Twelve years ago, at the age of 26, Tim Robbins made his first appearance in a big-screen movie - the barely remembered Toy Soldiers. This year, the same Tim Robbins earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Director for the film Dead Man Walking.
The Tim Robbins road to Hollywood glory has certainly had the look of a dream run on the Hollywood Freeway. Initially speed was a little slow: who remembers Tim in The Sure Thing (1985), Fraternity Vacation (1985), Howard The Duck (1986) or even as one of the fighter pilots with Tom Cruise in Top Gun (1986)? But then came the role that had Tim Robbins accelerating into the fast lane.
Despite Kevin Costner in the title role of the sexy baseball comedy Bull Durham (1988), it is Robbins everybody remembers as the star pitcher, 'Nuke' Laloosh, a randy stud who becomes the 'special' friend to team supporter Susan Sarandon, who reads him Walt Whitman as he lays tied to a bed. Robbins' and Sarandon's real-life friendship blossomed from this time. After Bull Durham came three more comedies in quick succession, Miss Firecracker (1989) with Holly Hunter; Terry Gilliam's Pythonesque extravaganza Erik the Viking (1989) and Cadillac Man (1990) with Robin Williams. Jacob's Ladder in 1990 was a bizarre psychological thriller in which Robbins gave a bravura performance.
The legendary Robert Altman then took advantage of Robbins' talents in two films - 1992's highly acclaimed The Player, for which Tim won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, and 1993's Short Cuts - and then the starring role in the Coen Bros' stylish The Hudsucker Proxy (1993) opposite Paul Newman.
In this period he also starred in and made his directorial debut with the satirical look at American politics, Bob Roberts (1993). The lead role of Andy Dufresne, the cuckolded bank clerk who is convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover and condemned to a life sentence in the infamous Shawshank prison in The Shawshank Redemption, was one of the most sought after roles in Hollywood. Producer Niki Marvin recalls that the decision to cast Tim Robbins was based on his performance in Jacob's Ladder.
"Tim is one of the great American actors," Marvin says about Robbins. "In Jacob's Ladder he was able to give you the sense of disorientation and bewilderment. He also had a vulnerability which seemed right for Andy."
"Andy is not similar to anyone I've played before, and that was part of the allure of getting involved in the project," Tim Robbins remarks.
The latest Tim Robbins film role released to buy and own on video, The Shawshank Redemption, is based on a novella by Stephen King. It's rated MA15+ due to some medium level violence and language and priced at $29.95 rrp.