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Rutger Hauer
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Rutger Oelsen Hauer (January 23, 1944 – July 19, 2019) was a Dutch actor, writer and environmentalist who played the role of Niall Brigant on the HBO original series True Blood. Making his debut on the episode "Who Are You, Really?", at the beginning of the series' sixth season, Rutger plays the role of the king of the tribe that the Stackhouse family is from, and the faerie grandfather to Sookie and Jason Stackhouse and their young cousin Hunter Savoy. Playing a recurring role through the same season, Rutger is the oldest supernatural creature currently alive in the series, following the death of Macklyn Warlow, and was last seen on the episode "May Be the Last Time", in the series' seventh, and final, season.
Biography[]
Blonde, blue-eyed, tall and handsome Dutch actor Rutger Hauer has an international reputation for playing everything from romantic leads to action heroes to sinister villains. The son of actors, Hauer was born in Breukelen, a town in the province of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Because his parents were often touring, he and his three sisters were raised by a nanny. A bit of a rebel during his childhood, he chafed at the rules and rigors of school and was often getting into mischief. His grandfather had been the captain of a schooner and at age 15, Hauer ran away to work on a freighter for a year. Like his great-grandfather, Hauer is color-blind, which prevented him from furthering his career as a sailor. Upon his return he attended night school and started working in the construction industry. When he again bombed at school, his parents enrolled him in drama classes. Fancying himself a poet, he spent most of his time writing poetry and hanging out in Amsterdam coffee houses instead of studying. He was expelled for poor attendance and afterward spent a brief period in the Dutch navy. Deciding he didn't like military life, he convinced his superiors that he was mentally unfit and was sent to a special home for psych patients. It was an unpleasant place, but Hauer remained there until he convinced his ranking officers that the military really did not need him. His career began in 1969 with the title role in the popular Dutch television series Floris. Hauer passed away on July 19, 2019 in his Netherlands home in Beetsterzwaag.
Filmography[]
- Turkish Delight (1973)
- The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
- Katie Tippel (1975)
- Soldier of Orange (1979)
- Spetters (1980)
- Nighthawks (1981)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- The Osterman Weekend (1983)
- Eureka (1984 film)|Eureka (1984)
- A Breed Apart (1984)
- Terror in the Aisles (1984)
- Ladyhawke (1985)
- Flesh and Blood (1985)
- The Hitcher (1986)
- Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987)
- Escape from Sobibor (1987)
- The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988)
- Blind Fury (1989)
- The Blood of Heroes (1989)
- Past Midnight (1991)
- Wedlock (1991)
- Split Second (1992)
- Beyond Justice (1992)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
- Blind Side (1993)
- Voyage (1993)
- Final Flight (1994)
- Surviving the Game (1994)
- Fatherland (1994)
- Mr. Stitch (1995)
- The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon (1997)
- Deathline (Redline) (1997)
- Omega Doom (1997)
- Lexx (1997)
- Crossworlds (1997) (Brazil)
- Bleeders (1997)
- Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997)
- Tactical Assault (1998)
- Merlin (1998)
- Simon Magus (1999)
- Lying in Wait (2000)
- The 10th Kingdom (2000)
- The Last Words of Dutch Schultz (2002)
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
- Scorcher (film) (2002)
- Salem's Lot (2004)
- Sin City (2005)
- Batman Begins (2005)
- Dracula III: Legacy (2005)
- The Poseidon Adventure (2005)
- 7eventy 5ive (2006)
- The Hunt for Eagle One (2006)
- Minotaur (2006)
- Mentor (2006)
- Moving McAllister (2007)
- Goal! 2: Living the Dream... (2007)
- Magic Flute Diaries (2008)
- Brideflight (2008)
- Barbarossa (2009)
- The Mill and the Cross (2010)
- Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)
- Black Butterflies (2011)
- Alle for en (2011)
- The Rite (2011)
- De Heineken Ontvoering (2011)
- The Cardboard Village (2011)
- Dracula 3D (2012)
- True Blood (2013-2014)
Trivia[]
- Father of Ayesha Hauer
- Is color blind.
- According to an interview she gave when Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) was first published, Rutger Hauer was Anne Rice's original vision for Lestat when the book was being written. Despite a popular rumor that Julian Sands was her first choice, he did not even begin to show up in films or television until 1982, so Rice could not have been aware of him in 1976 when she was writing the book; Rutger has been acting since 1968. Rice may have said Sands would be great for the part when they were casting the film, because she has said that by the time the film was being made Hauer was too old to play Lestat.
- Was Paul Verhoeven's first choice to play RoboCop (1987).
- Both his first and last name end with the letters "er". He has appeared in 13 movies/television-series whose title or alternative title end with "er" or "ers". He has played 8 characters whose names end with "er".
- Speaks fluently German (more or less accent-free)
- Once in a Dutch production of "Hair".
- Wife, Ineke, whom he married in 1985, was a painter and sculptor.
- Is an environmentalist. Fought for the release of Greenpeace's co-founder, Paul Watson who was convicted in 1994 for sinking an illegal Norwegian whaling vessel. According to The Official Rutger Hauer website, the vessel was sunk in 1992 as a protest to Norway's announced intention to return to the commercial slaughter of whales, which was to be done in violation of the International Whaling Commission's global ban on whaling.
- The Dutch Mail Service issued a stamp in 1995 with Rutger on it, taken from a scene in Turkish Delight (1973).
- Set up an AIDS research foundation called the Rutger Hauer Starfish Foundation.
- Parents, Arend and Teunke, operated an acting school in Amsterdam.
- Has appeared in two vampire movies with Donald Sutherland: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and 'Salem's Lot (2004) (TV).
- Director Richard Donner originally wanted to use him as the villain Marquet in Ladyhawke (1985), but Hauer turned that role down and expressed more interest in playing the film's hero Etienne Navarre.
- Former father-in-law of his Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) co-star Thomas Jane .
- Son of Arend Hauer.
- Spent five years in a pantomime company prior to seriously pursuing an acting career.
- During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hauer became well known to the British mainstream for a series of Guinness commercials where he is clad in black. He publicly took a dislike for the drink and had to spit it out after each take. His appearance is credited for an increase in sales of Guinness.
- Grandfather of Leandro Maeder.
- He gives master classes in moviemaking to students and new actors and moviemakers. This takes places in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He has been doing this for several years.
- Turned down a role in Paul Verhoeven's Black Book (2006).
- Has a tattoo on each shoulder; one of his former wife, and the other of a friend who died. Explained that "It's a way of saying "You're under my skin".
- As a hobby, he used to design trucks in the 1980s.
- Founded the I've Seen Films International Film Festival.
- He named his 5 favorite films as GasLand (2010), Position Among the Stars (2010), Hiroshima, mon amour (1959), Wings of Desire (1987) and Apocalypse Now (1979).
- He made a television series and five movies directed by Paul Verhoeven. However, they had a falling-out on their last combined effort, the much-troubled Flesh+Blood (1985), and the two have not worked again since.
- When making his debut in the United States, he was advised to use a more English-sounding name in order to better appeal to the American public. He refused, assuming that his American career would be short-lived anyway.
- Loves to ride the motorcycle. While on a break from filming The Blood of Heroes (1989), he made a tour and subsequently got lost in the Australian desert. It was by chance that he found the setback on his own.
- Frequently cast as vampires in movies and TV series.
- Plays a vampire named Barlow in Salem's lot (2004) and a fairy named Niall in the TV series True Blood.
Personal Quotes[]
"'Good guy' or 'bad guy', hero or anti hero; doesn't matter to me, what role I play, only the character have something magical."
"I don't know what the appeal is. I can see I've got blue eyes and I don't look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame but I can't understand the fuss."
"I have a lot of energy. I'm a lot stronger than most people."
"During the initial release of The Hitcher (1986), stated that he would not be seeking antagonist roles. In 1986, a periodical in Spokane, WA, The Spokesman Review, ran the headline "He plays villains without a 'Hitch'". Was concerned of being typecast."
"[on what his favorite or most memorable performance is of his own]: The deepest was Blade Runner, because it was the first time where I just danced with the director and, let's say, the concept and the tone: I understood, on a very strong level, what he wanted, and by instinct I gave it to him. Half the time, what the hell did I know? I was just starting out to be an actor right there. This was after an experience on Nighthawks which was pretty tough and very bureaucratic and difficult. If your creative ideas are strangled, that doesn't work for me. It doesn't mean I have to be right -- that's not the point at all. It's just there needs to be a click between the creator and you. That was Blade Runner for me. To dance along, so long and beautifully, and then for it to be reformatted so it could live another 20 years; this is something completely unique. So there's only one way to answer that question."
"Film is not a medium for actors. Everyone seems to think so, since it is the actors who get promoted to stardom. Creating stars is only a marketing ploy. It's the stars that sell a movie. The same technique is used in selling music, baseball games and hamburgers. An actor does not make or break a movie. Some of them look good on screen, but they are not important. How many extremely bad movies are there with one good or very good actor, or even two or three very good actors in the credits? I like to think of myself as a good actor, and even I made quite a lot of bad movies. Why are good actors no longer good when they play in a bad movie? And how many good movies have actors that are normally mediocre at best?"
Appearances[]
| Season six appearances | |||
| "Who Are You, Really?" | "The Sun" | "You're No Good" | "At Last" |
| "F**k the Pain Away" | "Don't You Feel Me" | "In the Evening" | "Dead Meat" |
| "Life Matters" | "Radioactive" | ||
| Season seven appearances | |||
| "Jesus Gonna Be Here" | "I Found You" | "Fire in the Hole" | "Death is Not the End" |
| "Lost Cause" | "Karma" | "May Be the Last Time" | "Almost home" |
| "Love is to Die" | "Thank you" | ||