Buddy Duress, Robert Pattinson’s Co-Star in Good Times, Dead at 38 (Exclusive)

Buddy Duress (né Michael C. Stathis), an actor known for his roles in Good times and Heaven knows what, died. He was 38 years old.

Duress died of “cardiac arrest induced by a cocktail of drugs” in November 2023, his brother Christopher Stathis confirmed exclusively to PEOPLE on Tuesday.

Born in Queens, New York, in May 1985, Duress starred in two indie films by the Safdie brothers. His first acting role was in the 2014 feature film Benny and Josh Safdie. Heaven knows what.

In a 2017 interview with SSense, Duress shared that he first met Josh in 2013 after he was released from Rikers Island in New York on drug charges. At the time, Duress was on the run after skipping out of an inpatient drug treatment program. Duress met Josh through a mutual friend and got the role Heaven knows what, but he was eventually caught by the police. He was then returned to Rikers Island after the film was completed and remained incarcerated when the film premiered at the 2014 New York Film Festival.

“You know, I still look back on it. If I had gone to that program, I wouldn’t have gotten in Heaven knows what, and I probably wouldn’t be an actor now. That is the honest truth. I wouldn’t,” Duress told SSense.

After he was released again, the filmmakers hired Duress to write a diary about his time in prison, and adapted his stories into their screenplay for Good weatherreported the Los Angeles times.

Three years later Heaven knows whathe starred alongside Robert Pattinson Good weather.

Buddy Duress in “Flinch”.

jerk

Tribute to celebrities who died in 2024

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After his role in Good weatherDuress starred in several other feature films and shorts, including 86’d, Mountain and Great dark days. Then, in 2019, he was arrested on a charge of third-degree grand larceny and returned to Rikers, he reported New York Post.

During recording jerk that same year, Duress was arrested for threatening to burn down his mother Jo-Anne’s house. Soon after jerk director Cameron Van Hoy and Jo-Anne pulled Duress out, he was arrested and returned to Rikers on charges of menacing and criminal possession of a boxer and controlled substance, reported New York Post.

“Buddy was pure electricity on screen. Working with him was one of the greatest adventures of my life. He was a lovely person who loved making films. Despite all the problems he went through in his life, he somehow managed to put them aside when it’s time to work We became quite close after the production of our film jerk. I am heartbroken that his life ended this way,” Van Hoy tells PEOPLE.

After release in 2021 jerkDuress was also in a short film aloneas well as feature funny pages, and appeared in an episode The complaint of the new rich family.

Buddy Duress in “Flinch.”.

jerk

Tribute to celebrities who died in 2023

Duress has two other unreleased projects, including a short, Skull, and feature Massive state lottery directed by Jay Karales. The latter will be published this year.

“Buddy Duress was a once-in-a-lifetime charismatic actor and a truly humble man who made an impression on everyone he met. I was very lucky to be able to direct him and meet him off set during our shoot massive state lottery,” Karales tells PEOPLE.

“What happened was a tragic and frustrating loss of instinctive talent. He lived as a cowboy and carrying the weight of that life affected his skills and performances in a way that made him irreplaceable as an actor. Unfortunately, he became the John Cazale of our generation,” he added. is Karales.

Duress is survived by her mother Jo-Anne and younger brother Christopher.

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Source: HIS Education