WEBVTT FILE

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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]
<i>We are about to meet someone</i>

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<i>who made the whole world
believe that he could fly.</i>

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[Christopher Reeve] <i>There is
something about America,</i>

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<i>which is very short on heroes.</i>

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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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<i>Superman may be make-believe.</i>

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But, the qualities of courage,

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<i>and of character, that make
him unique are very real.</i>

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[reporter] <i>He starred
in four</i> Superman <i>movies,</i>

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<i>making him one of the most
famous faces in Hollywood.</i>

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How you doing?

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[Chris] <i>Superman
has changed everything.</i>

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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>I've got another 20,
30 years ahead,</i>

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<i>and a wider range of roles
to come,</i>

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<i>and more interesting parts
to play.</i>

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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] <i>For the first time,</i>

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<i>my professional
and personal life</i>

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<i>seemed perfectly balanced.</i>

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[woman] Don't they always?

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[Chris] <i>Our plans for the year</i>

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<i>were falling into place
beautifully.</i>

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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] <i>And then,
in an instant...</i>

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[ventilator hisses]

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[Chris] <i>...everything changed.</i>

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[slow inspirational music
fading in]

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- [playing gentle music]
- [Chris singing]

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<i>♪ Yes, my dear
Yes, my dear...♪</i>

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[Will Reeve] <i>Most of what
I remember about my dad</i>

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<i>comes from stories
and photos and videos.</i>

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<i>It's coalesced in my brain
as a memory</i>

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<i>and it's kind of
a perfect day.</i>

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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] <i>My childhood bedroom
shared a wall</i>

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<i>with my parents' bathroom,</i>

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<i>and when I was
a little two-year-old...</i>

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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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<i>And then he or my mom would
come around and carry me in.</i>

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<i>My mom was out of this world.</i>

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No.

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[Will] <i>A hug from my mom
was like being wrapped up
by the sun.</i>

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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] <i>Matthew and Al
are my half siblings,</i>

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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] <i>Dad and my mum separated
when I was three,</i>

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<i>and so, pretty early on,
we had two households.</i>

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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]
<i>Usually, you know, we'd get</i>

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<i>like, ten days
or a couple weeks.</i>

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[Dana] You ready
for your close-up, Mr. Reeve?

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[Matthew]
<i>Doing things with my dad,</i>

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<i>it was all about
activity and action.</i>

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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] <i>He was cast
in</i> Anna Karenina

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<i>and there were riding scenes,
and he realized,</i>

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<i>"If I'm going to do this
and be on a horse,</i>

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<i>I have to do it for real."</i>

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He injected himself
with antihistamine every day
for months.

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[Chris] <i>I sort of took
a crash course</i>

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<i>enough to get me
through the movie.</i>

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<i>If you look,
that's actually me</i>

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<i>in the middle of the Hungarian
national equestrian team,</i>

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<i>doing a steeplechase.</i>

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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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<i>my wife and I
have riding in common.</i>

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<i>It's become a very
central part of our life.</i>

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[Al] <i>He just
absolutely adored it.</i>

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[Will] <i>He was an intense guy.</i>

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<i>He didn't do anything
half-assed.</i>

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[Matthew] <i>You could
not fail and quit.</i>

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It was like, you try,
you fail, you try harder.

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[Chris] <i>Back in
the</i> Superman <i>years,</i>

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<i>I always used to joke about
needing to be very careful,</i>

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<i>because I didn't want
to read a headline</i>

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<i>in the</i> New York Post <i>like,</i>

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<i>"Superman hit
by a school bus."</i>

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<i>I was getting to be
a pretty good rider.</i>

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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] <i>It was Memorial Day
weekend, 1995.</i>

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<i>My dad was competing</i>

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<i>in a cross-country
horseback riding competition.</i>

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[Al] <i>And was just so excited
to get down there.</i>

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[man] What?

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[Matthew] <i>And my dad had been
in London for some reason</i>

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<i>a few weeks before.</i>

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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]
<i>Rumors have been flying</i>

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<i>since 42-year-old
Christopher Reeve</i>

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<i>fell off a horse
this past weekend.</i>

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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] <i>Doctors aren't
saying too much</i>

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<i>about his chances
of pulling through.</i>

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<i>Millions of people
around the world</i>

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are praying
and remembering tonight.

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[reporter] <i>The Reeve family</i>

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<i>has refused to talk
about the injury.</i>

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<i>Their silence prompted
much speculation</i>

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<i>that he was near death.</i>

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[Susan Sarandon]
<i>I just remember thinking,</i>

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<i>"That's impossible."</i>

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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] <i>Matthew and I flew
over with my mom.</i>

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<i>It was circus mode
at that point.</i>

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<i>And we still
didn't know a thing</i>

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because nobody knew
what was happening.

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<i>It was this big cloud
of confusion.</i>

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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]
<i>His doctor met the press.</i>

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<i>The news is not encouraging.</i>

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Mr. Reeve currently
has no movement

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00:09:06.981 --> 00:09:08.417
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.

189
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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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<i>You think of your parents
as completely invulnerable.</i>

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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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<i>Like, this constant that you
never even have
to think about.</i>

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[Will] <i>The surgery
that they did on my dad</i>

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<i>had never been done before.</i>

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<i>They reattached his head
to his body.</i>

200
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Tragic news for the actor

201
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

203
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<i>Christopher Reeve
is indeed paralyzed</i>

204
00:10:00.121 --> 00:10:02.427
<i>and unable
to breathe on his own.</i>

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Superman? Crazy.

206
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Just that simple little thing
over the horse.

207
00:10:09.783 --> 00:10:10.740
It's just crazy.

208
00:10:16.050 --> 00:10:16.964
[gas hisses]

209
00:10:17.138 --> 00:10:19.096
[machine alarm beeping]

210
00:10:19.270 --> 00:10:21.229
[ventilator hissing]

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00:10:33.241 --> 00:10:35.635
[Chris] <i>I lay on my back,
frozen,</i>

212
00:10:35.809 --> 00:10:39.116
<i>unable to avoid thinking
the darkest thoughts,</i>

213
00:10:39.290 --> 00:10:43.077
<i>because it had dawned on me
that I had ruined my life</i>

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00:10:43.251 --> 00:10:45.732
<i>- and everybody else's.</i>
- [tense music playing]

215
00:10:45.906 --> 00:10:49.779
<i>I won't be able to ski.
Won't be able to sail...</i>

216
00:10:49.953 --> 00:10:52.739
<i>Won't be able
to make love to Dana.</i>

217
00:10:52.913 --> 00:10:54.871
<i>I won't be able
to throw a ball to Will.</i>

218
00:10:55.045 --> 00:10:56.612
<i>I won't be able to do a thing.</i>

219
00:10:56.786 --> 00:10:59.571
- [plays chord]
- Again.

220
00:10:59.746 --> 00:11:01.051
[Chris echoing]
<i>This can't be me. Why me?</i>

221
00:11:01.225 --> 00:11:02.836
<i>There's gotta be a mistake.</i>

222
00:11:03.010 --> 00:11:04.576
<i>Oh, I'm an idiot.
Oh, God. I'm trapped! No life.</i>

223
00:11:04.751 --> 00:11:06.274
<i>What am I gonna do?
I've spoiled everything.</i>

224
00:11:06.448 --> 00:11:07.971
<i>I'm going to be
a charity case.</i>

225
00:11:08.145 --> 00:11:10.147
[music fades out]

226
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He was in and out
of consciousness.

227
00:11:13.324 --> 00:11:17.677
He was having clearly what
were horrible hallucinations.

228
00:11:17.851 --> 00:11:19.200
[Chris echoing]
<i>I'm in prison. I've got</i>

229
00:11:19.374 --> 00:11:20.941
<i>a life sentence.
Please let me out.</i>

230
00:11:21.115 --> 00:11:22.899
<i>For some reason I didn't
get my hands down</i>

231
00:11:23.073 --> 00:11:24.509
<i>- and break my fall.</i>
- [horse neighs]

232
00:11:24.684 --> 00:11:26.598
[echoing stops]

233
00:11:26.773 --> 00:11:29.514
<i>Witnesses said that Buck was
absolutely willing and ready.</i>

234
00:11:29.689 --> 00:11:32.996
<i>That I was going
not excessively fast.</i>

235
00:11:33.170 --> 00:11:34.737
[horse neighs]

236
00:11:34.911 --> 00:11:36.739
<i>Apparently, Buck started
to jump the fence,</i>

237
00:11:36.913 --> 00:11:39.176
<i>but all of a sudden,
he just put on the brakes.</i>

238
00:11:43.528 --> 00:11:45.879
<i>It was what riders call
a dirty stop.</i>

239
00:11:47.358 --> 00:11:49.230
<i>And I landed right on my head,</i>

240
00:11:49.404 --> 00:11:52.407
<i>six feet four inches
and 215 pounds of me.</i>

241
00:11:55.671 --> 00:11:58.630
<i>This break is what happens
when the trap door opens</i>

242
00:11:58.805 --> 00:12:01.068
<i>and the noose snaps tight.</i>

243
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
<i>that he got up
and walked away from.</i>

246
00:12:11.861 --> 00:12:17.214
♪ [Reeve family singing]
<i>Happy Birthday, dear Will ♪</i>

247
00:12:17.388 --> 00:12:21.697
<i>♪ Happy birthday to you ♪</i>

248
00:12:21.871 --> 00:12:23.046
- [applause]
- [Dana] Go on!

249
00:12:26.571 --> 00:12:30.488
[Will] <i>We had my third birthday
party outside the ICU.</i>

250
00:12:30.662 --> 00:12:33.404
[Matthew] <i>Dana threw
like, a birthday party
for Will,</i>

251
00:12:33.578 --> 00:12:35.842
<i>complete with, like,
a really annoying clown.</i>

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] <i>And he had,
like, a really good time</i>

255
00:12:40.063 --> 00:12:41.195
<i>and really enjoyed himself.</i>

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
<i>to try and protect him
as much as she could.</i>

259
00:12:50.508 --> 00:12:53.294
[Will] <i>There was some fighting
within the family.</i>

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] <i>Dana came
into the room,</i>

270
00:13:18.710 --> 00:13:22.192
<i>she knelt down next to me
and we made eye contact.</i>

271
00:13:22.366 --> 00:13:25.456
<i>And then I mouthed
my first lucid words to her,</i>

272
00:13:25.630 --> 00:13:27.719
<i>"Maybe we should let me go."</i>

273
00:13:27.894 --> 00:13:29.721
[machine beeping]

274
00:13:29.896 --> 00:13:31.332
[Chris] <i>Dana started crying.</i>

275
00:13:34.204 --> 00:13:36.859
<i>She said, "I'm only
gonna say this once.</i>

276
00:13:38.426 --> 00:13:40.558
<i>I'll support whatever
you want to do</i>

277
00:13:40.732 --> 00:13:43.126
<i>because this is your life
and your decision.</i>

278
00:13:43.300 --> 00:13:44.824
<i>But I want you to know</i>

279
00:13:44.998 --> 00:13:46.521
<i>that I'll be with you
for the long haul,</i>

280
00:13:46.695 --> 00:13:48.479
<i>no matter what."</i>

281
00:13:48.653 --> 00:13:51.482
<i>And then she added the words
that saved my life.</i>

282
00:13:51.656 --> 00:13:53.615
[emotional music playing]

283
00:13:56.923 --> 00:14:00.013
[Chris] <i>"You're still you
and I love you."</i>

284
00:14:05.801 --> 00:14:08.108
<i>I think if she had looked away
or paused</i>

285
00:14:08.282 --> 00:14:10.414
<i>or hesitated even slightly</i>

286
00:14:10.588 --> 00:14:15.115
<i>or if I had felt there was
a sense of her being noble,</i>

287
00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:17.247
<i>I don't know if
I could have pulled through.</i>

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
<i>So, out of that discussion of,</i>

290
00:14:26.213 --> 00:14:28.737
<i>"Is it going to make sense
for him to stay alive?"</i>

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
<i>Everyone is devastated.</i>

294
00:14:38.007 --> 00:14:40.705
<i>But it was not without
moments of grace.</i>

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] <i>Robin Williams
had been Dad's roommate</i>

299
00:14:50.454 --> 00:14:52.021
<i>and had this
deep relationship with him</i>

300
00:14:52.195 --> 00:14:54.719
<i>going back so many years.</i>

301
00:14:54.894 --> 00:14:56.591
[Chris] <i>I think Robin is one
of the great human beings
that was ever put here.</i>

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] <i>His wife, Marsha,
became my mom's best friend</i>

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] <i>My old friend
had helped me know</i>

326
00:15:41.984 --> 00:15:43.638
<i>that somehow,
I was gonna be okay.</i>

327
00:15:43.812 --> 00:15:45.596
<i>I mean, life's gonna be
very different,</i>

328
00:15:45.770 --> 00:15:48.208
<i>but I can still laugh.</i>

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] <i>As I started to face
reality in intensive care,</i>

341
00:16:17.672 --> 00:16:21.110
<i>moments from my former life
kept popping into my head.</i>

342
00:16:21.284 --> 00:16:22.851
<i>It was like a slide show,</i>

343
00:16:23.025 --> 00:16:25.158
<i>but the pictures
were all out of sequence.</i>

344
00:16:25.332 --> 00:16:26.986
- [audience cheers]
- [Chris] <i>My most
cherished memories</i>

345
00:16:27.160 --> 00:16:29.858
<i>when I was whole,
healthy, free.</i>

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] <i>After graduating
from Cornell,</i>

349
00:16:40.564 --> 00:16:42.088
<i>I had planned
to go to New York</i>

350
00:16:42.262 --> 00:16:44.090
<i>and join the ranks
of young hopefuls</i>

351
00:16:44.264 --> 00:16:46.875
<i>trying for a career
in the theater.</i>

352
00:16:47.049 --> 00:16:48.659
<i>Juilliard is one of the best
schools in the country,</i>

353
00:16:48.833 --> 00:16:50.183
<i>and you learn how to move,</i>

354
00:16:50.357 --> 00:16:52.011
<i>mime, tumbling,
acrobatics, acting.</i>

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] <i>That's right. We were
in the advanced program.</i>

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] <i>There was certainly
nothing they could teach him.</i>

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] <i>John Houseman</i>

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
<i>He said, "Mr. Reeve,
it is very important</i>

367
00:17:19.038 --> 00:17:20.865
<i>you become a serious
classical actor.</i>

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>I probably gravitated
towards the theater</i>

373
00:17:31.789 --> 00:17:35.967
<i>as a way out of uncertainties
growing up,</i>

374
00:17:36.142 --> 00:17:39.797
<i>that the theater became
a neutral kind of territory,</i>

375
00:17:39.971 --> 00:17:41.756
<i>but that felt like home.</i>

376
00:17:43.453 --> 00:17:46.195
<i>I had grown up
between two families,</i>

377
00:17:46.369 --> 00:17:49.111
<i>and neither one
ever seemed truly secure.</i>

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] <i>My father, the poet
and scholar, Franklin Reeve,</i>

384
00:18:04.605 --> 00:18:08.304
<i>courted my mother,
Barbara Pitney Lamb, ardently.</i>

385
00:18:08.478 --> 00:18:11.177
<i>But there was a widening gulf
between my parents</i>

386
00:18:11.351 --> 00:18:13.744
<i>when I was born.</i>

387
00:18:13.918 --> 00:18:15.572
<i>When I was three years old,
my parents got divorced</i>

388
00:18:15.746 --> 00:18:17.661
<i>and there was a kind
of acrimony between them,</i>

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] <i>Both his parents
remarried twice</i>

393
00:18:24.842 --> 00:18:27.323
<i>and had other children.</i>

394
00:18:27.497 --> 00:18:31.240
<i>So, it was a big family,
quite fractured.</i>

395
00:18:31.414 --> 00:18:33.286
[Al] <i>I think it felt like
he lived on shifting sands,</i>

396
00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:35.157
<i>because he had gone
back and forth</i>

397
00:18:35.331 --> 00:18:38.160
<i>between his mother's household
and his dad.</i>

398
00:18:38.334 --> 00:18:41.468
<i>He never really felt
that sense of home.</i>

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>I'm sure there was
an element of,</i>

402
00:18:49.258 --> 00:18:50.607
<i>you know, how do you satisfy</i>

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] <i>So, there's
this really charismatic man</i>

405
00:18:55.699 --> 00:18:57.658
<i>who could do anything
from translating Dostoevsky</i>

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
<i>And it was really scary.</i>

408
00:19:02.619 --> 00:19:03.577
<i>I thought, I'm never
gonna do anything</i>

409
00:19:03.751 --> 00:19:05.361
<i>to impress him, you know?</i>

410
00:19:05.535 --> 00:19:07.450
<i>I'd say, "I was in this play,"
he'd say, "Eh."</i>

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] <i>But I found relief
from all this uncertainty</i>

414
00:19:14.892 --> 00:19:16.024
<i>in playing characters.</i>

415
00:19:16.198 --> 00:19:18.548
[nostalgic music playing]

416
00:19:24.598 --> 00:19:26.991
<i>I like knowing
the entire storyline.</i>

417
00:19:28.297 --> 00:19:30.604
<i>Beginning, middle, and end.</i>

418
00:19:33.346 --> 00:19:38.351
[Jeff Daniels] <i>We were cast
in the same play in 1977.</i>

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
<i>What really impressed me
was how smart he was.</i>

424
00:19:53.409 --> 00:19:55.281
<i>Now, I ain't stupid.</i>

425
00:19:55.455 --> 00:19:57.370
I may have been
in <i>Dumb and Dumber,</i>
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
<i>Second to last weekend,
Chris says,</i>

428
00:20:05.421 --> 00:20:06.857
<i>"I'm going to London tonight.</i>

429
00:20:07.031 --> 00:20:08.685
<i>I have to screen test
for a movie."</i>

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
<i>"Superman."</i>

437
00:20:21.916 --> 00:20:23.918
<i>And Bill went right into,
"Don't go.</i>

438
00:20:24.092 --> 00:20:26.007
<i>You're going to sell out.
You're an artist."</i>

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]
<i>We were frantically looking</i>

445
00:20:40.674 --> 00:20:41.936
<i>for a Superman...</i>

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
<i>The most strange, like,</i>

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
<i>Robert Redford.</i>

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] <i>He goes on now.</i>

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] <i>There he goes.</i>
- Ahhh!

457
00:21:04.132 --> 00:21:05.220
[Spengler] <i>Physically,
he was very good,</i>

458
00:21:05.394 --> 00:21:07.875
<i>but the acting, not so much.</i>

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
<i>the physique
of the comic book.</i>

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] <i>The idea came,</i>

468
00:21:24.674 --> 00:21:27.329
<i>rather than casting
a well-known Superman,</i>

469
00:21:27.503 --> 00:21:31.681
<i>we should go for an unknown
and have stars around him.</i>

470
00:21:34.597 --> 00:21:35.990
[Richard Donner]
<i>We had made a costume</i>

471
00:21:36.164 --> 00:21:37.600
<i>out of a blue leotard</i>

472
00:21:37.774 --> 00:21:39.820
<i>and Chris was sweating
like a stuck pig.</i>

473
00:21:39.994 --> 00:21:43.214
<i>I took black shoe polish,
and we blacked his whole head,</i>

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] <i>He flew Sunday night,</i>

481
00:22:00.449 --> 00:22:02.233
<i>screen tested in London
on Monday,</i>

482
00:22:02.408 --> 00:22:03.844
<i>and then flew back
Monday night.</i>

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>I realized that
if I could pull off this part,</i>

485
00:22:13.593 --> 00:22:14.855
<i>it would change my life.</i>

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
<i>that Dad got
the part of Superman</i>

488
00:22:22.645 --> 00:22:27.128
<i>and told his father,
and Franklin ordered champagne.</i>

489
00:22:27.302 --> 00:22:29.826
<i>This is a very
un-Franklin thing to do.</i>

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
<i>There was a miscommunication.</i>

492
00:22:34.831 --> 00:22:36.311
[Al] <i>His dad thought
that he was talking</i>

493
00:22:36.485 --> 00:22:37.878
<i>about the famous play</i>

494
00:22:38.052 --> 00:22:39.706
Man and Superman,
<i>by George Bernard Shaw.</i>

495
00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:42.622
[Matthew] <i>Not the legendary
comic book character.</i>

496
00:22:42.796 --> 00:22:44.972
<i>Franklin didn't approve.</i>

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>I was extremely anxious
to please my father.</i>

505
00:23:07.647 --> 00:23:09.605
<i>It was difficult to be myself</i>

506
00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:13.043
<i>or literally breathe easy
when he was around.</i>

507
00:23:13.217 --> 00:23:15.176
[moody music playing]

508
00:23:21.356 --> 00:23:24.228
<i>Since the accident,
I've had time to look back.</i>

509
00:23:24.403 --> 00:23:27.797
<i>Much more time
than I would've liked.</i>

510
00:23:27.971 --> 00:23:29.408
[reporter] <i>Reeve took
to the skies this afternoon.</i>

511
00:23:31.627 --> 00:23:33.542
<i>He was transferred from
Charlottesville, Virginia,</i>

512
00:23:33.716 --> 00:23:35.109
<i>to the Kessler Institute.</i>

513
00:23:47.687 --> 00:23:50.254
[reporter 2]
<i>In a terrible twist of fate,
the actor's last role</i>

514
00:23:50.429 --> 00:23:53.344
<i>was as a crippled policeman
in the movie</i> Above Suspicion.

515
00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:56.739
[applause]

516
00:23:56.913 --> 00:23:58.872
[Chris]
<i>The physical therapy nurses
would work with me and say,</i>

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>I was very smug about it.
And I regret that so much,</i>

522
00:24:11.667 --> 00:24:13.452
<i>because I was setting
myself apart</i>

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] <i>Christopher now faces</i>

527
00:24:23.287 --> 00:24:24.898
<i>what hundreds of thousands</i>

528
00:24:25.072 --> 00:24:26.769
<i>of disabled men
and women face daily</i>

529
00:24:26.943 --> 00:24:28.771
<i>in this country
and around the world.</i>

530
00:24:28.945 --> 00:24:32.601
<i>Limitations, frustration,
sorrow, anger,</i>

531
00:24:32.775 --> 00:24:34.298
<i>humiliation, injustice.</i>

532
00:24:34.473 --> 00:24:35.822
[Chris] <i>When Doctor Kirshblum
took over</i>

533
00:24:35.996 --> 00:24:38.128
<i>the responsibility
for my care,</i>

534
00:24:38.302 --> 00:24:41.305
<i>it was a tremendous
psychological boost.</i>

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] <i>After this idea</i>

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]
<i>You think it's just about,</i>

543
00:25:01.456 --> 00:25:02.544
<i>"Oh, you can't move,
or you can't breathe..."</i>

544
00:25:02.718 --> 00:25:05.155
but there's so much shit

545
00:25:05.329 --> 00:25:09.943
<i>that comes with
such a high level
spinal cord injury.</i>

546
00:25:10.117 --> 00:25:12.336
[Kirshblum] <i>The bowel,
the bladder, the skin,</i>

547
00:25:12.511 --> 00:25:14.121
<i>speech therapy,</i>

548
00:25:14.295 --> 00:25:15.383
<i>how to maintain
a relationship,</i>

549
00:25:15.557 --> 00:25:17.690
<i>husband and wife relationship.</i>

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]
<i>To re-learn the skills</i>

555
00:25:29.266 --> 00:25:30.616
<i>that people probably
don't even think about.</i>

556
00:25:33.401 --> 00:25:36.317
[Chris] <i>I was still
in a state of disbelief</i>

557
00:25:36.491 --> 00:25:38.101
<i>and very afraid.</i>

558
00:25:38.275 --> 00:25:41.061
<i>I couldn't take a single
breath on my own.</i>

559
00:25:41.235 --> 00:25:43.237
<i>And the connections
of the hoses</i>

560
00:25:43.411 --> 00:25:46.327
<i>on these ventilators
are tenuous at best.</i>

561
00:25:48.024 --> 00:25:50.505
<i>And you lie there
at 3:00 in the morning,</i>

562
00:25:50.679 --> 00:25:52.463
<i>in fear of a pop-off.</i>

563
00:25:52.638 --> 00:25:56.729
<i>When the hose just comes
off the ventilator.</i>

564
00:25:56.903 --> 00:25:58.252
- [machine alarm beeping]
- [gas hissing]

565
00:25:58.426 --> 00:25:59.993
<i>After you've missed
two breaths,</i>

566
00:26:00.167 --> 00:26:02.125
<i>an alarm sounds.</i>

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] <i>You can last
a couple of minutes,</i>

574
00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:23.059
<i>but those are very,
very anxious minutes.</i>

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>I saw him
when he was in rehab.</i>

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] <i>At first,
he really resisted</i>

581
00:26:42.209 --> 00:26:43.950
<i>spending time
with anybody else there,</i>

582
00:26:44.124 --> 00:26:46.692
<i>because in his mind
he was still thinking,</i>

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
<i>in this land of disability."</i>

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] <i>Little by little,
I began to emerge
from my isolation.</i>

587
00:26:59.313 --> 00:27:01.489
<i>I found myself
talking in depth</i>

588
00:27:01.663 --> 00:27:04.231
<i>with people I wouldn't
ordinarily have met.</i>

589
00:27:04.405 --> 00:27:06.320
<i>And connecting
with many of them.</i>

590
00:27:08.191 --> 00:27:09.932
[Kirshblum] <i>Chris had
just started to wean himself</i>

591
00:27:10.106 --> 00:27:11.891
<i>off the ventilator</i>

592
00:27:12.065 --> 00:27:14.676
<i>and he started to recognize
a little bit of success.</i>

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
<i>And Chris went
and spoke to him.</i>

599
00:27:31.562 --> 00:27:32.694
<i>And the boy simply said,</i>

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
<i>And I wonder if a case
like that made him think,</i>

605
00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:45.098
<i>"I can probably do more</i>

606
00:27:45.272 --> 00:27:47.491
<i>in helping other people
with spinal cord injury,</i>

607
00:27:47.666 --> 00:27:49.537
not just myself alone."

608
00:27:53.106 --> 00:27:55.282
[Dana] <i>Much of his day
is spent listening</i>

609
00:27:55.456 --> 00:27:57.458
<i>to messages sent
from well-wishers.</i>

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] <i>One letter
from England, it just said,</i>

613
00:28:06.293 --> 00:28:07.511
"Superman, USA."

614
00:28:10.166 --> 00:28:12.734
[Al] <i>And they'd come every day
in these delivery boxes.</i>

615
00:28:12.908 --> 00:28:14.649
<i>And they went the whole way
down the hallway.</i>

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]
<i>She was just funny</i>

626
00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:39.848
<i>and could tell
a really good dirty joke.</i>

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>I started getting things
organized and cut.</i>

630
00:28:47.421 --> 00:28:49.379
<i>So it was like
other celebrity letters,</i>

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] <i>Chris wanted
out of that chair.
that was it.</i>

641
00:29:15.275 --> 00:29:17.799
[inspirational music playing]

642
00:29:17.973 --> 00:29:19.235
[Chris] <i>I couldn't give up</i>

643
00:29:19.409 --> 00:29:23.022
<i>because nerves
can find new pathways.</i>

644
00:29:23.196 --> 00:29:24.719
[Kirshblum] <i>He had
tremendous work ethic</i>

645
00:29:24.893 --> 00:29:27.374
<i>and would push himself.</i>

646
00:29:27.548 --> 00:29:30.116
[Robin] <i>Brother Chris
is fighting like crazy.</i>

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] <i>My mind wandered back</i>

650
00:29:36.862 --> 00:29:38.515
<i>to my weight training
for</i> Superman

651
00:29:38.689 --> 00:29:40.474
<i>when I could bench-press
more than my own weight.</i>

652
00:29:42.563 --> 00:29:45.784
[Matthew] <i>He trained
his ass off bulking up.</i>

653
00:29:45.958 --> 00:29:47.481
<i>Two weight sessions a day.</i>

654
00:29:50.527 --> 00:29:52.573
[Chris] <i>The guy, actually,
who played Darth Vader</i>

655
00:29:52.747 --> 00:29:54.270
<i>in</i> Star Wars,

656
00:29:54.444 --> 00:29:57.665
<i>Dave Prowse,
developed a program for me.</i>

657
00:29:57.839 --> 00:29:58.797
<i>He's a former Mr. Universe.</i>

658
00:30:01.016 --> 00:30:02.017
<i>The point is,
is that when I started,</i>

659
00:30:02.191 --> 00:30:03.584
<i>I was a string bean.</i>

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
<i>Everybody else said,</i>

662
00:30:10.156 --> 00:30:11.592
<i>"You just flushed your career
down the toilet. Goodbye."</i>

663
00:30:11.766 --> 00:30:14.725
<i>Nobody thought
I was in my right mind.</i>

664
00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:16.336
<i>How are they ever going
to pull this picture off</i>

665
00:30:16.510 --> 00:30:17.511
<i>and make the man fly?</i>

666
00:30:17.685 --> 00:30:19.252
<i>And "It's a cartoon."</i>

667
00:30:19.426 --> 00:30:20.949
<i>And very, very skeptical
about the whole thing.</i>

668
00:30:22.646 --> 00:30:25.345
[Spengler] <i>When we signed
the deal for</i> 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] <i>The idea
was new in 1977.</i>

673
00:30:40.273 --> 00:30:42.275
Superman I <i>was the first film</i>

674
00:30:42.449 --> 00:30:44.973
<i>to try to make
this comic book sort of real.</i>

675
00:30:52.198 --> 00:30:54.113
[Spengler]
<i>Christopher is unknown.</i>

676
00:30:54.287 --> 00:30:56.245
<i>He was going to be playing
with Brando,</i>

677
00:30:56.419 --> 00:30:57.638
<i>playing with Hackman.</i>

678
00:30:59.031 --> 00:31:00.815
<i>Brando was considered</i>

679
00:31:00.989 --> 00:31:02.817
<i>the greatest actor
of his time.</i>

680
00:31:02.991 --> 00:31:06.038
<i>Gene Hackman wanted to be
in the film with Brando.</i>

681
00:31:06.212 --> 00:31:08.518
[Chris] <i>Hackman,
his dressing room
was across the hall from mine.</i>

682
00:31:08.692 --> 00:31:11.695
<i>I was very gung-ho,
24 years old and all excited</i>

683
00:31:11.870 --> 00:31:13.088
<i>and I remember
knocking on his door,</i>

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] <i>Marlon Brando.</i>

691
00:31:29.278 --> 00:31:30.932
<i>Was it exciting to work
with him though?</i>

692
00:31:31.106 --> 00:31:33.108
- [Chris] <i>Not really, no.</i>
- [audience and Chris laugh]

693
00:31:33.282 --> 00:31:34.240
<i>The man didn't care.</i>

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>I just care so much</i>

700
00:31:44.946 --> 00:31:46.556
<i>that it hurts when
someone's phoning it in.</i>

701
00:31:46.730 --> 00:31:48.471
[Al] <i>He was taking it
so seriously.</i>

702
00:31:48.645 --> 00:31:50.299
[grunts]

703
00:31:50.473 --> 00:31:52.040
For Dad,
<i>Superman</i> 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] <i>Think about it
in emotional terms.</i>

707
00:32:02.529 --> 00:32:04.270
<i>What is it to be an orphan?
What is it to be different?</i>

708
00:32:04.444 --> 00:32:05.706
<i>What is it to be an alien?</i>

709
00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:08.361
<i>What is it
to have lost one home?</i>

710
00:32:08.535 --> 00:32:10.363
<i>Now you're acting
something you can understand</i>

711
00:32:10.537 --> 00:32:11.712
<i>rather than just posing.</i>

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
<i>who really supported him,
helped him.</i>

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] <i>What I liked
was trying to play</i>

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]
<i>Puts his glasses back on</i>

736
00:33:24.393 --> 00:33:25.351
<i>and he's Clark again
instantly.</i>

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>I really think
that out there,</i>

742
00:33:36.101 --> 00:33:37.537
<i>hopefully around the world,</i>

743
00:33:37.711 --> 00:33:39.278
<i>that romance is what
they want to see.</i>

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
<i>while I was making</i>
Superman <i>in London.</i>

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
<i>at Pinewood Studios.</i>

756
00:34:03.867 --> 00:34:05.782
[Exton] <i>I knew
there were big films</i>

757
00:34:05.956 --> 00:34:07.654
<i>being shot there,
like</i> James Bond <i>and</i> Superman.

758
00:34:07.828 --> 00:34:09.873
<i>They had this amazing
dining room there</i>

759
00:34:10.048 --> 00:34:12.050
<i>and it was sort of
like a big buffet.</i>

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
<i>From</i> 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
<i>And this guy turns around</i>

768
00:34:28.544 --> 00:34:31.156
<i>and it's
this amazing-looking guy</i>

769
00:34:31.330 --> 00:34:33.201
<i>with an American accent.</i>

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>I saw Dick Donner,
and Dick said,</i>

778
00:34:55.615 --> 00:34:57.486
<i>"Oh, here she is.
Hi, Gae, how're you doing?"</i>

779
00:34:57.660 --> 00:34:59.793
<i>And he said,
"This is Christopher."</i>

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] <i>My mom worked
as a model agent</i>

783
00:35:07.061 --> 00:35:08.715
and was super plugged in

784
00:35:08.889 --> 00:35:10.673
<i>to the London scene
in the late '70s.</i>

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] <i>It was good fun.</i>

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] <i>Just fell
desperately in love.</i>

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] <i>Thousands
and thousands of feet</i>

798
00:35:54.935 --> 00:35:56.850
<i>up above the world.</i>

799
00:35:57.024 --> 00:35:59.069
<i>There's a kind of clarity
that comes with that</i>

800
00:35:59.244 --> 00:36:00.723
<i>and you cannot concentrate</i>

801
00:36:00.897 --> 00:36:02.551
<i>on anything
that's wrong in your life.</i>

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>I have
always loved flying.</i>

806
00:36:21.222 --> 00:36:24.617
<i>It's my number one
passion in life.</i>

807
00:36:24.791 --> 00:36:27.446
[Matthew] <i>He'd flown across
the Atlantic twice, solo.</i>

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
<i>There is a team,
there's a hundred of them</i>

813
00:36:45.072 --> 00:36:46.769
<i>called the Flying Unit.</i>

814
00:36:46.943 --> 00:36:48.467
<i>They didn't have it
all figured out in advance.</i>

815
00:36:48.641 --> 00:36:49.903
<i>It was a kind of
"learn as you go" process.</i>

816
00:36:54.690 --> 00:36:56.649
[Donner] <i>The first time
I ever saw Chris really fly,</i>

817
00:36:57.693 --> 00:36:59.391
<i>he came at camera,</i>

818
00:36:59.565 --> 00:37:02.132
<i>and for some reason
he actually banked his body</i>

819
00:37:02.307 --> 00:37:04.352
<i>and he flew past us.</i>

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] <i>The flying happens
in the eyes.</i>

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
<i>The one which
I really had to work</i>

828
00:37:35.122 --> 00:37:36.558
<i>to sort of achieve
the grace that it needed.</i>

829
00:37:36.732 --> 00:37:38.430
<i>It called for me
to do a flip in the air</i>

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>I began
to face my new life.</i>

836
00:38:09.939 --> 00:38:13.203
<i>I had tried to cover up
my feelings as best I could.</i>

837
00:38:13.378 --> 00:38:16.119
<i>But when I saw our home again,
I wept.</i>

838
00:38:16.294 --> 00:38:19.297
[nostalgic music playing]

839
00:38:19.471 --> 00:38:20.776
[Matthew] <i>I do wonder
what it was like</i>

840
00:38:20.950 --> 00:38:22.343
<i>for him to look out
and be like,</i>

841
00:38:22.517 --> 00:38:24.476
<i>"That's the pond
that I skated on."</i>

842
00:38:24.650 --> 00:38:26.913
[exclaims]

843
00:38:27.087 --> 00:38:30.220
<i>"Now I'm just staring out
at the past."</i>

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
<i>People often ask me
what it's like</i>

850
00:38:46.411 --> 00:38:48.195
<i>to be confined
to a wheelchair.</i>

851
00:38:48.369 --> 00:38:49.849
<i>I would say
the worst part of it</i>

852
00:38:50.023 --> 00:38:52.373
<i>is having
to make the transition</i>

853
00:38:52.547 --> 00:38:55.115
<i>from participant to observer</i>

854
00:38:55.289 --> 00:38:58.074
<i>long before
I would have expected.</i>

855
00:38:58.248 --> 00:39:00.120
[Matthew] <i>Dad was 42
when he had the accident</i>

856
00:39:00.294 --> 00:39:01.991
<i>and Will was almost three.</i>

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
<i>Yeah, it was really only
after becoming a parent myself</i>

859
00:39:08.824 --> 00:39:11.218
<i>that it really hit home...</i>

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] <i>He was
still the same, bright,</i>

866
00:39:26.494 --> 00:39:28.366
<i>quirky, thoughtful man.</i>

867
00:39:28.540 --> 00:39:30.629
<i>But my mom,
she was doing everything.</i>

868
00:39:30.803 --> 00:39:31.934
[Dana] Still got it, honey.

869
00:39:35.547 --> 00:39:38.245
[Will] <i>She was playing
the role of mother,</i>

870
00:39:38.419 --> 00:39:39.855
<i>physical father...</i>

871
00:39:40.029 --> 00:39:41.422
[Dana] Whoa, whoa.

872
00:39:41.596 --> 00:39:42.989
[Will] <i>...and caregiver
to a husband.</i>

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
<i>We do adjust because
what are the alternatives?</i>

875
00:39:49.996 --> 00:39:52.302
<i>I mean, it would
be miserable not to,</i>

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] <i>Even in my own house,</i>

881
00:40:01.964 --> 00:40:03.662
<i>I'd never be able
to be alone again.</i>

882
00:40:03.836 --> 00:40:07.056
[Will] <i>He needed
24-hour nursing care.</i>

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
<i>While they were
better off than most,</i>

885
00:40:12.888 --> 00:40:15.804
<i>they weren't better off
as most people thought.</i>

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]
<i>What will happen then?</i>

889
00:40:20.766 --> 00:40:21.549
[Chris] <i>Then we have to do
some heavy thinking.</i>

890
00:40:22.898 --> 00:40:24.117
[Dana] <i>But it is daunting.</i>

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] <i>There was this fear.</i>

896
00:40:33.300 --> 00:40:34.780
<i>"I'm an actor,
it's a physical job.</i>

897
00:40:34.954 --> 00:40:37.391
<i>How am I going
to make a living?"</i>

898
00:40:40.742 --> 00:40:42.788
[Chris] <i>In February of '96,</i>

899
00:40:42.962 --> 00:40:45.355
<i>I was asked
to make a special appearance</i>

900
00:40:45.530 --> 00:40:47.270
<i>on the Academy Awards.</i>

901
00:40:47.445 --> 00:40:49.229
[Al] <i>It was almost a full year
since his accident,</i>

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] <i>No sooner had I agreed,
than it dawned on me</i>

904
00:40:55.670 --> 00:40:58.281
<i>how challenging this trip
was going to be.</i>

905
00:41:00.458 --> 00:41:03.678
[Al] <i>Dad described how torn
he felt about doing it</i>

906
00:41:03.852 --> 00:41:06.681
<i>because it really was
such a public moment.</i>

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
<i>But Robin and Marsha bought us</i>

913
00:41:21.435 --> 00:41:23.568
<i>the specialized
retrofitted van.</i>

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] <i>It was this huge kind
of cloak-and-dagger thing
to get him there,</i>

917
00:41:34.187 --> 00:41:35.623
<i>keeping it completely
under wraps</i>

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
<i>he could pull out.</i>

921
00:41:44.066 --> 00:41:46.025
[Chris] <i>Maybe I have
the opportunity now</i>

922
00:41:46.199 --> 00:41:48.331
<i>to make sense
of this accident.</i>

923
00:41:51.726 --> 00:41:53.859
<i>I felt I needed
to do something</i>

924
00:41:54.033 --> 00:41:55.513
<i>not just for myself,</i>

925
00:41:55.687 --> 00:41:57.515
<i>but for everyone else
in the same condition.</i>

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] <i>You know,
it's hard when you hear</i>

930
00:42:20.233 --> 00:42:22.496
<i>that somebody's had
that kind of accident</i>

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] <i>Well,
it was time for me
to prepare to go on stage.</i>

936
00:42:34.421 --> 00:42:37.424
<i>I wondered, would I spasm,</i>

937
00:42:37.598 --> 00:42:40.514
<i>my body jerking
into an awkward position?</i>

938
00:42:40.688 --> 00:42:42.342
<i>Would I have a pop-off?</i>

939
00:42:42.516 --> 00:42:44.518
[tense music building]

940
00:42:46.433 --> 00:42:48.043
[announcer]
<i>Ladies and gentlemen,</i>

941
00:42:48.217 --> 00:42:49.479
<i>Christopher Reeve.</i>

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] <i>And I think
the fact that</i>

965
00:44:26.228 --> 00:44:28.535
<i>Superman was in a wheelchair</i>

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]
<i>For people with disabilities</i>

968
00:44:35.542 --> 00:44:36.978
<i>to be so visible</i>

969
00:44:37.152 --> 00:44:41.330
<i>was almost unheard of
at the time.</i>

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] <i>That was
just a hugely important,</i>

980
00:45:02.961 --> 00:45:04.614
<i>pivotal moment for Dad,</i>

981
00:45:04.789 --> 00:45:06.007
<i>to then move on and say,</i>

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] <i>Another completely
unexpected benefit</i>

984
00:45:13.101 --> 00:45:15.408
<i>came during my stay
in Hollywood.</i>

985
00:45:15.582 --> 00:45:19.368
<i>I entered hotels and buildings
through garages, kitchens,</i>

986
00:45:19.542 --> 00:45:21.544
<i>and I met cooks, waiters,</i>

987
00:45:21.719 --> 00:45:23.721
<i>and maintenance crews
along the way.</i>

988
00:45:23.895 --> 00:45:26.636
<i>Many of them said
they were praying for me.</i>

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] <i>Others looked at me
right in the eye and said,</i>

992
00:45:35.167 --> 00:45:37.691
<i>"We love you, Superman.
You're our hero."</i>

993
00:45:39.649 --> 00:45:41.477
<i>The fact that
I was in a wheelchair,</i>

994
00:45:41.651 --> 00:45:43.871
<i>unable to move
below my shoulders</i>

995
00:45:44.045 --> 00:45:46.265
<i>and dependent
on the support of others,</i>

996
00:45:46.439 --> 00:45:48.049
<i>had not diminished the fact</i>

997
00:45:48.223 --> 00:45:51.966
<i>that I was and always
would be their Superman.</i>

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] <i>You've never seen
a comic book brought to life</i>

1011
00:46:37.795 --> 00:46:40.841
<i>and they all thought
it was gonna be a joke.</i>

1012
00:46:41.015 --> 00:46:43.409
<i>We, the filmmakers, felt
we could win our way</i>

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]
<i>When the film opened,</i>

1015
00:46:48.066 --> 00:46:50.720
huge success immediately.

1016
00:46:50.895 --> 00:46:52.984
<i>Superman</i> 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]
<i>The film critics said</i>

1019
00:46:59.207 --> 00:47:00.426
<i>the young actor chosen
to play the lead in</i> 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>I saw it.
I wish I had been Lois.</i>

1023
00:47:05.953 --> 00:47:07.650
Clearly, that would have
been fun.

1024
00:47:07.825 --> 00:47:09.957
<i>Somebody that is
that masculine</i>

1025
00:47:10.131 --> 00:47:11.959
<i>and asked to do that</i>

1026
00:47:12.133 --> 00:47:14.614
<i>could easily slip into some
kind of toxic masculinity.</i>

1027
00:47:14.788 --> 00:47:17.008
<i>But he always struck me
as being gentle.</i>

1028
00:47:17.182 --> 00:47:19.967
[Goldberg] <i>I don't think
I was lustful like that</i>

1029
00:47:20.141 --> 00:47:22.665
<i>until I saw him
in that, you know...</i>

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 <i>Superman</i> 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] <i>And so
Chris was introduced.</i>

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
<i>was actually off off-Broadway,
he was now a star.</i>

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] <i>He and Robin
were walking down the street,</i>

1042
00:47:49.954 --> 00:47:51.956
<i>and Robin was like,
"God, I love this city.</i>

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]
<i>Are you feeling like a star?</i>

1051
00:48:12.715 --> 00:48:15.153
[Chris] <i>Don't know much about
it, I'll tell you in a year.</i>

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>I was
very happy for my friend</i>

1057
00:48:27.426 --> 00:48:29.907
<i>in a way that maybe
you aren't with others.</i>

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
<i>And it was a great example
on how to handle it.</i>

1061
00:48:37.218 --> 00:48:39.438
<i>Because it is a freight train,
fame.</i>

1062
00:48:39.612 --> 00:48:41.135
♪ [both singing]
<i>Of the moon ♪</i>

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] <i>As he became
more and more famous,</i>

1065
00:48:45.226 --> 00:48:48.577
<i>Gae gave him
a security and an anchor</i>

1066
00:48:48.751 --> 00:48:50.536
<i>and a support through that.</i>

1067
00:48:50.710 --> 00:48:52.581
[Chris] <i>Everybody wants to be
around with somebody</i>

1068
00:48:52.755 --> 00:48:54.453
<i>who they think has the juice
at the moment, has the power.</i>

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
<i>Matthew Reeve.</i>

1077
00:49:15.691 --> 00:49:17.084
<i>Matthew Exton Reeve.</i>

1078
00:49:17.258 --> 00:49:18.999
<i>Mr. Potato,</i>[chuckles]
<i>we call him.</i>

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>I had Matthew in London</i>

1081
00:49:23.830 --> 00:49:27.094
<i>when Christopher
was shooting</i> Superman II.

1082
00:49:27.268 --> 00:49:28.748
[Chris] <i>Becoming a father,
I really thought,</i>

1083
00:49:28.922 --> 00:49:30.445
<i>"Boy, I don't know
whether or not</i>

1084
00:49:30.619 --> 00:49:32.534
<i>I'm gonna be up to it."</i>

1085
00:49:32.708 --> 00:49:34.232
[interviewer] <i>Are there things
that you'd like to make sure</i>

1086
00:49:34.406 --> 00:49:35.798
<i>that Matthew has that
maybe you never had?</i>

1087
00:49:35.973 --> 00:49:37.061
[Chris] <i>Basically,
not a broken home.</i>

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]
<i>Is he old enough</i>

1092
00:49:45.199 --> 00:49:47.288
<i>to have any awareness
that Dad plays Superman?</i>

1093
00:49:47.462 --> 00:49:48.811
[Chris] <i>Oh, sure.</i>

1094
00:49:48.986 --> 00:49:50.596
[Matthew] <i>There's evidence</i>
[chuckles]

1095
00:49:50.770 --> 00:49:52.902
<i>that I impersonated him.</i>

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
<i>It was just hilarious.</i>
[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 <i>did very well.</i>

1106
00:50:21.366 --> 00:50:23.107
<i>A lot of critics said
it was a better movie</i>

1107
00:50:23.281 --> 00:50:24.978
<i>than number one.</i>

1108
00:50:25.152 --> 00:50:26.980
<i>I don't agree, actually.</i>

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] <i>My earliest memories</i>

1117
00:50:42.343 --> 00:50:44.389
<i>are from when
I went to set with Dad</i>

1118
00:50:44.563 --> 00:50:47.087
and was actually
in <i>Superman</i> myself.

1119
00:50:49.524 --> 00:50:50.917
[Exton] <i>Alexandra arrived
on the scene,</i>

1120
00:50:51.091 --> 00:50:53.180
<i>and then we just grew.</i>

1121
00:50:53.354 --> 00:50:55.487
<i>It just became this family.</i>

1122
00:50:55.661 --> 00:50:58.490
[Chris] <i>I was elated
over the birth of Alexandra,</i>

1123
00:50:58.664 --> 00:51:00.231
<i>but confused and anxious</i>

1124
00:51:00.405 --> 00:51:03.321
<i>about the direction
my life was taking.</i>

1125
00:51:03.495 --> 00:51:05.062
[interviewer] <i>Christopher,
are you married?</i>

1126
00:51:05.236 --> 00:51:06.889
- [Chris] <i>No, I'm not.
-</i> [crowd] <i>Yeah!</i>

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] <i>We talked
about marriage</i>

1131
00:51:16.508 --> 00:51:18.814
<i>when I was expecting Matthew,</i>

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
<i>to take the other person
for granted.</i>

1136
00:51:30.130 --> 00:51:31.349
<i>You don't do
any more work on it.</i>

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
<i>but quite frankly,</i>

1142
00:51:41.533 --> 00:51:44.013
<i>you live your life,
and we'll live ours.</i>

1143
00:51:44.188 --> 00:51:47.452
[Matthew] <i>She wanted us to have
as normal a life as possible,</i>

1144
00:51:47.626 --> 00:51:48.888
<i>but he was at the height
of his career.</i>

1145
00:51:49.062 --> 00:51:50.324
Oh, it's terrific, really.

1146
00:51:50.498 --> 00:51:52.021
[interviewer]
<i>Twenty years from now,</i>

1147
00:51:52.196 --> 00:51:53.893
<i>what do you hope
will have happened to you?</i>

1148
00:51:54.067 --> 00:51:55.024
[Chris]
<i>That I would have tackled</i>

1149
00:51:55.199 --> 00:51:57.026
<i>an increasing variety of roles</i>

1150
00:51:57.201 --> 00:51:58.985
<i>with greater and greater depth
all the time.</i>

1151
00:51:59.159 --> 00:52:01.596
<i>And that I would've moved
into directing.</i>

1152
00:52:07.124 --> 00:52:09.343
And action.

1153
00:52:09.517 --> 00:52:11.040
<i>The appearance on the Oscars</i>

1154
00:52:11.215 --> 00:52:14.043
<i>gave me the courage
to go back to work.</i>

1155
00:52:14.218 --> 00:52:16.524
[interviewer] <i>Were you scared?
I mean, this was
the first thing</i>

1156
00:52:16.698 --> 00:52:18.352
<i>you had directed. Am I right?</i>

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] <i>He said, "Listen,</i>

1161
00:52:26.491 --> 00:52:27.622
<i>I have something
I want to know</i>

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
<i>And he said, "But you
don't know what it is."</i>

1165
00:52:32.366 --> 00:52:33.933
<i>I said, "Doesn't matter.
Whatever it is, yes."</i>

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
<i>Whose son comes home
and is dying of AIDS.</i>

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] <i>Those of us
in the theater community,</i>

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] <i>What I'd learned
in my own experience</i>

1177
00:53:06.095 --> 00:53:08.185
<i>is you come out
of something like that</i>

1178
00:53:08.359 --> 00:53:10.187
<i>not wanting to blame anybody.</i>

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>I think he had the sensitivity</i>

1183
00:53:20.501 --> 00:53:22.373
<i>to really do
a beautiful job with it.</i>

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
<i>was his first time</i>

1190
00:53:39.041 --> 00:53:41.435
<i>in an acting role
after the accident.</i>

1191
00:53:41.609 --> 00:53:43.394
[machines beeping]

1192
00:53:43.568 --> 00:53:45.134
[Chris] <i>One of my missions,
really,</i>

1193
00:53:45.309 --> 00:53:48.225
<i>is to make people more aware
of the disabled,</i>

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]
<i>He went back to work.</i>

1198
00:53:58.147 --> 00:54:02.326
<i>He succeeded in a industry
that really wasn't</i>

1199
00:54:02.500 --> 00:54:05.764
<i>a disability-friendly
industry.</i>

1200
00:54:05.938 --> 00:54:07.592
[Chris] <i>Just imagine
what it's like</i>

1201
00:54:07.766 --> 00:54:08.897
<i>to be me for one day.</i>

1202
00:54:10.943 --> 00:54:12.510
<i>And I have it better</i>

1203
00:54:12.684 --> 00:54:14.512
<i>than most people
with spinal cord injuries.</i>

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] <i>The vice
president asked Chris</i>

1207
00:54:21.780 --> 00:54:24.304
<i>to come speak
at the Democratic
National Convention.</i>

1208
00:54:24.478 --> 00:54:27.612
<i>And the vice president sent up
his head speechwriter.</i>

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]
<i>From the United Center</i>

1212
00:54:35.359 --> 00:54:37.143
<i>in Chicago, Illinois,
live coverage</i>

1213
00:54:37.317 --> 00:54:39.754
<i>of the Democratic
National Convention.</i>

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] <i>Somehow, the injustice
of what had happened</i>

1232
00:55:40.685 --> 00:55:44.732
<i>just seemed so unfathomable
to people.</i>

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
<i>One was so big and powerful
and invincible,</i>

1235
00:55:54.829 --> 00:55:57.919
<i>and the other was
so, now, vulnerable.</i>

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] <i>First</i> Superman
<i>picture came out.</i>

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
<i>That was a part.
I played the part.</i>

1251
00:57:00.112 --> 00:57:01.679
<i>I'm not that man.</i>

1252
00:57:01.853 --> 00:57:03.202
<i>It's an image that is created
by other people</i>

1253
00:57:03.376 --> 00:57:05.334
<i>but it's pretty far
away from me.</i>

1254
00:57:05.509 --> 00:57:07.032
Outside of <i>Superman,</i>

1255
00:57:07.206 --> 00:57:11.210
<i>he seems to have chosen
very opposite roles.</i>

1256
00:57:11.384 --> 00:57:15.954
<i>Like</i> Somewhere in Time,
<i>which was extremely romantic.</i>

1257
00:57:16.128 --> 00:57:19.784
<i>Then he did</i> Deathtrap
<i>with Michael Caine.</i>

1258
00:57:19.958 --> 00:57:21.916
<i>Deathtrap.</i>

1259
00:57:22.090 --> 00:57:26.225
[Spengler] <i>Then he was
a crooked priest.</i>

1260
00:57:26.399 --> 00:57:30.534
<i>None of the films he did
outside of</i> Superman

1261
00:57:30.708 --> 00:57:32.927
were successful commercially.

1262
00:57:36.540 --> 00:57:37.671
[Chris] <i>Worst review
I ever got</i>

1263
00:57:37.845 --> 00:57:39.499
<i>was from the</i> New York Times <i>.</i>

1264
00:57:39.673 --> 00:57:41.936
[Exton] <i>He was very sensitive
to bad reviews.</i>

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] <i>He was contracted
to do</i> Superman III <i>,</i>

1269
00:57:53.165 --> 00:57:55.733
<i>but his heart wasn't in it.</i>

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
<i>You take what grossed
100 million domestically
last year</i>

1273
00:58:02.087 --> 00:58:03.567
<i>and get the key ingredients
back again</i>

1274
00:58:03.741 --> 00:58:05.351
<i>and try to pump it up
a few more times.</i>

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] <i>In the back of
his mind, he thought,</i>

1279
00:58:15.622 --> 00:58:17.581
<i>"This might not be as good."</i>

1280
00:58:17.755 --> 00:58:18.843
<i>He was struggling.</i>

1281
00:58:21.367 --> 00:58:22.890
[choking]

1282
00:58:23.064 --> 00:58:24.413
[Chris] <i>Everyone
should be allowed in life</i>

1283
00:58:24.588 --> 00:58:26.067
<i>to close the door
on certain times</i>

1284
00:58:26.241 --> 00:58:27.416
<i>and open other doors.</i>

1285
00:58:31.769 --> 00:58:35.294
[Daniels] <i>If you hit big,
that big,</i>

1286
00:58:35.468 --> 00:58:37.165
<i>that's who you are.</i>

1287
00:58:37.339 --> 00:58:40.517
<i>That's what you are
and that's what you can do.</i>

1288
00:58:41.561 --> 00:58:43.215
<i>And Chris came back</i>

1289
00:58:43.389 --> 00:58:45.652
<i>and did</i> Fifth of July
<i>on Broadway,</i>

1290
00:58:45.826 --> 00:58:47.654
and I was his lover.

1291
00:58:47.828 --> 00:58:49.613
[Kevin] <i>Some in the audience
were so surprised</i>

1292
00:58:49.787 --> 00:58:51.919
<i>to see Chris kiss a man.</i>

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
<i>He wanted to prove to everyone
that he was a good actor.</i>

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] <i>And</i> Superman IV
<i>came along.</i>

1300
00:59:21.035 --> 00:59:22.776
<i>- I think he thought...</i>
- Yeah.

1301
00:59:22.950 --> 00:59:24.604
[Exton] ... <i>"I don't think
I should be doing this."</i>

1302
00:59:24.778 --> 00:59:26.911
[Chris] Superman IV
<i>was simply a catastrophe</i>

1303
00:59:27.085 --> 00:59:28.260
<i>from start to finish.</i>

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
<i>or maybe Indiana Jones,
Harrison Ford.</i>

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] <i>And that's
when our relationship</i>

1312
00:59:51.370 --> 00:59:52.589
<i>actually started to struggle.</i>

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>I think he was
testing the water</i>

1320
01:00:10.607 --> 01:00:14.785
<i>to see what it was like
to be single.</i>

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
<i>He says, "This isn't
going to work, is it?"</i>

1327
01:00:28.450 --> 01:00:30.496
[somber music playing]

1328
01:00:32.933 --> 01:00:34.761
<i>And so, we decided that</i>

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] <i>It was hard
on my mom.</i>

1333
01:00:59.917 --> 01:01:01.483
<i>You know, it wasn't like,</i>

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
<i>You know,
my dad had a big issue.</i>

1339
01:01:20.111 --> 01:01:21.329
<i>He would not commit.</i>

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
<i>His father's marriage
to his stepmother.</i>

1344
01:01:29.642 --> 01:01:33.167
<i>He had no experience
with a successful, healthy,</i>

1345
01:01:33.341 --> 01:01:36.736
long-term marriage.

1346
01:01:36.910 --> 01:01:41.306
[Chris] <i>Lives repeat themselves
in succeeding generations,</i>

1347
01:01:41.480 --> 01:01:43.743
<i>often in the worst ways.</i>

1348
01:01:43.917 --> 01:01:46.703
<i>And patterns of behavior
can be difficult to break.</i>

1349
01:01:51.142 --> 01:01:53.057
[Matthew] <i>He was away
so much anyway.</i>

1350
01:01:53.231 --> 01:01:54.667
<i>It wasn't like
he suddenly stopped</i>

1351
01:01:54.841 --> 01:01:56.016
<i>picking me up
from school every day</i>

1352
01:01:56.190 --> 01:01:57.452
<i>or something like that.</i>

1353
01:01:58.889 --> 01:01:59.803
<i>It was just...</i>

1354
01:02:02.501 --> 01:02:04.546
He kind of stopped
coming home.

1355
01:02:04.721 --> 01:02:06.287
<i>For most of my childhood,</i>

1356
01:02:06.461 --> 01:02:08.202
<i>she was effectively
a single mom.</i>

1357
01:02:11.336 --> 01:02:13.512
<i>So, the day after
I was born, he, um,</i>

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] <i>When you've done
a role like Superman,</i>

1364
01:02:35.099 --> 01:02:36.665
<i>people tend to put you up
on a pedestal.</i>

1365
01:02:36.840 --> 01:02:38.798
<i>They tend to think
you are that person.</i>

1366
01:02:38.972 --> 01:02:40.669
<i>And that, morally,
you are that person.</i>

1367
01:02:40.844 --> 01:02:42.759
[Chris] <i>Yeah.</i>

1368
01:02:42.933 --> 01:02:45.326
<i>I get Bibles and letters sent
to me from clergymen saying,</i>

1369
01:02:45.500 --> 01:02:47.633
<i>"You must think about
your religious responsibility.</i>

1370
01:02:47.807 --> 01:02:50.114
<i>Superman is a pop culture
version of Jesus Christ."</i>

1371
01:02:50.288 --> 01:02:52.899
<i>I'm going,
"Wait. Whoa, wait a minute."</i>

1372
01:02:53.073 --> 01:02:54.945
<i>I don't have all the answers.</i>

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>I'm not a hero.</i>

1375
01:03:00.211 --> 01:03:01.603
<i>Never have been,
never will be.</i>

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]
<i>When Chris was injured,</i>

1381
01:03:24.409 --> 01:03:26.019
<i>it was either a death sentence</i>

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] <i>So, Chris started
the foundation.</i>

1390
01:03:48.172 --> 01:03:50.174
<i>It was called the
Christopher Reeve Foundation.</i>

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>I'm like, "Okay."</i>[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]
<i>He just wanted to fund</i>

1398
01:04:11.325 --> 01:04:13.545
<i>the best science
no matter where it was.</i>

1399
01:04:13.719 --> 01:04:16.548
[Kirshblum] <i>He understood
the importance of advocacy.</i>

1400
01:04:16.722 --> 01:04:21.205
<i>He was an advocate
before his injury.</i>

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
<i>and also human rights issues.</i>

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] <i>We would go to D.C.</i>

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] <i>Okay, so what
I used to do politically...</i>

1408
01:04:40.659 --> 01:04:43.227
<i>taking all those contacts
I made in Washington.</i>

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
<i>He would take it to Democrats.</i>

1413
01:04:50.190 --> 01:04:51.626
[reporter] <i>After meeting
with President Clinton,</i>

1414
01:04:51.800 --> 01:04:53.367
<i>he was told...</i>

1415
01:04:53.541 --> 01:04:55.108
[Chris] <i>There will be
a $10 million increase</i>

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] <i>People were
just throwing money at us.</i>

1418
01:05:04.639 --> 01:05:07.251
[Kirshblum] <i>In the early 1990s,
spinal cord injury was known</i>

1419
01:05:07.425 --> 01:05:09.688
<i>as a field of doom and gloom.</i>

1420
01:05:09.862 --> 01:05:14.867
<i>By making it a hot area,
his impact was tangible.</i>

1421
01:05:17.391 --> 01:05:18.653
[presenter]
<i>There is no question</i>

1422
01:05:18.827 --> 01:05:20.568
<i>that Christopher Reeve
has become</i>

1423
01:05:20.742 --> 01:05:24.224
<i>a quite stunning icon
for the paralyzed community</i>

1424
01:05:24.398 --> 01:05:26.487
<i>and for the disabled
community in general.</i>

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] <i>One of the areas
that he really believed in</i>

1428
01:05:34.147 --> 01:05:36.497
was stem cell research.

1429
01:05:36.671 --> 01:05:38.021
[Laurie Hawkins]
<i>Chris would get all excited.</i>

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] <i>You can make
a new heart,</i>

1433
01:05:49.249 --> 01:05:51.034
<i>you can make a new liver.</i>

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] <i>Juvenile diabetes,
ALS, Parkinson's disease.</i>

1437
01:05:58.737 --> 01:06:01.305
A cure for almost everything.

1438
01:06:01.479 --> 01:06:04.351
[Will] <i>My dad was obsessed
with tomorrow's cure.</i>

1439
01:06:04.525 --> 01:06:05.831
[Chris] <i>I think it's probably
the greatest breakthrough</i>

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
<i>and walk using
computer technology.</i>

1448
01:06:39.604 --> 01:06:41.171
[reporter]
<i>Millions saw it go out,</i>

1449
01:06:41.345 --> 01:06:42.999
<i>some of whom rang in
wanting to know</i>

1450
01:06:43.173 --> 01:06:44.565
<i>where Reeve had been treated.</i>

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] <i>Chris was
incredibly galvanizing</i>

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
<i>Cure connotes the fact</i>

1458
01:07:04.890 --> 01:07:06.761
<i>that there's something wrong
with you,</i>

1459
01:07:06.935 --> 01:07:09.764
<i>something that needs
to be fixed.</i>

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]
<i>Absolutely thought
it was the right thing to do.</i>

1463
01:07:17.990 --> 01:07:21.776
<i>I think he could do whatever
the flip he wanted to do.</i>

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] <i>There's a group
of disabled community</i>

1470
01:07:37.053 --> 01:07:39.011
<i>who were against
all the research.</i>

1471
01:07:39.185 --> 01:07:40.665
[Manganiello]
<i>And they said he didn't care</i>

1472
01:07:40.839 --> 01:07:42.232
<i>about people living
with a disability.</i>

1473
01:07:42.406 --> 01:07:44.799
<i>Only he wanted
out of his chair.</i>

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] <i>It could
be everything</i>

1483
01:08:04.428 --> 01:08:07.561
<i>from a summer camp
for disabled children</i>

1484
01:08:07.735 --> 01:08:09.998
<i>to making a theater
accessible.</i>

1485
01:08:10.173 --> 01:08:11.609
<i>I mean,
there's a million things</i>

1486
01:08:11.783 --> 01:08:13.524
<i>that you could give money to.</i>

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] <i>Tomorrow's cure,
that is all my dad.</i>

1503
01:08:43.684 --> 01:08:46.470
<i>Where Dana comes in,
is today's care.</i>

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] <i>She rescued me
when I was lying in Virginia</i>

1507
01:08:57.568 --> 01:08:59.004
<i>with a broken body,</i>

1508
01:08:59.178 --> 01:09:01.833
<i>but that was really
the second time.</i>

1509
01:09:02.007 --> 01:09:04.314
<i>The first time she rescued me
was the night we met.</i>

1510
01:09:12.060 --> 01:09:13.671
[piano playing]

1511
01:09:13.845 --> 01:09:18.066
<i>♪ Yes,
I'm with you always ♪</i>

1512
01:09:18.241 --> 01:09:24.551
<i>♪ I'm with you rain or shine ♪</i>

1513
01:09:24.725 --> 01:09:28.686
[Dana] <i>It was June, 1987,</i>

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]
<i>She called and she said,
"I'm dating someone."</i>

1523
01:09:48.793 --> 01:09:50.273
<i>And I said, "Great."</i>

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] <i>But I had to spend
a certain amount of time</i>

1528
01:10:01.327 --> 01:10:03.286
<i>trying to disclaim
my reputation.</i>

1529
01:10:03.460 --> 01:10:06.114
<i>But it's just slow
and I gotta tell you that,</i>

1530
01:10:06.289 --> 01:10:07.638
<i>anybody out there
who has not been involved</i>

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
<i>It all seemed very movie-like,
to be perfectly honest.</i>

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>♪ I was walking
along ♪</i>

1542
01:10:39.844 --> 01:10:40.845
[crowd laughs]

1543
01:10:41.019 --> 01:10:43.108
<i>♪ Minding my business ♪</i>

1544
01:10:43.282 --> 01:10:46.720
[Chris] <i>I went down hook,
line and sinker.</i>

1545
01:10:46.894 --> 01:10:49.114
<i>All my friends who were there
saw it happen.</i>

1546
01:10:50.985 --> 01:10:53.031
[Close] <i>They had
a wonderful connection.</i>

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
<i>Partly it was the acting
and the artistic element,</i>

1561
01:11:21.407 --> 01:11:23.191
<i>but it was beyond that.</i>

1562
01:11:23.366 --> 01:11:27.979
<i>It was the ability to share
passionately-intense fun</i>

1563
01:11:28.153 --> 01:11:29.372
<i>and activity together.</i>

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>I think from the time
it was fully over with my mom</i>

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>I do remember</i>

1572
01:11:50.784 --> 01:11:52.438
<i>meeting Dana
for the first time.</i>

1573
01:11:52.612 --> 01:11:54.397
<i>I didn't really know, like,</i>
[laughs] <i>who she was</i>

1574
01:11:54.571 --> 01:11:55.833
<i>or why we were meeting her.</i>

1575
01:11:57.791 --> 01:11:59.358
<i>Firstly, her smile, like,</i>

1576
01:11:59.532 --> 01:12:03.667
<i>it's just this really warm,
bright smile.</i>

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] <i>It was just so clear
how Dad felt about her.</i>

1580
01:12:11.327 --> 01:12:13.590
<i>She was his sunshine
from day one.</i>

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] <i>You know, she was
26 years old.</i>[chuckles]

1583
01:12:18.812 --> 01:12:20.727
<i>Like what a world to come in</i>

1584
01:12:20.901 --> 01:12:22.599
<i>and suddenly have,
you know, a three-year-old</i>

1585
01:12:22.773 --> 01:12:25.602
<i>and a seven-year-old
hanging out with you.</i>

1586
01:12:25.776 --> 01:12:27.430
[Exton] <i>She wrote to me,
and she said,</i>

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
<i>Look out for Alexandra.
She's the only girl there."</i>

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] <i>There was
a real attempt by Dana</i>

1595
01:12:43.968 --> 01:12:46.231
<i>to make sure
that the kids were around</i>

1596
01:12:46.405 --> 01:12:48.712
<i>as much as possible.</i>

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] <i>And she was also the one.</i>

1602
01:13:00.811 --> 01:13:02.290
<i>My dad was very competitive</i>

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
<i>we'd all go up
in the chairlift together,</i>

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
<i>you know, bomb down the hill
and wait for us at the bottom.</i>

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] <i>Pretty quickly
it was Dana saying,</i>[laughs]

1618
01:13:36.150 --> 01:13:37.674
<i>"Let's actually go at a pace</i>

1619
01:13:37.848 --> 01:13:39.371
<i>so that Alexandra and Matthew
can come out."</i>

1620
01:13:39.545 --> 01:13:40.459
[Matthew] <i>She was so kind
from minute one,</i>

1621
01:13:40.633 --> 01:13:42.113
<i>as was her whole family...</i>

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] <i>It's finally only in
this relationship with Dana,</i>

1638
01:14:15.755 --> 01:14:18.366
<i>where I began to see
marriage is a freedom.</i>

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] <i>And we got married,
eventually.</i>

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] <i>Gonna start
a family,</i>

1656
01:15:10.418 --> 01:15:11.985
<i>you've got the whole thing
planned?</i>

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
<i>We were talking in the office.</i>

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] <i>He hadn't moved
anything in six years.</i>

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] <i>They had fun with it, too.</i>

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] <i>Dad started regaining
elements of movement.</i>

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] <i>My spirits rose</i>

1693
01:17:17.763 --> 01:17:19.635
<i>with the possibility that
I was on the road to recovery.</i>

1694
01:17:28.339 --> 01:17:31.211
[Dana] <i>You do have to learn
to walk the fine line</i>

1695
01:17:31.385 --> 01:17:34.824
<i>between hope
without expectation.</i>

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
<i>to give him enough ability
to wean off completely.</i>

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] <i>He wanted
to give people hope.</i>

1710
01:18:13.863 --> 01:18:15.952
<i>But it was really hard</i>

1711
01:18:16.126 --> 01:18:18.302
<i>and he did not show that
to the world.</i>

1712
01:18:19.825 --> 01:18:21.348
[Chris] <i>What's really curious</i>

1713
01:18:21.522 --> 01:18:24.003
<i>is that in all the time
since my injury,</i>

1714
01:18:24.177 --> 01:18:26.484
<i>I've never once had a dream</i>

1715
01:18:26.658 --> 01:18:28.355
<i>in which I've been
in a wheelchair.</i>

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
<i>And you have to get him out.</i>

1718
01:18:34.579 --> 01:18:36.146
<i>We had a list of people
we'd call</i>

1719
01:18:36.320 --> 01:18:37.582
<i>if we weren't good enough.</i>
[chuckles]

1720
01:18:37.756 --> 01:18:39.323
<i>We'd call brother Robin.</i>

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] <i>Another thing that
Robin and Marsha did was that</i>

1725
01:18:51.291 --> 01:18:53.990
<i>on the anniversary
of the accident,</i>

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
<i>at Chris and Dana's house</i>

1728
01:18:58.516 --> 01:19:00.083
<i>and have a great party.</i>

1729
01:19:00.257 --> 01:19:02.520
<i>Made it into
a point of celebration and...</i>

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] <i>Robin and I,
we laugh as much as ever,</i>

1733
01:19:13.923 --> 01:19:16.621
<i>but we hardly
ever talk about disability.</i>

1734
01:19:16.795 --> 01:19:19.232
<i>We hardly ever,
ever talk about the chair.</i>

1735
01:19:21.757 --> 01:19:23.106
[Sarandon]
<i>Robin also had struggles</i>

1736
01:19:23.280 --> 01:19:24.977
<i>that he dealt with
his whole life.</i>

1737
01:19:25.151 --> 01:19:26.762
<i>And I think that there...</i>

1738
01:19:26.936 --> 01:19:29.373
<i>Despite the way they look
and their facade,</i>

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] <i>You know,
Chris' level of injury</i>

1743
01:19:40.123 --> 01:19:42.908
<i>was so dramatic and so severe,</i>

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] <i>Which must've
been hell for him.</i>

1746
01:19:48.348 --> 01:19:49.872
<i>And must've been hell
for my mom, too,</i>

1747
01:19:50.046 --> 01:19:52.744
<i>knowing the man
she fell in love with</i>

1748
01:19:52.918 --> 01:19:56.487
<i>had this whole part of him
taken forever.</i>

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
<i>Telling the story of my life
to the clean, white towels</i>

1753
01:20:09.021 --> 01:20:12.895
<i>taken warm from the dryer
and held to my chest.</i>

1754
01:20:13.069 --> 01:20:15.854
<i>A sad substitute for a body
pulled in close.</i>

1755
01:20:18.204 --> 01:20:20.206
<i>The whole man
took his last walk</i>

1756
01:20:20.380 --> 01:20:23.427
<i>away from me
five years ago today,</i>

1757
01:20:23.601 --> 01:20:27.257
<i>leaving only mind, soul,
heart and heartache behind.</i>

1758
01:20:29.259 --> 01:20:31.522
<i>I think of him
in certain lights.</i>

1759
01:20:31.696 --> 01:20:33.524
<i>Dawn, late afternoon,</i>

1760
01:20:33.698 --> 01:20:36.048
<i>bright, windy days that would
be perfect for sailing."</i>

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
<i>the expressive grace
and heft of them.</i>

1764
01:20:47.059 --> 01:20:49.453
<i>The heat of his hands
on my skin.</i>

1765
01:20:49.627 --> 01:20:50.846
<i>The wrap of his arms,</i>

1766
01:20:51.020 --> 01:20:52.238
<i>two becoming one.</i>

1767
01:20:54.197 --> 01:20:56.373
<i>I carry the stack of towels
upstairs,</i>

1768
01:20:56.547 --> 01:20:59.637
<i>carefully cradling them
so as not to let them tumble.</i>

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
<i>That's what she was enduring.</i>

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] <i>Dana did what Dana does,</i>

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
<i>And Dad did what Dad did,</i>

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>I see
it's like a game of cards.</i>

1787
01:21:54.953 --> 01:21:57.651
<i>And if you think
the game is worthwhile,</i>

1788
01:21:57.825 --> 01:22:00.089
<i>then you just play
the hand you're dealt.</i>

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>I thought it would be
a good thing</i>

1791
01:22:06.573 --> 01:22:09.533
<i>for me to tell
one really good story</i>

1792
01:22:09.707 --> 01:22:14.799
<i>about a family dealing
with a devastating event.</i>

1793
01:22:14.973 --> 01:22:18.107
[Ellison] <i>The phone rang
and it was a man saying,</i>

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
<i>And he said,</i>

1797
01:22:26.724 --> 01:22:29.596
<i>"I have long wanted
to tell the story of somebody</i>

1798
01:22:29.770 --> 01:22:32.730
<i>who lived
with ventilator-dependent
quadriplegia.</i>

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] <i>She's
an extraordinary person</i>

1802
01:22:40.303 --> 01:22:43.654
<i>because her mind
is sharp as a razor</i>

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
<i>She applied to Harvard,
and she got in.</i>

1806
01:22:51.836 --> 01:22:55.318
<i>Her mother, Jean,
went with her every day.</i>

1807
01:22:55.492 --> 01:22:58.669
<i>They lived together.
They ate together.</i>

1808
01:22:58.843 --> 01:23:02.064
<i>Brooke graduated
with a degree in neuroscience.</i>

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]
<i>What we really hope</i>

1815
01:23:17.296 --> 01:23:18.428
<i>you can learn from us...</i>

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] <i>It would be great
if this film</i>

1818
01:23:29.874 --> 01:23:31.876
<i>would cause
families everywhere</i>

1819
01:23:32.050 --> 01:23:34.661
<i>to think about how they're
really doing in their family.</i>

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] <i>There was
a huge shift in my dad</i>

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
<i>He started really to see us</i>

1828
01:23:53.376 --> 01:23:55.378
<i>and to connect to us
as people.</i>

1829
01:23:55.552 --> 01:23:57.336
[Matthew] <i>Being together
and talking</i>

1830
01:23:57.510 --> 01:24:00.383
<i>was far more valuable
and meaningful</i>

1831
01:24:00.557 --> 01:24:03.734
<i>than doing all those crazy
physical activities.</i>

1832
01:24:03.908 --> 01:24:06.954
[Chris] <i>I was a sailor.
I was a skier. I was a rider.</i>

1833
01:24:07.129 --> 01:24:09.174
<i>I traveled everywhere.</i>

1834
01:24:09.348 --> 01:24:13.048
<i>And you realize
that is not the definition</i>

1835
01:24:13.222 --> 01:24:15.354
<i>or the essence
of your existence.</i>

1836
01:24:15.528 --> 01:24:18.314
<i>What is the essence
are relationships.</i>

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] <i>My dad taught me
how to ride a bike,</i>

1841
01:24:26.583 --> 01:24:28.541
<i>which is quite remarkable</i>

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] <i>If someone had told me
before my injury</i>

1846
01:24:39.291 --> 01:24:40.858
<i>that you could teach a kid
to ride on his own</i>

1847
01:24:41.032 --> 01:24:42.512
<i>just by talking to him,</i>

1848
01:24:42.686 --> 01:24:45.167
<i>I would have said that
that was impossible.</i>

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] <i>It was the accident</i>

1856
01:25:10.496 --> 01:25:12.498
<i>that brought us
closer together</i>

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] <i>For the first time
since the accident,</i>

1860
01:25:24.728 --> 01:25:27.296
<i>I've seen my life
as a continual timeline</i>

1861
01:25:28.775 --> 01:25:32.562
<i>instead of before and after,</i>

1862
01:25:32.736 --> 01:25:34.781
<i>being on my feet
and being seated.</i>

1863
01:25:36.870 --> 01:25:39.830
<i>It's all part
of the total story.</i>

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
<i>♪ Happy birthday to you ♪</i>

1869
01:25:57.064 --> 01:25:59.328
[Matthew] <i>She had,
like, two nights off.
She came home.</i>

1870
01:25:59.502 --> 01:26:02.679
<i>We had a very
totally informal,
just dinner.</i>

1871
01:26:02.853 --> 01:26:05.377
- [Dana] Some of them
are sparklers.
- [Matthew] <i>He turned 52.</i>

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] <i>Things were good, and then</i>

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] <i>He mentioned
this infection</i>

1879
01:26:29.053 --> 01:26:30.489
<i>that wasn't going away.</i>

1880
01:26:30.663 --> 01:26:32.404
<i>He was frustrated.</i>

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
<i>so I would rub his head
for good luck.</i>

1884
01:26:40.586 --> 01:26:42.371
<i>The Yankees came back and won.</i>

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] <i>It was the middle
of the night</i>

1890
01:27:02.217 --> 01:27:03.566
<i>and it was Dana calling.</i>

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] <i>There we were,
back in an ICU again.</i>

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]
<i>Good morning, everyone.</i>

1931
01:29:10.823 --> 01:29:12.825
<i>Christopher Reeve is being
remembered this morning</i>

1932
01:29:12.999 --> 01:29:14.827
<i>as a courageous
and inspirational person</i>

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] <i>Condolences
are still pouring in</i>

1935
01:29:22.922 --> 01:29:25.229
<i>around the world today
for Christopher Reeve</i>

1936
01:29:25.403 --> 01:29:27.971
<i>two days after his death
at the age of 52.</i>

1937
01:29:28.145 --> 01:29:29.799
<i>Friends and admirers alike</i>

1938
01:29:29.973 --> 01:29:31.540
<i>all have one word
to describe him.</i>

1939
01:29:31.714 --> 01:29:32.845
"Hero."

1940
01:29:40.549 --> 01:29:42.638
[Manganiello] <i>He never rested.
He just didn't.</i>

1941
01:29:42.812 --> 01:29:45.597
<i>And I think, you know,
after all those years,</i>

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] <i>We knew
this day was coming.</i>

1946
01:29:53.213 --> 01:29:54.650
<i>You know it's coming
at some point.</i>

1947
01:29:54.824 --> 01:29:56.173
<i>It's inevitable.</i>

1948
01:29:56.347 --> 01:29:57.740
<i>But we'd gotten
so used to Chris</i>

1949
01:29:57.914 --> 01:29:59.481
<i>just outliving everything.</i>

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>I don't know
that I've ever seen</i>

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>I made a vow to Chris
when we married</i>

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] <i>After my dad died,
it was just me and my mom.</i>

1985
01:32:11.047 --> 01:32:12.352
<i>It felt strange.</i>

1986
01:32:16.618 --> 01:32:20.143
[Al] <i>We gave the van to a boy
in New Hampshire.</i>

1987
01:32:20.317 --> 01:32:21.797
<i>Absolutely changed his life</i>

1988
01:32:21.971 --> 01:32:23.102
<i>because he couldn't go
anywhere before that.</i>

1989
01:32:25.017 --> 01:32:27.019
[Matthew] <i>It was hard
'cause the foundation lost</i>

1990
01:32:27.193 --> 01:32:29.892
<i>its biggest advocate,
its biggest magnet.</i>

1991
01:32:30.066 --> 01:32:34.157
<i>But Dana stepped in
and helped fill that void.</i>

1992
01:32:34.331 --> 01:32:36.202
[cheers and applause]

1993
01:32:36.376 --> 01:32:40.206
[Kerry] <i>Despite the sorrow,
the loss, the pain,</i>

1994
01:32:40.380 --> 01:32:42.165
<i>she thought
it was important for her</i>

1995
01:32:42.339 --> 01:32:45.472
<i>to make Chris' voice
heard through her.</i>

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] <i>She was so full of life
and full of hope</i>

1999
01:32:56.222 --> 01:32:59.661
<i>that while she had lost
a part of her soul</i>

2000
01:32:59.835 --> 01:33:01.532
when my dad died,

2001
01:33:01.706 --> 01:33:04.100
<i>I think she stayed true
to her belief</i>

2002
01:33:04.274 --> 01:33:06.232
<i>that there's not enough time
in the day for self-pity</i>

2003
01:33:06.406 --> 01:33:09.061
<i>and you gotta
get on with things.</i>

2004
01:33:09.235 --> 01:33:12.674
[Hawkins] <i>A Broadway composer
asked her to sing.</i>

2005
01:33:12.848 --> 01:33:15.372
- <i>♪ His is the only...♪</i>
- [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] <i>And she has
this little cough.</i>

2011
01:33:25.556 --> 01:33:27.166
[coughing]

2012
01:33:27.340 --> 01:33:28.994
<i>♪ Never let him go ♪</i>

2013
01:33:29.168 --> 01:33:31.083
[Al] <i>She couldn't figure out
what was going on.</i>

2014
01:33:31.257 --> 01:33:33.608
<i>It just wouldn't go away,
and her back was hurting.</i>

2015
01:33:34.739 --> 01:33:35.914
[Hawkins] <i>I was like, "Dana,</i>

2016
01:33:36.088 --> 01:33:37.002
<i>I'm getting you
to a doctor."</i>

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
<i>We got the first results,</i>

2019
01:33:52.104 --> 01:33:55.412
<i>and Michael called me up,
and he's like,</i>

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] <i>And she got that diagnosis</i>

2024
01:34:06.510 --> 01:34:08.686
<i>less than a year
after we'd lost my dad.</i>

2025
01:34:10.296 --> 01:34:11.820
[Hawkins] <i>I'm still in shock.</i>

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]
<i>Dana was so brave.</i>

2030
01:34:21.220 --> 01:34:23.135
<i>I mean, she was just like,
"Okay, I'll do whatever
I need to do."</i>

2031
01:34:23.309 --> 01:34:24.789
<i>Because the last thing
on this planet</i>

2032
01:34:24.963 --> 01:34:26.225
<i>she was gonna do
was leave that kid.</i>

2033
01:34:26.399 --> 01:34:27.792
<i>Wasn't gonna happen.</i>

2034
01:34:27.966 --> 01:34:29.881
[Oprah] <i>What are you
most proud of</i>

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
<i>We have extraordinary kids.</i>

2043
01:34:46.724 --> 01:34:49.901
[Will] <i>Matthew moved home
and was unbelievable.</i>

2044
01:34:50.075 --> 01:34:53.557
<i>He was acting as a dad.
He was acting as a brother,</i>

2045
01:34:53.731 --> 01:34:54.732
<i>as a best friend.</i>

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] <i>Dana had sat us down</i>

2050
01:35:05.569 --> 01:35:07.789
<i>and she made it very clear
kind of what...</i>

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] <i>Well,
I had a great model.</i>

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] <i>Marsha Williams put us
up in a hotel in New York.</i>

2064
01:35:52.442 --> 01:35:55.532
<i>Matthew, Al, and I in a room.
I was on the cot.</i>

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] <i>You can say that the
universe is totally random.</i>

2087
01:37:33.630 --> 01:37:35.632
<i>And it's just molecules
colliding all the time,</i>

2088
01:37:35.806 --> 01:37:37.634
<i>and, you know,
it's totally chaos.</i>

2089
01:37:37.808 --> 01:37:41.638
<i>And our job
is to make sense of chaos.</i>

2090
01:37:41.812 --> 01:37:44.641
<i>Or you can say, sometimes
things happen for a reason,</i>

2091
01:37:44.815 --> 01:37:46.861
<i>and your job
is to discover the reason.</i>

2092
01:37:50.212 --> 01:37:54.956
[Al] <i>Suddenly, there we are,
and it's just three kids.</i>

2093
01:37:55.130 --> 01:37:57.132
<i>You start to pick up
the pieces and think,</i>

2094
01:37:57.306 --> 01:37:59.264
<i>"All right, what does
the future look like?</i>

2095
01:37:59.438 --> 01:38:03.094
<i>How are we gonna
navigate this together?"</i>

2096
01:38:03.268 --> 01:38:06.619
[Will] <i>My dad and my mom
and their values,</i>

2097
01:38:06.793 --> 01:38:08.534
<i>the way that they were,</i>

2098
01:38:08.708 --> 01:38:10.972
<i>the role models, through
their words and their actions,</i>

2099
01:38:11.146 --> 01:38:15.454
<i>their unwavering love and
support and encouragement.</i>

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
<i>My brothers and I
joined the board</i>

2102
01:38:20.633 --> 01:38:22.722
<i>almost immediately
after Dana passed away</i>

2103
01:38:22.897 --> 01:38:25.116
<i>to help give continuity
of the family.</i>

2104
01:38:25.290 --> 01:38:28.946
[Will] <i>It is now
the Christopher and Dana
Reeve Foundation.</i>

2105
01:38:29.120 --> 01:38:31.688
[Kerry] <i>Chris and Dana.
They've made a difference.</i>

2106
01:38:31.862 --> 01:38:35.866
<i>They are making a difference
in the continuation
of the foundation.</i>

2107
01:38:36.040 --> 01:38:37.259
[Kirshblum] <i>Both Chris and Dana</i>

2108
01:38:37.433 --> 01:38:39.652
<i>did a really good job.
Clearly,</i>

2109
01:38:39.826 --> 01:38:42.742
<i>because now these children
aren't children anymore,</i>

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] <i>People who became
disabled after Chris</i>

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] <i>That's the fire
you want to put under people,</i>

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] <i>He helped us say,
"There are lives to lead.</i>

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
<i>specifically aimed at
addressing the challenges</i>

2129
01:39:40.278 --> 01:39:42.193
<i>faced by Americans
living with paralysis.</i>

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] <i>When the first</i>
Superman <i>movie came out,</i>

2134
01:39:59.254 --> 01:40:01.908
<i>the most frequently asked
question was,</i>

2135
01:40:02.083 --> 01:40:03.127
<i>"What is a hero?"</i>

2136
01:40:06.652 --> 01:40:08.654
<i>And my answer was that a hero</i>

2137
01:40:08.828 --> 01:40:12.397
<i>is someone who commits
a courageous action</i>

2138
01:40:12.571 --> 01:40:15.748
<i>without considering
the consequences.</i>

2139
01:40:15.922 --> 01:40:19.230
<i>Now my definition
is completely different.</i>

2140
01:40:19.404 --> 01:40:22.190
<i>I think a hero
is an ordinary individual</i>

2141
01:40:22.364 --> 01:40:25.628
<i>who finds the strength
to persevere and endure</i>

2142
01:40:25.802 --> 01:40:27.978
<i>in spite
of overwhelming obstacles.</i>

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]