R.I.P Rutger Hauer

Yeah, I heard about this. I really liked this guy.. I think the first time I saw him in a movie it was The Hitcher.. Played a Great Psycho! Just unsettling in how he went about playing one of those....but, still seemed to come across as a good guy somehow?

Seems like the older I get, the more of these cool guys and gals I grew-up with on the tube are heading on out.

..It's the place we all come home to eventually, I guess. Still..

RIP, Rutger.
 
I can’t drive thru the desert without thinking of Rutger Hauer in “The Hitcher”. If you want to do a deep dive in to what I thought was his best work, check out “Legend Of The Holy Drinker”. I haven’t seen it in years but plan on queuing it up tonight. While we’re on the subject of The Hitcher, I have always wondered why C. Thomas Howell wasn’t cast in a werewolf movie....
 
A huge blow to the national ego of the Netherlands, as we all saw him as 'our man in Hollywood'. The Dutch have this strange mentality where anyone who enjoys too much success gets taken down relentlessly. You can be a winner, but you have to be a very humble one. You can be a millionaire, but you better attract not any attention to you. A Dutch magazine even has a yearly list of the 500 biggest millionaires in the country and the Netherlands is the only country where people actually object to being on that list. Rutger Hauer was a very good actor, and he soon rose above the pack, as the Dutch film industry is both small and only tells small stories. It can't do big stories, like Hollywood does, either from lack of money, but also because it is not in our national psyche to tell big stories. Rutger Hauer, and the director who made him great, Paul Verhoeven, wanted to tell big stories. And they wanted to rise above the pack. So they both moved to Hollywood.

There's another strange part of the Dutch mentality. When one of us rises above the pack we want to tear him down. But if one of us manages to succeed abroad and become a huge success, we like to claim that success as our own. Like the national team winning the European or World championship. As such we loved it when Rutger Hauer became successful in Hollywood, and when his success began to wane we felt bad for him. And whenever he did manage to score a big role again we were all Team Rutger Hauer again. As such Rutger Hauer dying is now a national disaster.

RIP Rutger Hauer, we all loved you. Both because of our national quirks, but also because you really were a good actor and a nice person.
 
Very underrated. He deserved more success IMO. He was great in every roll I saw him in but only got b-movie bad guy rolls after Blade Runner. Some exceptions. I Liked Ladyhawke. But I was still reasonably young and not so jaded then.

Well, we'll have to hang our international aspirations on Michiel Huisman and Carice Van Houten then. Famke Janssen has been on a nice stretch lately, but is now doing TV. Jeroen Krabbé did some fun stuff, but is old as well...
 
Very underrated. He deserved more success IMO. He was great in every roll I saw him in but only got b-movie bad guy rolls after Blade Runner. Some exceptions. I Liked Ladyhawke. But I was still reasonably young and not so jaded then.

Well, we'll have to hang our international aspirations on Michiel Huisman and Carice Van Houten then. Famke Janssen has been on a nice stretch lately, but is now doing TV. Jeroen Krabbé did some fun stuff, but is old as well...

On the flipside TV is where its happening these days. Cinema is dying with Hollywood going either fully woke or rehashing/rebooting old classics. And often both at the same time. So Famke might have made the right choice.
 
A huge blow to the national ego of the Netherlands, as we all saw him as 'our man in Hollywood'. The Dutch have this strange mentality where anyone who enjoys too much success gets taken down relentlessly. You can be a winner, but you have to be a very humble one. You can be a millionaire, but you better attract not any attention to you. A Dutch magazine even has a yearly list of the 500 biggest millionaires in the country and the Netherlands is the only country where people actually object to being on that list. Rutger Hauer was a very good actor, and he soon rose above the pack, as the Dutch film industry is both small and only tells small stories. It can't do big stories, like Hollywood does, either from lack of money, but also because it is not in our national psyche to tell big stories. Rutger Hauer, and the director who made him great, Paul Verhoeven, wanted to tell big stories. And they wanted to rise above the pack. So they both moved to Hollywood.

There's another strange part of the Dutch mentality. When one of us rises above the pack we want to tear him down. But if one of us manages to succeed abroad and become a huge success, we like to claim that success as our own. Like the national team winning the European or World championship. As such we loved it when Rutger Hauer became successful in Hollywood, and when his success began to wane we felt bad for him. And whenever he did manage to score a big role again we were all Team Rutger Hauer again. As such Rutger Hauer dying is now a national disaster.

RIP Rutger Hauer, we all loved you. Both because of our national quirks, but also because you really were a good actor and a nice person.
Very interesting read, thank-you. My favorite uncle is Indo-Dutch. I spent a lot of time with him growing up. His father was the equivalent of a General in the KNIL. His mother was from Appeldorn and much of his family still resides there. We have spent a few holidays with the Dutch family. I enjoyed your comments.
 
Very interesting read, thank-you. My favorite uncle is Indo-Dutch. I spent a lot of time with him growing up. His father was the equivalent of a General in the KNIL. His mother was from Appeldorn and much of his family still resides there. We have spent a few holidays with the Dutch family. I enjoyed your comments.

Thanks! My father was Indo-Dutch as well so I'm 1/4 Indonesian, although I don't look the part. If you ever visit the Netherlands again let me know, maybe we can meet.

As an addendum to what I posted earlier, since Dutch mentioned Famke Janssen, I don't think anyone in the Netherlands had ever heard about her, until she became big with Goldeneye. And then of course we all became Team Famke as well.
 
A huge blow to the national ego of the Netherlands, as we all saw him as 'our man in Hollywood'. The Dutch have this strange mentality where anyone who enjoys too much success gets taken down relentlessly. You can be a winner, but you have to be a very humble one. You can be a millionaire, but you better attract not any attention to you. A Dutch magazine even has a yearly list of the 500 biggest millionaires in the country and the Netherlands is the only country where people actually object to being on that list. Rutger Hauer was a very good actor, and he soon rose above the pack, as the Dutch film industry is both small and only tells small stories. It can't do big stories, like Hollywood does, either from lack of money, but also because it is not in our national psyche to tell big stories. Rutger Hauer, and the director who made him great, Paul Verhoeven, wanted to tell big stories. And they wanted to rise above the pack. So they both moved to Hollywood.

There's another strange part of the Dutch mentality. When one of us rises above the pack we want to tear him down. But if one of us manages to succeed abroad and become a huge success, we like to claim that success as our own. Like the national team winning the European or World championship. As such we loved it when Rutger Hauer became successful in Hollywood, and when his success began to wane we felt bad for him. And whenever he did manage to score a big role again we were all Team Rutger Hauer again. As such Rutger Hauer dying is now a national disaster.

RIP Rutger Hauer, we all loved you. Both because of our national quirks, but also because you really were a good actor and a nice person.
I see that changing, BTW. People are getting more proud and competitive. Thinking bigger and sticking their necks out is less frowned upon. We're Americanizing a bit. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I'd rather stay in between. Which is a very Dutch thing to do, of course.
 
Very interesting read, thank-you. My favorite uncle is Indo-Dutch. I spent a lot of time with him growing up. His father was the equivalent of a General in the KNIL. His mother was from Appeldorn and much of his family still resides there. We have spent a few holidays with the Dutch family. I enjoyed your comments.
I live in Amersfoort. About halfway between Amsterdam and Apeldoorn. My wife has an Indonesian uncle. Sweetest guy I know. It's a very specific culture, the Indo-Dutch, very creative and influential. I also know a couple that aren't as sweet, I'm afraid... ;)
 
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