Question: Can someone please tell me why Kurt Russell is playing his own father in the flashback scenes. I just don't understand why.
Question: The guy who took the picture of Brian as a kid - was he an opportunist who sold the photo to the magazine? I have a hard time imagining they would be prescient enough to know to send one of their own photographers to the scene of the fire.
Answer: Local photographer could have been monitoring emergency calls. A fire is a big visual, and the photo sold to a wire service or Life directly.
Chosen answer: Why not? There's no reason why an actor couldn't play his own father at the same age - indeed, it can serve to emphasise a family resemblence between father and son. It can also serve as a swift way of letting the audience know that this is the father, rather than having a different actor come in and have to have the relationship established through dialogue.
Tailkinker ★