I Am Responsible for Darren Aronofsky’s Fame
By DAN COHEN
I’m not a big-time studio head who hired filmmaker Darren Aronofsky to direct Black Swan (2010). I’m not someone in the entertainment industry who gave Darren Aronofsky his first big break. I’m not the person who inspired Darren Aronofsky to become a writer and director — that was his seventh-grade teacher, Vera Fried.
I do not know Darren Aronofsky personally. In fact, I’ve never met him. The closest thing the two of us have in common is that we both grew up in the Brighton Beach/Coney Island section of Brooklyn. Well, that’s not exactly true: we were also both inspired by our English teacher, Vera Fried.
In 1982, Vera Fried had her seventh-grade class write poems about peace for a UN sponsored contest. Aronofsky’s poem on Noah’s Ark won. As legend has it, this gave him the courage to become a writer.
Fast forward thirty-two years…
Darren Aronofsky co-wrote and directed Noah (2014), based on the biblical story and the subject of his seventh-grade poem, of course. In the process, Aronofsky tracked down Vera Fried and not only hired her as an extra (she plays a floating corpse), but also as a character who converses briefly with the film’s main star, Russell Crowe. When the studio wanted to cut this scene, Aronofsky insisted it remain as a tribute to his teacher.
What’s more, the director took Ms. Fried to the movie’s premiere and had her recite his prize-winning poem to all those present.
Vera Fried was my English teacher about nine years before she was Darren Aronofsky’s. She was one of my favorite teachers, and I remember her as a quirky, dynamic, entertaining teacher who always commanded the class’s attention.
I do not remember many school assignments, but I have fond memories of one of Ms. Fried’s creative projects: she made us interpret and perform Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky.” I presented it as a boxer, and I even remember one of the lines: “One, Two! One, Two! And Through and Through.”
I also vividly recall a field trip to Manhattan with Vera Fried. After our class’s scheduled event was over, she let us — probably twenty-five thirteen-year-old students — roam around Manhattan unchaperoned for at least two hours.
It was very exciting to us, and we later met Ms. Fried all safe and sound. I also recall her saying (although this part is a little fuzzy) that we were young men and women, responsible enough to be on our own in Manhattan, but that we were likely better off not telling our parents.
When I got home from the field trip, I immediately told my mother. When you grow up in a Jewish home with a “slightly” overprotective Jewish mother — and I say slightly because my mother asked me to email her this story — there’s no use hiding anything since she will find out about it anyway.
My mother was appalled that my class and I were left alone in Manhattan. Yet this was the same woman who allowed me to roam the neighborhood with my ten-year-old friends from morning to night with no way of knowing what I was up to. Remember: this before monitored playdates and cell phones. If my mother wanted me to come home for dinner, she yelled for me out of our fourteenth floor window.
Looking back, I guess it was my being left alone in Manhattan that freaked out my mom. I’m not sure if it was because Manhattan was an island or because you needed to take the F train to get there? But most likely it was because we were left alone in The City. If you grew up in or around New York, you understand.
The day after our field trip, my mother was headed to my school, to meet with the principal. I feared Vera Fried would get fired. I cried, I begged, and I pleaded with my mother not to go to the principal. I loved Ms. Fried.
After what seemed like hours, my mother finally relented, warning me that instead of going to the principal, she’d keep a close eye on Vera Fried.
You’re welcome, Darren Aronofsky. It truly is a wonderful life. If I had not saved Vera Fried’s job, she never would have taught or inspired you.
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