Everyone knows him today: 44 years ago, this actor lied about his age to get one of his first movie roles.

Thanks to his unforgettable interpretation of the charismatic Morpheus in the world famous Matrix saga, Laurence Fishburne has been developing in the cinema environment for almost 40 years. An international star, we also saw him in the saga of John Wick, Othello, Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River or the series Experts.

But in the late 70s, when he was still a young teenager and no one knew his face, it was with an even more legendary film that he took his first steps on the big screen. In Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary Apocalypse Now, it was indeed Laurence Fishburne who played a young Mr. Clean who took part in an expedition led by Willard (Martin Sheen) under Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando, who also improvised a good part). its lines).

“I said I was 16 when I interviewed. I was 14.”– said the actor later, at the CBC microphone. “I think they knew that, I don’t think I fooled anyone.”

Fishburne then explained that Coppola asked the young woman if she thought the young man was 18, to which she replied “yes.” A simple word that allowed the actor to put together his first big film… but also save the life of a certain Emilio Estevez!

Indeed, as she recently told the latter, best known for her roles in The Breakfast Club or Les Petits Champions, Laurence Fishburne saved her from drowning when she was on the set of Apocalypse Now to visit her father, Martin Sheen.

“We rubbed shoulders for a few days, that was in the Philippines”– told Emilio Estevez on the set The Jennifer Hudson Show.

He offered me a small boat ride and I agreed. We went on this little boat together and started to get very close to the shore, so I offered to go out to push. away from the shore.’

“I jumped out of the boat, into some muddy sand, and started sinking. I saw Fishburne looking at me, and he just said, ‘Give me a hand!’ And he pulled me out of there. We’ve been together ever since.”

(Re)discover the hidden details of ‘Apocalypse Now’…