He starred in the film The Deer Hunter, worked with Francis Ford Coppola and Oliver Stone, coproduced Do the Right Thing, and spent six years working with anti-apartheid groups in South Africa. But actor John Savage’s greatest achievement yet, arguably, is unveiled tonight (October 15) at Venue (881 Granville Street) when the Manvils premiere the video for their single “Turpentine”.

Frontman Mikey Manville told the Straight that he met Savage through local artist Yuri Padal, whose 10-foot-by-10-foot painting Manville graces the cover of the band’s new album. “Yuri played him the record, so John wanted an autographed copy,” Manville said. What followed, the singer continues, was “a call at the unearthly hour of 7:45 in the morning. It was Yuri. ‘You must meet my friend John!’ I didn’t know it was John Savage at first. We ended up hanging out, he was into what we were doing, and he gave me his number. Five days later I called him up and asked, ‘Can you fly down for the video?’ ”

Savage promptly showed up for the 35mm shoot “on the house”, and did his bit in the starring role of “a killer who kills a piece of himself”. Manville said Savage didn’t complain once during the gruelling 24-hour schedule, even when the 59-year-old actor was thrown into the ocean five times in a row at 4 in the morning.