Second generation star

Jam! Showbiz
January 18th 1999

Yes, the Scott Caan who bares all in the football comedy Varsity Blues is the son of James Caan. "People look at me as if I'm a young Sonny Corleone," says Scott, referring to his father's turn in The Godfather. "People loved my dad in that role. If he goes to Little Italy in New York, they treat him as if he really was a don in the Mafia."

Scott says he "purposely shied away from acting as long as I could and my dad encouraged me to. He knows only too well the pitfalls of the business. "I was really into sports as a youngster. My dad even put his career on hold for about five years to coach all my little league teams."

In Varsity Blues, Caan steps out of a stolen police car buck-naked hiding behind a cowboy hat. "It was my idea. Originally just the girls were supposed to be naked. I thought that was really sexist. I felt sorry for them so I stripped down, too. "It's no big thing ... doing the nudity I mean," says the younger Caan.

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