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Bucs' Michael Clayton On 'Michael Clayton'

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By Anwar Richardson/The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2007

TAMPA - It is not uncommon to do something so different that Hollywood decides to make a film based on that person.

The rarity is when that movie just so happens to be named after a Tampa Bay receiver.

'Michael Clayton,' a film starring George Clooney, was released Friday. However, it is not the life story about Bucs receiver Michael Clayton, whose appearance in today's Wide Right column should at least earn him one speaking line in the sequel.

Anwar: When you first heard about the 'Michael Clayton' movie what went through your mind?

Michael: It was crazy. I heard about it about a year-and-a-half ago. I thought they were lying. Then I was watching TV about four months ago and saw it. It was 'Michael Clayton.' So I went and got the poster, signed it, framed it, and it's hanging up in my room.

Anwar: You signed the poster of a movie you're not in?

Michael: You're darn right. Hey, how many times does that happen?

Anwar: Do you think George Clooney will do a good job representing you?

Michael: You can't go wrong with the movie. You have a great first step, which is a great title. A lot of people are going to come out and see it. It's going to be a great movie.

Anwar: Do you think he needs any acting advice from you?

Michael: I don't think he needs any advice, but maybe he can have me in the supporting cast, or a supporting role. A little cameo.

Anwar: Do you think the movie will be good enough to do a sequel?

Michael: You could have six or seven. A decade full of movies just because of the name.

Anwar: If we had to make a movie about your life, what would it be about?

Michael: You can go daddy and two little girls, a family guy. You can go conservative business type who is an entrepreneur trying to hustle to make a dollar. You can also do a little movie on how it goes down in Louisiana.

Anwar: Would this be an action, comedy, drama or cartoon?

Michael: I think it would be a drama. I got some drama.

Anwar: Who would play you?

Michael: I would say Denzel Washington. Nah. Denzel might be a little old. I say Morris Chestnut. He has a good physique to play me.

Anwar: What movie scared you most as a child?

Michael: 'Friday the 13th.' I grew up in a small town in Mississippi. We had three houses. There was my grandmother's house, a couple of yards later was my aunt's house, and couple of yards later was my other aunt's house. We were surrounded by nothing but pasture. All of the cousins, like 11 or 12 of us, would stay in one house and play Monopoly, Battleship or whatever we could. The older guys decided to watch 'Friday the 13th' at the end of the night. We usually go out and play hide and go seek at night, but when they popped in 'Friday the 13th,' nobody wanted to go anywhere. I used to sleep in my grandmother's house, but after seeing that movie, I couldn't make that walk over there. In the pasture making that walk and thinking about 'Friday the 13th' scared me.

Anwar: Have you ever taken a girl on a first date to the theater?

Michael: Oh yeah. All the time.

Anwar: Theaters are so expensive now. If I want to take a date to the movies, can she only get popcorn? Should I buy her a soda?

Michael: What you do is you stop by your local gas station and get your candy and Powerade. You buy her a Mountain Dew. If she's good looking, you can get her a Coke. You get a medium popcorn and tell her you don't really eat a lot of popcorn. You got a medium popcorn and your stash stuff bought outside theater in your pocket. Go and look for a high seat. If you go to see a romance, it's easier to get a kiss in. Act like you're a celebrity. You don't want anybody to see you, so get the high seat. Then you watch the movie and go home, but if you got to cry, you cry. If she's pretty, you got to cry.

Anwar: How many times can a person in your row go to the bathroom before you get upset?

Michael: If it happens twice, I got to say something. I'll say it in a way so they won't do it again. That bothers me. They step on your feet. Grab on your shoulders. Drop popcorn on me. I had that happen to me.

Anwar: What did you do?

Michael: I was young. If you made a movie about me in Louisiana, that was the ruthless part. I was young.

Anwar: What is the worst quality bootleg movie you watched?

Michael: It was 'Fearless' with Jet Li. You had to read the caption and I couldn't even see it. I had to read a movie. That's how bad it was.

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