Who was Buddy Duress? ‘Good Time’ Star Dead at 38

Buddy Duress, also known as Michael Stathis, has passed away at the age of 38. He was famous for working with the Safdie Brothers.

Christopher Stathis, his brother, confirmed to People that Buddy died in November from a heart problem caused by mixing drugs.

Buddy was born in Queens, New York. He started acting in the movie Heaven Knows What, made by Benny and Josh Safdie in 2014. He told SSense in 2017 that he met Josh just after getting out of Rikers Island for drug charges. He missed out on a drug treatment program and met Josh through a friend. Josh then gave him a role in Heaven Knows What. But later, he got caught by the police and went back to Rikers Island. He stayed there even when the movie premiered at the New York Film Festival.

He said to SSense, “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.”

After getting out of prison, he worked with the Safdie brothers again in the movie Good Time, which starred Robert Pattinson. According to the Los Angeles Times, they used a journal Buddy wrote in prison for the script.

Buddy acted in many other movies and short films during his career, like 86’d, The Mountain, and The Great Darkened Days.