From Sean Penn’s assistant to Mrs. John C. Reilly to a career as a film producer, Alison Dickey has more than earned her place in our hall of Former Assistants Done Good. Considering that Dickey was Penn’s assistant in the late 80s and early 90s (aka The Madonna Years), I don’t doubt for a second that she can handle just about any crazy situation she might find herself in. She and Reilly have been married since 1992, which is a lifeftime by Hollywood standards. They met when Penn and Reilly costarred in the Brian de Palma-directed Vietnam movie Casualties of War. They have two sons, ages 9 and 7. Considering that a very thorough Google search did not turn up the boys’ names, I’m going to guess Reilly and Dickey are giving their kids somewhat normal lives.
I haven’t heard of most of the films Dickey has produced, which include Piggie and Beautiful View, but one thing on her IMDB profile really made me sit up and take notice: she gets a “special thanks” in the credits for Miranda July’s film Me and You and Everyone We Know. Just the idea of Miranda July hanging out with Alison Dickey and John C. Reilly makes me kind of nerd out a little.
Also: John C. Reilly was one of our inagural “people who are too cool to have assistants.” Is this another case of a relative of an ex-assistant understanding the true nature of an assistant job and therefore not hiring anyone to run errands for them? An interesting theory.