For the first time in his career, a significant number of River's scenes had to be reshot because he experienced great difficulty concentrating whilst on camera. "The work we do is very technical, and you have to keep the concentration for three or four months," he said later.

River would become very good friends with Dan Aykroyd on the set of Sneakers. Recalls Aykroyd, "We called each other Mr. Woach and Mrs. Woach. The catering truck we used to call the Roach Coach, and that somehow evolved into the Woach."

River, always the joker, would often sneak up behind Aykroyd and blow on his bald spot, before running off leaving a startled Aykroyd behind!

Look very carefully and it is just possible to spot Dan Aykroyd in this movie wearing non-other than an Aleka's Attic T-shirt!

River remained on close terms with his co-star friend for the rest of his life. Aykroyd remembers one incident that took place at his home. "He slept in my office here at the farm. That was his first and only visit. In fact, he went down to my wine cellar and he grabbed a bottle, a 1970 Petrus - like, an $800 bottle of wine - and I went, 'Oh, you opened that!' I was a little shocked, and he felt so bad and I felt so bad because I called him on it. A couple of weeks before he died, he sent me a bottle that he went to the trouble of finding. And that bottle is sitting down in my wine cellar. Someone moved it the other day, and I went crazy. I don't think I'm ever going to drink that. That just sits there forever, until I go."

After completing the large-budget Sneakers River set his sights on accumulating as much wealth as possible. "I have my reasons why I want to be filthy rich. It's so I can buy the last first growth and turn it into a permanent national park."

Immediately after completing Sneakers, co-stars Mary McDonnell and David Strathairn worked together again on their next project, the 1992 movie Passion Fish.

Previous Page

Official Press Kit

Next Movie