'It wasn’t easy': 'Bad News Bears' actor Jackie Earle Haley had to deliver pizzas to pay bills after starring in big movies
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: 70s star Jackie Earle Haley revealed that he had to resort to delivering pizza to pay his bills. The 61-year-old actor has starred in a number of big movies in his career.
Haleys' first roles included 'The Bad News Bears' (1976), 'The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training' (1977), and 'The Bad News Bears Go to Japan' (1978). He also played Moocher in 'Breaking Away' (1979). However, offers soon dried up for Haley and he had to resort to doing odd jobs to make a living at the age of 20.
RELATED ARTICLES
'It wasn’t easy'
"It wasn’t easy," the actor told Page Six about his pizza-delivering experience. "You just gotta roll with life. Life comes at you." Haley recalled one delivery trip that was particularly mortifying. "I just walked up, and he answered the door, and he was like, 'Jackie?' He goes, 'Hey! How are you doing?' He was the editor of one of the movies I did," he shares. "And so that was kind of embarrassing, but you know, life moved on."
Haley had starred in two of the biggest films of the 1970s by the time he was 19 years old. He said that the success was "pretty cool" but conceded that "there is something to be said for when you’re that young and you have that kind of success," explaining, "Your identity kind of gets attached to it a bit."
Eventually, Haley's movie offers started to decline. "It kind of reached this point where I realized, 'Man, I really need to do something else'," said Haley. This involved "driving a limousine and delivering pizza, just a handful of stuff," in addition to time spent working behind the camera on projects, like sound design for corporate ads and a reality show about the California Highway Patrol.
Jackie Earle Haley's career
However, things changed in 2006 when Sean Penn recommended Haley for 'All the King's Men' to director Steven Zaillian, reviving the erstwhile child star's career. He landed a role in Todd Fields' 'Little Children,' playing a registered sex offender, opposite Kate Winslet which led to his first Oscar nomination. Later, Haley portrayed Freddy Krueger in the 2010 version of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and the antihero Rorschach in the 2009 film 'Watchmen.' His most recent drama, 'Devil's Peak,' stars Billy Bob Thorton and, in a touching full-circle moment, Sean Penns' son Hopper Penn.
"It’s been a wild ride," said Haley. "And I think it’s incredibly rare to have two shots at an acting career. I think you appreciate it. When I look back at the whole career, having played three majorly iconic characters, Kelly Leak, Rorschach, and Freddy Krueger, people seem to know who those characters are," he added.