Recently, Casting Director, Joel Thurm revealed that Robert Reed, who is popular for being the lovable, wholesome dad in the show, The Brady Bunch, was not keen on playing the role of Johnny Lubitch as he didn’t get the attention he craved because John Travolta was cast in the lead role of the film, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.
In his book, Sex, Drugs & Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director, Thrum wrote about his time in Hollywood and revealed the behind the scene details of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble which co-starred Reed and Travolta. The director detailed that Travolta was “a kid” who was quite privileged and very accommodating to all members of the cast and crew.
Joel Thurm says that Robert Reed took part in the movie just for the money
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Thrum revealed that everyone on the movie set was enthusiastic except for Reed who was only there for financial gain. “That film was a labor of love for everybody except Robert Reed,” Thurm told the outlet. “For him, it was just a paycheck. He just couldn’t deal with the fact that our short schedule completely revolved around John.”
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Due to Reed’s spotlight beef with John, he made the filming process difficult. “The thing is, we just had 17 days to work with John before he had to go back to shooting ‘Welcome Back, Kotter.’ That made it inconvenient for everybody else, but we all understood, and it was totally fine. That’s just what we had to do. But not for Robert Reed,” Thurm explained. “He was really a p—- on the set. He was there for one reason. He was there for a paycheck.”
Joel Thurm revealed that Robert Reed felt that he deserved more than his role
Thurm explained in his book that Reed probably displayed his bad attitude because of his role in The Brady Bunch which got into his head, “Understandably, ‘The Brady Bunch’ had pumped up his ego, and Reed was used to being as important as anyone on the set.”
“But in ‘Bubble,’ he was neither the star nor the center of attention. The shooting schedule depended on John finishing his scenes in the 17 days he was available,” he concluded. “All scheduling had to be worked around this. Reed couldn’t handle the demotion. He was sulky, curt, and made it all too clear that this job was just a paycheck to him.”