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No copyright infringement is intended. InsomniacFreak thanks
Catherine at Tobey Maguire Sur La Toile for contributing this
article to MMC's archives.
For Stick a pin in a map of Southern California, and chances are
you'll land on a city Tobey Maguire once called home.
Spearing a chunk of tofu from a take-out container of vegetarian pad
thai, he ticks off a partial list: "I've lived in Santa Monica,
Venice, Hollywood, Burbank, North Hollywood, Studio City, Sherman
Oaks, Reseda, Palm Springs..."
As we speak, he's about to relocate again. "I'm moving into a great
place right now, which I'm very excited about, because it has a
great kitchen," he says between bites. "I love cooking."
He may be on the thin side, but the 21-year-old Maguire enjoys food.
In the sixth grade, he even wanted to take home economics as an
elective, but his mother, who once had acting ambitions, gave him
$100 to take drama instead.
Mom's bribe paid off. He got his first job at 13, starred in the
series Great Scott at 17, and was a finalist for the role that
eventually went to his friend Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life.
The two actors vowed that whoever take the part would put in a good
word for the other, and DiCaprio made good on the deal by helping
Maguire secure a supporting role. Last year, Maguire got to kiss Uma
Thurman in the Oscar-nominated short, Duke of Groove, which led to a
major role in director Ang Lee's Ice Storm, with Kevin Klein and
Sigourney Weaver, and a slot in Woody Allen's next opus.
Not a bad run for a guy who only committed to acting to placate
frustrated parents. After shuffling between so many schools, he
says, "I was like, 'I don't have friends for more than six months,
and I'm just not into it anymore.' So I was kind of not going to
school a lot, and my parents were freaking out. I said, 'I'm not
going to go. What are you going to do about it?' My mom said, 'I'm
going to call the truant officer,' so I said, 'OK, here is the
phone.'"
Instead, they made a deal. "My mom gave me the option of going to
this easy school, where things were really easy, and being an actor,
or going to regular school. So I chose the acting thing. That's how
I started."
He opens a container of polenta. "Oh, yeah," he says, "Panorama
City. I lived there, too."
© Juan Morales, Detour |
