While it may be urban legend that alum Hank Azaria based a couple of his "Simpsons" characters on fellow Tufts students, it is a definite fact that Worm, Edward Norton's character from Brian Koppelman's "Rounders," was inspired by a Jumbo.
According to Koppelman, a Class of 1988 graduate, a student bookie who everyone knew as "Worm" served as the basis for the slimy poker player. "He was a great guy," said Koppelman, "but a guy who, while he was at school, never met a rule or regulation that he couldn't get around."
As a student at Tufts, the successful screenwriter was an English major and was heavily involved with the drama department. He was also a TCU senator and prides himself on his coordination of the divestment protest. During Koppelman's college years, the university had a significant amount of money invested in South African interests. Since that country was still under apartheid, Koppelman headed a student boycott demanding that Tufts divest its money.
It was at this protest that Koppelman found the "in" he needed to break into the entertainment business. "Someone told me there was this folk singer we should get to play at [the protest], and then that's when I went to see Tracy Chapman play."
At this point, according to Koppelman's memory, he was a sophomore and Chapman, also a Tufts student, was a senior. After he graduated, he became involved in the well-known singer's emerging music career.
Although he attended law school at night, following eight to nine years in the recording industry, Koppelman knew that he wanted to be a writer and more specifically, write movies. So Koppelman and high school friend David Levien, collaborating on a daily basis, co-wrote the script for the poker movie, "Rounders." Nightly games on Curtis St. during his senior year helped hone his knowledge of Texas Hold'em, enough so that the movie is thought of in the same vein as other great gambling flicks, such as "The Cincinnati Kid" and "The Color of Money."
Among Koppelman's fonder memories at Tufts were those of his professors. "There were so many professors who were so terrific, who were challenging you and teaching you how to write."
His favorites included English professors Lee Edelman ("a genius, a total genius") and Ronna Johnson ("the tops"). Koppelman also had distinct memories of history professor Gerald Gill poking fun at political scientists, something which Professor Gill still does to this day.
Koppelman is currently involved in a show he co-created with Levien, the ESPN drama, "Tilt." He finds that his experiences in the Tufts drama department help him when working in intense environments.
"Certainly, one of the ways in which I learned the language of communicating with actors and communicating with people on crew happened at Tufts," Koppelman said.
The recent poker craze - the first ever Tufts Series of Poker was held on Sunday - is a good thing, Koppelman says. "It used to be that you could lose a lot of money playing cards, but now with all the tournaments, its only $10; it's a great way to spend time and train your game."
Poker professionals have since become enamored with Koppelman's "Rounders." 2003 World Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker often credits the film with inspiring him to play the game professionally; Daniel Negraneau, one of the rising stars of poker, can recite every line from the movie.
Koppelman's next project is inspired by the writing of one of his idols, David Mamet. Currently sketching out a prequel to the famed writer's "The Untouchables," Koppelman is very excited about the venture and is looking forward to working the Paramount project.
