Paris Trout

PARIS TROUT IS AN EVIL BUSINESS man in the 40s American South. He is a rasist usurer who lends money to the poor Black population. When the young Henry Ray Sayers refuses to make the installments on a worthless car Trout sold him, the businessman gets furious and shoots Sayer's mother and sister. In his narrow mind Trout is convinced he'll never be prosecuted for murdering a Black woman.
Comment:
PARIS TROUT, WRITTEN BY PETE DEXTER, was adapted from his award winning novel. It's an ensemble acting piece with Barbara Hershey, Ed Harris and myself. What an opportunity to work on an equal level with two very talented actors. When I look at the screen, it's hard for me to recognize myself in this character. I changed my vocal patterns by an accent, my physical walk, the way I moved, my haircut, the way I thought. Paris was the product of his society, the product of his time, besides being an ill man with paranoic, schizophrenic delusions. One of my finer acting jobs.
DENNIS HOPPER