Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve.Photo:Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Jane Seymouris honoring her late friendChristopher Reeve.
“He was just an amazing guy. He was really bright, he was fearless and he loved to be alone. He loved to fly airplanes and sailboats and ride horses,” Seymour, 73, told PEOPLE about Reeve, whom she was close friends with before his death at age 52 in 2004. The actors also starred together in the 1980 movieSomewhere in Time.
At Thursday’s event, which took place at the offices of Bad Robot in Los Angeles, Seymour also spoke about the things she’s “excited about the public” getting to know about Reeve in the documentary.
“After his terrible accident, the really tough part for him, apart from being unable to move and unable to breathe alone, was that he could never be alone again,” she told PEOPLE about the aftermath of the spinal-cord injury Reeve suffered from a May 1995horseback riding accident that left him paralyzedand dependent on a ventilator. He sadlydied from cardiac arrestnine years later.
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Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve filmingSomewhere in Timein in Mackinac Island, Michigan (May 1979).Eddie Sanderson/Getty Images
Eddie Sanderson/Getty Images
“It took two people 24/7 just to keep him alive. And I think he really didn’t want [his wifeDana Reeve] to have to be the caregiver,” Seymour added.
Theformer Bond girlwent to say that she thought her friend “was so amazing” in the sense that “once he’d processed what had happened to him and Dana told him, ‘You’re still you,’ he decided, ‘What can I do to help other people in this situation?’ “, referencing Reeve’s 1998 memoirStill Me.
“Because there are a lot of people, he said to me, left behind there in rehabs with families disappeared and wives, husbands disappeared, the insurance company disappeared, and they’re just sitting there wishing life away,” Seymour continued.
As she told PEOPLE, “He took all his energy and all his intellect and all his visibility to really move the dial and get the stem-cell thing going when nobody wanted to do that. Now it’s normal.”
From L: Glenn Close, Jane Seymour, Christopher Reeve, Reeve’s wife Dana and their son William on April 15, 1997.SGranitz/WireImage
SGranitz/WireImage
“He refused to believe that it was impossible for people with spinal injuries to recover, and nobody was spending very much money on spinal injuries,” Seymour said. “They just gave up on them, and he just said, ‘No, no. Go do something about it.’ "
“And they also did a lot to help that community,” the actress continued, adding that helping others gave Reeve “a purpose.”
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Storyincludes intimate interviews with Reeve’s three childrenMatthew,AlexandraandWill, as well as his late wife Dana, whodied in 2006 from lung cancer.
Their children all serve on the board of directors for theChristopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to researching a cure for spinal cord injuries.
Super/Manalso features memories from Reeve’s friends includingWhoopi Goldberg,Susan Sarandon,Jeff DanielsandGlenn Close.
source: people.com
