Does anyone else feel like saying “Okay 2020, that’s enough.”? Some folks might not remember Reni Santoni, and that’s perfectly okay since he wasn’t a huge name such as those that he starred with, but he did manage to hang in with some of the biggest names in the business during his time on the screen. He did get his start in an off-Broadway theater with a play that he wrote back in the day, so saying that he was just another sidekick isn’t entirely accurate. Stating that he was someone that didn’t always get the attention he was due might be closer, but he was the kind of guy that was there to help make the stars look good and do his own thing as well, which is what a lot of actors tend to do throughout the length of their career. Reni played quite a few roles during his time that were anything from comical to deadly serious, and if you recognize him at least in part then it’s likely you’ve seen him in a movie or a TV show here and there. Like a great deal of Hollywood, he was one of those that was just ‘there’, meaning he wasn’t the top star, but he enjoyed an elevated position that made him more than an extra as well. In short, he was one of the supporting actors that helped to bolster the business and make things happen.
The supporting actor is someone in Hollywood that doesn’t always get the same amount of credit that tends to go to the leads, but they do manage to play an important role in movies and TV shows all the same. Without them, the support that the leads require wouldn’t exist, and some leads would crumble since they can’t carry the show on their own shoulders. But supporting actors are also important since they liven up the story a bit and whether they’re part of the landscape or are directly interacting with the leads and everyone else, they’re giving more depth to the story. This is why actors such as Reni are so vital to any project, they grant everything they do a sense of purpose that might not otherwise be clear. Reni was one of those that managed to inject just enough of that purpose into a movie or show without really going over the top with it, as he found ways to complement his costars in a manner that made them appear even more effective. There were moments when even his wit and expertise didn’t make much of a difference since the lead actors might have been a little too forceful or a little too driven, but the point is that he managed to nail his roles without fail. By the time a lot of us were old enough to really recognize him he was already coming to the end of his acting career, since he did end up retiring in 2012, ending a career that had lasted for about five decades.
That’s an impressive number when you really stop to think about it since a lot of people can’t rightfully state that they’ve been at a job that long. To think that some actors continue their career for this long is amazing, though it’s easier to think that it might be sustainable so long as a person can continue to find roles and people to work with since the job changes quite often when compared to other careers. For many actors, it might be the same old thing every time they walk on a set, but those of us that know the mundane feel of going to the same job and doing the same exact thing for years, the dynamics of acting appear quite interesting since one day an actor will be playing one part, and the next, relatively speaking, they’ll be someone completely different and find themselves in a totally different setting. It’s true that some actors get typecast either by design or by accident and find themselves playing the same role in many different productions throughout the length of their career, but with Reni, it does feel that he was given enough variation in his career to break up any monotony that could have occurred.
Sadly it sounds that he was fighting a variety of diseases in the past few years, cancer being among them, and his body simply gave out finally. At the age of 81, it can be said that he was granted a life that allowed him to experience success in a significant manner. No one wants to see their loved ones and favored actors fade and eventually pass away, but remembering them as they were is a great way to keep their memory alive. In this manner, they can continue to entertain us long after they’re gone. Rest in peace sir, you’ll be missed.
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