One thing I recently learned — Tommy Lee Jones went to Harvard. And he was roommates with none other than future Vice President Al Gore. Jones was in debate clubs, wrote papers, finished with high honors and right after graduating cum laude, abandoned his field (English literature) and decided to pursue acting, instead.
This was a guy who very much had the “keys to the castle” — wickedly smart, well-connected, well-educated. He could have gone places. But the only place he wanted to go? Hollywood. People have this impression of actors as being not all-that-smart. Just, some good-looking people who recite lines adequately and with conviction and know how to work their angles. This really isn’t true for a lot of them; actors are a diverse bunch.
Tommy Lee Jones didn’t go into his acting career impulsively or willy-nilly, either — he already befriended some agents even during his Harvard days. When he graduated in 1969, he made some calls. And that very same year, he made his debut on Broadway. This guy was incredibly determined, so of course he got to be exactly where he wanted to be.
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