Interviews and Essays

Where: over the phone. 12 pm.        When I asked Robert Vaughn for an interview he told me to give him my phone number, and he would call me. I wasn’t sure if he really would, but a month later, he did call, and of course, I was not in. I...

Written on March 24, 2021.      After doing interviews for over a decade or so, it dawned on me one day that I would inevitably find out that one of the actors I had interviewed had passed away. Never in my most horrific nightmares did I imagine that the first one...

Where: his dressing room (Martin Beck Theatre). 1 pm.        Right before a Wednesday matinee of Guys And Dolls, I interviewed Nathan Lane. As I was setting up, I told him that I had wanted to ask him for an interview for years. However, each previous time was inappropriate because there...

Where: his publicist’s office. 4:30 pm.        This is one of those times when the interview took a very long time to set up, but it was well worth the wait. Gregory Hines and I first met seven months ago, so we had a very easy-going conversation since we had spoken...

Where: a diner in Chelsea. 5 pm.        It is so ridiculous that some people believe Malcolm McDowell is as violent and insane as many of the characters he has played. Almost everyone who found out that I would be interviewing him had expressed fear and concern. (My favorite overreaction was...

Where: his apartment. 11 am.        Even if I'm at a friend's house, I'm the type of person who feels intrusive and awkward sitting around in someone else's home. So you can imagine how anxious I was when I found out that I had to interview the legend that is Tony...

Where: his dressing room (Second Stage Theatre). 1:30 pm.        Edward Herrmann and I have met for the first time at this interview, and long before I put the batteries in my old Panasonic, he is already chatting up a storm about everything from the play he is starring in to...

Where: his dressing room (Booth Theatre). 4:15 pm.        When I first met David Dukes six years ago, little did I know then that it would be the beginning of one of my closest and most treasured friendships. Dave is just one of the greatest human beings I know, and I...

Where: downstairs lobby of the Manhattan Theatre Club. 6 pm.        John Glover is starring in the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Love! Valour! Compassion!, and it is the day after its opening. All the newspapers are filled with rave reviews today, and he has just gotten word that the play...

Where: backstage at the Public Theater. 6 pm.        Ed Harris is currently starring in the highly-anticipated new play by Sam Shepard called Simpatico. Though he has not appeared on stage in New York in many years, he does enjoy being back in town for this important piece. “I like New...

Where: his dressing room (Circle In The Square Theatre). 4:15 pm.        One of the great things that I discovered about Jamey Sheridan during our conversation is that he does not have any tolerance for Hollywood-type nonsense like indulging manipulative actors or catering to the lowest common denominator. He will simply...

Where: his dressing room (Royale Theatre). 4 pm.        Last spring Brian Cox was in New York doing a one-man show Off-Broadway, but I never made it up to the city to see the play. A few months later when I found out he was back on Broadway in Art, I...

Where: his dressing room (Belasco Theatre). 4:30 pm.             Two days before he plays his last performance in the Broadway event of the season, Network, and three days before he would win his second Best Actor Tony Award for playing the starring role of Ho...

Where: his apartment. 11 am.        Spalding Gray is a multi-talented man who acts, tells stories about his life in the form of monologues all across the country, and writes books based on these stories which have been translated into several languages. But while critics and the media try to find...

Where: his play's publicity office. 1 pm.        Tony Goldwyn has spent the past several months co-starring alongside Bryan Cranston and Tatiana Maslany in the hottest non-musical ticket on Broadway, the theatrical adaptation of the 1976 film Network. For audiences who only know ...

Where: his dressing room (Marquis Theatre). 12:45 pm.        A few days after Victor Garber was nominated for a Tony Award for his starring role in the smash revival of Damn Yankees, I went to ask him for an interview. At the time, there were people standing around the theatre congratulating...

Where: his dressing room (Cort Theatre). 5 pm. Donald Moffat is one of those brilliant character actors who you always expect to show up in a film or on a television series to make it that much better. His presence in a project lends it a gravitas that it normally would...

Where: his dressing room (Circle In The Square Theatre). 4:45 pm.       Anthony LaPaglia is currently making his Broadway debut in a revival of The Rose Tattoo. While audiences are used to seeing him on the big screen, his decision to spend his time acting in a lesser-known Tennessee Williams play has...

Written on March 2, 2018.        All About ACTORS is an invention that was created out of necessity. After conducting interviews with five well-known actors for my college newspaper as part of a departmental honors course assignment, only the first two were published, and both were severely edited. In addition to...

Written on November 22, 2018.        The late fall and early winter of 1991/92 was one of the best times of my life so far because I spent a good chunk of it hanging out with Jason Robards. Several times a week, I would venture over to the Music Box Theatre...

Written on April 23, 2019.       Back when All About ACTORS was a print publication, we had a recurring series of essays entitled In Defense Of... where we spotlighted a particular actor and "defended" him for one reason or another. Whether it was a character actor who deserved better...

Where: his dressing room (Walter Kerr Theatre). 5:30 pm.        When I first went to meet Charles S. Dutton, I was sent up to his dressing room, and the door was open. He had his back turned, so I just stood there waiting for him to turn around. When he did,...

Where: his apartment. 2 pm.        Riding on the uptown #2 train recently, I was not surprised when it stalled at Times Square. This happens quite often. What does not happen quite often is the sight of an actor who has appeared in some of the most successful and critically acclaimed...

Where: his dressing room (Music Box Theatre). 5 pm.        When I asked Tom Hulce for an interview, he politely declined. “I’m not even doing one for The New York Times,” he said, to which I countered only half-jokingly, “But I’m better than The Times.” He stared at me, intrigued for...

Where: a couple of orchestra house seats (Lyceum Theatre). 6:30 pm.        There are several "first time” occurrences for me in doing this interview with Ethan Hawke. It is the first time that I have interviewed someone who is younger than me and so close to my own age. It is...

Where: a café on St. Mark's Place. 5:30 pm.        When I asked William H. Macy for an interview, I was rather surprised at his reaction to my request. He said that he was flattered that I had asked him and even thanked me. All the while, I kept thinking, "Gee,...

Where: his dressing room (Martin Beck Theatre). 6:15 pm.        To say that it is a miracle this interview has occurred is not an understatement. Here's what happened: A couple of weeks into the previews for Guys And Dolls, I asked Peter Gallagher for an interview and he agreed. We decided...

Where: onstage (Classic Stage Company). 6 pm.        Peter Riegert has a delightful attitude about his work and life. But depending upon your attitude, there are two ways to see him. If you're like most decent people, then you will find him to be a refreshing change from many of the...

Where: his dressing room (Barrymore Theatre). 3 pm.        When I went to see Alec Baldwin backstage after a preview performance of the Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, a large mob of around two hundred people formed outside the backstage door waiting to see him. Usually when even a...

Where: his dressing room (Music Box Theatre). 5:30 pm.        Some of the reactions that I get from actors when I ask them for an interview never cease to amaze me. On this occasion, I knocked on the door of Anthony Heald's dressing room, and the voice inside told me to...

Where: his dressing room (Brooks Atkinson Theatre). 4:15 pm        Much to my surprise, I felt so immediately at ease doing this interview that I didn't bother to segue from question to question in the numerical order that I had them in, and spent more time than usual joking around and...

Where: a cafe on Prince Street. 11 am.        When Jonathan Pryce called me to confirm our interview, he told me to meet him at one of those upscale Soho coffee shops with a name that sounds more like an accounting firm than a place where you can get a bagel...

Where: his dressing room (Belasco Theatre). 5 pm.        Last Saturday evening, I was walking along 44th Street when I passed by a group of people standing in the middle of the street. The center of attention was a very attractive man dressed all in black. I did a double take...

Where: his dressing room (Music Box Theatre). 4:15 pm.        When I first met Jason Robards and asked to speak with him, he told me to follow him up to his dressing room so we could talk. Before I even put one foot on the first step, he dashed up the...

Where: a café in the Theater District. 6 pm.        This was one of the fastest interviews I had ever gotten, and since there was no previous small talk between us, I didn’t really know what kind of personality Mark Blum would have. My apprehensions were put to rest as we...