The Method

Rick Moranis played Dark Helmet in Spaceballs (1987). He played Wayne Szalinski in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989). He played Seymour Krelborn in Little Shop of Horrors (1986). In 1997, after his wife died, he stepped back from acting to raise his children. He has been stepped back for twenty-nine years.

Josh Gad is producing and directing Spaceballs 2, the sequel to Mel Brooks's original, which was described at the time as a parody and later — once the licensing rights were confirmed and the merchandise was designed — as a franchise. Mr. Gad wanted Rick Moranis to return as Dark Helmet. This is a reasonable casting desire. Dark Helmet is the character people remember. The helmet was large. The film is, in part, named after the helmet.

Mr. Gad texted Mr. Moranis.

Mr. Gad texted Mr. Moranis again.

(I do not know precisely how many texts were sent. I know they were sent in sufficient volume to produce a measurable outcome. The outcome was announced this week in the form of a direct quote from Mr. Moranis: "Ultimately I said yes to it cause it was the only way I could get him to stop texting me." I am not making this up. This quote is now part of the public record, alongside the film itself, which is being made.)

The texts worked. A twenty-nine-year retirement is ending. The children Mr. Moranis stepped back to raise are grown. The texts were not.

There are people in the entertainment industry who have spent decades trying to attract retired actors back to the screen using various approaches: competitive compensation, creative collaboration, meaningful roles, personal legacy, and the opportunity to work again with original collaborators. These approaches have a variable success rate.

Mr. Gad used a phone.

(The approach is not covered in the curriculum of any producing program I am aware of. The industry has entire departments dedicated to talent relations. Mr. Gad appears to have bypassed all of them. He sent messages until the messages were acknowledged. The acknowledgment was: yes, fine, stop.)

The entertainment industry will take note of this development. The industry will then continue using agents, talent relations departments, and formal offer processes, because the texts approach requires a specific kind of persistence that cannot be institutionalized.

Mr. Gad has institutionalized it anyway.

Spaceballs 2 begins production at a date to be announced. Rick Moranis will be in it, which is the outcome. The method is now documented.

(There is a producing class forming around this. It is theoretical. No one has confirmed it. I should not have mentioned it. The point is that the texts worked, which is the entire article.)