The Wrath of Caan, Part II

New York Daily News
January 10, 1999 - James' son Scott, a bad boy like his dad, says his wild times are in the past
By NANCY MILLS

His favorite actor is Sean Penn. His father, James Caan, is one of Hollywood's notorious bad boys. And he had a few troubled years himself before deciding that it would be smarter to put his macho behavior to use onscreen than behind bars. Meet Scott Caan, 22, who may top out at 5-feet-5, but can walk unthreatened through tough neighborhoods. He has his father's swagger, a charming manner and a set of large muscles, which he displays in a white tank top on a hot January day in Los Angeles. "I'm into the school of actors like Marlon Brando, my father, Bobby Duvall and Al Pacino, who in their day had to be pretty tough," Caan explains over iced coffee. "They weren't waify, skinny little pretty boys. In Hollywood today, it's cool for guys to wear nail polish and earrings in their lips and tongues. I don't get it. It's like wearing dresses. Men should have rough hands and be strong. "When I auditioned for 'Enemy of the State' [in which he plays a cocky government agent chasing Will Smith], Tony Scott [the director] told me, 'You're intimidating enough, man. Don't try to be intimidating. I already know you can kick the s--- out of someone."

Caan's lighter side is in evidence in "Varsity Blues," a coming-of-age drama opening Friday. He plays the film's comic relief, a rowdy, girl-chasing high-school football player opposite James Van Der Beek's soulful hero. In one memorable scene, he is naked - except for a well-placed hat.
Van Der Beek, who stars on "Dawson's Creek," may be the film's biggest young name, but Caan is the one who knows about life. "I gave James lots of advice about everything except acting," Caan says. "He's a very sweet, nice, humble guy - an innocent. I'm not, although I've mellowed out a lot.
"I feel I should be doing stupid stuff, but I'm not going to. All it does is slow you down. It's a mistake. I haven't partied for at least two years. I like to stay home with my girlfriend [model Megan Gallagher]."

He wasn't at home, however, when he was arrested last September after a bar fight in West Hollywood. He now says, "I'm never going to get in a fight in public again. Life's a lot better. Good things happen when you get your priorities straight. I feel like I did all my dirt, so to speak, before I got a chance to get some fame."
James Caan's oldest son and one of five children from four marriages, Scott has appeared in nine independent films since he started acting five years ago. Two of them - James Toback's "Black and White," in which he plays a club promoter, and "Saturn," about a son's relationship with his dying father - will be released this year. Very shortly, he'll be in New York with Ben Affleck and Giovanni Ribisi shooting "The Boiler Room," about kids who set up a brokerage firm and scam doctors and lawyers.

It's a subject Caan knows a little about. "I was a scam artist in high school for a while," he says. "My friend Greg . . . and I had a little bookmaking operation. The first weekend we pulled in a lot of money, but by the third week we were completely broke." He grew up moving back and forth between his father and his mother, model and actress Sheila Ryan. Ryan was James Caan's second wife; they divorced when Scott was 1. "I had that thing of wanting to prove I was a tough kid," Scott says. "My father tried to raise me like his father raised him. But I wanted to prove to everyone I wasn't this actor's kid who was like a punk - which is stupid. "I was the bad kid in school. I was usually in trouble. I'd get suspended for fighting, for graffiti, for smoking pot. And I learned that it's not worth it." Caan planned to be a professional athlete, he says, "but I started hanging out with my friends and didn't want to go to school. If you don't go to school, you can't play sports." Then he gravitated to music. "I knew whatever I did, it was going to be big. I never planned on being a plumber. I liked being in the spotlight." Acting wasn't an option. "I was against it," he insists. "I didn't want to do it until it was put in my face."

In 1993, Caan was offered a role in "A Boy Called Hate," and he asked his father to appear with him. "I was cocky at the time and felt that I could do anything better than anybody else," he says. "Seeing the movie was a rude awakening. That's what made me want to study. I figured if I'm going to do something, I want to do it right." After attending Playhouse West in Los Angeles for several years, he started going on auditions. He refused to ask his father for help. "I hate that," he says. "I love my dad to death, but I'm all about doing for myself. Otherwise, what's the point? In the end, the work shows if you're good. Sometimes I wish I didn't have somebody in my family who's in the business." On the other hand, he has seen a lot. "My dad's had to deal with some stuff," Caan says. "Since I was a kid, he's told me to learn from his mistakes. I've got a tough act to follow. I just hope I can have a career as good as his."

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