David Krumholtz Remembers Tony Scott, 'Numbers' Producer, in Late-Night Letter

The death of Top Gun director Tony Scott set off a long run of devastated Twitter reactions from Hollywood's leading lights, many of whom worked with the English-born action flick icon. For many, it took far more than 140 characters to scratch the surface of their feelings.

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Directors such as Joe Carnahan, Duncan Jones, and Edgar Wright shared stories of how Scott's films, such as True Romance and Man on Fire, inspired them, and how Scott took many of them under his wing. Scott also had a strong career in television, producing shows with his brother Ridley Scott under their Scott Free Productions banner. David Krumholtz starred in one of the first of their big TV successes, CBS' crime drama Numbers, and posted a long remembrance of working with Scott, who also directed episodes of the show.

His entire post follows:

So, I was delivering one of my long Math-based monologues (called Charlie-Visions on the Numbers set), in the first episode of Season 4, the one guest starring Val Kilmer, the one directed by the late great Tony Scott. I had come to know Tony as a warm, enthusiastic and whimsical general with great vision and pride for his work and for the art of action. He lit me from overhead, I had not been lit that way before on the show. I had big bushy long hair, that made it impossible to see my eyes, unless I was looking up and directly into the light.

After a few takes, I still couldn't get it right. It felt odd to look up while I was talking to the seated FBI agents in the room. Finally, Tony walked in and said, "David, just imagine that you're talking to God. And God has all the money. In order to get the money, you gotta talk to God. GOD AND MONEY!!! GOD AND MONEY!!!" He skipped off set, in the way that he did, keeping me energized, and firmly strapped into his roller coaster ride of film making. He spent way more money than he should have on shooting that episode. He had ACTUAL Vietnamese gangbangers, whom he knew personally, play themselves on the show. He was wild and big and crazy and uncontrollable and he gave it his all, every moment, because he believed in his crew, his cast, and the show. It saddens me that something inside him told him to take his incredible life spirit away from us, from the film making community. May he rest in peace. What a great dude.