Tony Scott

“The most frightening thing I do in my life is getting up and making movies”

Director of adrenaline-infused blockbusters like Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Enemy Of The State and The Unstoppable, Tony Scott scripted his own death last weekend by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles. Witnesses said that at around 12.30 pm on Sunday, 19 August, the 68-year-old director coolly parked his car near the bridge, climbed the fence on its side, and jumped off “without hesitation”. He apparently fell a few feet short of a cruise ship that was passing by, much to the horror of several tourists on the ship.

Early reports said that Scott had an incurable brain cancer and decided to end his life to avoid any inconvenience or pain to his family. But his wife Donna says that he was healthy.

Scott was planning a sequel to Top Gun, where Maverick, the character essayed by Tom Cruise, was to return as a flight instructor to a new class of pilots. In fact, just two days before his death, Scott and Cruise scouted locations for some scenes in the sequel.

Scott was the younger brother of British director Sir Ridley Scott, who has made epic movies like Gladiator and Prometheus. Unlike him, Tony Scott rarely got critical acclaim and was never nominated for an Oscar.

He loved fast cars and rock climbing, which were regularly featured in the fast-paced thrillers that got him huge box office success. Of the two brothers, Tony was the first to taste box office success—with Top Gun in 1986.

While he loved speed and adventure, Scott said that the greatest thrill in his life was making movies. In an interview given in 2009, he said, “The most frightening thing I do in my life is getting up and making movies… the fear motivates me and I enjoy the fear. I am perverse that way.” It was his ‘danger zone’.

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