From Golden Globe Nominee to being broke in the Caymans, DDW looks at the downfall of Hollywood’s recent rotten apple, Armie Hammer.
It seems like only yesterday when Hollywood heartthrob Armie Hammer was a name on the tip of every filmmaker’s tongue. Bursting onto the scene with his Golden Globe-nominated supporting role in Call Me By Your Name (2017). Hammer had proved his acting calibre in the mastery of displaying assertive masculinity with vulnerable undertones. Whether it was the authenticity and hunger in his eyes, or the ability to harmonise his dialogue in a way that seemed Shakespearean.
Hammer had for years been building steam, delivering tour-de-force performances in the short moments of screen time he had managed to gain. Whether it was his portrayal of the Winklevoss twins in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010), or his portrayal as the charismatic gun salesman Ord in Free Fire (2016). Hammer proved himself to be a master of all genres. His trajectory in Hollywood was only going one way, and that was up.
Each new role in the actor’s life guaranteed either a larger fan base or a bigger paycheck. Hammer was the new Icarus in a world of fleeting performances. Everything he touched, turned to gold. Whether the film had a strong plot, an amateur director or low production costs. Hammer had a magnetism on screen that could convince any viewer what they were watching was a work of art. Like the late greats, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Kirk Douglas.
Armie Hammer had that old-school Hollywood fire to him. His golden brown hair waved back, the symmetrical work of perfection that was his face, and most importantly, the trademark patriotic American voice. It seemed only a matter of time before the actor became Oscar noteworthy, waiting for the right role, at the right time.
But underneath the accolades and behind the silver curtain, we are all human. Capable of making mistakes. All positive things hang in the balance of negativity. For there to be good, badness must co-exist. And even the happiest of stories are never free from bad endings.
Armie Hammer had it all. The years of hustling and bustling and committing to roles that would hopefully lead him to where he wanted to be, seemed a thing of the past. All the hard work had paid off. Hammer’s years of C list and B list acting jobs put him on the pedestal he rightly belonged. In the modern acting hall of fame. But what must go up, must come down.
In early 2020. Hammer’s world was turned upside down. Following the Golden Globe nomination in 2017 and an endless list of scripts and interest coming his way, Hammer felt untouchable. The only thing capable of stopping him was himself.
Following twitter accusations and leaked messages, many Jane Doe’s came out on the internet accusing Armie Hammer of multiple short-lived affairs which consisted of psychotic, manipulative and physically questionable behaviour. One of the biggest claims and most surprising was that of the actor having a cannibalistic fetish. At the time of the accusations going public, Hammer was in his tenth year of marriage to American TV personality Elizabeth Chambers.
Across the internet, fans were left distraught. Fortunately for Hammer, Covid happened. All media and news outlets became focused on the pandemic with the accusations taking the back burner. Escaping the noise and criticism, Hammer and Chambers relocated to the Cayman isles where Hammer’s family resided.
Spending the next few months with his father, stepmother, wife and two children. Hammer and Chambers found themselves unable to escape turbulent times with the families constantly arguing. In an interview with Vanity Fair in May 2021, Hammer described the situation as “very complicated and intense. There were big personalities all locked up. I don’t think I handled it very well. To be quite frank. I came very close to completely losing my mind.”
By July 2020. Elizabeth Chambers, his wife of ten years, had filed for divorce. Hoping to rekindle their marriage in the Caymans and trying to get over the previous accusations and moments of infidelity. Chambers had had enough.
Taking to Twitter, Armie Hammer shared “2020 was a cheap shot, no one was expecting. 2021 is going to kneel down before me and kiss my feet because this year I’m the boss”.
Unfortunately for Hammer, his overly confident attitude couldn’t save him from what lay before him. With covid now increasingly becoming a thing of the past. The women who had made accusations the following year were back, and this time, with more victims appearing out of the woodwork.
Whether it was further accusations of physical abuse or screenshots of conversations in which Hammer was detailing his twisted rape and cannibalistic fantasies. One thing was for sure. Hammer was slowly becoming Hollywood’s newest rotten apple. Icarus had flown too close to the sun, and his wings were burnt. Worse than before.
The mountain of scripts that had been previously making way into his agents’ office, were now becoming few and far between. Hammer was finding himself in deep water with the actor being asked to step away from high-profile projects, one of which was a romantic comedy with Jenny from the Block, Lopez, and another was a Paramount series about how The Godfather (1972) was made. What’s worse, was with the increasing controversy surrounding the actor on social media, his agency and representatives at WME, removed the actor from their books.
The year which was supposed to bow down and kiss his feet was instead devouring him from head to toe. Struggling to deal with the pressure, Hammer found himself turning to substance abuse. Abusing all sorts of prescription medicine and illicit substances. But nothing seemed to numb the pain. Hammer eventually disappeared from the public eye.
That was until July 2022. With news breaking that Hammer, who had spent his time in the Cayman islands since 2020, was now broke. With no acting jobs coming in and no agencies willing to represent the forgotten talent. On top of that, rumours were circulating online that the actor had since been cut off from his family’s fortune due to his self-destructive behaviour and reliance on illegal substances.
With nowhere else to go, Hammer took up a job managing an apartment complex in the Caymans, which saw the actor selling timeshares. Variety had reached out to the complex for confirmation but it is believed the hotel denied such facts in a bid to protect Hammer’s already distraught reputation.
The world in which he knew it, was forever changed. With the world formerly at the tip of his grasp, Hammer had thrown it all away. Ultimately polluted by his own fame, the much-beloved actor had thrown it all away. From Golden globes nominees and controversial Oscar snubs to nothing. Armie Hammer had found himself at the bottom of the food chain he had once successfully dominated.
Once the alpha, and now the beta. Armie had lost it all. His wife of ten years, his family situation in a state of disrepair, and his career dead and buried. The Californian heartthrob was now a relic of the past. Even after a year, it had taken its sweet time for the news of his timeshare work to break. A testament to just how irrelevant the actor had since become.
Icarus had touched the sun, and for a moment, seemed alive. But just how far will he have to fall before he can face the changes needed to redeem himself?