American actor Buddy Duress, popularly known for his appearance in the Safdie brothers’ 2017 crime thriller “Good Time,” alongside Robert Pattinson, passed away at the age of 38. Recently, his brother Christopher Stathis revealed to People that Duress died in November 2023 of “cardiac arrest from a drug cocktail.”
The actor suffered from substance abuse. He even served detention at least ten times in New York City’s Rikers Island with charges including heroin possession and identity theft. In 2013, he was supposed to leave Rikers Island for an in-patient program for individuals with drug addiction issues. But instead, he fled away from there. In a 2017, SSense interview, Duress reflected on that time and shared how his life was changed after that.
Duress was a frequent collaborator of the Safdie brothers. He recounted how he first met Josh Safdie in 2013, following his release from jail. He shared that shortly after fleeing from jail, he landed the role in “Heaven Knows What.” However, he was sent back to jail before the film’s premiere for skipping a drug in-patient program. He said, “You know, I still look back at it. If I had gone to that program, I wouldn’t have been in “Heaven Knows What,” and I probably wouldn’t be an actor right now. That’s the honest truth. I wouldn’t.”
Following his second release, he was cast alongside Robert Pattinson in 2017’s critically acclaimed American crime-thriller film “Good Time.” Interestingly, the Safdies used Duress’ journal to adapt his story for their “Good Time” script, per the Los Angeles Times.
Filmmaker Cameron Van Hoy, who worked with Duress in “The Great Darkened Days and Flinch,” shared his experience working with Duress. He said, “Buddy was pure electricity on screen. Working with him was one of the great adventures of my life. He was a kind person who loved making films. Despite any troubles he was going through in life, he somehow managed to put them aside when it came time to work. We grew quite close after the production of our film Flinch. I’m heartbroken that his life came to an end as it did.”
Filmmaker Jay Karales, who directed Duress in his film “Mass State Lottery,” paid tribute to Duress on X/Twitter: “This man was an absolute treasure. Without a doubt, Buddy Duress was one of the most entertaining people I’ve ever met, and his stories were unrivaled. I remember seeing him in “Good Time” in 2017 and saying, ‘That is what the future of acting needs to be. That guy. He brought a certain authenticity and charisma to the screen that you just don’t see anymore. It was a dream to get him into “Mass State Lottery,” and I feel privileged to have been his director and his friend.”
Throughout his acting career, he appeared in several films, including “Person to Person” (2017), “The Great Darkened Days” (2018), “Beware of Dog” (2020), “PVT Chat” (2020), “Flinch” (2021), and “Funny Pages” (2022). Duress has two more unreleased projects: a short film titled “Skull” and Jay Karales’ debut feature “Mass State Lottery,” set to release this year.
Born in May 1985 in the New York City borough of Queens, Duress is survived by his mother, Jo-Anne, and younger brother, Christopher.
