For The Aviator, Adam Scott filed an FBI request—then received a box of government documents
Adam Scott didn’t coast into Johnny Meyer for The Aviator — he broke down the prep it took.
Before he stepped in as Howard Hughes’s publicity fixer in The Aviator, Adam Scott went full research mode: he filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI for a paper trail on the real Johnny Meyer. The catch? The agency’s response didn’t land until nearly two years after filming wrapped, Scott said on Funny You Ask with Ike Barinholtz.
“2 years after finishing the movie ( I) got a box filled with government documents, all this surveillance on Johnny Meyer. FBI surveillance on Meyer. He was into all kinds of crazy s***.”
Scott said the box was packed with FBI surveillance records that painted a wilder picture of Meyer than he ever expected. He also said he learned from the files that Hughes’s publicist died in an accident. The timing meant none of it could be folded into his performance, but it gave him a rare, firsthand look at the shadowy orbit around Hughes.
On Scorsese’s set
In a separate conversation with The Guardian, Scott admitted he showed up to the star-stuffed shoot feeling intimidated, then quickly relaxed once the work started.
“I was pretty freaked out at first. But once you're there, you realize these are just regular people who happen to be actors figuring out a scene. Everyone was extremely kind and generous to me and made me feel comfortable straight away.”
He praised Martin Scorsese’s collaborative style, saying actors were encouraged to loosen up scenes and find moments in the room. The atmosphere, he recalled, was intensely focused but open to improvisation.
The film ’s roster was stacked. Among the headliners:
- Leonardo DiCaprio — Howard Hughes
- Cate Blanchett — Katharine Hepburn
- Kate Beckinsale — Ava Gardner
- Jude Law — Errol Flynn
- Alec Baldwin — Juan Trippe
- Adam Scott — Johnny Meyer, Hughes’s publicist
Set across 1927–1947, The Aviator tracks Hughes’s twin obsessions with movies and aviation. It earned 11 Oscar nominations and took home five Academy Awards .