,781 --> 00:31:55,261
It's all right.
Nothing to get worried about.
706
00:31:58,917 --> 00:32:00,527
[Chris] Think about it
in emotional terms.
707
00:32:02,529 --> 00:32:04,270
What is it to be an orphan?
What is it to be different?
708
00:32:04,444 --> 00:32:05,706
What is it to be an alien?
709
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,361
What is it
to have lost one home?
710
00:32:08,535 --> 00:32:10,363
Now you're acting
something you can understand
711
00:32:10,537 --> 00:32:11,712
rather than just posing.
712
00:32:11,886 --> 00:32:13,540
[screams]
713
00:32:13,714 --> 00:32:15,759
I must give credit to Donner
714
00:32:15,934 --> 00:32:19,285
who really supported him,
helped him.
715
00:32:19,459 --> 00:32:22,418
Hands down,
he was Superman from day one.
716
00:32:24,594 --> 00:32:26,161
- Say "Hello" to Clark Kent.
- Told you, one "p."
717
00:32:26,335 --> 00:32:28,120
- Hiya.
- Hello, Miss Lane. How are...
718
00:32:28,294 --> 00:32:29,860
[Chris] What I liked
was trying to play
719
00:32:30,035 --> 00:32:32,298
two people at the same time,
Superman and Clark Kent.
720
00:32:32,472 --> 00:32:33,821
There's a kind of
721
00:32:33,995 --> 00:32:36,911
calculated schizophrenia
between the two of them.
722
00:32:37,085 --> 00:32:39,653
There's this amazing scene.
It's my favorite scene
723
00:32:39,827 --> 00:32:41,437
of my dad's film work,
724
00:32:41,611 --> 00:32:44,092
and he was playing Superman
playing Clark Kent.
725
00:32:46,616 --> 00:32:47,878
Uh, hi, can I come in?
726
00:32:48,053 --> 00:32:49,445
Kind of like,
takes his glasses off
727
00:32:49,619 --> 00:32:52,840
and he transforms.
728
00:32:53,014 --> 00:32:55,234
[Lois] Put some blush on and...
729
00:32:55,408 --> 00:32:57,584
[slow heroic music playing]
730
00:33:09,639 --> 00:33:11,032
[breathes deeply]
731
00:33:11,206 --> 00:33:14,601
Lois, there's something
I have to tell you.
732
00:33:14,775 --> 00:33:15,994
I'm really...
733
00:33:17,691 --> 00:33:19,432
Um...
734
00:33:19,606 --> 00:33:22,739
Uh, I mean, I was at first
really nervous about tonight.
735
00:33:22,913 --> 00:33:24,219
[Matthew]
Puts his glasses back on
736
00:33:24,393 --> 00:33:25,351
and he's Clark again
instantly.
737
00:33:25,525 --> 00:33:26,917
I mean,
he absolutely nailed it.
738
00:33:28,397 --> 00:33:29,746
Hi.
739
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,488
The magic was that
you absolutely believed
740
00:33:32,662 --> 00:33:34,316
in their love story.
741
00:33:34,490 --> 00:33:35,926
[Chris] I really think
that out there,
742
00:33:36,101 --> 00:33:37,537
hopefully around the world,
743
00:33:37,711 --> 00:33:39,278
that romance is what
they want to see.
744
00:33:40,453 --> 00:33:41,410
[interviewer] Do you have that?
745
00:33:41,584 --> 00:33:42,672
Oh, God, yes. But I found it.
746
00:33:42,846 --> 00:33:44,283
I'm very lucky.
I met this girl
747
00:33:44,457 --> 00:33:46,328
while I was making
Superman in London.
748
00:33:46,502 --> 00:33:47,808
- Hi.
- Welcome.
749
00:33:47,982 --> 00:33:48,983
- Thank you.
- Introduce me
750
00:33:49,157 --> 00:33:50,506
to your lovely lady here.
751
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,813
- Yes, this is Gae Exton.
- Hello. How are you?
752
00:33:52,987 --> 00:33:55,120
It looks like
somebody gave you a kiss
before you arrived here.
753
00:33:55,294 --> 00:33:56,773
- Did they?
- [all laugh]
754
00:33:56,947 --> 00:34:01,300
My mum and dad met
in the lunch line
755
00:34:01,474 --> 00:34:03,693
at Pinewood Studios.
756
00:34:03,867 --> 00:34:05,782
[Exton] I knew
there were big films
757
00:34:05,956 --> 00:34:07,654
being shot there,
like James Bond and Superman.
758
00:34:07,828 --> 00:34:09,873
They had this amazing
dining room there
759
00:34:10,048 --> 00:34:12,050
and it was sort of
like a big buffet.
760
00:34:12,224 --> 00:34:13,573
The people,
obviously in costume
761
00:34:13,747 --> 00:34:14,878
with robes on and stuff.
762
00:34:15,053 --> 00:34:17,185
And the chap in front of me
763
00:34:17,359 --> 00:34:19,231
was wearing a robe
and had black hair.
764
00:34:19,405 --> 00:34:21,233
And I thought
it was Richard Kiel.
765
00:34:21,407 --> 00:34:22,886
From James Bond,
766
00:34:23,061 --> 00:34:26,673
the one with the teeth.
Because he was so big.
767
00:34:26,847 --> 00:34:28,370
And this guy turns around
768
00:34:28,544 --> 00:34:31,156
and it's
this amazing-looking guy
769
00:34:31,330 --> 00:34:33,201
with an American accent.
770
00:34:33,375 --> 00:34:34,985
He needed something
from the bit
771
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:37,162
that I was at
and he turned around
772
00:34:37,336 --> 00:34:41,296
and he knocked me.
And he said, "Oh, hello."
773
00:34:41,470 --> 00:34:44,473
I said, "Like, what?
Excuse me? Hello?
774
00:34:44,647 --> 00:34:46,258
You're supposed to say,
I'm sorry."
775
00:34:46,432 --> 00:34:49,087
And I had to go
and clean myself off.
776
00:34:51,524 --> 00:34:52,786
And a few days later,
777
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,441
I saw Dick Donner,
and Dick said,
778
00:34:55,615 --> 00:34:57,486
"Oh, here she is.
Hi, Gae, how're you doing?"
779
00:34:57,660 --> 00:34:59,793
And he said,
"This is Christopher."
780
00:34:59,967 --> 00:35:01,403
And Chris just stopped
and said...
781
00:35:01,577 --> 00:35:03,536
That I was sorry,
and the rest is history.
782
00:35:05,190 --> 00:35:06,887
[Matthew] My mom worked
as a model agent
783
00:35:07,061 --> 00:35:08,715
and was super plugged in
784
00:35:08,889 --> 00:35:10,673
to the London scene
in the late '70s.
785
00:35:10,847 --> 00:35:12,675
They started
a whirlwind romance.
786
00:35:12,849 --> 00:35:15,591
[romantic music playing]
787
00:35:15,765 --> 00:35:17,115
[Chris] It was good fun.
788
00:35:17,289 --> 00:35:19,204
I dragged myself to the set
many a morning
789
00:35:19,378 --> 00:35:23,033
and then it's up, up,
and away.
790
00:35:23,208 --> 00:35:24,209
That's funny.
791
00:35:24,383 --> 00:35:25,819
Maybe, I don't know.
792
00:35:25,993 --> 00:35:27,212
[interviewer]
You believe he could fly? Yes.
793
00:35:27,386 --> 00:35:28,822
"I'm not feeling
very well today."
794
00:35:28,996 --> 00:35:31,259
[Exton] Just fell
desperately in love.
795
00:35:31,433 --> 00:35:34,132
At the weekends, we were doing
all sorts of things
796
00:35:34,306 --> 00:35:36,960
that he should not have
been doing. Like gliding.
797
00:35:53,325 --> 00:35:54,761
[Chris] Thousands
and thousands of feet
798
00:35:54,935 --> 00:35:56,850
up above the world.
799
00:35:57,024 --> 00:35:59,069
There's a kind of clarity
that comes with that
800
00:35:59,244 --> 00:36:00,723
and you cannot concentrate
801
00:36:00,897 --> 00:36:02,551
on anything
that's wrong in your life.
802
00:36:05,032 --> 00:36:09,036
And all you can hear
is "shh, shh."
803
00:36:11,647 --> 00:36:13,214
He said, "Trust me,
I'll get you back.
804
00:36:13,388 --> 00:36:14,302
I'll get you back."
805
00:36:19,568 --> 00:36:21,048
[Chris] I have
always loved flying.
806
00:36:21,222 --> 00:36:24,617
It's my number one
passion in life.
807
00:36:24,791 --> 00:36:27,446
[Matthew] He'd flown across
the Atlantic twice, solo.
808
00:36:31,798 --> 00:36:34,322
Christopher was determined
that, come hell or high water,
809
00:36:34,496 --> 00:36:38,457
he was gonna make it look
like this character could fly.
810
00:36:41,024 --> 00:36:42,200
We're doing something
with this picture
811
00:36:42,374 --> 00:36:43,897
that no one's
ever done before.
812
00:36:44,071 --> 00:36:44,898
There is a team,
there's a hundred of them
813
00:36:45,072 --> 00:36:46,769
called the Flying Unit.
814
00:36:46,943 --> 00:36:48,467
They didn't have it
all figured out in advance.
815
00:36:48,641 --> 00:36:49,903
It was a kind of
"learn as you go" process.
816
00:36:54,690 --> 00:36:56,649
[Donner] The first time
I ever saw Chris really fly,
817
00:36:57,693 --> 00:36:59,391
he came at camera,
818
00:36:59,565 --> 00:37:02,132
and for some reason
he actually banked his body
819
00:37:02,307 --> 00:37:04,352
and he flew past us.
820
00:37:04,526 --> 00:37:06,485
[dreamy music playing]
821
00:37:12,839 --> 00:37:15,711
The camera stopped rolling
and there was dead silence.
822
00:37:15,885 --> 00:37:17,757
And then, like, 50 people
823
00:37:17,931 --> 00:37:19,889
all of a sudden
started to just cheer.
824
00:37:22,718 --> 00:37:23,850
[Chris] The flying happens
in the eyes.
825
00:37:24,024 --> 00:37:25,243
It must happen
as a state of mind.
826
00:37:29,725 --> 00:37:33,076
You've never seen a man
fly like that before.
827
00:37:33,251 --> 00:37:34,948
The one which
I really had to work
828
00:37:35,122 --> 00:37:36,558
to sort of achieve
the grace that it needed.
829
00:37:36,732 --> 00:37:38,430
It called for me
to do a flip in the air
830
00:37:38,604 --> 00:37:40,040
as I'm going up on a crane,
831
00:37:40,214 --> 00:37:41,955
arch backwards and wave
all at the same time.
832
00:37:43,391 --> 00:37:45,872
Bye.
833
00:37:46,046 --> 00:37:49,049
He convinced me when I first
met him that he would fly.
834
00:37:50,746 --> 00:37:52,531
He's also convinced me
he'll walk again.
835
00:38:07,154 --> 00:38:09,765
[Chris] I began
to face my new life.
836
00:38:09,939 --> 00:38:13,203
I had tried to cover up
my feelings as best I could.
837
00:38:13,378 --> 00:38:16,119
But when I saw our home again,
I wept.
838
00:38:16,294 --> 00:38:19,297
[nostalgic music playing]
839
00:38:19,471 --> 00:38:20,776
[Matthew] I do wonder
what it was like
840
00:38:20,950 --> 00:38:22,343
for him to look out
and be like,
841
00:38:22,517 --> 00:38:24,476
"That's the pond
that I skated on."
842
00:38:24,650 --> 00:38:26,913
[exclaims]
843
00:38:27,087 --> 00:38:30,220
"Now I'm just staring out
at the past."
844
00:38:30,395 --> 00:38:31,744
Beautiful day
in the Berkshires.
845
00:38:34,442 --> 00:38:36,009
[laughter and chatter]
846
00:38:36,183 --> 00:38:37,053
[man] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
847
00:38:38,054 --> 00:38:40,143
- All the way!
- No.
848
00:38:40,318 --> 00:38:42,668
- Get it!
- Carpe diem, Al!
849
00:38:44,322 --> 00:38:46,236
People often ask me
what it's like
850
00:38:46,411 --> 00:38:48,195
to be confined
to a wheelchair.
851
00:38:48,369 --> 00:38:49,849
I would say
the worst part of it
852
00:38:50,023 --> 00:38:52,373
is having
to make the transition
853
00:38:52,547 --> 00:38:55,115
from participant to observer
854
00:38:55,289 --> 00:38:58,074
long before
I would have expected.
855
00:38:58,248 --> 00:39:00,120
[Matthew] Dad was 42
when he had the accident
856
00:39:00,294 --> 00:39:01,991
and Will was almost three.
857
00:39:02,165 --> 00:39:05,908
I'm 42 right now
and my son's three.
858
00:39:06,082 --> 00:39:08,650
Yeah, it was really only
after becoming a parent myself
859
00:39:08,824 --> 00:39:11,218
that it really hit home...
860
00:39:13,176 --> 00:39:15,744
how hard it must
have been for him.
861
00:39:15,918 --> 00:39:17,267
[Dana] It was a typical scene.
862
00:39:18,486 --> 00:39:19,400
[Dana laughs]
863
00:39:19,574 --> 00:39:20,923
It's the haircut movie.
864
00:39:21,097 --> 00:39:23,752
Oh. And there's Dad
waiting in line for his.
865
00:39:23,926 --> 00:39:26,320
[Will] He was
still the same, bright,
866
00:39:26,494 --> 00:39:28,366
quirky, thoughtful man.
867
00:39:28,540 --> 00:39:30,629
But my mom,
she was doing everything.
868
00:39:30,803 --> 00:39:31,934
[Dana] Still got it, honey.
869
00:39:35,547 --> 00:39:38,245
[Will] She was playing
the role of mother,
870
00:39:38,419 --> 00:39:39,855
physical father...
871
00:39:40,029 --> 00:39:41,422
[Dana] Whoa, whoa.
872
00:39:41,596 --> 00:39:42,989
[Will] ...and caregiver
to a husband.
873
00:39:43,163 --> 00:39:46,688
[Dana] Papa is doing
his breathing exercises.
874
00:39:46,862 --> 00:39:49,822
We do adjust because
what are the alternatives?
875
00:39:49,996 --> 00:39:52,302
I mean, it would
be miserable not to,
876
00:39:52,477 --> 00:39:54,740
but do we long
for our other life?
877
00:39:54,914 --> 00:39:56,176
Yes, every day.
878
00:39:56,350 --> 00:39:57,960
I mean, it's...
it's a drastic change.
879
00:39:58,134 --> 00:40:00,223
Two, three...
880
00:40:00,398 --> 00:40:01,790
[Chris] Even in my own house,
881
00:40:01,964 --> 00:40:03,662
I'd never be able
to be alone again.
882
00:40:03,836 --> 00:40:07,056
[Will] He needed
24-hour nursing care.
883
00:40:07,230 --> 00:40:11,017
His care was running around
$400,000 a year.
884
00:40:11,191 --> 00:40:12,714
While they were
better off than most,
885
00:40:12,888 --> 00:40:15,804
they weren't better off
as most people thought.
886
00:40:15,978 --> 00:40:17,327
Our insurance cap,
as a matter of fact,
887
00:40:17,502 --> 00:40:18,764
will run out in two years.
888
00:40:18,938 --> 00:40:20,592
[interviewer]
What will happen then?
889
00:40:20,766 --> 00:40:21,549
[Chris] Then we have to do
some heavy thinking.
890
00:40:22,898 --> 00:40:24,117
[Dana] But it is daunting.
891
00:40:24,291 --> 00:40:25,640
A lot of people
in Chris's condition
892
00:40:25,814 --> 00:40:27,207
go right to nursing homes
893
00:40:27,381 --> 00:40:29,296
with...
on a respirator, it's...
894
00:40:29,470 --> 00:40:31,646
You just can't...
People can't afford it.
895
00:40:31,820 --> 00:40:33,126
[Matthew] There was this fear.
896
00:40:33,300 --> 00:40:34,780
"I'm an actor,
it's a physical job.
897
00:40:34,954 --> 00:40:37,391
How am I going
to make a living?"
898
00:40:40,742 --> 00:40:42,788
[Chris] In February of '96,
899
00:40:42,962 --> 00:40:45,355
I was asked
to make a special appearance
900
00:40:45,530 --> 00:40:47,270
on the Academy Awards.
901
00:40:47,445 --> 00:40:49,229
[Al] It was almost a full year
since his accident,
902
00:40:49,403 --> 00:40:52,319
and I think that's a hard
invitation to turn down.
903
00:40:52,493 --> 00:40:55,496
[Chris] No sooner had I agreed,
than it dawned on me
904
00:40:55,670 --> 00:40:58,281
how challenging this trip
was going to be.
905
00:41:00,458 --> 00:41:03,678
[Al] Dad described how torn
he felt about doing it
906
00:41:03,852 --> 00:41:06,681
because it really was
such a public moment.
907
00:41:06,855 --> 00:41:08,204
This thing is being telecast
908
00:41:08,378 --> 00:41:10,642
to two billion people
around the world.
909
00:41:14,472 --> 00:41:15,516
But I gotta get to my seat.
910
00:41:15,690 --> 00:41:16,952
It was a production
911
00:41:17,126 --> 00:41:18,911
just to get my dad
out of the house.
912
00:41:19,085 --> 00:41:21,261
But Robin and Marsha bought us
913
00:41:21,435 --> 00:41:23,568
the specialized
retrofitted van.
914
00:41:23,742 --> 00:41:26,614
He needed to be physically
tied down to the floor.
915
00:41:26,788 --> 00:41:30,662
[tense music playing]
916
00:41:30,836 --> 00:41:34,013
[Al] It was this huge kind
of cloak-and-dagger thing
to get him there,
917
00:41:34,187 --> 00:41:35,623
keeping it completely
under wraps
918
00:41:35,797 --> 00:41:37,364
because they needed
the freedom.
919
00:41:37,538 --> 00:41:39,322
That if Dad had some type
of medical emergency,
920
00:41:39,497 --> 00:41:40,889
he could pull out.
921
00:41:44,066 --> 00:41:46,025
[Chris] Maybe I have
the opportunity now
922
00:41:46,199 --> 00:41:48,331
to make sense
of this accident.
923
00:41:51,726 --> 00:41:53,859
I felt I needed
to do something
924
00:41:54,033 --> 00:41:55,513
not just for myself,
925
00:41:55,687 --> 00:41:57,515
but for everyone else
in the same condition.
926
00:41:58,559 --> 00:42:00,648
[tense music intensifies]
927
00:42:12,791 --> 00:42:16,229
[presenter] Academy Awards,
Whoopi Goldberg.
928
00:42:16,403 --> 00:42:18,318
[applause]
929
00:42:18,492 --> 00:42:20,059
[Goldberg] You know,
it's hard when you hear
930
00:42:20,233 --> 00:42:22,496
that somebody's had
that kind of accident
931
00:42:22,670 --> 00:42:23,976
and then you read
all these stories
932
00:42:24,150 --> 00:42:26,369
and you're just...
You don't know.
933
00:42:26,544 --> 00:42:28,328
Uh, people were very nervous.
934
00:42:28,502 --> 00:42:31,026
[applause]
935
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:34,247
[Chris] Well,
it was time for me
to prepare to go on stage.
936
00:42:34,421 --> 00:42:37,424
I wondered, would I spasm,
937
00:42:37,598 --> 00:42:40,514
my body jerking
into an awkward position?
938
00:42:40,688 --> 00:42:42,342
Would I have a pop-off?
939
00:42:42,516 --> 00:42:44,518
[tense music building]
940
00:42:46,433 --> 00:42:48,043
[announcer]
Ladies and gentlemen,
941
00:42:48,217 --> 00:42:49,479
Christopher Reeve.
942
00:42:49,654 --> 00:42:51,264
[applause]
943
00:42:54,702 --> 00:42:55,616
Thank you.
944
00:42:58,271 --> 00:42:59,315
Thank you.
945
00:43:03,450 --> 00:43:04,843
Thank you very much.
946
00:43:09,804 --> 00:43:10,762
Thank you.
947
00:43:16,376 --> 00:43:17,899
Thank you very much.
948
00:43:22,425 --> 00:43:23,426
Thank you.
949
00:43:33,741 --> 00:43:35,569
[applause dies down]
950
00:43:35,743 --> 00:43:37,832
What you probably don't know
951
00:43:40,443 --> 00:43:43,272
is that I left New York
last September...
952
00:43:45,971 --> 00:43:48,016
and I just arrived here
this morning.
953
00:43:48,190 --> 00:43:50,192
[audience laughs]
954
00:43:51,541 --> 00:43:52,717
[applause]
955
00:43:52,891 --> 00:43:53,979
And...
956
00:43:57,286 --> 00:43:58,853
And I'm glad I did.
957
00:44:02,509 --> 00:44:03,728
Because I wouldn't have missed
958
00:44:03,902 --> 00:44:05,164
this kind of welcome
for the world.
959
00:44:05,338 --> 00:44:06,687
Thank you.
960
00:44:06,861 --> 00:44:09,124
- [applause]
- [emotional music playing]
961
00:44:14,347 --> 00:44:16,871
You know, the... [chuckles]
962
00:44:17,045 --> 00:44:22,094
the strength to have to deal
with lots and lots of people
963
00:44:22,268 --> 00:44:24,705
trying not to look at you
with pity.
964
00:44:24,879 --> 00:44:26,054
[Close] And I think
the fact that
965
00:44:26,228 --> 00:44:28,535
Superman was in a wheelchair
966
00:44:28,709 --> 00:44:33,366
and was willing to go
public with it was huge.
967
00:44:33,540 --> 00:44:35,368
[Brooke Ellison]
For people with disabilities
968
00:44:35,542 --> 00:44:36,978
to be so visible
969
00:44:37,152 --> 00:44:41,330
was almost unheard of
at the time.
970
00:44:41,504 --> 00:44:43,898
Disability was really
not understood
971
00:44:44,072 --> 00:44:47,728
as a part of humanity
worth including.
972
00:44:47,902 --> 00:44:51,427
And for Chris to be helping
to change that narrative
973
00:44:51,601 --> 00:44:52,820
was life-changing.
974
00:44:52,994 --> 00:44:54,604
Well, I know it was for me.
975
00:44:54,779 --> 00:44:56,476
[reporter] Robin,
this is his first appearance.
976
00:44:56,650 --> 00:44:57,825
This must make you
feel good to know
977
00:44:57,999 --> 00:44:58,913
that he's getting out
like this.
978
00:44:59,087 --> 00:45:01,046
Yeah, it does.
979
00:45:01,220 --> 00:45:02,787
[Al] That was
just a hugely important,
980
00:45:02,961 --> 00:45:04,614
pivotal moment for Dad,
981
00:45:04,789 --> 00:45:06,007
to then move on and say,
982
00:45:06,181 --> 00:45:07,966
"Okay, I'm back out
in the world."
983
00:45:10,229 --> 00:45:12,927
[Chris] Another completely
unexpected benefit
984
00:45:13,101 --> 00:45:15,408
came during my stay
in Hollywood.
985
00:45:15,582 --> 00:45:19,368
I entered hotels and buildings
through garages, kitchens,
986
00:45:19,542 --> 00:45:21,544
and I met cooks, waiters,
987
00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:23,721
and maintenance crews
along the way.
988
00:45:23,895 --> 00:45:26,636
Many of them said
they were praying for me.
989
00:45:26,811 --> 00:45:29,465
Christopher, we all love you.
990
00:45:29,639 --> 00:45:32,338
- Chris, I love you.
- We love you, Christopher.
991
00:45:32,512 --> 00:45:34,993
[Chris] Others looked at me
right in the eye and said,
992
00:45:35,167 --> 00:45:37,691
"We love you, Superman.
You're our hero."
993
00:45:39,649 --> 00:45:41,477
The fact that
I was in a wheelchair,
994
00:45:41,651 --> 00:45:43,871
unable to move
below my shoulders
995
00:45:44,045 --> 00:45:46,265
and dependent
on the support of others,
996
00:45:46,439 --> 00:45:48,049
had not diminished the fact
997
00:45:48,223 --> 00:45:51,966
that I was and always
would be their Superman.
998
00:45:58,103 --> 00:46:00,061
[heroic music playing]
999
00:46:04,022 --> 00:46:06,241
- Say, "Jim"! Whoo!
- Excuse me.
1000
00:46:06,415 --> 00:46:08,896
That's a bad outfit.
1001
00:46:09,070 --> 00:46:10,463
- Whoo!
- [man] Okay, Bresslaw,
move these people out.
1002
00:46:10,637 --> 00:46:12,421
[women screaming]
1003
00:46:12,595 --> 00:46:13,553
[gasping]
1004
00:46:17,470 --> 00:46:18,776
[screaming]
1005
00:46:21,039 --> 00:46:22,257
[man] God. Look up there.
1006
00:46:24,477 --> 00:46:25,565
What the hell's that?
1007
00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:29,221
Easy, miss. I've got you.
1008
00:46:29,395 --> 00:46:31,136
You've got me?
1009
00:46:31,310 --> 00:46:34,748
- Who's got you?
- [chuckles]
1010
00:46:34,922 --> 00:46:37,620
[Chris] You've never seen
a comic book brought to life
1011
00:46:37,795 --> 00:46:40,841
and they all thought
it was gonna be a joke.
1012
00:46:41,015 --> 00:46:43,409
We, the filmmakers, felt
we could win our way
1013
00:46:43,583 --> 00:46:44,802
into people's hearts,
and we did.
1014
00:46:46,238 --> 00:46:47,892
[Spengler]
When the film opened,
1015
00:46:48,066 --> 00:46:50,720
huge success immediately.
1016
00:46:50,895 --> 00:46:52,984
Superman did $425 million.
1017
00:46:53,158 --> 00:46:57,118
[chuckles] It was 1977.
That was a lot of money.
1018
00:46:57,292 --> 00:46:59,033
[Johnny Carson]
The film critics said
1019
00:46:59,207 --> 00:47:00,426
the young actor chosen
to play the lead in Superman
1020
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:01,819
is the best reason
to see the movie.
1021
00:47:01,993 --> 00:47:03,603
And he is with us
this morning.
1022
00:47:03,777 --> 00:47:05,779
[Susan Sarandon] I saw it.
I wish I had been Lois.
1023
00:47:05,953 --> 00:47:07,650
Clearly, that would have
been fun.
1024
00:47:07,825 --> 00:47:09,957
Somebody that is
that masculine
1025
00:47:10,131 --> 00:47:11,959
and asked to do that
1026
00:47:12,133 --> 00:47:14,614
could easily slip into some
kind of toxic masculinity.
1027
00:47:14,788 --> 00:47:17,008
But he always struck me
as being gentle.
1028
00:47:17,182 --> 00:47:19,967
[Goldberg] I don't think
I was lustful like that
1029
00:47:20,141 --> 00:47:22,665
until I saw him
in that, you know...
1030
00:47:23,579 --> 00:47:24,929
little outfit.
1031
00:47:25,103 --> 00:47:27,366
He really will always
be the Superman.
1032
00:47:27,540 --> 00:47:29,237
Yeah, and I like
that little curl thing
1033
00:47:29,411 --> 00:47:30,804
that was going on.
1034
00:47:30,978 --> 00:47:32,588
For the Superman opening,
1035
00:47:32,762 --> 00:47:35,678
even the President
of the United States is here.
1036
00:47:35,853 --> 00:47:37,463
[Spengler] And so
Chris was introduced.
1037
00:47:37,637 --> 00:47:41,423
I mean, for someone
who, just a few months before
1038
00:47:41,597 --> 00:47:45,036
was actually off off-Broadway,
he was now a star.
1039
00:47:45,210 --> 00:47:46,211
I'll talk. They went that way.
1040
00:47:46,385 --> 00:47:48,126
Hey, yeah, go for it.
1041
00:47:48,300 --> 00:47:49,779
[Exton] He and Robin
were walking down the street,
1042
00:47:49,954 --> 00:47:51,956
and Robin was like,
"God, I love this city.
1043
00:47:52,130 --> 00:47:54,654
Nobody bothers you.
They don't know who we are."
1044
00:47:54,828 --> 00:47:57,787
And I'm trailing behind,
and everybody's going like,
1045
00:47:57,962 --> 00:47:59,789
"Did you see who that was?"
1046
00:47:59,964 --> 00:48:02,227
- "Superman and Popeye."
- [laughter]
1047
00:48:02,401 --> 00:48:04,490
"Forget Popeye.
I want to know Superman.
1048
00:48:05,752 --> 00:48:07,406
Yeah. He ain't got tights on,
1049
00:48:07,580 --> 00:48:10,235
but I know he can fly.
Come on."
1050
00:48:10,409 --> 00:48:12,541
[interviewer]
Are you feeling like a star?
1051
00:48:12,715 --> 00:48:15,153
[Chris] Don't know much about
it, I'll tell you in a year.
1052
00:48:15,327 --> 00:48:16,894
[interviewer] And you're
enjoying it though? It's fun.
1053
00:48:17,068 --> 00:48:18,460
Are you kidding?
It's fantastic.
1054
00:48:19,505 --> 00:48:20,549
Hi, how you doing?
1055
00:48:21,768 --> 00:48:24,597
Hi y'all. Hi, how you doing?
1056
00:48:24,771 --> 00:48:27,252
[Daniels] I was
very happy for my friend
1057
00:48:27,426 --> 00:48:29,907
in a way that maybe
you aren't with others.
1058
00:48:30,081 --> 00:48:32,039
Usually, it's, you know...
[imitates puffing cigarette]
1059
00:48:32,213 --> 00:48:33,867
"I fucking hate him!"
1060
00:48:34,041 --> 00:48:37,044
And it was a great example
on how to handle it.
1061
00:48:37,218 --> 00:48:39,438
Because it is a freight train,
fame.
1062
00:48:39,612 --> 00:48:41,135
♪ [both singing]
Of the moon ♪
1063
00:48:41,309 --> 00:48:43,224
And it hits you head-on.
1064
00:48:43,398 --> 00:48:45,052
[Kevin] As he became
more and more famous,
1065
00:48:45,226 --> 00:48:48,577
Gae gave him
a security and an anchor
1066
00:48:48,751 --> 00:48:50,536
and a support through that.
1067
00:48:50,710 --> 00:48:52,581
[Chris] Everybody wants to be
around with somebody
1068
00:48:52,755 --> 00:48:54,453
who they think has the juice
at the moment, has the power.
1069
00:48:54,627 --> 00:48:56,629
It's an aphrodisiac, you know,
for men and women,
1070
00:48:56,803 --> 00:48:59,023
and for some people,
it's too hard to resist.
1071
00:48:59,197 --> 00:49:00,676
Listen, if Gae
hadn't been around,
1072
00:49:00,850 --> 00:49:03,505
really, the temptations
were enormous. My God,
1073
00:49:03,679 --> 00:49:05,333
not only do they think
I'm an actor in a lead movie,
1074
00:49:05,507 --> 00:49:07,466
but they think I'm Superman,
for God's sake.
1075
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:09,381
You know,
you just can't do wrong.
1076
00:49:13,994 --> 00:49:15,517
Matthew Reeve.
1077
00:49:15,691 --> 00:49:17,084
Matthew Exton Reeve.
1078
00:49:17,258 --> 00:49:18,999
Mr. Potato,[chuckles]
we call him.
1079
00:49:19,173 --> 00:49:21,567
He's the light of my life.
1080
00:49:21,741 --> 00:49:23,656
[Exton] I had Matthew in London
1081
00:49:23,830 --> 00:49:27,094
when Christopher
was shooting Superman II.
1082
00:49:27,268 --> 00:49:28,748
[Chris] Becoming a father,
I really thought,
1083
00:49:28,922 --> 00:49:30,445
"Boy, I don't know
whether or not
1084
00:49:30,619 --> 00:49:32,534
I'm gonna be up to it."
1085
00:49:32,708 --> 00:49:34,232
[interviewer] Are there things
that you'd like to make sure
1086
00:49:34,406 --> 00:49:35,798
that Matthew has that
maybe you never had?
1087
00:49:35,973 --> 00:49:37,061
[Chris] Basically,
not a broken home.
1088
00:49:37,235 --> 00:49:38,453
Having been in a home
1089
00:49:38,627 --> 00:49:40,194
that got ripped apart
very early,
1090
00:49:40,368 --> 00:49:43,241
I'm quite determined
that this won't happen to him.
1091
00:49:43,415 --> 00:49:45,025
[interviewer 2]
Is he old enough
1092
00:49:45,199 --> 00:49:47,288
to have any awareness
that Dad plays Superman?
1093
00:49:47,462 --> 00:49:48,811
[Chris] Oh, sure.
1094
00:49:48,986 --> 00:49:50,596
[Matthew] There's evidence
[chuckles]
1095
00:49:50,770 --> 00:49:52,902
that I impersonated him.
1096
00:49:53,077 --> 00:49:56,297
I called myself "Soup Man."
[laughs]
1097
00:49:56,471 --> 00:49:59,474
You know, his little lunchbox
with soup in it.
1098
00:49:59,648 --> 00:50:04,262
And he'd go like this
everywhere. Soup Man.
1099
00:50:04,436 --> 00:50:06,394
It was just hilarious.
[laughing]
1100
00:50:06,568 --> 00:50:08,570
- [heroic music plays]
- [wind whooshes]
1101
00:50:09,484 --> 00:50:10,442
General...
1102
00:50:11,965 --> 00:50:13,314
would you care to step outside?
1103
00:50:13,488 --> 00:50:14,576
Superman. Thank God.
1104
00:50:15,490 --> 00:50:17,710
I mean, get him.
1105
00:50:17,884 --> 00:50:21,192
[Spengler]
Superman II did very well.
1106
00:50:21,366 --> 00:50:23,107
A lot of critics said
it was a better movie
1107
00:50:23,281 --> 00:50:24,978
than number one.
1108
00:50:25,152 --> 00:50:26,980
I don't agree, actually.
1109
00:50:27,154 --> 00:50:30,549
I think number one was
a masterpiece of its genre.
1110
00:50:30,723 --> 00:50:32,203
[reporter] Christopher,
were you thrilled
1111
00:50:32,377 --> 00:50:33,639
about the reaction
this evening to the picture?
1112
00:50:33,813 --> 00:50:35,075
It was terrific.
1113
00:50:35,249 --> 00:50:36,468
Played very nicely.
1114
00:50:36,642 --> 00:50:37,904
And, uh, I think
people really like it.
1115
00:50:38,078 --> 00:50:39,427
So, I'm happy. Very happy.
1116
00:50:40,776 --> 00:50:42,169
[Al] My earliest memories
1117
00:50:42,343 --> 00:50:44,389
are from when
I went to set with Dad
1118
00:50:44,563 --> 00:50:47,087
and was actually
in Superman myself.
1119
00:50:49,524 --> 00:50:50,917
[Exton] Alexandra arrived
on the scene,
1120
00:50:51,091 --> 00:50:53,180
and then we just grew.
1121
00:50:53,354 --> 00:50:55,487
It just became this family.
1122
00:50:55,661 --> 00:50:58,490
[Chris] I was elated
over the birth of Alexandra,
1123
00:50:58,664 --> 00:51:00,231
but confused and anxious
1124
00:51:00,405 --> 00:51:03,321
about the direction
my life was taking.
1125
00:51:03,495 --> 00:51:05,062
[interviewer] Christopher,
are you married?
1126
00:51:05,236 --> 00:51:06,889
- [Chris] No, I'm not.
- [crowd] Yeah!
1127
00:51:10,154 --> 00:51:11,503
[interviewer 2] Now,
a lot of people might think
1128
00:51:11,677 --> 00:51:12,852
that you are not
an old-fashioned romantic
1129
00:51:13,026 --> 00:51:14,897
because you two
are not married.
1130
00:51:15,072 --> 00:51:16,334
[Exton] We talked
about marriage
1131
00:51:16,508 --> 00:51:18,814
when I was expecting Matthew,
1132
00:51:18,988 --> 00:51:22,644
but then later, it just...
it just was ignored.
1133
00:51:22,818 --> 00:51:25,908
We happen to feel that...
or I happen to feel,
1134
00:51:26,083 --> 00:51:28,389
that marriage
is a sort of a license
1135
00:51:28,563 --> 00:51:29,956
to take the other person
for granted.
1136
00:51:30,130 --> 00:51:31,349
You don't do
any more work on it.
1137
00:51:31,523 --> 00:51:32,611
You let things
sort of disintegrate.
1138
00:51:32,785 --> 00:51:34,265
Well, do you think everybody?
1139
00:51:34,439 --> 00:51:36,310
- 'Cause I don't feel
that way at all.
- Okay.
1140
00:51:36,484 --> 00:51:38,704
Uh, we were criticized, um,
1141
00:51:39,835 --> 00:51:41,359
but quite frankly,
1142
00:51:41,533 --> 00:51:44,013
you live your life,
and we'll live ours.
1143
00:51:44,188 --> 00:51:47,452
[Matthew] She wanted us to have
as normal a life as possible,
1144
00:51:47,626 --> 00:51:48,888
but he was at the height
of his career.
1145
00:51:49,062 --> 00:51:50,324
Oh, it's terrific, really.
1146
00:51:50,498 --> 00:51:52,021
[interviewer]
Twenty years from now,
1147
00:51:52,196 --> 00:51:53,893
what do you hope
will have happened to you?
1148
00:51:54,067 --> 00:51:55,024
[Chris]
That I would have tackled
1149
00:51:55,199 --> 00:51:57,026
an increasing variety of roles
1150
00:51:57,201 --> 00:51:58,985
with greater and greater depth
all the time.
1151
00:51:59,159 --> 00:52:01,596
And that I would've moved
into directing.
1152
00:52:07,124 --> 00:52:09,343
And action.
1153
00:52:09,517 --> 00:52:11,040
The appearance on the Oscars
1154
00:52:11,215 --> 00:52:14,043
gave me the courage
to go back to work.
1155
00:52:14,218 --> 00:52:16,524
[interviewer] Were you scared?
I mean, this was
the first thing
1156
00:52:16,698 --> 00:52:18,352
you had directed. Am I right?
1157
00:52:18,526 --> 00:52:19,962
Nothing scares me anymore.
1158
00:52:21,442 --> 00:52:22,704
Yeah, I mean,
not to be melodramatic,
1159
00:52:22,878 --> 00:52:24,924
but I've been
to the edge and back.
1160
00:52:25,098 --> 00:52:26,317
[Goldberg] He said, "Listen,
1161
00:52:26,491 --> 00:52:27,622
I have something
I want to know
1162
00:52:27,796 --> 00:52:28,754
if you'd be interested
in doing."
1163
00:52:28,928 --> 00:52:30,495
And I was like, "Yes."
1164
00:52:30,669 --> 00:52:32,192
And he said, "But you
don't know what it is."
1165
00:52:32,366 --> 00:52:33,933
I said, "Doesn't matter.
Whatever it is, yes."
1166
00:52:34,107 --> 00:52:37,502
So, he told me and I said,
"Oh, quadruple yes."
1167
00:52:37,676 --> 00:52:42,202
I play a very uptight WASP,
[chuckles] basically,
1168
00:52:42,376 --> 00:52:44,117
which I know something about.
1169
00:52:44,291 --> 00:52:48,817
Whose son comes home
and is dying of AIDS.
1170
00:52:48,991 --> 00:52:50,515
So, he's made his choice,
1171
00:52:50,689 --> 00:52:53,300
and the best thing you can do
for him right now
1172
00:52:53,474 --> 00:52:55,737
is love him.
1173
00:52:55,911 --> 00:52:58,087
[Close] Those of us
in the theater community,
1174
00:52:58,262 --> 00:53:00,046
Chris was certainly
part of that,
1175
00:53:00,220 --> 00:53:02,788
lost so many people to AIDS.
1176
00:53:04,442 --> 00:53:05,921
[Chris] What I'd learned
in my own experience
1177
00:53:06,095 --> 00:53:08,185
is you come out
of something like that
1178
00:53:08,359 --> 00:53:10,187
not wanting to blame anybody.
1179
00:53:10,361 --> 00:53:12,145
Now that you realize
life is too short
1180
00:53:12,319 --> 00:53:14,278
to want a complete accounting
of everything.
1181
00:53:14,452 --> 00:53:17,498
By looking death
so squarely in the face,
1182
00:53:17,672 --> 00:53:20,327
I think he had the sensitivity
1183
00:53:20,501 --> 00:53:22,373
to really do
a beautiful job with it.
1184
00:53:22,547 --> 00:53:24,766
I feel that,
while I'm sitting down,
1185
00:53:24,940 --> 00:53:26,203
I've actually landed
on my feet.
1186
00:53:27,987 --> 00:53:31,512
I was stunned by his readiness
to go out
1187
00:53:31,686 --> 00:53:33,645
and be proactive,
to be able to direct,
1188
00:53:33,819 --> 00:53:35,429
to be able to act even.
1189
00:53:37,083 --> 00:53:38,867
[Al] Rear Window
was his first time
1190
00:53:39,041 --> 00:53:41,435
in an acting role
after the accident.
1191
00:53:41,609 --> 00:53:43,394
[machines beeping]
1192
00:53:43,568 --> 00:53:45,134
[Chris] One of my missions,
really,
1193
00:53:45,309 --> 00:53:48,225
is to make people more aware
of the disabled,
1194
00:53:48,399 --> 00:53:51,706
less afraid to look
at the disabled, and, uh...
1195
00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:53,708
this movie,
in a sneaky way,
1196
00:53:53,882 --> 00:53:56,102
I think, accomplishes that.
1197
00:53:56,276 --> 00:53:57,973
[Kirshblum]
He went back to work.
1198
00:53:58,147 --> 00:54:02,326
He succeeded in a industry
that really wasn't
1199
00:54:02,500 --> 00:54:05,764
a disability-friendly
industry.
1200
00:54:05,938 --> 00:54:07,592
[Chris] Just imagine
what it's like
1201
00:54:07,766 --> 00:54:08,897
to be me for one day.
1202
00:54:10,943 --> 00:54:12,510
And I have it better
1203
00:54:12,684 --> 00:54:14,512
than most people
with spinal cord injuries.
1204
00:54:14,686 --> 00:54:16,644
He wanted to change
the entire picture
1205
00:54:16,818 --> 00:54:19,473
for everybody
with disabilities.
1206
00:54:19,647 --> 00:54:21,606
[Manganiello] The vice
president asked Chris
1207
00:54:21,780 --> 00:54:24,304
to come speak
at the Democratic
National Convention.
1208
00:54:24,478 --> 00:54:27,612
And the vice president sent up
his head speechwriter.
1209
00:54:27,786 --> 00:54:29,744
He was a brilliant,
beautiful speechwriter.
1210
00:54:29,918 --> 00:54:31,833
[laughs]
And Chris kinda dismissed him.
1211
00:54:33,748 --> 00:54:35,184
[announcer]
From the United Center
1212
00:54:35,359 --> 00:54:37,143
in Chicago, Illinois,
live coverage
1213
00:54:37,317 --> 00:54:39,754
of the Democratic
National Convention.
1214
00:54:39,928 --> 00:54:41,930
[applause]
1215
00:54:46,631 --> 00:54:49,111
[Chris] Thank you
very, very much.
1216
00:54:49,286 --> 00:54:51,200
You know,
over the last few years,
1217
00:54:54,595 --> 00:54:55,640
we've heard a lot about
1218
00:54:55,814 --> 00:54:57,076
something called
family values.
1219
00:54:58,643 --> 00:54:59,992
And, like many of you,
1220
00:55:00,166 --> 00:55:02,777
I've struggled to figure out
what that means.
1221
00:55:02,951 --> 00:55:05,302
I think it means
that we're all family.
1222
00:55:06,868 --> 00:55:08,392
[applause]
1223
00:55:08,566 --> 00:55:10,698
And that we all have value.
1224
00:55:10,872 --> 00:55:12,831
[cheers and applause]
1225
00:55:18,271 --> 00:55:22,057
One in five of us
has some kind of disability.
1226
00:55:22,231 --> 00:55:25,365
You may have an aunt
with Parkinson's disease.
1227
00:55:25,539 --> 00:55:28,150
A neighbor with
a spinal cord injury.
1228
00:55:28,325 --> 00:55:31,240
And if we're really committed
to this idea of family,
1229
00:55:31,415 --> 00:55:33,721
we've got to do
something about it.
1230
00:55:34,461 --> 00:55:36,768
[applause]
1231
00:55:36,942 --> 00:55:40,511
[Kerry] Somehow, the injustice
of what had happened
1232
00:55:40,685 --> 00:55:44,732
just seemed so unfathomable
to people.
1233
00:55:44,906 --> 00:55:47,953
And it sounds silly, I know,
but there he was, Superman.
1234
00:55:49,694 --> 00:55:54,655
One was so big and powerful
and invincible,
1235
00:55:54,829 --> 00:55:57,919
and the other was
so, now, vulnerable.
1236
00:55:59,356 --> 00:56:00,792
Now, one of
the smartest things
1237
00:56:00,966 --> 00:56:04,491
we can do about disability
is to invest in research
1238
00:56:04,665 --> 00:56:07,712
that will protect us
from diseases
and lead to cures.
1239
00:56:08,930 --> 00:56:13,065
That combination
moved mountains.
1240
00:56:15,720 --> 00:56:17,025
That's how it was.
1241
00:56:19,245 --> 00:56:23,597
America does not
let its needy citizens
1242
00:56:25,033 --> 00:56:27,209
fend for themselves.
1243
00:56:27,384 --> 00:56:28,994
[applause]
1244
00:56:29,168 --> 00:56:31,126
[inspirational music playing]
1245
00:56:41,180 --> 00:56:44,052
[inaudible] Thank you.
Thank you very much.
1246
00:56:50,407 --> 00:56:52,452
[interviewer] First Superman
picture came out.
1247
00:56:52,626 --> 00:56:54,759
People considered you
Superman.
1248
00:56:54,933 --> 00:56:56,500
Oh, everybody's looking
for a hero.
1249
00:56:56,674 --> 00:56:58,197
Everybody,
not just five-year-olds.
1250
00:56:58,371 --> 00:56:59,938
That was a part.
I played the part.
1251
00:57:00,112 --> 00:57:01,679
I'm not that man.
1252
00:57:01,853 --> 00:57:03,202
It's an image that is created
by other people
1253
00:57:03,376 --> 00:57:05,334
but it's pretty far
away from me.
1254
00:57:05,509 --> 00:57:07,032
Outside of Superman,
1255
00:57:07,206 --> 00:57:11,210
he seems to have chosen
very opposite roles.
1256
00:57:11,384 --> 00:57:15,954
Like Somewhere in Time,
which was extremely romantic.
1257
00:57:16,128 --> 00:57:19,784
Then he did Deathtrap
with Michael Caine.
1258
00:57:19,958 --> 00:57:21,916
Deathtrap.
1259
00:57:22,090 --> 00:57:26,225
[Spengler] Then he was
a crooked priest.
1260
00:57:26,399 --> 00:57:30,534
None of the films he did
outside of Superman
1261
00:57:30,708 --> 00:57:32,927
were successful commercially.
1262
00:57:36,540 --> 00:57:37,671
[Chris] Worst review
I ever got
1263
00:57:37,845 --> 00:57:39,499
was from the New York Times .
1264
00:57:39,673 --> 00:57:41,936
[Exton] He was very sensitive
to bad reviews.
1265
00:57:42,110 --> 00:57:44,504
"Mr. Reeve looks like
a helium-filled canary.
1266
00:57:44,678 --> 00:57:45,940
One more movie like this
1267
00:57:46,114 --> 00:57:47,551
and it's back
to the cape forever."
1268
00:57:49,944 --> 00:57:52,991
[Exton] He was contracted
to do Superman III ,
1269
00:57:53,165 --> 00:57:55,733
but his heart wasn't in it.
1270
00:57:55,907 --> 00:57:57,778
Hollywood suffers
from a very bad disease,
1271
00:57:57,952 --> 00:58:00,041
called sequel-itis.
1272
00:58:00,215 --> 00:58:01,913
You take what grossed
100 million domestically
last year
1273
00:58:02,087 --> 00:58:03,567
and get the key ingredients
back again
1274
00:58:03,741 --> 00:58:05,351
and try to pump it up
a few more times.
1275
00:58:05,525 --> 00:58:07,658
Of course, the quality
is a sliding scale
1276
00:58:07,832 --> 00:58:08,963
of diminishing returns.
1277
00:58:09,137 --> 00:58:10,661
[dramatic music playing]
1278
00:58:13,968 --> 00:58:15,448
[Exton] In the back of
his mind, he thought,
1279
00:58:15,622 --> 00:58:17,581
"This might not be as good."
1280
00:58:17,755 --> 00:58:18,843
He was struggling.
1281
00:58:21,367 --> 00:58:22,890
[choking]
1282
00:58:23,064 --> 00:58:24,413
[Chris] Everyone
should be allowed in life
1283
00:58:24,588 --> 00:58:26,067
to close the door
on certain times
1284
00:58:26,241 --> 00:58:27,416
and open other doors.
1285
00:58:31,769 --> 00:58:35,294
[Daniels] If you hit big,
that big,
1286
00:58:35,468 --> 00:58:37,165
that's who you are.
1287
00:58:37,339 --> 00:58:40,517
That's what you are
and that's what you can do.
1288
00:58:41,561 --> 00:58:43,215
And Chris came back
1289
00:58:43,389 --> 00:58:45,652
and did Fifth of July
on Broadway,
1290
00:58:45,826 --> 00:58:47,654
and I was his lover.
1291
00:58:47,828 --> 00:58:49,613
[Kevin] Some in the audience
were so surprised
1292
00:58:49,787 --> 00:58:51,919
to see Chris kiss a man.
1293
00:58:52,093 --> 00:58:55,662
Someone yells out,
"Say it ain't so, Superman."
1294
00:58:55,836 --> 00:58:59,013
I mean it was just...
it was hard for the audience.
1295
00:58:59,187 --> 00:59:03,191
He wanted to prove to everyone
that he was a good actor.
1296
00:59:03,365 --> 00:59:06,760
And I don't think
he had the chance to find out.
1297
00:59:07,674 --> 00:59:08,632
"You're Superman."
1298
00:59:15,856 --> 00:59:17,379
[man] Cut it. Lovely.
1299
00:59:19,120 --> 00:59:20,861
[Exton] And Superman IV
came along.
1300
00:59:21,035 --> 00:59:22,776
- I think he thought...
- Yeah.
1301
00:59:22,950 --> 00:59:24,604
[Exton] ... "I don't think
I should be doing this."
1302
00:59:24,778 --> 00:59:26,911
[Chris] Superman IV
was simply a catastrophe
1303
00:59:27,085 --> 00:59:28,260
from start to finish.
1304
00:59:30,175 --> 00:59:33,526
When I was young, the only
cooler movie star father
1305
00:59:33,700 --> 00:59:35,659
would have been
Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill,
1306
00:59:35,833 --> 00:59:38,052
or maybe Indiana Jones,
Harrison Ford.
1307
00:59:38,226 --> 00:59:41,795
He was one of the biggest
movie stars in the world,
1308
00:59:41,969 --> 00:59:45,320
but by the time I was ten,
1309
00:59:45,494 --> 00:59:46,844
he was kind of doing, like,
1310
00:59:47,018 --> 00:59:49,716
TV movies of the week
to pay the bills.
1311
00:59:49,890 --> 00:59:51,196
[Exton] And that's
when our relationship
1312
00:59:51,370 --> 00:59:52,589
actually started to struggle.
1313
00:59:54,329 --> 00:59:57,463
We were living in London, principally.
1314
00:59:57,637 --> 00:59:59,421
We had the apartment
in New York
1315
00:59:59,596 --> 01:00:01,162
and we talked about
1316
01:00:01,336 --> 01:00:03,338
maybe he should just
go over to America for a while
1317
01:00:03,512 --> 01:00:06,124
and, um, reflect on things.
1318
01:00:06,298 --> 01:00:08,866
[man] All together now.
Right here, right here.
Right here.
1319
01:00:09,040 --> 01:00:10,432
I think he was
testing the water
1320
01:00:10,607 --> 01:00:14,785
to see what it was like
to be single.
1321
01:00:14,959 --> 01:00:16,221
- We're just good friends.
- Okay. I'll take that one.
1322
01:00:16,395 --> 01:00:17,396
Thank you.
1323
01:00:17,570 --> 01:00:18,527
- [laughter]
- [kissing]
1324
01:00:20,442 --> 01:00:21,748
We're just good friends.
1325
01:00:23,228 --> 01:00:26,448
He came back to London
for a while.
1326
01:00:26,623 --> 01:00:28,276
He says, "This isn't
going to work, is it?"
1327
01:00:28,450 --> 01:00:30,496
[somber music playing]
1328
01:00:32,933 --> 01:00:34,761
And so, we decided that
1329
01:00:34,935 --> 01:00:38,983
maybe it was time that
we went our separate ways.
1330
01:00:39,157 --> 01:00:40,201
[sniffles]
1331
01:00:47,469 --> 01:00:48,688
So sorry.
1332
01:00:57,392 --> 01:00:59,743
[Matthew] It was hard
on my mom.
1333
01:00:59,917 --> 01:01:01,483
You know, it wasn't like,
1334
01:01:01,658 --> 01:01:02,484
"Yeah, this isn't working out
for the both of us."
1335
01:01:02,659 --> 01:01:04,269
I think he was like,
1336
01:01:04,443 --> 01:01:06,184
"I don't want
to do this anymore."
1337
01:01:06,358 --> 01:01:08,055
I think that was hard for her.
1338
01:01:18,065 --> 01:01:19,937
You know,
my dad had a big issue.
1339
01:01:20,111 --> 01:01:21,329
He would not commit.
1340
01:01:21,503 --> 01:01:23,244
Every marriage he'd seen
1341
01:01:23,418 --> 01:01:25,420
in his own family life
had failed.
1342
01:01:25,594 --> 01:01:27,161
His parents' marriage.
1343
01:01:27,335 --> 01:01:29,468
His father's marriage
to his stepmother.
1344
01:01:29,642 --> 01:01:33,167
He had no experience
with a successful, healthy,
1345
01:01:33,341 --> 01:01:36,736
long-term marriage.
1346
01:01:36,910 --> 01:01:41,306
[Chris] Lives repeat themselves
in succeeding generations,
1347
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:43,743
often in the worst ways.
1348
01:01:43,917 --> 01:01:46,703
And patterns of behavior
can be difficult to break.
1349
01:01:51,142 --> 01:01:53,057
[Matthew] He was away
so much anyway.
1350
01:01:53,231 --> 01:01:54,667
It wasn't like
he suddenly stopped
1351
01:01:54,841 --> 01:01:56,016
picking me up
from school every day
1352
01:01:56,190 --> 01:01:57,452
or something like that.
1353
01:01:58,889 --> 01:01:59,803
It was just...
1354
01:02:02,501 --> 01:02:04,546
He kind of stopped
coming home.
1355
01:02:04,721 --> 01:02:06,287
For most of my childhood,
1356
01:02:06,461 --> 01:02:08,202
she was effectively
a single mom.
1357
01:02:11,336 --> 01:02:13,512
So, the day after
I was born, he, um,
1358
01:02:14,252 --> 01:02:16,341
flew to...
1359
01:02:16,515 --> 01:02:18,299
France and went skiing
with friends. [chuckles]
1360
01:02:21,346 --> 01:02:25,829
We weren't, you know...
that close.
1361
01:02:26,003 --> 01:02:27,918
Relationships come down
to small moments,
1362
01:02:28,092 --> 01:02:29,223
not just big events.
1363
01:02:32,923 --> 01:02:34,925
[interviewer] When you've done
a role like Superman,
1364
01:02:35,099 --> 01:02:36,665
people tend to put you up
on a pedestal.
1365
01:02:36,840 --> 01:02:38,798
They tend to think
you are that person.
1366
01:02:38,972 --> 01:02:40,669
And that, morally,
you are that person.
1367
01:02:40,844 --> 01:02:42,759
[Chris] Yeah.
1368
01:02:42,933 --> 01:02:45,326
I get Bibles and letters sent
to me from clergymen saying,
1369
01:02:45,500 --> 01:02:47,633
"You must think about
your religious responsibility.
1370
01:02:47,807 --> 01:02:50,114
Superman is a pop culture
version of Jesus Christ."
1371
01:02:50,288 --> 01:02:52,899
I'm going,
"Wait. Whoa, wait a minute."
1372
01:02:53,073 --> 01:02:54,945
I don't have all the answers.
1373
01:02:55,119 --> 01:02:56,773
I don't know what I'm supposed
to do all the time.
1374
01:02:58,775 --> 01:03:00,037
I'm not a hero.
1375
01:03:00,211 --> 01:03:01,603
Never have been,
never will be.
1376
01:03:03,997 --> 01:03:05,129
[applause]
1377
01:03:09,437 --> 01:03:12,658
To people who are watching
from hospital beds
1378
01:03:12,832 --> 01:03:15,487
or any place
where they feel shut in,
1379
01:03:16,531 --> 01:03:17,837
help is on the way.
1380
01:03:22,059 --> 01:03:24,235
[Ellison]
When Chris was injured,
1381
01:03:24,409 --> 01:03:26,019
it was either a death sentence
1382
01:03:26,193 --> 01:03:29,283
or this was the way
your life was going to be,
1383
01:03:29,457 --> 01:03:31,677
without any treatment or cure.
1384
01:03:32,852 --> 01:03:34,767
Impossible and unsolvable...
1385
01:03:34,941 --> 01:03:36,900
are no longer
in the vocabulary
1386
01:03:37,074 --> 01:03:39,119
of the scientific community.
1387
01:03:39,293 --> 01:03:43,210
And it took a voice
like Chris' to say,
1388
01:03:43,384 --> 01:03:45,778
"That's not good enough."
1389
01:03:45,952 --> 01:03:47,998
[Manganiello] So, Chris started
the foundation.
1390
01:03:48,172 --> 01:03:50,174
It was called the
Christopher Reeve Foundation.
1391
01:03:51,697 --> 01:03:53,742
He's like,
"You're Executive Director."
1392
01:03:53,917 --> 01:03:55,657
I'm like, "Okay."[chuckles]
1393
01:03:55,832 --> 01:04:00,532
The board was Barbara Walters,
Robin Williams. It was just...
1394
01:04:00,706 --> 01:04:03,013
We are here to help my friend
1395
01:04:03,187 --> 01:04:04,492
and 250,000 other people
1396
01:04:04,666 --> 01:04:05,667
to get back
on their feet again.
1397
01:04:09,715 --> 01:04:11,151
[Manganiello]
He just wanted to fund
1398
01:04:11,325 --> 01:04:13,545
the best science
no matter where it was.
1399
01:04:13,719 --> 01:04:16,548
[Kirshblum] He understood
the importance of advocacy.
1400
01:04:16,722 --> 01:04:21,205
He was an advocate
before his injury.
1401
01:04:21,379 --> 01:04:25,296
Chris was serious about
pursuing environmental issues
1402
01:04:25,470 --> 01:04:26,906
and also human rights issues.
1403
01:04:28,603 --> 01:04:30,127
Animal rights terrorists
or will not pardon...
1404
01:04:30,301 --> 01:04:32,390
[Sarandon] We would go to D.C.
1405
01:04:32,564 --> 01:04:34,783
Occasionally, Chris flew us
1406
01:04:34,958 --> 01:04:37,743
in an airplane,
not on his back.
1407
01:04:37,917 --> 01:04:40,485
[Chris] Okay, so what
I used to do politically...
1408
01:04:40,659 --> 01:04:43,227
taking all those contacts
I made in Washington.
1409
01:04:43,401 --> 01:04:45,620
I'm gonna go back there
and beat up on them
about this.
1410
01:04:45,794 --> 01:04:46,839
He made it bipartisan.
1411
01:04:47,013 --> 01:04:47,971
He would take it
to Republicans.
1412
01:04:48,145 --> 01:04:50,016
He would take it to Democrats.
1413
01:04:50,190 --> 01:04:51,626
[reporter] After meeting
with President Clinton,
1414
01:04:51,800 --> 01:04:53,367
he was told...
1415
01:04:53,541 --> 01:04:55,108
[Chris] There will be
a $10 million increase
1416
01:04:55,282 --> 01:04:58,242
in funding specifically
for spinal cord injury.
1417
01:04:58,416 --> 01:05:00,548
[Manganiello] People were
just throwing money at us.
1418
01:05:04,639 --> 01:05:07,251
[Kirshblum] In the early 1990s,
spinal cord injury was known
1419
01:05:07,425 --> 01:05:09,688
as a field of doom and gloom.
1420
01:05:09,862 --> 01:05:14,867
By making it a hot area,
his impact was tangible.
1421
01:05:17,391 --> 01:05:18,653
[presenter]
There is no question
1422
01:05:18,827 --> 01:05:20,568
that Christopher Reeve
has become
1423
01:05:20,742 --> 01:05:24,224
a quite stunning icon
for the paralyzed community
1424
01:05:24,398 --> 01:05:26,487
and for the disabled
community in general.
1425
01:05:29,012 --> 01:05:30,274
Hi, Dr. Peterson.
1426
01:05:30,448 --> 01:05:32,102
How's everything going
in Cambridge?
1427
01:05:32,276 --> 01:05:33,973
[Al] One of the areas
that he really believed in
1428
01:05:34,147 --> 01:05:36,497
was stem cell research.
1429
01:05:36,671 --> 01:05:38,021
[Laurie Hawkins]
Chris would get all excited.
1430
01:05:38,195 --> 01:05:39,979
He's like,
"It's going to change science.
1431
01:05:40,153 --> 01:05:41,938
It's going
to change people's lives."
1432
01:05:47,900 --> 01:05:49,075
[Chris] You can make
a new heart,
1433
01:05:49,249 --> 01:05:51,034
you can make a new liver.
1434
01:05:51,208 --> 01:05:52,513
You can replace the nerves
1435
01:05:52,687 --> 01:05:54,515
that were damaged
in spinal cord injuries.
1436
01:05:54,689 --> 01:05:58,563
[Ellison] Juvenile diabetes,
ALS, Parkinson's disease.
1437
01:05:58,737 --> 01:06:01,305
A cure for almost everything.
1438
01:06:01,479 --> 01:06:04,351
[Will] My dad was obsessed
with tomorrow's cure.
1439
01:06:04,525 --> 01:06:05,831
[Chris] I think it's probably
the greatest breakthrough
1440
01:06:06,005 --> 01:06:07,572
in the history of science.
1441
01:06:07,746 --> 01:06:11,054
He would have been the first
for any human trial.
1442
01:06:14,622 --> 01:06:16,798
[inspirational music building]
1443
01:06:20,889 --> 01:06:22,195
[applause]
1444
01:06:29,811 --> 01:06:32,510
Disabled groups have reacted
angrily to a commercial
1445
01:06:32,684 --> 01:06:34,991
in which the paraplegic actor,
Christopher Reeve,
1446
01:06:35,165 --> 01:06:36,775
is made to get out
of his wheelchair
1447
01:06:36,949 --> 01:06:39,430
and walk using
computer technology.
1448
01:06:39,604 --> 01:06:41,171
[reporter]
Millions saw it go out,
1449
01:06:41,345 --> 01:06:42,999
some of whom rang in
wanting to know
1450
01:06:43,173 --> 01:06:44,565
where Reeve had been treated.
1451
01:06:44,739 --> 01:06:47,264
People with disabilities
seem to be very upset
1452
01:06:47,438 --> 01:06:50,963
by the message
that Christopher Reeve
is handing out.
1453
01:06:51,137 --> 01:06:53,400
[Manganiello] Chris was
incredibly galvanizing
1454
01:06:53,574 --> 01:06:56,186
and he was incredibly
polarizing at the same time.
1455
01:06:56,360 --> 01:06:59,885
The concept of cure
is a very, very dicey one
1456
01:07:00,059 --> 01:07:02,670
in the disability community.
1457
01:07:02,844 --> 01:07:04,716
Cure connotes the fact
1458
01:07:04,890 --> 01:07:06,761
that there's something wrong
with you,
1459
01:07:06,935 --> 01:07:09,764
something that needs
to be fixed.
1460
01:07:09,938 --> 01:07:12,332
Christopher Reeve has not gone
through the process
1461
01:07:12,506 --> 01:07:15,727
of grieving over his loss.
1462
01:07:15,901 --> 01:07:17,816
[Manganiello]
Absolutely thought
it was the right thing to do.
1463
01:07:17,990 --> 01:07:21,776
I think he could do whatever
the flip he wanted to do.
1464
01:07:21,950 --> 01:07:24,605
The guy got up every day
fighting for everybody.
1465
01:07:25,650 --> 01:07:28,914
Time is absolutely critical.
1466
01:07:29,088 --> 01:07:31,569
Someone once said,
"Oh, you give people
false hope."
1467
01:07:31,743 --> 01:07:32,874
Chris said,
"There's no false hope.
1468
01:07:33,049 --> 01:07:34,920
There's only hope."
1469
01:07:35,094 --> 01:07:36,878
[Hawkins] There's a group
of disabled community
1470
01:07:37,053 --> 01:07:39,011
who were against
all the research.
1471
01:07:39,185 --> 01:07:40,665
[Manganiello]
And they said he didn't care
1472
01:07:40,839 --> 01:07:42,232
about people living
with a disability.
1473
01:07:42,406 --> 01:07:44,799
Only he wanted
out of his chair.
1474
01:07:44,973 --> 01:07:46,453
They're so used
to being in a chair,
1475
01:07:46,627 --> 01:07:48,064
they can't imagine
anything else.
1476
01:07:48,238 --> 01:07:50,283
And I sympathize with that...
1477
01:07:52,285 --> 01:07:53,721
But I'm not gonna
buy into it.
1478
01:07:53,895 --> 01:07:56,202
That's when Dana stepped in
and she's like,
1479
01:07:56,376 --> 01:07:58,639
"No, they actually have
a valid point."
1480
01:07:58,813 --> 01:08:00,467
That's how we started
the Quality of Life program
1481
01:08:00,641 --> 01:08:02,600
at the Reeve Foundation.
1482
01:08:02,774 --> 01:08:04,254
- And so...
- [Manganiello] It could
be everything
1483
01:08:04,428 --> 01:08:07,561
from a summer camp
for disabled children
1484
01:08:07,735 --> 01:08:09,998
to making a theater
accessible.
1485
01:08:10,173 --> 01:08:11,609
I mean,
there's a million things
1486
01:08:11,783 --> 01:08:13,524
that you could give money to.
1487
01:08:13,698 --> 01:08:16,092
I'd like to introduce
Dana Reeve.
1488
01:08:16,266 --> 01:08:17,615
She's on
the Board of Directors
1489
01:08:17,789 --> 01:08:19,747
of the Christopher Reeve
Paralysis Foundation,
1490
01:08:19,921 --> 01:08:21,401
and she's the Chair
of the Quality of Life Grants
program...
1491
01:08:21,575 --> 01:08:22,924
and I must say,
1492
01:08:23,099 --> 01:08:24,274
she's the heart and soul
of this resource center.
1493
01:08:24,448 --> 01:08:26,189
Dana Reeve.
1494
01:08:26,363 --> 01:08:28,321
Well, about seven years ago,
my husband had his accident...
1495
01:08:28,495 --> 01:08:31,716
and I will say,
because Chris is who he is,
1496
01:08:31,890 --> 01:08:33,718
information poured in.
1497
01:08:33,892 --> 01:08:35,067
That doesn't happen
1498
01:08:35,241 --> 01:08:36,721
for the vast majority
of people.
1499
01:08:36,895 --> 01:08:38,244
Having never
actually done this,
1500
01:08:38,418 --> 01:08:39,593
having never been
a beauty queen.
1501
01:08:39,767 --> 01:08:41,334
[laughter]
1502
01:08:41,508 --> 01:08:43,510
[Will] Tomorrow's cure,
that is all my dad.
1503
01:08:43,684 --> 01:08:46,470
Where Dana comes in,
is today's care.
1504
01:08:46,644 --> 01:08:52,040
Because her whole life became
dedicated to caring for my dad
1505
01:08:52,215 --> 01:08:55,131
and for me and for our family.
1506
01:08:55,305 --> 01:08:57,394
[Chris] She rescued me
when I was lying in Virginia
1507
01:08:57,568 --> 01:08:59,004
with a broken body,
1508
01:08:59,178 --> 01:09:01,833
but that was really
the second time.
1509
01:09:02,007 --> 01:09:04,314
The first time she rescued me
was the night we met.
1510
01:09:12,060 --> 01:09:13,671
[piano playing]
1511
01:09:13,845 --> 01:09:18,066
♪ Yes,
I'm with you always ♪
1512
01:09:18,241 --> 01:09:24,551
♪ I'm with you rain or shine ♪
1513
01:09:24,725 --> 01:09:28,686
[Dana] It was June, 1987,
1514
01:09:28,860 --> 01:09:31,602
and right at one
of the front tables
1515
01:09:31,776 --> 01:09:33,821
sat a movie star.
1516
01:09:33,995 --> 01:09:35,519
She was warned against me.
1517
01:09:35,693 --> 01:09:39,000
The word was,
"Look out. He's on the prowl."
1518
01:09:39,175 --> 01:09:41,960
Um, because I guess
I had a reputation of...
1519
01:09:42,134 --> 01:09:43,004
Love 'em and leave 'em or...
1520
01:09:43,179 --> 01:09:44,310
[Chris] Little bit. Yeah.
1521
01:09:44,484 --> 01:09:46,530
It was in the old days.
I mean...
1522
01:09:46,704 --> 01:09:48,619
[Manganiello]
She called and she said,
"I'm dating someone."
1523
01:09:48,793 --> 01:09:50,273
And I said, "Great."
1524
01:09:50,447 --> 01:09:53,232
She goes,
"It's Christopher Reeve."
1525
01:09:53,406 --> 01:09:56,322
[laughs] And I'm like,
"Wow, you're dating Superman?"
1526
01:09:56,496 --> 01:09:59,760
I had lots of questions,
which I... Never mind.
1527
01:09:59,934 --> 01:10:01,153
[Chris] But I had to spend
a certain amount of time
1528
01:10:01,327 --> 01:10:03,286
trying to disclaim
my reputation.
1529
01:10:03,460 --> 01:10:06,114
But it's just slow
and I gotta tell you that,
1530
01:10:06,289 --> 01:10:07,638
anybody out there
who has not been involved
1531
01:10:07,812 --> 01:10:11,163
in an old-fashioned romance,
it's thrilling.
1532
01:10:11,337 --> 01:10:13,426
[dreamy music playing]
1533
01:10:13,600 --> 01:10:17,691
They went at night,
and something about a pond
1534
01:10:17,865 --> 01:10:20,041
and them going in and wading
1535
01:10:20,216 --> 01:10:22,435
and their first kiss
under the stars.
1536
01:10:24,437 --> 01:10:28,006
It all seemed very movie-like,
to be perfectly honest.
1537
01:10:29,399 --> 01:10:31,662
That was the way
I saw the evening.
1538
01:10:32,619 --> 01:10:33,838
[crowd laughs]
1539
01:10:35,056 --> 01:10:36,667
But to hear Chris tell it...
1540
01:10:36,841 --> 01:10:37,972
[piano playing]
1541
01:10:38,146 --> 01:10:39,670
♪ I was walking
along ♪
1542
01:10:39,844 --> 01:10:40,845
[crowd laughs]
1543
01:10:41,019 --> 01:10:43,108
♪ Minding my business ♪
1544
01:10:43,282 --> 01:10:46,720
[Chris] I went down hook,
line and sinker.
1545
01:10:46,894 --> 01:10:49,114
All my friends who were there
saw it happen.
1546
01:10:50,985 --> 01:10:53,031
[Close] They had
a wonderful connection.
1547
01:10:53,205 --> 01:10:57,035
They both were extremely happy
to be in each other's lives.
1548
01:10:57,209 --> 01:10:59,211
- You couldn't see 50 yards.
- It was bad.
1549
01:10:59,385 --> 01:11:01,605
Yeah. It was
inside-a-milk-bottle time.
1550
01:11:01,779 --> 01:11:02,649
Anyway.
1551
01:11:02,823 --> 01:11:03,824
How much film do we have?
1552
01:11:03,998 --> 01:11:04,999
- We're only on day one.
- Okay.
1553
01:11:05,173 --> 01:11:06,523
[both laugh]
1554
01:11:06,697 --> 01:11:08,394
I think that the heroic
Kevin Johnson role
1555
01:11:08,568 --> 01:11:10,266
- has not yet been described.
- [Chris and Dana laugh]
1556
01:11:10,440 --> 01:11:11,615
Yeah, that's it.
1557
01:11:11,789 --> 01:11:13,747
With Chris
it was the excitement
1558
01:11:13,921 --> 01:11:15,271
of the pieces of his life
1559
01:11:15,445 --> 01:11:18,012
that she really
matched him with.
1560
01:11:18,186 --> 01:11:21,233
Partly it was the acting
and the artistic element,
1561
01:11:21,407 --> 01:11:23,191
but it was beyond that.
1562
01:11:23,366 --> 01:11:27,979
It was the ability to share
passionately-intense fun
1563
01:11:28,153 --> 01:11:29,372
and activity together.
1564
01:11:30,329 --> 01:11:31,461
[laughing]
1565
01:11:33,027 --> 01:11:34,855
[dreamy music continues]
1566
01:11:35,029 --> 01:11:37,031
[inaudible]
1567
01:11:37,205 --> 01:11:40,557
[Matthew] I think from the time
it was fully over with my mom
1568
01:11:40,731 --> 01:11:43,037
and the night
he first met Dana,
1569
01:11:43,211 --> 01:11:44,648
was like five months.
1570
01:11:44,822 --> 01:11:49,087
Yeah, not long at all.
It was pretty wild.
1571
01:11:49,261 --> 01:11:50,610
- Hold on, I think I'm...
- [Chris] I do remember
1572
01:11:50,784 --> 01:11:52,438
meeting Dana
for the first time.
1573
01:11:52,612 --> 01:11:54,397
I didn't really know, like,
[laughs] who she was
1574
01:11:54,571 --> 01:11:55,833
or why we were meeting her.
1575
01:11:57,791 --> 01:11:59,358
Firstly, her smile, like,
1576
01:11:59,532 --> 01:12:03,667
it's just this really warm,
bright smile.
1577
01:12:03,841 --> 01:12:05,843
Oh. [chuckles] Hello.
That's kind of...
1578
01:12:06,017 --> 01:12:07,714
- [Chris] Hello.
- Christmas never ends.
1579
01:12:07,888 --> 01:12:11,152
[Al] It was just so clear
how Dad felt about her.
1580
01:12:11,327 --> 01:12:13,590
She was his sunshine
from day one.
1581
01:12:13,764 --> 01:12:16,941
- [Chris] Who's that going to?
- It's going to Michael.
1582
01:12:17,115 --> 01:12:18,638
[Al] You know, she was
26 years old.[chuckles]
1583
01:12:18,812 --> 01:12:20,727
Like what a world to come in
1584
01:12:20,901 --> 01:12:22,599
and suddenly have,
you know, a three-year-old
1585
01:12:22,773 --> 01:12:25,602
and a seven-year-old
hanging out with you.
1586
01:12:25,776 --> 01:12:27,430
[Exton] She wrote to me,
and she said,
1587
01:12:27,604 --> 01:12:30,041
"Your children are amazing.
1588
01:12:30,215 --> 01:12:31,738
But I'm not going
to be a stepmother.
1589
01:12:31,912 --> 01:12:33,436
I want to be their friend."
1590
01:12:33,610 --> 01:12:35,046
So, I wrote back and said,
you know,
1591
01:12:35,220 --> 01:12:38,092
"Thank you.
Really appreciate that.
1592
01:12:38,266 --> 01:12:40,443
Look out for Alexandra.
She's the only girl there."
1593
01:12:40,617 --> 01:12:42,096
Do you see they have this...
1594
01:12:42,270 --> 01:12:43,794
[Sarandon] There was
a real attempt by Dana
1595
01:12:43,968 --> 01:12:46,231
to make sure
that the kids were around
1596
01:12:46,405 --> 01:12:48,712
as much as possible.
1597
01:12:48,886 --> 01:12:51,279
You have to decide that
you're gonna do that.
1598
01:12:51,454 --> 01:12:52,846
That doesn't happen naturally.
1599
01:12:53,020 --> 01:12:55,849
Dad, she's messing up
the cardboard.
1600
01:12:56,023 --> 01:12:58,765
- How far across? I don't know.
- Did you read it?
1601
01:12:58,939 --> 01:13:00,637
[Al] And she was also the one.
1602
01:13:00,811 --> 01:13:02,290
My dad was very competitive
1603
01:13:02,465 --> 01:13:04,336
and he didn't
necessarily slow down.
1604
01:13:08,253 --> 01:13:09,733
[Chris] Come on.
1605
01:13:09,907 --> 01:13:11,299
[laughs] Like when
we'd go skiing, you know,
1606
01:13:11,474 --> 01:13:13,171
we'd all go up
in the chairlift together,
1607
01:13:13,345 --> 01:13:15,173
and then he'd, like,
[blows sharply]
1608
01:13:15,347 --> 01:13:17,131
you know, bomb down the hill
and wait for us at the bottom.
1609
01:13:18,481 --> 01:13:19,482
And we're like...
1610
01:13:20,396 --> 01:13:21,875
He used to say, like,
1611
01:13:22,049 --> 01:13:23,399
"Aren't you glad I'm not
like Franklin?" [chuckles]
1612
01:13:23,573 --> 01:13:25,531
I put much less pressure
on my children
1613
01:13:25,705 --> 01:13:26,967
than my father put on me.
1614
01:13:27,141 --> 01:13:29,187
[laughing]
But Dana would be, like,
1615
01:13:29,361 --> 01:13:31,189
"Yeah, you know,
there's a couple...
1616
01:13:31,363 --> 01:13:34,235
"You know, you're not
completely unlike him."
1617
01:13:34,410 --> 01:13:35,976
[Al] Pretty quickly
it was Dana saying,[laughs]
1618
01:13:36,150 --> 01:13:37,674
"Let's actually go at a pace
1619
01:13:37,848 --> 01:13:39,371
so that Alexandra and Matthew
can come out."
1620
01:13:39,545 --> 01:13:40,459
[Matthew] She was so kind
from minute one,
1621
01:13:40,633 --> 01:13:42,113
as was her whole family...
1622
01:13:42,287 --> 01:13:45,377
warm and welcoming
and, you know... [chuckling]
1623
01:13:45,551 --> 01:13:47,684
I'm not knocking my own family
on the Reeve side
1624
01:13:47,858 --> 01:13:49,599
but there was some contrast.
1625
01:13:49,773 --> 01:13:52,036
[young Matthew] Oh, my God,
Dad. You'll crack the screen.
1626
01:13:52,210 --> 01:13:53,254
- Come on.
- [laughter]
1627
01:13:53,429 --> 01:13:54,386
Hey, man.
1628
01:13:54,560 --> 01:13:57,389
- What a dork.
- "Dork"?
1629
01:13:57,563 --> 01:13:59,478
[young Matthew]
I wasn't talking to you.
1630
01:13:59,652 --> 01:14:01,088
I'm going to read a poem
by Alexandra Reeve.
1631
01:14:01,262 --> 01:14:02,612
Oh, Dad, please.
1632
01:14:02,786 --> 01:14:03,961
[Chris] Alexandra's gonna
read a poem
1633
01:14:04,135 --> 01:14:05,658
- by Alexandra Reeve.
- No, I'm not.
1634
01:14:05,832 --> 01:14:07,312
[Chris] I'm gonna read
a poem by Alexandra Reeve.
1635
01:14:07,486 --> 01:14:09,706
- [young Al] No, Dad, please.
- "My poetry. By me."
1636
01:14:09,880 --> 01:14:11,229
[all laughing]
1637
01:14:13,318 --> 01:14:15,581
[Chris] It's finally only in
this relationship with Dana,
1638
01:14:15,755 --> 01:14:18,366
where I began to see
marriage is a freedom.
1639
01:14:18,541 --> 01:14:20,978
It's an opportunity.
It's a team, you know.
1640
01:14:21,152 --> 01:14:22,675
Is there anything missing
in your life?
1641
01:14:22,849 --> 01:14:25,199
A hit movie would be nice.
1642
01:14:25,373 --> 01:14:28,681
[Dana] And we got married,
eventually.
1643
01:14:28,855 --> 01:14:30,683
[audience laughing]
1644
01:14:30,857 --> 01:14:33,425
Five years later.
1645
01:14:33,599 --> 01:14:36,036
The "I commit" part
took a little while
1646
01:14:36,210 --> 01:14:37,908
to, uh, work itself out.
1647
01:14:38,082 --> 01:14:39,518
- [audience member laughs]
- [laughs]
1648
01:14:39,692 --> 01:14:40,998
One person laughing.
1649
01:14:41,172 --> 01:14:43,000
The rest of you
are all like, "I know."
1650
01:14:43,174 --> 01:14:44,349
[audience laughs]
1651
01:14:44,523 --> 01:14:46,612
[romantic classical
music playing]
1652
01:14:55,752 --> 01:14:59,582
I love you. [chuckles]
I marry you.
1653
01:14:59,756 --> 01:15:03,194
I give you this ring
as a symbol of my vow.
1654
01:15:03,368 --> 01:15:04,761
[guests cheering]
1655
01:15:08,895 --> 01:15:10,244
[Jay Leno] Gonna start
a family,
1656
01:15:10,418 --> 01:15:11,985
you've got the whole thing
planned?
1657
01:15:12,159 --> 01:15:13,596
Yeah, well, actually,
we have a son on the way...
1658
01:15:13,770 --> 01:15:15,119
who's coming late in June.
1659
01:15:15,293 --> 01:15:16,207
I see you've sort of
started the family.
1660
01:15:16,381 --> 01:15:16,860
We have started the family.
1661
01:15:19,340 --> 01:15:20,385
[Dana] Action.
1662
01:15:22,909 --> 01:15:24,215
Action, Will.
1663
01:15:29,742 --> 01:15:31,004
- Can't you tell?
- [laughs]
1664
01:15:32,789 --> 01:15:34,573
[Dana] Oh, God, honey,
you'll hurt yourself.
1665
01:15:34,747 --> 01:15:36,140
You won't be able
to get it off.
1666
01:15:37,315 --> 01:15:39,883
We were talking in the office.
1667
01:15:40,057 --> 01:15:43,713
He was so angry, and he said,
"I wish I could do something,
1668
01:15:43,887 --> 01:15:45,976
move a piece of paper,
anything."
1669
01:15:47,151 --> 01:15:48,674
And it was, um,
1670
01:15:48,848 --> 01:15:50,937
where you would
normally gesture.
1671
01:15:51,111 --> 01:15:52,983
And I was noticing
that when he would do it,
1672
01:15:53,157 --> 01:15:55,159
he would go... You know,
his finger would move.
1673
01:16:02,862 --> 01:16:05,778
[Matthew] He hadn't moved
anything in six years.
1674
01:16:05,952 --> 01:16:07,301
I don't know what it means,
1675
01:16:07,475 --> 01:16:09,129
but it, like, it means
something surely.
1676
01:16:10,478 --> 01:16:12,002
[Al] They had fun with it, too.
1677
01:16:12,176 --> 01:16:13,873
I remember one day Matthew
came home from college
1678
01:16:14,047 --> 01:16:16,615
and he had bought a little
gift for Dad's wheelchair.
1679
01:16:16,789 --> 01:16:18,399
An eject button
1680
01:16:18,574 --> 01:16:20,314
that we put under his finger.
1681
01:16:20,488 --> 01:16:22,490
[stirring music playing]
1682
01:16:29,976 --> 01:16:32,675
[Al] Dad started regaining
elements of movement.
1683
01:16:41,074 --> 01:16:43,860
And they were small,
but so meaningful.
1684
01:16:46,602 --> 01:16:48,038
[people cheering]
1685
01:16:51,563 --> 01:16:53,304
Hours' worth of gym
right here.
1686
01:16:53,478 --> 01:16:54,740
[laughter]
1687
01:16:56,655 --> 01:16:59,527
- Push, push, push.
- Push.
1688
01:16:59,702 --> 01:17:01,399
[man] There he goes.
There he goes.
1689
01:17:02,574 --> 01:17:03,923
[laughter]
1690
01:17:04,097 --> 01:17:05,882
Oh, my God. [laughs]
1691
01:17:07,448 --> 01:17:09,102
[woman] Go hard. Real hard.
1692
01:17:15,805 --> 01:17:17,589
[Chris] My spirits rose
1693
01:17:17,763 --> 01:17:19,635
with the possibility that
I was on the road to recovery.
1694
01:17:28,339 --> 01:17:31,211
[Dana] You do have to learn
to walk the fine line
1695
01:17:31,385 --> 01:17:34,824
between hope
without expectation.
1696
01:17:34,998 --> 01:17:37,522
As soon as you start
expecting something,
1697
01:17:37,696 --> 01:17:39,350
the disappointment
is so much more ferocious.
1698
01:17:39,524 --> 01:17:40,612
You know, I think
if he could have
1699
01:17:40,786 --> 01:17:42,092
just gotten off
the ventilator.
1700
01:17:42,266 --> 01:17:44,442
Oh, my God,
and he practiced so much.
1701
01:17:44,616 --> 01:17:46,139
It was brutal to watch.
1702
01:17:46,313 --> 01:17:47,706
[machine beeping]
1703
01:17:49,142 --> 01:17:50,100
[grunts softly]
1704
01:17:51,405 --> 01:17:52,842
[grunts]
1705
01:17:53,016 --> 01:17:56,019
But the strength
of the muscles weren't present
1706
01:17:56,193 --> 01:17:59,675
to give him enough ability
to wean off completely.
1707
01:18:01,764 --> 01:18:02,721
All right.
1708
01:18:05,724 --> 01:18:07,683
[brooding music playing]
1709
01:18:11,121 --> 01:18:12,949
[Al] He wanted
to give people hope.
1710
01:18:13,863 --> 01:18:15,952
But it was really hard
1711
01:18:16,126 --> 01:18:18,302
and he did not show that
to the world.
1712
01:18:19,825 --> 01:18:21,348
[Chris] What's really curious
1713
01:18:21,522 --> 01:18:24,003
is that in all the time
since my injury,
1714
01:18:24,177 --> 01:18:26,484
I've never once had a dream
1715
01:18:26,658 --> 01:18:28,355
in which I've been
in a wheelchair.
1716
01:18:29,879 --> 01:18:31,445
It's easy to sink
into a depression.
1717
01:18:32,751 --> 01:18:34,405
And you have to get him out.
1718
01:18:34,579 --> 01:18:36,146
We had a list of people
we'd call
1719
01:18:36,320 --> 01:18:37,582
if we weren't good enough.
[chuckles]
1720
01:18:37,756 --> 01:18:39,323
We'd call brother Robin.
1721
01:18:40,803 --> 01:18:42,369
[laughter and chatter]
1722
01:18:44,502 --> 01:18:46,286
- Oh, God. What?
- No, they were sliding down.
1723
01:18:46,460 --> 01:18:48,332
Now, every time
you move this...
1724
01:18:48,506 --> 01:18:51,117
[Close] Another thing that
Robin and Marsha did was that
1725
01:18:51,291 --> 01:18:53,990
on the anniversary
of the accident,
1726
01:18:54,164 --> 01:18:56,644
every year,
they would get a chef
1727
01:18:56,819 --> 01:18:58,342
at Chris and Dana's house
1728
01:18:58,516 --> 01:19:00,083
and have a great party.
1729
01:19:00,257 --> 01:19:02,520
Made it into
a point of celebration and...
1730
01:19:03,695 --> 01:19:06,263
appreciate life.
1731
01:19:06,437 --> 01:19:07,873
That was Marsha and Robin.
1732
01:19:10,354 --> 01:19:13,749
[Chris] Robin and I,
we laugh as much as ever,
1733
01:19:13,923 --> 01:19:16,621
but we hardly
ever talk about disability.
1734
01:19:16,795 --> 01:19:19,232
We hardly ever,
ever talk about the chair.
1735
01:19:21,757 --> 01:19:23,106
[Sarandon]
Robin also had struggles
1736
01:19:23,280 --> 01:19:24,977
that he dealt with
his whole life.
1737
01:19:25,151 --> 01:19:26,762
And I think that there...
1738
01:19:26,936 --> 01:19:29,373
Despite the way they look
and their facade,
1739
01:19:29,547 --> 01:19:32,332
that they both
were aware of darkness.
1740
01:19:32,506 --> 01:19:33,856
[tapping on back]
1741
01:19:35,640 --> 01:19:37,773
One, two, three.
1742
01:19:37,947 --> 01:19:39,949
[Manganiello] You know,
Chris' level of injury
1743
01:19:40,123 --> 01:19:42,908
was so dramatic and so severe,
1744
01:19:43,082 --> 01:19:46,390
I just think
it's a lonely existence.
1745
01:19:46,564 --> 01:19:48,174
[Will] Which must've
been hell for him.
1746
01:19:48,348 --> 01:19:49,872
And must've been hell
for my mom, too,
1747
01:19:50,046 --> 01:19:52,744
knowing the man
she fell in love with
1748
01:19:52,918 --> 01:19:56,487
had this whole part of him
taken forever.
1749
01:19:57,923 --> 01:19:59,969
I found this
in one of her journals.
1750
01:20:01,709 --> 01:20:03,146
"I've been studying
the difference
1751
01:20:03,320 --> 01:20:05,844
between solitude
and loneliness.
1752
01:20:06,018 --> 01:20:08,847
Telling the story of my life
to the clean, white towels
1753
01:20:09,021 --> 01:20:12,895
taken warm from the dryer
and held to my chest.
1754
01:20:13,069 --> 01:20:15,854
A sad substitute for a body
pulled in close.
1755
01:20:18,204 --> 01:20:20,206
The whole man
took his last walk
1756
01:20:20,380 --> 01:20:23,427
away from me
five years ago today,
1757
01:20:23,601 --> 01:20:27,257
leaving only mind, soul,
heart and heartache behind.
1758
01:20:29,259 --> 01:20:31,522
I think of him
in certain lights.
1759
01:20:31,696 --> 01:20:33,524
Dawn, late afternoon,
1760
01:20:33,698 --> 01:20:36,048
bright, windy days that would
be perfect for sailing."
1761
01:20:39,356 --> 01:20:40,531
[sighs]
1762
01:20:40,705 --> 01:20:43,534
"I miss most, even now,
his hands,
1763
01:20:43,708 --> 01:20:46,885
the expressive grace
and heft of them.
1764
01:20:47,059 --> 01:20:49,453
The heat of his hands
on my skin.
1765
01:20:49,627 --> 01:20:50,846
The wrap of his arms,
1766
01:20:51,020 --> 01:20:52,238
two becoming one.
1767
01:20:54,197 --> 01:20:56,373
I carry the stack of towels
upstairs,
1768
01:20:56,547 --> 01:20:59,637
carefully cradling them
so as not to let them tumble.
1769
01:21:00,594 --> 01:21:02,422
Save one still damp,
1770
01:21:02,596 --> 01:21:06,383
the top one I had pressed
against my face,
1771
01:21:06,557 --> 01:21:08,428
which needs more time
for drying."
1772
01:21:13,564 --> 01:21:15,522
That's what she was enduring.
1773
01:21:16,915 --> 01:21:18,264
That's what she had lost...
1774
01:21:23,139 --> 01:21:24,140
when my dad got hurt.
1775
01:21:28,971 --> 01:21:30,102
- You good?
- [Chris] Mm-hmm.
1776
01:21:31,799 --> 01:21:33,366
- But...
- [both laugh]
1777
01:21:33,540 --> 01:21:34,759
You gotta grab on.
1778
01:21:34,933 --> 01:21:35,934
I know.
1779
01:21:37,153 --> 01:21:38,806
- Ha ha.
- [Dana laughs]
1780
01:21:38,981 --> 01:21:40,678
- God.
- Come on, let's go in.
1781
01:21:40,852 --> 01:21:42,375
[Al] Dana did what Dana does,
1782
01:21:42,549 --> 01:21:46,075
which was find ways
to rally around him.
1783
01:21:46,249 --> 01:21:47,641
And Dad did what Dad did,
1784
01:21:47,815 --> 01:21:49,774
which was go down
through the valley
1785
01:21:49,948 --> 01:21:52,342
and then go back up
to the hilltop again.
1786
01:21:52,516 --> 01:21:54,779
[Chris] I see
it's like a game of cards.
1787
01:21:54,953 --> 01:21:57,651
And if you think
the game is worthwhile,
1788
01:21:57,825 --> 01:22:00,089
then you just play
the hand you're dealt.
1789
01:22:00,263 --> 01:22:02,091
I think the game's worthwhile.
I really do.
1790
01:22:03,744 --> 01:22:06,399
I thought it would be
a good thing
1791
01:22:06,573 --> 01:22:09,533
for me to tell
one really good story
1792
01:22:09,707 --> 01:22:14,799
about a family dealing
with a devastating event.
1793
01:22:14,973 --> 01:22:18,107
[Ellison] The phone rang
and it was a man saying,
1794
01:22:18,281 --> 01:22:22,198
"I have Christopher Reeve here
on the line for you.
1795
01:22:22,372 --> 01:22:24,591
Would you like
to talk to him?"
1796
01:22:24,765 --> 01:22:26,550
And he said,
1797
01:22:26,724 --> 01:22:29,596
"I have long wanted
to tell the story of somebody
1798
01:22:29,770 --> 01:22:32,730
who lived
with ventilator-dependent
quadriplegia.
1799
01:22:32,904 --> 01:22:34,601
So people have
a better understanding
1800
01:22:34,775 --> 01:22:38,170
of what it's like
to live with quadriplegia."
1801
01:22:38,344 --> 01:22:40,129
[Chris] She's
an extraordinary person
1802
01:22:40,303 --> 01:22:43,654
because her mind
is sharp as a razor
1803
01:22:43,828 --> 01:22:46,004
and the devotion and loyalty
of her family
1804
01:22:46,178 --> 01:22:48,267
is totally amazing.
1805
01:22:48,441 --> 01:22:51,662
She applied to Harvard,
and she got in.
1806
01:22:51,836 --> 01:22:55,318
Her mother, Jean,
went with her every day.
1807
01:22:55,492 --> 01:22:58,669
They lived together.
They ate together.
1808
01:22:58,843 --> 01:23:02,064
Brooke graduated
with a degree in neuroscience.
1809
01:23:02,238 --> 01:23:03,413
Both my mother and I
1810
01:23:03,587 --> 01:23:06,851
have learned so much
from all of you.
1811
01:23:07,025 --> 01:23:09,114
What we hope
you can learn from us
1812
01:23:09,288 --> 01:23:11,595
and from each other
1813
01:23:11,769 --> 01:23:14,293
is to take no one
in your life for granted.
1814
01:23:16,208 --> 01:23:17,122
[woman on screen]
What we really hope
1815
01:23:17,296 --> 01:23:18,428
you can learn from us...
1816
01:23:19,907 --> 01:23:22,475
is to take no one
in your life for granted.
1817
01:23:27,785 --> 01:23:29,700
[Chris] It would be great
if this film
1818
01:23:29,874 --> 01:23:31,876
would cause
families everywhere
1819
01:23:32,050 --> 01:23:34,661
to think about how they're
really doing in their family.
1820
01:23:34,835 --> 01:23:37,360
You know, what are the bonds?
Is the love there?
1821
01:23:37,534 --> 01:23:39,884
- [chuckles]
- I think it probably happened.
1822
01:23:40,058 --> 01:23:42,365
[Matthew] There was
a huge shift in my dad
1823
01:23:42,539 --> 01:23:44,410
from the time
after the accident.
1824
01:23:44,584 --> 01:23:46,151
Happy Father's Day, Father.
1825
01:23:46,325 --> 01:23:48,675
- Hey.
- [Matthew] Hello there.
Is it in?
1826
01:23:48,849 --> 01:23:51,287
His entire approach
to parenting changed.
1827
01:23:51,461 --> 01:23:53,202
He started really to see us
1828
01:23:53,376 --> 01:23:55,378
and to connect to us
as people.
1829
01:23:55,552 --> 01:23:57,336
[Matthew] Being together
and talking
1830
01:23:57,510 --> 01:24:00,383
was far more valuable
and meaningful
1831
01:24:00,557 --> 01:24:03,734
than doing all those crazy
physical activities.
1832
01:24:03,908 --> 01:24:06,954
[Chris] I was a sailor.
I was a skier. I was a rider.
1833
01:24:07,129 --> 01:24:09,174
I traveled everywhere.
1834
01:24:09,348 --> 01:24:13,048
And you realize
that is not the definition
1835
01:24:13,222 --> 01:24:15,354
or the essence
of your existence.
1836
01:24:15,528 --> 01:24:18,314
What is the essence
are relationships.
1837
01:24:18,488 --> 01:24:20,011
[Dana chuckles]
You're gonna regret this.
1838
01:24:20,185 --> 01:24:21,969
[Chris laughs]
1839
01:24:22,144 --> 01:24:23,971
Daddy's in
his off-road vehicle.
1840
01:24:24,146 --> 01:24:26,409
[Will] My dad taught me
how to ride a bike,
1841
01:24:26,583 --> 01:24:28,541
which is quite remarkable
1842
01:24:28,715 --> 01:24:31,414
considering he wasn't
able to move.
1843
01:24:31,588 --> 01:24:33,807
[Dana] How does it feel
to be riding your bike, sir?
1844
01:24:33,981 --> 01:24:36,723
- Good.
- [Dana laughs]
1845
01:24:36,897 --> 01:24:39,117
[Chris] If someone had told me
before my injury
1846
01:24:39,291 --> 01:24:40,858
that you could teach a kid
to ride on his own
1847
01:24:41,032 --> 01:24:42,512
just by talking to him,
1848
01:24:42,686 --> 01:24:45,167
I would have said that
that was impossible.
1849
01:24:45,341 --> 01:24:47,517
In my case,
a catastrophic event
1850
01:24:47,691 --> 01:24:49,649
was probably necessary
to change my perspective.
1851
01:24:51,825 --> 01:24:54,698
I needed to break my neck
to learn some of this stuff.
1852
01:24:55,786 --> 01:24:57,440
[man] Matthew Exton Reeve.
1853
01:24:57,614 --> 01:24:59,616
[cheers and applause]
1854
01:25:05,012 --> 01:25:06,449
Oh, so proud of you.
1855
01:25:08,929 --> 01:25:10,322
[Exton] It was the accident
1856
01:25:10,496 --> 01:25:12,498
that brought us
closer together
1857
01:25:12,672 --> 01:25:14,109
without a shadow of a doubt.
1858
01:25:16,023 --> 01:25:17,590
Together like this.
1859
01:25:22,160 --> 01:25:24,554
[Chris] For the first time
since the accident,
1860
01:25:24,728 --> 01:25:27,296
I've seen my life
as a continual timeline
1861
01:25:28,775 --> 01:25:32,562
instead of before and after,
1862
01:25:32,736 --> 01:25:34,781
being on my feet
and being seated.
1863
01:25:36,870 --> 01:25:39,830
It's all part
of the total story.
1864
01:25:40,004 --> 01:25:41,962
[sentimental music playing]
1865
01:25:46,358 --> 01:25:49,274
Things were good.
Things were going well enough
1866
01:25:49,448 --> 01:25:51,624
that Dana actually took
a play in California,
1867
01:25:51,798 --> 01:25:53,496
leaving Dad and Will at home.
1868
01:25:53,670 --> 01:25:56,890
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
1869
01:25:57,064 --> 01:25:59,328
[Matthew] She had,
like, two nights off.
She came home.
1870
01:25:59,502 --> 01:26:02,679
We had a very
totally informal,
just dinner.
1871
01:26:02,853 --> 01:26:05,377
- [Dana] Some of them
are sparklers.
- [Matthew] He turned 52.
1872
01:26:05,551 --> 01:26:07,292
[Dana] If you blow one out,
I'll do the rest.
1873
01:26:08,467 --> 01:26:09,729
Put it a little closer.
1874
01:26:11,514 --> 01:26:13,080
- Oh, yeah!
- [kids cheering]
1875
01:26:13,255 --> 01:26:15,692
[Al] Things were good, and then
1876
01:26:16,562 --> 01:26:17,694
they weren't.
1877
01:26:23,526 --> 01:26:25,310
All right, here comes Will,
here comes Will.
1878
01:26:27,138 --> 01:26:28,879
[Will] He mentioned
this infection
1879
01:26:29,053 --> 01:26:30,489
that wasn't going away.
1880
01:26:30,663 --> 01:26:32,404
He was frustrated.
1881
01:26:32,578 --> 01:26:34,276
I came home.
1882
01:26:34,450 --> 01:26:37,975
Our favorite baseball team
were playing in the playoffs,
1883
01:26:38,149 --> 01:26:40,412
so I would rub his head
for good luck.
1884
01:26:40,586 --> 01:26:42,371
The Yankees came back and won.
1885
01:26:44,547 --> 01:26:48,246
At some point, after midnight,
1886
01:26:48,420 --> 01:26:52,772
my bedroom door slammed open
and it was the nurse on duty.
1887
01:26:52,946 --> 01:26:55,340
"Will, something bad
has happened.
1888
01:26:55,514 --> 01:26:57,864
Your dad has fallen
into a coma."
1889
01:27:00,563 --> 01:27:02,042
[Al] It was the middle
of the night
1890
01:27:02,217 --> 01:27:03,566
and it was Dana calling.
1891
01:27:03,740 --> 01:27:05,959
She just said,
"Al, it's really serious.
1892
01:27:06,133 --> 01:27:07,483
You need to go home now."
1893
01:27:07,657 --> 01:27:09,006
She was trying
to hold it together,
1894
01:27:09,180 --> 01:27:10,573
but she sounded so scared
1895
01:27:10,747 --> 01:27:13,793
and I'd never heard
my mom scared before.
1896
01:27:13,967 --> 01:27:16,231
She was getting home
as fast as she could.
1897
01:27:17,406 --> 01:27:19,625
I called my mom, told her.
1898
01:27:19,799 --> 01:27:23,542
We were on a plane
a few hours later.
1899
01:27:23,716 --> 01:27:27,198
[Al] There we were,
back in an ICU again.
1900
01:27:27,372 --> 01:27:29,809
Both Michael and I go in,
Chris is unconscious,
1901
01:27:29,983 --> 01:27:32,682
and we just start holding
his hand, chatting with him.
1902
01:27:32,856 --> 01:27:36,033
The hope was that they would
somehow turn it around.
1903
01:27:36,207 --> 01:27:39,732
But he just wasn't stable.
His body would keep crashing.
1904
01:27:39,906 --> 01:27:42,474
I think he died three
or four times that day.
1905
01:27:42,648 --> 01:27:44,476
Um, and the doctors
kept him alive.
1906
01:27:44,650 --> 01:27:46,391
They kept resuscitating him
1907
01:27:46,565 --> 01:27:48,132
to make sure
that Dana got there.
1908
01:27:48,306 --> 01:27:49,655
And, uh...
1909
01:27:52,397 --> 01:27:54,704
And then in front of me
steps my mom.
1910
01:27:55,966 --> 01:27:58,969
She came flying in. [sniffles]
1911
01:27:59,143 --> 01:28:02,755
And she just yelled,
"I love you, I love you."
1912
01:28:02,929 --> 01:28:03,800
[sobbing]
1913
01:28:05,062 --> 01:28:07,456
Over and over again,
1914
01:28:07,630 --> 01:28:10,415
making sure he could hear it.
She was going to reach him.
1915
01:28:12,548 --> 01:28:14,463
Certainly, a part of her
had just died
1916
01:28:14,637 --> 01:28:16,029
in that moment as well.
[voice quivering]
1917
01:28:16,682 --> 01:28:17,770
And...
1918
01:28:19,598 --> 01:28:20,773
I told him
1919
01:28:22,209 --> 01:28:23,515
that I loved him.
1920
01:28:24,864 --> 01:28:26,257
I would do whatever I could
1921
01:28:28,259 --> 01:28:29,434
to make him proud.
1922
01:28:29,608 --> 01:28:31,393
[soft music playing]
1923
01:28:31,567 --> 01:28:33,003
And then he was gone.
1924
01:28:39,357 --> 01:28:40,315
[sniffles]
1925
01:28:42,404 --> 01:28:44,057
Um...
1926
01:28:44,231 --> 01:28:47,757
I was in the back of a taxi
on my way to the hospital
1927
01:28:47,931 --> 01:28:50,281
when my sister called me
and said he was gone. Um...
1928
01:28:55,112 --> 01:28:56,679
[sighs deeply]
1929
01:29:01,553 --> 01:29:03,903
[somber choral music playing]
1930
01:29:08,908 --> 01:29:10,649
[newscaster 1]
Good morning, everyone.
1931
01:29:10,823 --> 01:29:12,825
Christopher Reeve is being
remembered this morning
1932
01:29:12,999 --> 01:29:14,827
as a courageous
and inspirational person
1933
01:29:15,001 --> 01:29:16,916
who provided hope
to millions of people.
1934
01:29:21,312 --> 01:29:22,748
[newscaster 2] Condolences
are still pouring in
1935
01:29:22,922 --> 01:29:25,229
around the world today
for Christopher Reeve
1936
01:29:25,403 --> 01:29:27,971
two days after his death
at the age of 52.
1937
01:29:28,145 --> 01:29:29,799
Friends and admirers alike
1938
01:29:29,973 --> 01:29:31,540
all have one word
to describe him.
1939
01:29:31,714 --> 01:29:32,845
"Hero."
1940
01:29:40,549 --> 01:29:42,638
[Manganiello] He never rested.
He just didn't.
1941
01:29:42,812 --> 01:29:45,597
And I think, you know,
after all those years,
1942
01:29:45,771 --> 01:29:47,077
people were looking
for some answer.
1943
01:29:47,251 --> 01:29:48,948
It was a bedsore,
it was... It wasn't.
1944
01:29:49,122 --> 01:29:50,167
It was just system breakdown.
1945
01:29:51,777 --> 01:29:53,039
[Hawkins] We knew
this day was coming.
1946
01:29:53,213 --> 01:29:54,650
You know it's coming
at some point.
1947
01:29:54,824 --> 01:29:56,173
It's inevitable.
1948
01:29:56,347 --> 01:29:57,740
But we'd gotten
so used to Chris
1949
01:29:57,914 --> 01:29:59,481
just outliving everything.
1950
01:30:03,006 --> 01:30:04,573
[applause]
1951
01:30:07,837 --> 01:30:09,012
[crowd laughs]
1952
01:30:10,840 --> 01:30:12,624
Just have to water
the stem cells there
1953
01:30:12,798 --> 01:30:14,409
- for a moment.
- [crowd laughs]
1954
01:30:16,541 --> 01:30:20,502
But I've always considered him
basically, uh, my brother.
1955
01:30:20,676 --> 01:30:22,634
I was his fool, but that's it.
1956
01:30:22,808 --> 01:30:23,722
[laughter]
1957
01:30:23,896 --> 01:30:25,637
Someone's got to do it.
1958
01:30:25,811 --> 01:30:27,900
As ordered
and as all things were...
1959
01:30:28,074 --> 01:30:29,554
that he knew were precise,
1960
01:30:29,728 --> 01:30:33,732
I was chaos for him.
And that was joy.
1961
01:30:33,906 --> 01:30:34,864
[Hawkins] I don't know
that I've ever seen
1962
01:30:35,038 --> 01:30:36,561
a sadder person in my life...
1963
01:30:36,735 --> 01:30:39,477
like, just, I mean,
I look at him and I just...
1964
01:30:39,651 --> 01:30:43,002
You wanted to break down
in tears. He was just so sad.
1965
01:30:43,176 --> 01:30:45,614
I've always felt
if Chris was still around,
1966
01:30:45,788 --> 01:30:47,442
Robin would still be alive.
1967
01:30:50,532 --> 01:30:51,489
I believe that.
1968
01:30:54,100 --> 01:30:55,450
Goodnight, sweet prince,
1969
01:30:55,624 --> 01:30:57,321
flights of angels
send thee to thy rest.
1970
01:30:57,495 --> 01:30:58,975
[applause]
1971
01:31:02,500 --> 01:31:04,415
[Dana] I made a vow to Chris
when we married
1972
01:31:04,589 --> 01:31:08,201
that I would love him.
And I would be with him
1973
01:31:08,375 --> 01:31:10,290
in sickness and in health.
1974
01:31:10,465 --> 01:31:12,249
And I did okay with that.
1975
01:31:12,423 --> 01:31:15,992
But there's another vow
that I need to amend today.
1976
01:31:16,166 --> 01:31:19,386
I promised to love, honor,
and cherish him
1977
01:31:19,561 --> 01:31:21,737
till death did us part.
1978
01:31:21,911 --> 01:31:23,086
Well, I can't do that.
1979
01:31:24,740 --> 01:31:26,742
Because I will love...
[crying softly]
1980
01:31:32,791 --> 01:31:37,492
honor and cherish him forever.
1981
01:31:40,190 --> 01:31:41,583
Goodbye to you.
1982
01:31:50,983 --> 01:31:52,158
[birds chirping]
1983
01:32:00,515 --> 01:32:02,517
[pensive music playing]
1984
01:32:08,000 --> 01:32:10,873
[Will] After my dad died,
it was just me and my mom.
1985
01:32:11,047 --> 01:32:12,352
It felt strange.
1986
01:32:16,618 --> 01:32:20,143
[Al] We gave the van to a boy
in New Hampshire.
1987
01:32:20,317 --> 01:32:21,797
Absolutely changed his life
1988
01:32:21,971 --> 01:32:23,102
because he couldn't go
anywhere before that.
1989
01:32:25,017 --> 01:32:27,019
[Matthew] It was hard
'cause the foundation lost
1990
01:32:27,193 --> 01:32:29,892
its biggest advocate,
its biggest magnet.
1991
01:32:30,066 --> 01:32:34,157
But Dana stepped in
and helped fill that void.
1992
01:32:34,331 --> 01:32:36,202
[cheers and applause]
1993
01:32:36,376 --> 01:32:40,206
[Kerry] Despite the sorrow,
the loss, the pain,
1994
01:32:40,380 --> 01:32:42,165
she thought
it was important for her
1995
01:32:42,339 --> 01:32:45,472
to make Chris' voice
heard through her.
1996
01:32:47,779 --> 01:32:49,215
I've been trying
to help the children
1997
01:32:49,389 --> 01:32:53,089
start to piece together
a life without their dad.
1998
01:32:53,263 --> 01:32:56,048
[Will] She was so full of life
and full of hope
1999
01:32:56,222 --> 01:32:59,661
that while she had lost
a part of her soul
2000
01:32:59,835 --> 01:33:01,532
when my dad died,
2001
01:33:01,706 --> 01:33:04,100
I think she stayed true
to her belief
2002
01:33:04,274 --> 01:33:06,232
that there's not enough time
in the day for self-pity
2003
01:33:06,406 --> 01:33:09,061
and you gotta
get on with things.
2004
01:33:09,235 --> 01:33:12,674
[Hawkins] A Broadway composer
asked her to sing.
2005
01:33:12,848 --> 01:33:15,372
- ♪ His is the only...♪
- [piano playing]
2006
01:33:15,546 --> 01:33:16,808
Really, it's like... urgh.
2007
01:33:16,982 --> 01:33:18,331
It feels... it's...
how does...
2008
01:33:18,505 --> 01:33:20,116
It feels like it's maybe
just a little tight.
2009
01:33:20,290 --> 01:33:22,161
I think it's from my...
[forces a cough]
2010
01:33:22,335 --> 01:33:23,685
[Hawkins] And she has
this little cough.
2011
01:33:25,556 --> 01:33:27,166
[coughing]
2012
01:33:27,340 --> 01:33:28,994
♪ Never let him go ♪
2013
01:33:29,168 --> 01:33:31,083
[Al] She couldn't figure out
what was going on.
2014
01:33:31,257 --> 01:33:33,608
It just wouldn't go away,
and her back was hurting.
2015
01:33:34,739 --> 01:33:35,914
[Hawkins] I was like, "Dana,
2016
01:33:36,088 --> 01:33:37,002
I'm getting you
to a doctor."
2017
01:33:44,227 --> 01:33:46,664
And sure enough,
came back lung cancer.
2018
01:33:50,102 --> 01:33:51,930
We got the first results,
2019
01:33:52,104 --> 01:33:55,412
and Michael called me up,
and he's like,
2020
01:33:55,586 --> 01:33:57,457
"Did you guys go to, like,
Labs"R"Us?"
2021
01:33:57,632 --> 01:33:59,111
Like, "No, we're going
to a real lab."
2022
01:34:01,113 --> 01:34:04,726
The diagnosis
was stage four non-small cell.
2023
01:34:04,900 --> 01:34:06,336
[Al] And she got that diagnosis
2024
01:34:06,510 --> 01:34:08,686
less than a year
after we'd lost my dad.
2025
01:34:10,296 --> 01:34:11,820
[Hawkins] I'm still in shock.
2026
01:34:11,994 --> 01:34:13,386
"You've never smoked
a day in your life.
2027
01:34:13,560 --> 01:34:15,345
You're so healthy."
2028
01:34:15,519 --> 01:34:18,696
I mean, it was just so wrong.
It was really, really wrong.
2029
01:34:18,870 --> 01:34:21,046
[Manganiello]
Dana was so brave.
2030
01:34:21,220 --> 01:34:23,135
I mean, she was just like,
"Okay, I'll do whatever
I need to do."
2031
01:34:23,309 --> 01:34:24,789
Because the last thing
on this planet
2032
01:34:24,963 --> 01:34:26,225
she was gonna do
was leave that kid.
2033
01:34:26,399 --> 01:34:27,792
Wasn't gonna happen.
2034
01:34:27,966 --> 01:34:29,881
[Oprah] What are you
most proud of
2035
01:34:30,055 --> 01:34:32,101
in this past nine
and a half years?
2036
01:34:32,275 --> 01:34:34,059
- [laughing]
He's sitting right there.
- [Oprah] Yeah.
2037
01:34:34,233 --> 01:34:35,408
That's what I'm most proud of.
2038
01:34:35,582 --> 01:34:36,801
- [Oprah] Yeah. Yeah.
- [applause]
2039
01:34:36,975 --> 01:34:38,542
I'm so... I'm so proud.
2040
01:34:40,370 --> 01:34:41,327
[Oprah] Yeah.
2041
01:34:41,501 --> 01:34:43,678
I am. We have extraordinary...
2042
01:34:43,852 --> 01:34:46,550
We have extraordinary kids.
2043
01:34:46,724 --> 01:34:49,901
[Will] Matthew moved home
and was unbelievable.
2044
01:34:50,075 --> 01:34:53,557
He was acting as a dad.
He was acting as a brother,
2045
01:34:53,731 --> 01:34:54,732
as a best friend.
2046
01:34:54,906 --> 01:34:56,168
He took care of me.
2047
01:34:56,342 --> 01:34:58,518
And he took care
of my mom and he...
2048
01:34:58,693 --> 01:35:01,173
he made life
feel normal. Um...
2049
01:35:03,654 --> 01:35:05,395
[Matthew] Dana had sat us down
2050
01:35:05,569 --> 01:35:07,789
and she made it very clear
kind of what...
2051
01:35:08,790 --> 01:35:11,967
she had in mind for,
2052
01:35:12,141 --> 01:35:14,273
you know,
should anything happen to her.
2053
01:35:14,447 --> 01:35:16,841
I think we were all in denial.
2054
01:35:17,015 --> 01:35:19,626
You know, I don't know
what it is with that family
and hope,
2055
01:35:19,801 --> 01:35:23,630
but it's like Chris knew
he was going to walk again.
2056
01:35:23,805 --> 01:35:26,285
Dana just knew
she was gonna survive this.
2057
01:35:26,459 --> 01:35:27,896
[Dana] Well,
I had a great model.
2058
01:35:28,070 --> 01:35:32,074
Um, I was married to a man
who never gave up.
2059
01:35:32,248 --> 01:35:35,381
He taught me so much
about courage
2060
01:35:35,555 --> 01:35:37,253
and about going forward,
2061
01:35:37,427 --> 01:35:41,997
and he really lives
with me in this.
2062
01:35:42,171 --> 01:35:46,175
She got sick pretty quickly.
It got serious pretty fast.
2063
01:35:49,613 --> 01:35:52,268
[Will] Marsha Williams put us
up in a hotel in New York.
2064
01:35:52,442 --> 01:35:55,532
Matthew, Al, and I in a room.
I was on the cot.
2065
01:35:55,706 --> 01:35:57,577
At some point,
the phone rings...
2066
01:36:00,363 --> 01:36:01,843
with the news
2067
01:36:03,409 --> 01:36:04,889
that my mom had died.
2068
01:36:07,283 --> 01:36:10,373
And I remember being awake
2069
01:36:11,896 --> 01:36:15,204
but pretending I was asleep.
2070
01:36:16,118 --> 01:36:17,336
Because
2071
01:36:18,424 --> 01:36:20,122
I didn't want to face it.
2072
01:36:23,952 --> 01:36:26,041
[melancholy music playing]
2073
01:36:32,351 --> 01:36:34,136
And so, I waited
for the sun to rise
2074
01:36:34,310 --> 01:36:36,181
and then shook him
on the shoulder
2075
01:36:36,355 --> 01:36:37,487
and we told him.
2076
01:36:40,925 --> 01:36:43,101
So, in 18 months,
2077
01:36:43,275 --> 01:36:45,016
Will lost his dad,
2078
01:36:45,190 --> 01:36:47,932
his grandmother, who he was
really close to, and his mom.
2079
01:36:51,153 --> 01:36:56,462
Despite the love
and security that...
2080
01:36:56,636 --> 01:36:59,552
my siblings provided me
and my family provided me
2081
01:36:59,726 --> 01:37:01,293
and my adoptive family
provides me,
2082
01:37:01,467 --> 01:37:02,817
that was the moment,
2083
01:37:04,079 --> 01:37:07,473
March 6, 2006, that was...
2084
01:37:07,647 --> 01:37:10,389
I've... I've been alone
since then. [sniffles]
2085
01:37:21,618 --> 01:37:23,881
[slow inspirational
music playing]
2086
01:37:30,670 --> 01:37:33,456
[Chris] You can say that the
universe is totally random.
2087
01:37:33,630 --> 01:37:35,632
And it's just molecules
colliding all the time,
2088
01:37:35,806 --> 01:37:37,634
and, you know,
it's totally chaos.
2089
01:37:37,808 --> 01:37:41,638
And our job
is to make sense of chaos.
2090
01:37:41,812 --> 01:37:44,641
Or you can say, sometimes
things happen for a reason,
2091
01:37:44,815 --> 01:37:46,861
and your job
is to discover the reason.
2092
01:37:50,212 --> 01:37:54,956
[Al] Suddenly, there we are,
and it's just three kids.
2093
01:37:55,130 --> 01:37:57,132
You start to pick up
the pieces and think,
2094
01:37:57,306 --> 01:37:59,264
"All right, what does
the future look like?
2095
01:37:59,438 --> 01:38:03,094
How are we gonna
navigate this together?"
2096
01:38:03,268 --> 01:38:06,619
[Will] My dad and my mom
and their values,
2097
01:38:06,793 --> 01:38:08,534
the way that they were,
2098
01:38:08,708 --> 01:38:10,972
the role models, through
their words and their actions,
2099
01:38:11,146 --> 01:38:15,454
their unwavering love and
support and encouragement.
2100
01:38:15,628 --> 01:38:18,805
That's how we found our path
forward and our meaning.
2101
01:38:18,980 --> 01:38:20,459
My brothers and I
joined the board
2102
01:38:20,633 --> 01:38:22,722
almost immediately
after Dana passed away
2103
01:38:22,897 --> 01:38:25,116
to help give continuity
of the family.
2104
01:38:25,290 --> 01:38:28,946
[Will] It is now
the Christopher and Dana
Reeve Foundation.
2105
01:38:29,120 --> 01:38:31,688
[Kerry] Chris and Dana.
They've made a difference.
2106
01:38:31,862 --> 01:38:35,866
They are making a difference
in the continuation
of the foundation.
2107
01:38:36,040 --> 01:38:37,259
[Kirshblum] Both Chris and Dana
2108
01:38:37,433 --> 01:38:39,652
did a really good job.
Clearly,
2109
01:38:39,826 --> 01:38:42,742
because now these children
aren't children anymore,
2110
01:38:42,917 --> 01:38:44,396
and look at
what they're doing.
2111
01:38:44,570 --> 01:38:47,182
Fifty-six and a half
million Americans
2112
01:38:47,356 --> 01:38:49,010
living with disabilities.
2113
01:38:49,184 --> 01:38:52,839
Over $130 million in funding
to labs around the globe.
2114
01:38:53,014 --> 01:38:54,276
[Will] What's happening
right now
2115
01:38:54,450 --> 01:38:58,541
is the beginning
of the end of paralysis.
2116
01:38:58,715 --> 01:39:01,500
[Hawkins] People who became
disabled after Chris
2117
01:39:01,674 --> 01:39:04,155
are literally walking
because of him.
2118
01:39:04,329 --> 01:39:07,550
A man paralyzed from
the neck down walking again.
2119
01:39:10,074 --> 01:39:12,903
He wanted to push everybody
to think bigger.
2120
01:39:13,077 --> 01:39:16,167
[Goldberg] That's the fire
you want to put under people,
2121
01:39:16,341 --> 01:39:19,475
and nobody did it better than
Christopher Reeve. Nobody.
2122
01:39:19,649 --> 01:39:22,478
[Ellison] He helped us say,
"There are lives to lead.
2123
01:39:22,652 --> 01:39:24,045
People with
disabilities have
2124
01:39:24,219 --> 01:39:26,699
an integral role
to play in society."
2125
01:39:26,873 --> 01:39:30,094
Chris wanted to change
the fuckin' world, and we did.
2126
01:39:30,268 --> 01:39:33,837
The Christopher and Dana Reeve
Paralysis Act
2127
01:39:34,011 --> 01:39:37,362
is the first piece of
comprehensive legislation
2128
01:39:37,536 --> 01:39:40,104
specifically aimed at
addressing the challenges
2129
01:39:40,278 --> 01:39:42,193
faced by Americans
living with paralysis.
2130
01:39:42,367 --> 01:39:45,022
Matthew, come on up here.
2131
01:39:45,196 --> 01:39:46,806
He looks like his dad,
doesn't he?
2132
01:39:50,332 --> 01:39:52,595
[inspirational music
continues]
2133
01:39:56,991 --> 01:39:59,080
[Chris] When the first
Superman movie came out,
2134
01:39:59,254 --> 01:40:01,908
the most frequently asked
question was,
2135
01:40:02,083 --> 01:40:03,127
"What is a hero?"
2136
01:40:06,652 --> 01:40:08,654
And my answer was that a hero
2137
01:40:08,828 --> 01:40:12,397
is someone who commits
a courageous action
2138
01:40:12,571 --> 01:40:15,748
without considering
the consequences.
2139
01:40:15,922 --> 01:40:19,230
Now my definition
is completely different.
2140
01:40:19,404 --> 01:40:22,190
I think a hero
is an ordinary individual
2141
01:40:22,364 --> 01:40:25,628
who finds the strength
to persevere and endure
2142
01:40:25,802 --> 01:40:27,978
in spite
of overwhelming obstacles.
2143
01:40:33,288 --> 01:40:34,593
- [wind whooshes]
- [music fades out]
2144
01:40:38,075 --> 01:40:40,034
[gentle music playing]