Small Roles - Big Actors | Special K. McCray
Rush
For anyone who saw Lili Fini Zanuck’s powerful film Rush, they will recognize this standout scene by comedian turned actor Special K. McKray. His electrifying scene as asthmatic dope dealer Willie Red feels so authentic, it’s easy to believe he was plucked from a drug den and let loose in front of the cameras to just be himself.
He never so much as raises his voice, but compels two undercover vice cops, played by Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh, to shoot up heroin to prove they aren’t cops.
Everything from the cadence of his voice, the use of his inhaler, and the sparse waving of his gun gives his performance a menacing yet friendly vibe.
The film Rush was based on the book by Kim Wozencraft, a former vice cop who based the book on her time as an undercover narcotics agent in Texas during the beginnings of Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs.”
The script was adapted by Pete Dexter for director Lini Fini Zanuck. This is a movie that simply wouldn’t get made today. Its bleak characters compel us forward toward a head-on collision we cannot look away from.
The film itself has a supporting cast that delivers on every level, including turns by Sam Elliott, Max Perlich, William Sadler, and the legendary Gregg Allman as the villain Gaines.
The film’s score was written by Eric Clapton and features the song Tears in Heaven, a devastating tribute written after the tragic death of his son. All this, plus the use of Robin Trower’s haunting song Bridge of Sighs makes this movie an overlooked gem.
Yes, all of that to say, with the mountain of talent involved at every level of this film, the performance delivered by Special K. McCray stands above it all.