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Too Real: A Hollywood Memoir
The true story behind America’s most infamous independent film and one movie star’s obsession with destroying it.The decades long dispute between indie film producer, Dale Wheatley, and two of Hollywood’s biggest stars comes to a head in this raw, revealing, and often hilarious memoir.
Set in 1990s Los Angeles, during a golden age of American independent film, Too A Hollywood Memoir follows Dale as he emigrates from Canada to California in search of Hollywood glory. Within months, Dale is accepted into a close group of friends that includes some of Hollywood's hottest up-and-coming actors, and they quickly begin collaborating on a low-budget improvisational film.
Their experiment succeeds and the film garners interest from major film distributors, but one of the film's stars decides the performances were too real for his aspirations, and he begins a clandestine campaign that will eventually destroy life-long friendships and careers and ban an American film forever.
Blacklisted and broken, Dale finds himself on a new path in life, to end the suppression of his work and reclaim his stolen dreams.
Set in 1990s Los Angeles, during a golden age of American independent film, Too A Hollywood Memoir follows Dale as he emigrates from Canada to California in search of Hollywood glory. Within months, Dale is accepted into a close group of friends that includes some of Hollywood's hottest up-and-coming actors, and they quickly begin collaborating on a low-budget improvisational film.
Their experiment succeeds and the film garners interest from major film distributors, but one of the film's stars decides the performances were too real for his aspirations, and he begins a clandestine campaign that will eventually destroy life-long friendships and careers and ban an American film forever.
Blacklisted and broken, Dale finds himself on a new path in life, to end the suppression of his work and reclaim his stolen dreams.
574 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2024
178 people are currently reading
328 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 9, 2024
Eye opening
I don't think Don's Plum would have been a movie that I would have gone to see, but this an eye opening story for me as I was a teen in the 90's so I recognise a lot of faces in this book and found it fascinating.
What an interesting age we live in. Once upon a time, I would go to the video / DVD store once a week, watch all the new movies. Now most movies are available without any effort online and I barely watch any movies any more. I remember when we used to watch the same movies again and again, and now I rarely watch a movie more than once. To be honest, I would struggle to name 5 movies released in the last year.
Dale is right, greed destroyed the movie industry and then political correctness based on Hollywood's version of virtue has killed the rest. Instead of entertainment, they now offer up woke propaganda and there's nothing unique anymore.
Leo, I loved Titanic but I'm not interested in the rest of your movies and haven't seen most of them. You're now irrelevant and people think you're a joke dating barely legals at your age. It's time to grow up.
Tobey, I loved Spiderman, but again, I barely know any of your other work. Thank you Dale for shining a light on this guy's toxic behaviour. I will never be able to see this guy's face again without remembering the scenes in this book.
At the end of the day, everyone should be aware that celebrities pay people a lot of money to promote an image they don't live up to. I feel that celebrities are starting to lose their power with a lot of people and many are being exposed as being corrupted in an age where ego and narcissism seems to be at an all time high.
I don't think Don's Plum would have been a movie that I would have gone to see, but this an eye opening story for me as I was a teen in the 90's so I recognise a lot of faces in this book and found it fascinating.
What an interesting age we live in. Once upon a time, I would go to the video / DVD store once a week, watch all the new movies. Now most movies are available without any effort online and I barely watch any movies any more. I remember when we used to watch the same movies again and again, and now I rarely watch a movie more than once. To be honest, I would struggle to name 5 movies released in the last year.
Dale is right, greed destroyed the movie industry and then political correctness based on Hollywood's version of virtue has killed the rest. Instead of entertainment, they now offer up woke propaganda and there's nothing unique anymore.
Leo, I loved Titanic but I'm not interested in the rest of your movies and haven't seen most of them. You're now irrelevant and people think you're a joke dating barely legals at your age. It's time to grow up.
Tobey, I loved Spiderman, but again, I barely know any of your other work. Thank you Dale for shining a light on this guy's toxic behaviour. I will never be able to see this guy's face again without remembering the scenes in this book.
At the end of the day, everyone should be aware that celebrities pay people a lot of money to promote an image they don't live up to. I feel that celebrities are starting to lose their power with a lot of people and many are being exposed as being corrupted in an age where ego and narcissism seems to be at an all time high.
December 1, 2024
Very interesting to hear Dales story. It could really use some editing though 🫶
January 16, 2025
randomly stumbled upon “don’s plum” over the summer. what an interesting piece of hollywood history. exchanged a pair of messages with the author and he seems to be on a fiery track… all i know is if he’s telling the truth and this account is accurate things could get testy between he, tobey, and leo if this gets more traction.
December 31, 2024
Shining a Light
In a world where we thrive on Hollywood scandal, salacious sex stories, the world of the elite and Diddy parties, this book lays bare a scandal of equal proportions, but so much more relatable, and relevant, to the average reader. Who hasn't been betrayed by a friend? What would you do, how would you feel if everyone you loved in your life, turned on you in an instant, then proceeded to destroy everything in your life? This is that story. Yes, the names involved are household names, beloved actors, people who are respected in the industry, but whose own actions have tainted their reputations. The wild thing is, by the second chapter you start to forget that these are Hollywood monoliths, and what emerges is a story of deep friendship, coming of age, hopes, dreams, successes and failures, and the worst betrayal a person can experience. Dale Wheatley lived it, survived it, and his truth, his movie, Don's Plum,is out there in spite of a concerted campaign to relegate it to a dust void, never to see the light of day. Its a beautiful movie, and it deserves its place in Indie Movie history alongside its counterparts of Kids or Clerks.
In a world where we thrive on Hollywood scandal, salacious sex stories, the world of the elite and Diddy parties, this book lays bare a scandal of equal proportions, but so much more relatable, and relevant, to the average reader. Who hasn't been betrayed by a friend? What would you do, how would you feel if everyone you loved in your life, turned on you in an instant, then proceeded to destroy everything in your life? This is that story. Yes, the names involved are household names, beloved actors, people who are respected in the industry, but whose own actions have tainted their reputations. The wild thing is, by the second chapter you start to forget that these are Hollywood monoliths, and what emerges is a story of deep friendship, coming of age, hopes, dreams, successes and failures, and the worst betrayal a person can experience. Dale Wheatley lived it, survived it, and his truth, his movie, Don's Plum,is out there in spite of a concerted campaign to relegate it to a dust void, never to see the light of day. Its a beautiful movie, and it deserves its place in Indie Movie history alongside its counterparts of Kids or Clerks.
November 10, 2024
Dale Wheatley's "Too Real" is an amazing narrative about a bunch of young creators trying to make big in Hollywood in the 1990s. The author's style put us in the places, so we fell like we're hanging out with these guys.
The memoir takes a dark tone, though, after the filming of Don's Plum and the backstabbing made against the movie by Tobey Mcguire, for reasons no clear at all. It was heartbreaking to read a "dream comes true" situation desmantled by the actions of a single individual.
This book exposes how abusers grow and act impune in Hollywood, with the cumplicity of a lot of players in the industry. Dale has been told to shut up, to not confront publically Mcguire and Leonardo Di Caprio. Fortunatelly he didn't follow these advices or otherwise we wouldn't have had this refreshing, easy-to-read memoir that drops a light in a world - the Hollywood of the up-and-comers - usually hidden in shadows.
The memoir takes a dark tone, though, after the filming of Don's Plum and the backstabbing made against the movie by Tobey Mcguire, for reasons no clear at all. It was heartbreaking to read a "dream comes true" situation desmantled by the actions of a single individual.
This book exposes how abusers grow and act impune in Hollywood, with the cumplicity of a lot of players in the industry. Dale has been told to shut up, to not confront publically Mcguire and Leonardo Di Caprio. Fortunatelly he didn't follow these advices or otherwise we wouldn't have had this refreshing, easy-to-read memoir that drops a light in a world - the Hollywood of the up-and-comers - usually hidden in shadows.
October 26, 2024
Just finished "Too Real - A Hollywood Memoir" by Dale Wheatley. Before reading this book, I had never heard of the movie "Don’s Plum".
This book is an excellent, true, first-hand account of a young man who leaves Canada to pursue his dreams in Los Angeles and very quickly meets and gets connected into a group of people, who at the time (early 90’s) are young, up and coming actors. As Dale meets different people during his early days in LA and shares their names with the reader, I had my phone nearby and googled the names as he introduced them. When I saw the photos of each person, I recognized all of them. The 2 most famous people that Dale became friends with are Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, before they were the Leo and Tobey that we know today.
The story is fascinating as Dale shares the highs of meeting new, amazing people so quickly, building very close relationships with all of them and then working with them to create a movie that they would develop together and that would be unique, fun and meaningful. Dale does a great job of telling the story by sharing so many of the conversations that the group of friends had together as the story evolves. The dialogues are so detailed and real that I felt like I was sitting in the room with them as they talked.
The book is 563 pages, but it is a fast read given the story and how it is written.
The book covers the complete arc of Dale’s arrival in LA, all the wide-eyed joy of seeing what he had dreamt of come to fruition, the hard work of so many people to get the movie made and then all of the pain, suffering and loss due to bad-timing, what turned out to be bad friends, and a movie that portrayed some of the actors as “Too Real”.
I really liked this book and would recommend.
PM
This book is an excellent, true, first-hand account of a young man who leaves Canada to pursue his dreams in Los Angeles and very quickly meets and gets connected into a group of people, who at the time (early 90’s) are young, up and coming actors. As Dale meets different people during his early days in LA and shares their names with the reader, I had my phone nearby and googled the names as he introduced them. When I saw the photos of each person, I recognized all of them. The 2 most famous people that Dale became friends with are Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, before they were the Leo and Tobey that we know today.
The story is fascinating as Dale shares the highs of meeting new, amazing people so quickly, building very close relationships with all of them and then working with them to create a movie that they would develop together and that would be unique, fun and meaningful. Dale does a great job of telling the story by sharing so many of the conversations that the group of friends had together as the story evolves. The dialogues are so detailed and real that I felt like I was sitting in the room with them as they talked.
The book is 563 pages, but it is a fast read given the story and how it is written.
The book covers the complete arc of Dale’s arrival in LA, all the wide-eyed joy of seeing what he had dreamt of come to fruition, the hard work of so many people to get the movie made and then all of the pain, suffering and loss due to bad-timing, what turned out to be bad friends, and a movie that portrayed some of the actors as “Too Real”.
I really liked this book and would recommend.
PM
January 26, 2026
This is a must-read for any entertainment history enthusiasts, especially because it’s currently ongoing.
The basic synopsis: it’s an autobiographical account of a screenwriter struggling with the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire stopped his movie, Don’s Plum, from being allowed to get distribution in the US and Canada, ultimately ruining his burgeoning Hollywood career.
But it’s also a time capsule to the life of young twentysomethings trying to make it in Hollywood in the mid-90s: a sentiment also reflected in the aforementioned movie. Drug use, The Grateful Dead, peroxide farts, a sort of tapestry of the weird things we do when we’re just old enough to make our own decisions, but not old enough to know why we’re making them. You get to see these young people as they were: young, rebellious, hot-headed, endearing, spiteful, anxious. Warts and all, including the writer. Some of my favorite parts of the book are where Dale actively reflects on his own shortcomings, because it makes his story about the sabotage of his film and friendships that much more believable.
One thing that is very interesting to me is where his subjectivity might play a role in the writing. While he admits to it on numerous occasions, there are still moments where I actually feel uncertain we’re getting the whole truth. Not because he is lying, but because even he doesn’t have the whole story or even recognize there may be more to it. I have a lot more to say, but just in case Dale reads this, I want to be respectful and not cause additional anguish surrounding his story.
Because the one thing that is certainly clear is this: if all of this is true, he was definitely done wrong by Leo and Tobey. And something must be done to rectify it.
The basic synopsis: it’s an autobiographical account of a screenwriter struggling with the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire stopped his movie, Don’s Plum, from being allowed to get distribution in the US and Canada, ultimately ruining his burgeoning Hollywood career.
But it’s also a time capsule to the life of young twentysomethings trying to make it in Hollywood in the mid-90s: a sentiment also reflected in the aforementioned movie. Drug use, The Grateful Dead, peroxide farts, a sort of tapestry of the weird things we do when we’re just old enough to make our own decisions, but not old enough to know why we’re making them. You get to see these young people as they were: young, rebellious, hot-headed, endearing, spiteful, anxious. Warts and all, including the writer. Some of my favorite parts of the book are where Dale actively reflects on his own shortcomings, because it makes his story about the sabotage of his film and friendships that much more believable.
One thing that is very interesting to me is where his subjectivity might play a role in the writing. While he admits to it on numerous occasions, there are still moments where I actually feel uncertain we’re getting the whole truth. Not because he is lying, but because even he doesn’t have the whole story or even recognize there may be more to it. I have a lot more to say, but just in case Dale reads this, I want to be respectful and not cause additional anguish surrounding his story.
Because the one thing that is certainly clear is this: if all of this is true, he was definitely done wrong by Leo and Tobey. And something must be done to rectify it.
November 7, 2025
Started reading this book.It's pretty good. About the '90s in Hollywood. He gets kind of wordy. There is a scene where an actor pours peroxide into Leo Dicraprio's asshole and then Leo Dicraprio farts which causes it to all blow up in the other actor's face being so close to dude's asshole. So years later this one guy is probably still walking around with Leo Dicraprio's asshole essence...because that kind of asshole essence never goes away completely. So that could make him a shit head. For the rest of his life. If I were that guy, I would put that shit on my tombstone. "Thanks DiCraprio for farting peroxide and asshole juice onto my face". Love to all. And hope that never happens to you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2025
Page Turner!
I loved this book because it captured the feel of the 90s as a 20-something person perfectly! The dialogue between people was really well written , interesting and sincere. I would highly recommend this book! Very fun read!
I loved this book because it captured the feel of the 90s as a 20-something person perfectly! The dialogue between people was really well written , interesting and sincere. I would highly recommend this book! Very fun read!
February 12, 2025
fascinating and soul destroying
This book is one of the most devastating stories of abuse of power in the industry that is Hollywood that we are seeing time and time and again…. Beautiful and heartbreaking
This book is one of the most devastating stories of abuse of power in the industry that is Hollywood that we are seeing time and time and again…. Beautiful and heartbreaking
June 8, 2025
Finding Your "Phoenix"
Uplifting, and Soul-crushing, Journey to Reach Inspired Dreams. Written from the Heart, Expressed with Passion for Truth that Refuses to Die. Bravo!
Uplifting, and Soul-crushing, Journey to Reach Inspired Dreams. Written from the Heart, Expressed with Passion for Truth that Refuses to Die. Bravo!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews