Johnathon Schaech: An Additional Chapter

'He was trying to seduce me, under the guise of teaching me, from the start.'

Johnathon Schaech

Back in 2017, I did an Actors & Skin feature on actor Johnathon Schaech. (HERE: & HERE:) While putting together that piece, I found a series of images of a hot shoot featuring Jonathon and a female model. The only image from the series I could find was a compilation shot from a Dewey series by DC poster Jimbo. I got in touch with Jimbo who originally thought he'd lost the shots after an issue with an old computer. A few months later, Jimbo got back in touch after finding the shots on an old hard drive.

When I was starting to put together the piece featuring the images, I couldn't get a particular story out of my head.  It wasn't a story I'd heard of when I put together the first pieces on Jonathan, it was year later that the story came out.  I was reading a post on Dreamcaps about actor Martin Hewitt, when the subject of Endless Love came up.  I hadn't been aware that a year after my 2017 pieces, Schaech wrote a piece for People Magazine detailing his story of being molested by director Franco Zeffirelli.

'There’s a moment where, even though you are taught to be charming and have sex appeal as an actor, a line is crossed and everything changes. When someone crosses that line, when someone preys on you, there’s a panic that sets in. That’s what Franco did. He crossed that boundary and I felt as though I left my body. He molested me in my bed. He put his hands in places that I couldn’t even imagine and he did things that I am not proud of. But it’s not my fault.'

Many of course know Zefferelli from his work on film, most notably 1968's Romeo & Juliette.  It was 1993's The Sparrow that Schaech shares the director made his life a nightmare.  The 'me too' era provided an opportunity for so many to share their stories, but it's still struggle for men who have been abused.  I think the fact Jonathon's story wasn't highly publicized is a great example.

Although FH is clearly about enjoying visuals of the male form, story is an important part of the process for me.  When only an image is seen, it's far too easy for distance to be created.  I strive to ensure that I'm not posting just a body, but a person.  Story is essential in this process. I applaud Jonathon's bravery in sharing a very painful piece of his story.

Johnathon Schaech on Instagram 

Hush Hush Sweet Johnathon

I have long lusted after actor Johnathon Schaech, but we can thank Jessica Lange, (or maybe we should thank Joan Crawford) for inspiring this Actors & Skin feature on Jonathon. I have been mesmerised watching Lange's portrayal of Crawford in Feud. Sarandan is good, but Lange's understated, but nuanced turn as Joan Crawford as been a highlight. My first introduction to Crawford was Mommie Dearest, and it was only the past year or two I have seen the actual actress on film. After Dearest, it is nice to see Lange really highlight the icon's quirks by brilliantly focusing on the quieter moments.

Feud had me keeping an eye out for older Lange films on the movie channel. I have seen most of her big movies, including her turn in King Kong, which I felt was fare better than Peter Jackson's green screen reliant remake. I had never seen 1998's Hush though, until last weekend. The film has a few similarities to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, with a wacko main character tormenting another woman. In Hush, Lange played the wacko and although the movie got dismal reviews, I found it enjoyably bad enough to watch.

'Even in the world of bad movies, there are rules of engagement. Bad like Showgirls bad can be enjoyable. Bad like Hush (TriStar) bad is just depressing, a grim chore: When you watch this failed horror thriller — which has been under studio doctors’ care for some two years, undergoing futile title changes and reshoots — there’s no respite from the odor of flop sweat stinking up the screen'

Entertainment Weekly 1998

Unlike Showgirls, which I enjoy re-watching now and then, only a drinking game would have me watching Hush again. There were so many odd edits and cuts that there are many thing to drink to. The changing sizes of Paltrow's baby bump was laughably noticeable, and if you took a shot every time Paltrow went from wearing a wig to her natural hair, you would be drunk before too long.

I did not know when I started to watch that Lange's son was played by the oh so beautiful Johnathon Schaech. Paltrow's wig aside, he held my sole focus each time he was on scene. Johnathon is so stunning, one can hardly hold his Southern Mama's burning loin's against her. She wasn't exactly subtle, hosing her shirtless son down in one the films most ridiculous, yet gratifying scenes.

Hosed 

Feud had me looking to work my way through Jessica Lange's body of work, and Hush has me wanting to work my way through Jonathan...and his body of work! I think I'm going to start with That Thing You Do, How to Make an American Quilt and by the looks of the scene in the skin piece below, Poison Ivy 2 seems a must...

Jonathon Schaech on Instagram

Still smokin hot in a recent shot

BOYS TOWN

'I had a period when I was sixteen where I started to get a big head. I was going through puberty, and I was nominated for an Academy Award. My head got inflated. My friends were the real ones who said, 'You're acting different.' But the truth is that I don't need that, because I don't get out of hand.'

Leonardo DiCaprio

Above: Tim Roth, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Rapaport, Stephen Dorff, Johnathon Schaech, David Arquette, Will Smith, and Skeet Ulrich.

DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio Actors & SKIN

Del Toro

Anyone who follows the Academy Awards, knows that one of the signs the award show is close, is the annual Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair.  Full of stories about the starts and incredible images from photographer Annie leibovitz, the annual issue was released every year, usually in March to coincide with the Oscar's. 

Dorff

I bought the issue every year, including picking up the most recent edition last week.  Although the issues have gotten smaller, the images fewer, and  celebrity and Hollywood back stories not as in depth, I still look forward to seeing who's in it, and who is on the cover.  I used to think all of the stars on the fold out cover got together for the cover shoot.  It was disappointing to learn that they were shot at different times, sometimes in small groups, sometimes alone, then edited together for the final shot.

Rapaport in The Naked Man (1998)

This year's issue didn't have much meat in regards to articles, but as always, I did love Annie leibovitz's work, especially her shots of Jonathan Majors, Jeremy Allen White and Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Roth

One of my favorite Hollywood issues of Vanity Fair was the 1996 BOYS TOWN edition.  The cover featured 10 of Hollywood's hottest properties, with Tim Roth, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey on the front part of the cover.  

Schaech

Johnathon Schaech on FH:

When I was recently looking at the cover, I realized that I've covered, and uncovered, almost everyone of the actors on the cover.  I think the only exception was actor Benicio Del Toro, who I don't believe had done any on-screen nudity.  Some were featured in small posts or in the daily birthdays.  Others had larger features, or were spotlighted with an Actors & SKIN.   Here are some of my favorite shots of 9 of the 10 actors on the cover.  

Arquette

Ulrich

Ulrich in Touch (1997)

McConaughey in Magic Mike (2012)

Actors & Skin: Johnathon Schaech

Although I have not seen any of these films yet, they (and Jonathon's great face smile and delicious hairy chest) are all now decidedly on my list.

How to Make an American Quilt (1995)

Poison Ivy 2 (1996)

Welcome to Woop Woop (1997)

 Johnathon Schaech on Instagram

8MM 2 (2005)

Favorite Birthday Boy #2 for September 10th Jonathan Schaech

The beautiful Johnathon Schaech turns 39 today.