[Music] Hello and welcome to Julia Schlossberg's Movie Talk. We bring you fascinating conversations each week with the biggest names in film, theater and television. Get ready for in-depth interviews with stars, writers, directors and producers as they share their stories, insights and creative journeys. So sit back, relax and let's dive in. And now here's Julia. My guest today is the award-winning actor. He's known for theater. He's known for movies. He's known for television. His name is Peter Gallagher and Peter, I'm so happy to have you some watching you today. Talk about you and your career. Well, thanks, Julian. There's no one I'd rather talk about it with than you. Well, thanks so much. Well, let's talk number one, you're born in New York City. You're the third of three brothers and your dad is. Well, you're an assistant. Well, when the world of trans, I have to be careful. I haven't spoken. Anything that have happened to last month. But let's talk in terms of growing up in New York City. Your dad is an advertising executive. Your mom, a Bacteriologist. And I'm shocked to read or hear that you didn't see movies or you didn't go to theater at all. Well, we left the city. You know, we were. I was born at Linux Hill. But then shortly after that, you know, housing opened up for my dad. He was a returning GI. And I mean, he had returned probably ten years before. But there was. There were bouncing around in the Bronx and so on and around. And we went to. Yonkers. And then when I was still very young, we moved up to Armuk, which for my family was like moving to British Columbia. So remote then. And. And, you know, that kind of entertainment, the theater and movies and so on, we're not a priority. You know, this was that. My dad's dad was a coal miner. My mother was first-generation American. Her folks were right off the boat. And so, entertainment or music or. I think probably the first Broadway show my parents saw I was in. My colleague. So, you know, the only in terms of popular in its name was really on TV. And to be honest, we think we had 'em until I was quite old. Until I was actually left the house already. We didn't really have a. We didn't have a great TV. You know, it was like a couple of stations. And for some reason, it always got Lawrence Welk, which was the big entertainment. But for me, it also got the Dean Martin Show, which saved my sanity as a kid. As a kid, yeah. So, I didn't really have the opportunity to walk down the street and go see a movie. Or to hop on the subway and go see a movie. You'd have to go to Bedford. Because we're not a lot of cinemas around then at that time. There was one cinema and it was in Bedford and. It's still there, by the way. I know. And I think Clive Davis, the way I invested in it. And I think the first movie I saw was Black Beards Ghost, a Disney film. There was also another cinema in Penserville in Pleasantville, where I saw Harold Amard, which that completely changed my life. Yeah, I actually launched that movie at the Caron Net Theater. Did you really? I did. That's what Castle Hill. No, this was with Paramount. I mean, yes, I was at Walter Reed at the time. Okay. Walter Reed Theatre. And Harold Amard was a Paramount movie. And I was so sure I had the hit of the year. And as you know at Christmas time, you and I could just sit there and talk about our lives and we'd sell out. And nobody came. I mean, nobody came. And Kurt Ruth Gordon, very mixed reviews, and then around the country Peter, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Toledo, started playing 12 weeks, 15 weeks. Boston was over a year. The movie became a cult film. But the fact that I had it meant nothing. It flopped for me. It's so interesting. It's so interesting. Because for me, it just. I felt seen. It felt like there might be a world, a universe out there, where I might fit in. And I just thought it was hysterical. And what was the first time you realized you could sing? But I mean, knew that you would better than an average singer. Well, the debate is still out about that. But what really, it was Dean Martin. And I didn't know I could sing. But when I was a little boy, there was something about Dean Martin that gave me hope in life. He just made life look like it was a good thing to have and a good place to be. And there was nothing to worry about. I don't get it in my room. And so when I was a little boy, I would do Dean Martin impressions. Everybody loves somebody sometimes. And I had no idea if I was any good and people thought it was odd, frankly. And I couldn't understand it because I thought, "Don't you love Dean Martin?" And of course my kid said, "Who's Dean Martin?" What do you mean, "What Dean Martin for?" So I didn't really. But the first time I had an idea, the first time I sang in public, was in Mr. Bissel's class in school. And he was the one who introduced me to the theater. But I was annoying him, I think. He was mad at me for something. Maybe I was probably Ram Bunchesor, had ADD or something that I didn't know about. And was so happy to be out of my house. And then I was just bouncing off the walls. And we were learning this song in music class. And he said, "All right, get up and sing it in front of the class." Oh. And I wanted to die. Because I felt I was not. I was a shy person as much as I was a screw up in a clown, I guess. And I just remember everything, all the blood leaving me and just wanting to crawl. But there was something in me. I guess it was the Irish in me. Said, "Fuck you! You're not gonna bring me down. Not without a fight." And I just reached down and I sang it the best I could. And there was absolute silence. And then he got really mad. You were not supposed to be able to do that. I guess I still didn't know if I had succeeded. But then he sent me to the back of the room. But eventually he was the one. I was the only one he didn't ask to be in the musical that year. But then after a couple of parts where I didn't sing, I got a chance to sing. And then I started to realize that maybe it was something I could do. But it was never of. My mother had a beautiful voice. And she would sing Irish songs and stuff like that. But it was just. Like most of my life, it was all just built on suspicion. Very little certainty. Well I think if people are honest, I think most of us would say the same thing. I think so, right? Yeah, I do. Tell me, what does a bacteriologist do? What did your mom do? She studied bacteria? Well, she did. It was interesting in that when she. She went to Hunter. Hunter College was the greatest thing ever. It's particularly women who didn't have a lot of money. You could get nearly a free education. And she was very. Apparently she was. She was very smart. And she studied back, she got a degree. She became a bacteriologist, got certified or whatever that is. So you have lab, then the moment she assisted in doctor's offices or. But what really catalyzed the whole thing was that her brother got blown up. An Anzio. And not killed, but he was caught in a creak. Crossfire, they were bringing him in his litter and the medics got killed. And so his leg was all expected to be amputated and never be able to walk. And only live for a year. And it was her favorite brother, Camilla, and he was a great dancer. And it was also a great fighter. Because apparently when they were in Mount Vernon or in New York, they moved around a bit in the Bronx. Mount Vernon to Rochelle. The brothers, there would be a fist fight every Sunday morning to see who would make the pharmacy run to Joe Kennedy. Because Joe Kennedy tipped the fiber. So whoever won the fist fight got to go deliver the pharmacy and they'd come up with the fiber. So that was my uncle Camilla. And he was a great dancer. And he got blown up in Anzio. And so my mother also, at one point, also worked for the train. Mechro, the time. Yeah, like the MTA. Yeah, I'm track with the, you know, the train went back. And she once got the train once straight down to Washington DC.
Army Hospital and And Applied for any job she could get anywhere in Walter Reed Army Hospital so she could Stay and keep an eye on her brother and try to assist him in whatever way and make sure he was getting good care And she was assigned to this essentially a four-person team led by Captain Romansky who was tasked with Developing penicillin further because at that point you had to be inoculated so many times because it it just ran through your system That even the urine would be constitute reconstituted that reconstitute the antibiotic From soldiers urine and and so on to use it again because he had something guy I think they have get 40 injections a day Oh God, it would just end of veins would collapse So they had to come up with a base for the penicillin where it would be metabolized more slowly and the body could Use it and they made their breakthrough on D day Which the rabbit they which is what they called the rabbit that received the bacillus the night before and the injection the single injection and The rabbit survived the night and they were and it was a base of peanut oil Huh and People peanut allergies, but it was great for thousands and thousands and thousands of other people and we didn't find this out I mean I knew about this because she told me she sold pictures with her and Fleming when he came to DC and in the oval office and And I looked in the new journal New England journalist of medicine to find her name which was hard because she was a woman Yes, of course. She didn't really get the they the assistance in the lab Texts and so on that did the but there she was Maryano Shay And but we didn't find this out a lot of it out until the day after she died In his stars and stripes newspaper in that had been in a box and she died 60 years to the day of the Normandy invasion of the day they may have the and and I Thought my dad had landed in Normandy on the on D day, but it was actually almost a month later And it was really the battle the bulge. I think that that deprived him of his ability to say anything about the war because something happened during there that He just never ever ever ever ever spoke about Well a lot of the world war two veterans didn't and both of us kind of grew up even though we weren't in the depression We grew up with that as a background you couldn't get rid of that and in my case I was about three when world war two ended so I mean both of them met nothing, but it meant everything It's absolutely that and the depression Don't be out depression in world war two. Yes, it is it co-existed with you no matter You know, I still had my father's gear in the basement and some of it and You know, I could try to get stories from some of his buddies We used to go to a gas station in North white planes where he had some military buddies there and But it was very frustrating. I could never get my father to talk actually talk about anything You know because he but So could you could your brother because you're the youngest could you your brother and sister get him to talk or no one could I Don't think so You know my brother I was the mistake in the family Mr. Bistula also made me aware of that in one of the early music classes He said you know, I was a mistake in my family and said that Peter's a mistake too Oh, I had never even heard of that express. I said Mr. Bistula mistake. Well your brother's 90 is older than you You sister six years old you're a mistake do the math Holded my mind. I said, ma my mistake and she paused Thank you for the best mistake we ever made so Well, I you know there was when you have that two older brother older sister It's like you're in a different family Oh, so they didn't really think there was much they could learn from me and there weren't that that interest in sharing anything that you know So they were they were the stars of the family and and I was sort of an adjunct parent You know that would you know help out and and So I but I don't think so my my I don't think my father really understood his mother died Actually in his arms and the flu up flu epidemic and his death all minor You know, so I think There was just something to happen with him that he probably didn't think he had much to add to the conversation anyway But I know something happened in the battle of the bulge or And his records were destroyed as many were in the 70s by a draft somebody burning down the the records Hoping to escape the draft the for the Vietnam war and my dad's records were in that so I don't it's been hard to really place the I know the trajectory where they went But there's also some suspicion they might have Liberated some of the POW camps or even concentration camps the night army But who knows but The battle the battle of the beginning of the private a private Ryan when he was quite when he jumped along before he died And he started a cry and he said that's just what it was like I have memories. I wish I didn't have I didn't have So that was the closest he ever came oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I could get him to say anything about anything Well, he had sent a lot with that Peter. He said a lot with that. Yeah The battle of the bulge author pen was in the battle of the bulge the director and he said he said to me He said like in the comic books my knees. He said we're shaking. He said it was shaking my legs together It must have been because it was we were wiped out for a while on the battle of the bulge So it was freezing that's right, so all of it was The lost thousands of thousands of men. Okay, we're gonna get happy again. I Don't want to get bolded out here How does acting come into your purview because I'm interested it will go into the open calls in a minute But tell me how does acting come in where you're at talks. Are you studying acting there? No, I got an economics degree actually, but the acting was really I mean for me it was it was that mr Bissell as rough as he was on me he was very good, you know in he had worked professionally in New York as a pianist and composer and arranger and And he had a very specific idea and very had a really keen sense of stage craft which he imparted to all of his students But when I did get to become part when he finally, you know, I Have to cry to credit my French teacher mr. Mastica because I was pacing outside of his class for three hours trying to get up the nerve to Go in audition for mr. Bissell in the for the fantastic for a part He was looking for somebody who could do an English accent and again. It's another thing I had no I thought I could because on old movies which I could barely see on them You know that have English when I said I can do this I can do this But I never did it in front of another soul so I didn't know whether I was cray I still believe one of the most powerful things you can do for a person is give them reason to believe they're not crazy and And and I just didn't have any confirmation that I was even in the ballpark And so I and mr. Mastica came out. He said what are you doing? And I really liked mr. Mastica and he was kind to me I said wow, I'm nervous about it. Just go down. What do you have to lose? Just walk down the hall and do it. He'll be leaving in 15 minutes if you don't go soon go And I thought well, he's right and I needed that and I went you mr. Bissell was packing up for the day and I went in and I They said alright and open the door and but it was that being a part of it You know, I had grew up a lot of uncertainty and and that being part of it something like that where you knew how it was gonna end you know it was supposed to happen and and you got to contribute to that and be part of this team this group I Suddenly felt to kind of free them and a belonging that I had never known in life I just felt oh my gosh, but I never associated with something I'd be able to do because Looking at my dad and you know, I'm an immigrants experience and there was nothing fun about it You know life was not like hey, let's go to the movies or let's go on vacation or let you know we struggle and and it was my dad was I think carrying the weight of all his whatever and as well as trying to make a living and commuting out of the city in and out every day and he was There was always stuff to be done and it wasn't particularly happy and and so I didn't expect to much out of life That you would be happy or you could do stuff you loved that never it was never part it was never something Disgust I just talked about with my mom who loved science and we talk about science and But she also you know she was had social phobias and suffered from depression So I had to take care of her quite a bit sometime and then she got Alzheimer's which was really fun but So I didn't really think it was that was just something you like to do, but you'd have to do something you hated you know in life and So it wasn't until I was in college and I'd worked with the boss in Shakespeare company and so on and I then I went out to to to to to you see Berkeley to study non-Western economic thought and statistics and that almost broke my brain But they ran all of the Shakespeare movies at the same time that Exploded my brain and filled my spirit. I thought I'm gonna give myself seven years to try to make a living in the field
and just if I could just afford my apartment and be able to do plays and musicals, I'll die a happy man. And that's when I realized that I couldn't, I had no aptitude for business. I couldn't relate to anybody in the classes and it was all I wanted. And it's also when I, I finally, the place I had had a record player. And so I bought some used records. I started the first time I started listening to Sinatra. And some and as well as Dean Martin. And then people, you know, in my own demographic, of course, we stills Nash and Young. And I started, my world started to open up a little bit. Oh, it sounds like it was a total change to say the least. So, okay, see, you decide you're going to try to make a living. You're going to go into the theater. You have no agent. You have no contacts. And you go on these open calls. And you get not only one, but two Broadway shows, hair and grease. And these are huge hits. They're not little shows. And on grease, you're playing the lead in the damn thing. This has got to be mind-boggling for you. It's mind-boggling. I never, you know, I honestly thought I couldn't possibly be happier in life that I had just won the lottery. That I was, you know, doing what I loved with people like, I still, some of my best friends are from Greece. David Paymer, you know, he was sunny, lot of the airy. And the production of hair I did was the first revival, which wasn't successful, but because I didn't have an agent. And because I knew, I didn't have an agent from my first three jobs. And the third was at the Robert Lewis acting company up in Newer Shell with Maureen Stapleton. And a bunch of people. But I met Kazan and, and, and, and, and, and how's men and all the people from the, from the active studio came to see our opening night. And it was, I remember I was reading a biography of Montgomery, Montgomery Clifft at the time. And I realized the woman I was talking to, the Bobby Lewis had in, who started the active studio, who was introducing me to, who was, I had just been reading what she had been saying in the book. It was like the book came to life. And this person was here. And I was all of a sudden in the middle of the world. It felt like. Yes. It must have been quite, quite an exciting time. Oh, it was very exciting. And, but, it's crazy about hair. The first open call, not first, but one of the first. I went to was for Greece. And, you know, you get your picture in resume. You sign on the yellow pages, the pages and pages on the door of the, the audition room. And then you get on the end of a block's long line, like, like six blocks long. I was now always number 2000 something. Ten the end. You'd inch forward. Inch clutch in your sweaty resume and picture and inch forward, inch forward, inch forward. And, and, you know, I almost ran out. But, when I heard the guy singing in front of me, I thought, oh my god, I'll never be able to pull that off. But I showed up and I sang the song and Vinnie Lifts said, that was beautiful. My knees buckled, my eyes filled with tears. And I thought, oh my god, I don't care if I get this part, he's just given me reason to keep showing up. And, I think the song you sang was put your head on my shirt. And the night before I came up with all this stick that I was going to, like, try to be remembered. And I thought, fuck that. I'm just going to sing it like I made it, like I absolutely made it. And, and that worked. And then, and then I had it was a little bolder. And I was auditioning for "Hair" a million times. And then got hair. And I was understudying Claude. And then I had a call back for Greece. And I went in, and I got it. I got the, it was a bus and truck. It wasn't a Broadway company right off the bat. But I'd only been on one plane ride to go out to Berkeley. And I'd not seen any of the country. And, and Vinnie Lifts came running down me after, and eighth avenue, because I was going back to rehearsal on, at the built more in '47. And Roy Al was on '45. And, you've got the part, you've got the part. And I said, what? Yeah. Really? And so I had a long story short. I went to Tom O'Horg, and after, you know. I said, Tom, you know, I've been doing this for a while now under studying Claude. You guys keep changing Claude. You don't, anybody could do what I'm doing. And I got this job and getting a, it's going to fly me to Utica. You know, we do, do press and so on and so forth, and play the lead in the show. And, do you mind if I go? He said, we haven't opened yet. We've been previewing for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. And I said, are you serious? I said, yeah, if it's okay with you. And, well, let me talk to the guys. And he could tell that I was completely guileless. I mean, I was, I had no idea that what I was asking, trying to contract. I never read it. You know. And, and, and, and, and, Ragnia and Raido and Galt with Durman, they're all constant. Peter, what? You still want to go? I said, yeah, if it's okay with you guys, he said, sure. You want to go on as Claude today? No, I've never rehearsed it. Let me just do my show, sing electric blues and I'll get out of here. So I walked down the street and then went into rehearsal for Greece. The road, the bus and truck and then they invited me to Broadway company. Yeah. Well, I think you did about 500 performances of that. I did. Yeah. That's an awful lot of performances. But it was a great, there were no critics. It was a big hit. So you got to be bad. You know, you, you got to try things and fail and try things and succeed and get your chops and get in shape physically and vocally and, and learn. And that's the end of the 70s and you also end up in a movie called The Idol Maker with Ray Sharkey. Kind of a, I remember the film. I liked it a lot. I remember that they thought it was about the guy who found Fabian and Frankie Havelon, etc. And I was Gucci, yeah. But what I, yes, but what I'm interested in knowing is how the hell do you meet Carrie Grant through The Idol Maker? How does that happen? That was amazing. In order to, for me to perform the big concert sequences in The Idol Maker was Taylor Hackford's first film. And I needed to, I had never taken a dance class and I had to do splits and spins and leaps and so on. So they said, we've set classes up for you with Jennifer Naren Smith, an Australian ballet dancer who does a lot of this kind of work and she's, and you're going to work with her. So I started taking a private class with Jennifer, ballet and things and all these things that I had to do. And she was great. We got along great and she said, listen, I got going to this, I've been invited this party to Eateth Head's house. And of course I was, you don't know who you did. No, I mean, I'd seen her name once in a while, but I didn't know enough. And I knew that, you know, and I knew, and I went and we got there. I said, oh, that must be swifty Lazar with the crazy glasses. And she knew Carrie Grant and they were friends. And so she wanted to bring me to the party as her, you know, plus one. And of course, I mean, just was so ignorant. You couldn't go Google anybody. You couldn't like, if you didn't have experience or someone telling you stuff, there was not, it was very hard to bone up on things like that. And all of a sudden around the corner comes Carrie Grant. And Jennifer introduces Carrie Grant to me. And I guess she had been talking to him about me or something like that. And she says, so Jennifer tells me all quite the young talent. Come on, please, let's have a seat. And all I can remember that he was the most handsome man I'd ever seen in my life. He was completely impeccably put together and kind and interested and cool, which is the kind of experience I had with all of these giants that I was so lucky to work with or meet. And that there was no sense of I'm special because I have Oscars and fame. It's more like, isn't it great? We're all members of the fucking lucky club. No, there was a sense of, and I think it's because of the experience they had in World War II when they had and through the Depression and they had of surviving against odds. And understanding how dependent we are on each other really. And so that kind of spirit, you know, I hadn't counted with Peter O'Toole, who was absolutely so crucial to me in so many ways. And we're going to get to that. I have a few that I want to talk to you about. We'll leave it with Carrie. Except to say, like yourself, an extraordinarily handsome man. And my question is, and I'm not trying to be funny, what are the pluses and my weaknesses of being a very handsome young man in show business? Well, as far as I think had I been in in in Carrie grants era, it would have been a lot easier. And meanwhile, I have to say this too while I'm at it. In American beauty, I fashioned my character after Donald Trump. I wanted, you know, he was, he was a big real estate magnet who had, magnet who had a very lost the opinion of himself, my character, buddy, Kane, the king of real estate, and so I went to Paul Huntley, the weekmaker from Broadway, and just the greatest. I'd. never worked with him before, but I worked on shows that he was on and I became friendly with him. And I went to see him because I wanted my pair to be poofy and gray and he's so beautiful you can't. Your hair is too black. It'll go orange, your constry, but you're going to have to wear a wig. I said, "All right, I call the hairstyle Carol Connors from American Beauty and Solicit." You know, I need, I'd like to wear a wig. Bob, Bob, Bob. Oh, no problem. So she went to, her name was, I can't remember the former Hollywood stylist who bought up all the wigs from the studios as they were divesting. And she brought in five wigs. One of them was carry grants and it's perfectly, like it was made for me. Others were not right and didn't fit because I have a big head. And so while I was, so that's, so I was wearing carry grants away. And when I was in bed with an event, carrying grant was on top. But I want the pluses and minuses of being as handsome as you are. And are still. Well, Robert Altman used to say, "Galagher, you're so good looking. It makes me sick." He loved me. And he said, "Too bad you weren't born 30 years earlier. You'd be huge." And so I can't speak for that experience really, but it's challenging because there's something when I had the kind of face that evoked a kind of visceral response in people. And certainly, you'd play a lot of villains. Yes. And that was my, that was where I could fit in and feel like I was acting. Feel like I was, I had a good character that I, and oftentimes those roles were less developed and I could contribute to them. And I could add sort of dimension in your humor or texture to it that maybe others hadn't seen. And I'd rather be the bad guy in an important role in a good film than, you know, a bland guy in a, in a less compelling story, let's say. But you do encounter, you encounter all of them with the refrain, "I always, he's too good looking." He's too good looking. No, no. No, I actually heard it about you at one time. I did want to say this that I'm interested in knowing how you handled rejection at the beginning if you had any. You must have had some when you went, and how did you handle auditions and rejections? Both. I really had such low expectations. I really did not have much confidence. And I didn't really, I didn't really know where I was going or how I was going to get there, but I knew where I was at was better than where I was as it gets. I was free. And I was, and I wish I had known about, you know, asking for help or I saw it as a weakness or I didn't want to, but I know how little I knew or, you know, or I didn't know anything about the world. And so show business was as much about me learning about the world and how to navigate and the people that I particularly, you know, because my dad didn't really talk to me. I had a lot of these wonderful actors would. And I would learn things. But I just lost the last part of the question you asked me. I would, I would help you out, but right now I'm thinking of the next question. Okay. Okay. I think, let's see, we asked about the handsomeness, not sure. But that's okay. So all I was saying was that that it was a real problem because people, people saw that they couldn't really see anything else. And that it didn't, particularly with certain men who, you know, were with confident men, there was no, with Mike Nichols, there was no problem with Robert Altman, there was no problem with Stephen Soderbergh, there was no problem with, you know, I learned that oftentimes the greater the artist, the less of a problem it was because it could be passed. And interestingly enough, you named three directors where you did some of your best work in your whole career. So it does go hand in hand. Obviously, you know, let's talk about your first TV movie. Some guys in it named James Cagney, I understand. Yes. Well, that wasn't my first one. The first one was with Carl Maldon, was Skates. Skates are scraggs. Skates are scraggs. Yeah. Right. Yeah. That was the first thing I ever did on, or maybe I did a, maybe I did a TV pilot. But wasn't that a series and I'm, and wasn't, yeah, it was a mini series. But it didn't really go to be a common mini series. It was, I mean, it was supposed to be a series, it was a mini series. It was supposed to become a series. Right. It's a state of mini series. But yeah, in 1983, I worked with Cagney. So tell us about that. That had to be just unbelievable. By that time you must have known who James Cagney was. Oh, well, listen, I'm an Irish kid. Irish American kid, growing up, there were, we had three deities. There was the Pope, you know, there was Jesus Christ. There was the Pope and there was James Cagney. And my mother had been to Hunter College with his sister, Jean, or at least knew her or, I don't know if they were friends, but, you know, maybe she knew her and, and you know, who else was in the movie? Art Cagney. Oh, yes, yes, that's right. And so I had this, I was very excited to do this. So I, he was staying at the Carlisle. And so I had rehearsal, which I was almost late to because they weren't going to let me up because they didn't believe that I was in the show and I was, you know, going to, and finally I convinced them, please, please, please. So I, they let me up and then somebody opens the door who was sweet and right sitting there up against the, the window was James Cagney opposite art, Cagney. And Cagney is in a wheelchair at this point and he's squeezing an exercise ball and he looks up at me and he says, "Black Irish, just like my father." And then I tell, I tell art, I mean, I tell James, Jim that, you know, about his sister, Jean and my mother and the fact that I'm an Irish kid and, and Cagney that when my uncle was working as a janitor's assistant in high school in Newer's, I think it was Newer's shell, art's dad would bring little art into tap dance at the Christmas parties. And so I was in like Flynn. Oh, you must have been. And I tell this, I tell this story, but it's absolutely true. So after rehearsal, Cagney says, "Me, Gallagher, I want you to meet my wife, Billy." I said, "I'd love to, Mr. Cagney, but first we got to find her." And so he said, "Gallagher, down the hall." And he was in a wheelchair. I was in a wheelchair. And he said, "They had a suite, a big suite there." And so I'm behind, you know, pushing the wheelchair. Gallagher, down the hall, down the hall. Okay, go in the bedroom and see if you can find Billy. We're going to find you, Billy. Gallagher, go in the room. Go in the room. I go in their bedroom. And it's like, you know, all these old people stuff all over the bedroom and the thing and the thing. It's not made up and then going around. It's like, "Nobody in here, Jim. Gallagher, down the hall, down the hall." And so go in the room. I want you to go in the dining room and check behind the curtains. Check behind the curtains. I go in there and I'm thinking, "There's nobody in here." And I pull back the curtains and there's his wife, Billy. And she's holding a bottle, actually. But he said, "Billy, I found you." Yes, you did, Jim. I want you to be my friend, Peter Gallagher. People, my wife, Billy. He needs to meet you, Peter. He needs to meet you, Billy. And my wife and I had just gotten married. And so I was thinking, "This is awesome. These guys have been married since 1922 and they're still facing each other around their apartment." Oh, the phones, yeah. What a great story, right? And then I would just, when we shot, even if I wasn't shooting, I'd go to work just to hang out with them and just to any wood box. And he'd go, "Kidney's, kidney's, kidney's." And he spoke Yiddish and he told the great stories about growing up, protecting his sister and I was just something I'll never forget. And Karney too. Karney, I would try to break him up during takes and he was just, if I couldn't, what boy could he break us up? Yes. Well, he certainly was a wonder. I mean, it's very interesting, very few people realize that when he did the odd couple on Broadway, Karney, he got top billing over Walter. It's odd Karney and Walter Mathew in the odd couple. People don't believe that, but I remember it real well. I know. Walter really did, I did him dirty a little bit because he really undermined his confidence about at a very critical time because art was struggling with sobriety and staying sober and not a deeply confident guy I don't think to begin with. And Walter just sort of very adeptly undermined his confidence by suggesting he looked very gay.
or something like that come making that entrance like that. And it just, it's sent art into a tailspin and Walter ended up getting the Tony and, you know, a whole movie career. Yeah, right. I don't know if you ever heard the Mike Nichols Walter Math Out story. I hope you haven't. Mike was directing him in, I guess, a young couple, of course, that first thing together. And at one point, Walter says to him, "Hey, Mike, you're driving me crazy with all these ideas and all these notes. You're coming off my balls." And Mike said, "Perhaps." It looked great. That's crazy. Walter traveled with us. When we were doing Long Days Journey with Jack, Walter and Carol traveled with us. So we were together all the time and Jack told me this great story when he directed "Catch" this movie. And he had Walter. He couldn't wait to show it to Walter. So he had a screening for Walter. Walter's sitting next to him and the credits were rolling. Finally, they've seen the whole movie, Walter's silent and Jack was, "We jumped to wealth." Walter goes, "Get out of it!" That's great. Well, look, we jumped to Jack and I do a wonderful invitation. But let's talk about, I'll go back to your history, but I want to jump a bit and say, "Let's talk a little bit about Long Days Journey." That have to be, I would think, one of the highlights of your career doing that. And you would recognize, you would nominate it for Tony. But Jack Leman was a very interesting fellow. I spent time with him and I'm interested about your time, but mostly in the hay market, in London. The last performance, would you tell that story? Because it's the actor's story for me. Oh, I must be, I don't know if it was the last performance, but it happened several times where I loved Jack. And I think, you know, Jack loved me and we ended up doing three movies. You know, we did two album movies together in a big miniseries of murder of Mary Fagan together. And he gave me my first set of golf clubs. I'd never had a hobby. I just worked and looked for work and I never, you know, he would go golfing with me when I had no idea how to even golf. But we were good together. We worked well together and we played father and son. And Long Days Journey was a role that I always wanted to play Edmund. And it was a play I always wanted because it really resonated, because the Irish American thing really resonated with me. My father, you know, would call me Lunkhead. And I just organically kind of identified and felt that. And I'd also started working with, you know, with my first, with my longest running acting teacher then, and which further sort of revealed the play to me in preparation for it. And, but when Jack was really, when Jack would crush it, and he would know it, you know, when in some of our big, you know, combat of heart-wrenching scenes, he would say, as we were going for the curtain call, he'd say, "Hey, kid, yeah, yeah, yeah, you want to do a little work after the show? I'll buy a sandwich." And I said, "Sure, Jack, yeah." And so what we would do is, you know, after our guests had come and gone and everybody, we were all cleaned up and ready to go, I'd meet him on stage at the Old Haymarket Theatre, which was built in the 18th century, in the 1700s. And Jonathan Miller, who was our wonderful director, would describe it as, you know, performing in a strativarius, because you could whisper and be heard in the gods, which were, you know, the seats that were further-- - Right. - all the way back, all the way up the cheap seats. And so, and Jack would say, "Peter, I know I was good. I know that it worked, but I don't know what I did. And I don't know how I'm going to do it tomorrow." - Yes. - What did I do? And said, "Well, let's work on it." And so we would work on it. So we'd run the scenes and I'd say, "Well, this is the feeling I get." He said, "You know, is you telling me a story?" And this seems to have, how it-- this is how it lands on me. And this is what I feel like you're expressing, what I feel like you're talking about. And we would just go, "How many he knew what he was doing?" But it was, I guess reassuring, was just us and the ghost light. - Yes. - And one of the days, he's leaving and he's leaving and he's like, "Hey, hey, hey, you got anything lined up yet?" And I said, "No, Jack." And he goes, "Me neither." And that I think is the actor's dilemma. You could be in a big hit. You could be doing a big movie. - It has no relation to what's going to happen next. - What's next? What's next? You know. That's right. And that's one of the reasons so many actors become producers because they don't want to be that helpless. And that's the reason. - And that's the reason. It's like dealing with such uncertainty. It does wear on you. And for him to admit in his part of his existence as well. And of course, I've realized that it's with so many that it was powerful for me. I mean, these relationships I had with these older guys was, you know, and it's how-- I mean, acting was how I learned how to live in the world. How what was okay to think about? What was okay to talk about? Or what, you know, I had no idea. - And also, you would start it in a pretty protected environment. You're traveling all over the world. - Right. - As an actor. I mean, you know, you're seeing cultures you've only read about. You're now in. You know, you're there. So it's a big thing. If we can just tie up Jack lemon, James Cagney and the hospital visit, that would be a great story. - Oh, okay. All right. So, you know, I didn't stay-- you know, I wish I had stayed and better touch with Cagney. But he was, you know, when we had worked, but we were very tight when we were working. And I would send a message. And he would send me, you know, messages. But as he was dying, we were rehearsing long days journey and tonight. And so one day, Jack came back from lunch and he had visited Cagney in the hospital because he and Cagney were tight from Mr. Roberts. And they were very good friends, which, you know, I don't even know if we talked about it. So Jack comes back from visiting Jimmy and he says, Hey, you rotten kid. Yeah, I saw Cagney. He said, "You, child, Gallagher, I said hello." So I did. So there. And then he leaves and said, Jack, are you making that up? Do you-- do you-- do you-- he remembers me? Did-- did he really send me a message? Of course he did. You asshole. Why would I make it up? And so he-- he-- we had this connection. And then not long after I worked with George Scott in a Titanic mini series. And we were talking about-- because I was friends with his son, Campbell, a bunch of things. And he was friends with Cagney too. And he was with-- and he went to see Cagney towards the end. And-- and a buddy of Cagney's was just bereft. And at the bedside too, and just torn up. And he's-- and George told me, he said, I'll never forget what Cagney said. He reached over to his buddy. He says, not to worry, Troy. These things happen. Well, George told me an incredible story himself. He had a father. He feared tremendously. Growing up, really frightened of. And he went to visit him into hospital. He had cancer. He was down to 80, 90 pounds. And George said, can you imagine I'm sitting there and I'm still afraid of him. I'm still afraid of him. I thought, wow. First of all, you don't think that George would be afraid of anybody. But then you totally understand. Then you totally understand. You do. You sure do. Well, anyhow, here we go. I'm interested in talking in terms of what the very-- you go up for the real thing. I'm sure you had an audition, even though you were done. You were known on Broadway. I mean, people knew who you were. But I'm sure my-- and I'm stopped wanted to see you. Can you talk about the audition and that incredible cast and how I think I'm going to be presumptuous? Your life changed after the real thing. Well, first of all, I did audition. I auditioned several times and I didn't get the part. I didn't get the part. I had been starred on Broadway. I'd done, you know, that was 84. I'd done like at least three or four of so Broadway shows. And I started doing movies and I auditioned auditioned and I didn't get the part. And we should say it's not the lead either. No, I played the lead. It's a tiny little part, but if you play it, you can stop the show three times. Great part. There's gold in that part that you have to sort of mine. Yes, you have to mine it. And they cast a kid who was still in acting school at Juilliard or somewhere like that.
And then I got a call and Martin Herzer was the production stage manager who unfortunately like so much of my many my tribe died of AIDS. I mean, I I'm sure you know, but I can't even begin to Express what a tragedy that AIDS epidemic was because it just wiped out the the future our future in the theater I think but anyway, so I got a call saying listen, they want to replace this guy and they'd like you to come in and replace him And I and I was thinking I was a little nervous Because I thought this is the 18 this is Mike Nichols and this is Tom Stoppert and you know Jeremy Irons and Glenn close Who Christine Baransky and Cynthia Nixon while she's still in high school and you know all these great people and I'd Done some good things, but I hadn't really worked with what I considered to be the best of the best of the best who were I mean who were I mean Cicely Tyson was the best of the best of the best, but it was not necessarily You know in their her prime and Or with people of her commensurate of commensurate with her, you know talent and accomplishments so thank God they were the out of town was embossed and and I went with my wife. Thank God. Well, I'm still married to after many years. Thank goodness and so we go off to Boston where she's from where we met in college and In fact, we had seen the real thing and noises off on our honeymoon, which is odd and different production that We'd seen in London that Mike was doing in the states and And we saw it and she and I went out for drink afterwards and So what would you think it's like I don't know man? That's not much of a part. It's like I've done big if I were gonna do it I'd do this different. I'd do this different. I'd do this different and she said well You should tell Mike Nichols that and I thought what? I can't talk to Mike Nichols How can I talk to Mike Nichols? I couldn't tell him any of that stuff What do you mean? Of course, I knew she was right and I knew I was terrified Because I didn't know how to honest. I still didn't know how to talk I barely saw my parents ever talk and speak in other adults You know, you know, I just didn't know how any of that I just didn't know I didn't like and I knew she was right And I just thought it it killed me. How what do I have to contribute to Mike Nichols? I mean my silly ideas and whatever and But I had to go meet with Mike Nichols the next day and I knew she was right and So I go under that I think it's a colonial or the Wilbur in Boston Go down he's sitting in the back of the house sort of you know off to the go down and said he's Hi, how are you? Now? It's lovely to meet you and And so what do you think? Well, Mr. Nichols? Really enjoyed the production. Well, what did you think of playing Billy? Well, Mr. Nichols I thought he did a really good job, but I would imagine doing it a little differently. Well, how would that be? It's well I that I started to tell him so I think he should be this from this part of London and I think this would be more important I dress like this and and this kind of thing going on and I think this would be more Momomum great. Let's try it. Wow And we were off to the races It never occurred to me that working with the best and the brightest would be the easiest thing in the world There's no proprietary possessiveness about an idea There's only the pursuit of a better show or a better scene and And it was really really Eye-opening it was like the best experience of my life because you know I Learned that I could work with people of that caliber and contribute You know substantiate one point Mike said you know why the worse the show is working now is because of Peter Sure made half of them hate me. I was gonna say that doesn't indeed It wasn't really true because we all loved each other the show deep pop and I did him when I was on I Could stop that show at least a couple of times a night and When I remember as an audience member. I've never seen a show move so quick I've never seen things and you come literally flying in I mean you're sitting but it's the turn the turn table country holy cow wow and here we're talking nine I don't know 40 years later It's still embedded in my head. Well, you know, it's amazing had those scene changes were so important to Mike that they had to happen so fast and so quietly and not a hint of you know no one's people and One of the stage hands who had a rough time sometimes being quiet was Jay Turner who I knew from Greece and his dad Carl Turner And we would get the best part but sometimes the best part of the show were getting notes from time stopper to Mike Nichols Yes, I mean it was amazing and I remember we were all crammed on little Cast off furniture from other shows back were you know underneath the deck underneath the stage crammed in like getting lessons from like Nichols and Tom stopper than and Jay comes in you know banging his his locker And my course Jay is okay you can be quiet. We're not on stage at the moment Those emotions were were great and I Must they really must I can tell you a great note session story if you want I'd love it All right, so at in fact Mike actually asked me to tell him tell him the story again when he that last I'm gonna last times I saw him alive because he was about to present something It was at the last production of the real thing that I think Sam Gold directed with Cynthia in the lead and He wanted me to tell that story about our production because he was gonna give Tom an award So as I said we're all crammed on this cast off furniture slammed in together and Mike and Tom give us notes during previews after every performance and Tom was giving Cynthia note and Cynthia I'm I think that that passage there it wants to be a bismill Plange and flange and so I'm thinking I've never heard that word my life and I'm sitting next to Glenn close and I'm looking I'm like look at her thing. I can tell she has no idea what plan means either And then I look further down the road and I can see nobody has any idea and we're all pretending oh Yeah, engine. Yeah I'm gonna look at a plange and we have phones so we can't look it up on our phone But Cynthia the only honest one in the bunch this is I'm sorry Tom what what does plange mean oh Plange and Mike and Mike goes fuck if I know And he says this is Plange and my time goes Plange it for instance a guitar is more plange than a trumpet That the easiest note to understand it's yes, and he says it's as if you were to take a pebble and Drop us into a pool from a very small height Plange and oh Plange and of course we try to use the word and come in speech and none of us Succeeded for the rest of the road that was the kind of notes from the two smartest people I'd ever met Oh, yeah, I'm not familiar was up there I remember Mike in the back of the feeling with Neil Simon on one of the shows and The women in front of them are talking while the shows going on and They're saying well, I think we're gonna bloom me Dale's tomorrow Maybe we'll pick up think I think they're open late at night and Mike said to them Excuse me are the actors talking too loud for you Honestly, I tell you so like him yeah, so all right So real thing even though it's not a huge role as you say it's very memorable certainly for the audience for critics And I would imagine this is if there's such a thing is going to another level you're on your way with that play Someone is that true or not? Oh, it wasn't it wasn't you know I Wasn't the best advocate for myself. I didn't really understand the actor agent relationship and how you had to be you know More involved or aggressive yourself. I didn't really compute that yes So I got a movie a very cool movie Right at the beginning called Dreamchild that I was able to shoot I took a couple of weeks off from the show and was able to shoot but I did got had Absolutely no interest from anywhere about anything for anybody Another job So I stayed in the show and in a way I might have stayed in
too long. I stayed in for a year. While people came and went and you know, you know, Glenn's replacements would come and you know, pretty soon I had myself with their help questioning everything I did. And it precipitated a real crisis of confidence for me. So by the time I left, I had like no confidence in myself because I got, I was the only one who didn't get another job out of it. You know, didn't get in auditions. And I think it was probably because, you know, I was not a priority in the agency. And I wasn't really represented in the marketplace, which happened a couple of, you know, a couple of other times for the same reasons. My fault that I wasn't more aggressive or a better discerner of, you know, what it's like to have somebody on your side as opposed to somebody who's not on your side, as well as whatever challenges were with the mug I had. So it, you know, I stopped acting for about six months and just tried to recover my equilibrium. And you know, was acting teachers that that really helped me bill Hickey, Bill Esper. Um, it was Mera at that point. That's when I started working with Mera when I got long days journey and tonight. But how I got long days journey and tonight, you know, I had, I'm sure I have more angels in my, in my world than I know. But there are only a couple that I'm aware of. And one of them is Manny Azenberg. Manny Azenberg was our producer on the real thing. And he was also the producer. And he was also produced all of the, you know, Neil Simon. And he produced, he was producing a long days journey and tonight. And when they were having the auditions for long days journey, I still didn't really have any confidence in myself. And I just didn't think I was any good at anything. I didn't really see why I should, I show up for anything. Um, and so I was asked to go in an audition. And I didn't, I didn't go in the only audition. I just didn't go. And Manny called me up at home. And he said, Peter, it's Manny. He said, listen, I'm Jewish. But half of me is Italian. And if you don't come in an audition tomorrow for long days journey, I'm going to break both your fucking legs. And my eyes filled, I knew I understood because he and I were close. And we, that's how we spoke and we got each other. And I knew it was because he loved me. And he believed in me. And at a time when I didn't believe in myself. And if only for him, I was going to do it. But I was so deeply moved by someone caring for me that I knew I had to go, even if I didn't have anything to offer, I was going to honor it. And so, and I remember my audition for Jonathan Miller. It was very pretty flat. I didn't do a lot of acting. But it was exactly what he was looking for. Ah, you, what? It could happen. And the agent who he said, I said, you know, I think I'm going to get this part. So no, you're not. And he mentioned another actor who's going to get the part. And I said, how do you know? We know he's getting it. And so then a few years later, I realized, oh, of course, I didn't get any auditions because they had decided this other guy and these other guys were going to get the meetings and the auditions. And I was nowhere near anywhere on the list that was going to get any support for. I was going to be buried. But anyway, and I said, really? I thought, wow, how do they know? It's an agency. Well, the head of the agency was, you know, Sam Cohen. So he was a very powerful guy. But I did get the part because Jonathan Miller wasn't American. And he gave the part to the person he wanted to get the part to. Right. And then I started working with Mira on that script. And then I worked with her for 28 years. Wow. Does she died at the age of 99? Tell us tell us our last name. So people are in Rustova, our old. Yeah. Yeah. What was the, what if you look back on that? What was one of this one or two of the major things you think you learned from her? Well, it was a script analysis. You know, she, and she also, it's funny because she started, she was born in in Bolshevik, Russia. And then fled to Germany when the revolution and the revolution happened. And then fled Germany when, you know, the Nazis came in and went, got to New York in the 40s and studied with Bobby Lewis, just like I did 40 years earlier. At the actor studio with Brando and Clifft and everybody. And when we would talk about Chekhov, she'd pull it off and read it to me in Russian. And we would, we would, she would, we would talk about, you know, for instance, that there's, if there's a question mark at the end of a sentence in the script, there's very few times you're actually finding out or asking about information. It's often referring to something that happened before. You know, or, you know, to say, I love you, might, can be said in a million different ways, depending on sort of what's happened before. It might be lamenting the fact that you don't love me. I love you. Or negating the idea that I don't love, I love you. Or to understand what is being expressed, expressed in any given moment. And it took me so, so, so long. I mean, after 15 years with her, I still felt like I couldn't really do it on my own. My brain wasn't, because she was also very tough and specific. And, you know, and we would be lined by word by, you know, going through and understanding what was being expressed actually. And then finally, I started, my brain's kind of reorganized. In a way. And I would visit her when she was at the end of her life, when she was 99 at a hospice on the upper east side. And I was sitting with her. And, you know, I'd take her out to lunch every once in a while. And she saw everything I did and commented and note, gave me notes. And, and I was just gasped back with her, keeping her company. She'd lie down in the hospice. And so, on all of a sudden, she reached over and put her hand on mine and she said, you were my best student. And I was so moved. I, I didn't even, because I had no idea. I thought she was just like, I was a charity case. I didn't know. I mean, I know I paid her. I didn't let her free, but I mean, I didn't know. But still, you could be a charity case, right? Yeah. Well, yeah, that's exactly right. And that's exactly right. And so I said, oh, you're right. I was so moved. And I thought, wait a minute. What about Montgomery Clifft? And she said, he's dead. You know, it's, it's, I know it's out of order, but because I'm going a certain way on your career, but I just realized something. For many years, I represented for 40 years, actually, a Leah Kuzan on facing the crowd, baby, Dal America, America, he owned those movies. And as you know, he, Bobby Lewis and Cheryl Crawford started the active studio. They weren't too thrilled, at least, Trotsburg, who they hired. They now, he started the active studio, but he didn't. And the first, but the question I want to ask, because I know a lot about, obviously, Kuzan and Cheryl Crawford, I know nothing about Bobby Lewis. I'd love to hear something about him, because you'll be the first person I think I've spoken to besides Kuzan, who knew him. It's funny, because Kuzan and all those guys came to our opening night, because I was in the Robert Lewis acting company. And we, and we did this plays, Maureen Stapleton, who was a palimine from Broadway, and who I, you know, worshiped from her work in the movies, Moe. And she was, when she was doing, Jen Gamer, I was doing Grease. And I go down to her dressing room and we'd try to polish off her gallon of cheap one at the end. And, and then take the bus the next day back to work, the, the Broadway local, but the M, whatever it was, down Broadway to, to go to work at 40, on 45th Street. Bobby, I started working with him as a student. And I took his, you know, beginning acting class, because he started the active studio, and he was a wonderful teacher, and he was a wonderful teacher. But what I learned the most from Bobby was when he was directing us in Caligula. I was playing Skipio, and James Selby was playing Caligula, and then James had to leave, and Farley Granger came in to play Caligula, and we had, and I was, and nothing I could do was, and I surrendered all my instincts. I thought, I'm just going to be a blank slate. I'm going to be an absolute, you know, toddler Rasa here that, that he, and let him imprint and, you know, create, and find my greatness. And it just wasn't working, you know, so I would, I would sort of suppress my instincts and so on, and says, "No, Peter, you know, no, no, that's not very good at all, you know, no,
What are you doing? You know whatever and I think what the hell and then I just thought fuck it I'm gonna do what I think is right I am gonna tell the story part of the story and this and the first after the first performance it That's it And so what I learned from Bobby was never to surrender your list of in you're your your instincts to someone else's list of credits Yeah, and and they don't want you to either Because they kept because they cast you for a reason right exactly, but I was you know I was coming at it from you know and and I hadn't studied a lot. I'd had a few teachers But I hadn't and you know a couple from the studio and and so on So I just felt I really didn't have much to add to the game But then I realized for my own survival as we were getting close to you know opening and so on and so forth And I had to make something happen and that's what I learned Well the one thing that I'm really impressed with in a peculiar sort of a way is that you were with some of the biggest drinker is in the history show business I can't believe when I look at your credits and I think who he was a usual drinker drinker drinker drinker Did you ever have trouble with that at all drinking too much? Who me yeah, yeah, no No because I I never I was would never drink during a show or during the day of a show I was never altered in any way ever in in performance on stage in the movie I didn't I didn't even mean to even imply that what I meant was because when you said about Moreen and then I think of George C. Scott and I think of lemon All right, of art carney. I don't know about Cagney, but I mean these guys most of them are Infulness in the booze the thing was that I work with a lot of these guys when they were older and So for they're all even lemon was a drinker, but not work with them, you know, I mean by all reports Jack was a hysterical drug I mean he was hysterically funny. I mean in getting into all sorts of you know situations that his buddies Greg Peck, you know are the people I'd meet at his house that would tell me stories or Walter and That Jack was very funny wasn't a mean drunk at all and art I am pretty sure by then wasn't drinking and I don't and so and and even even was George and George you know I never went out. I did two movies three two movies with George and I never went out with him, you know, I never After but every time we worked he was solid. I mean except the first time we were or the second time or the first time we worked it was in Malice and I was the first time I wore contact lenses because I I wanted to see I used to not wear them because I didn't want anything between My eyes and the camera or the actor and I could sort of see pretty well And my vision's actually gotten better which is happens as you get older if you're near sighted if you stay healthy But I put in contact lenses because I wanted to see every single Twitch of his everything that goes going on with George Scott's face and I Campbell Scott his son was at that point was a dear friend of mine and And I just want didn't want to miss anything, but I guess George had been Working hard somewhere in South America. Maybe he'd gone out. I don't know but all of a sudden we came back after lunch and George was unavailable He couldn't you know we had shot his coverage before lunch and while I was interrogating him or cross-examining him and and then after lunch he was gone and Harold Becker said Peter Now listen if it's a problem we can always reshoot this scene in your coverage But if it's not a problem Could you imagine us shooting your coverage with somebody else playing George? I said, whatever you need Harold. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah And so I thought I still remember what George was about his five what he was doing and so on and so forth so like the assistant director Red George's lines and believe me I it was nothing like the way George I believe I certainly believe that and here I had my lenses in and I could see everything I couldn't eat the like no the soft focus But it you couldn't tell he was a George was directing and starring in death of a salesman on Broadway And we had a pretty close relationship and so we went out for in between the matinee in the evening We went out to eat and have a meal and the first thing happened was I said oh George you Take off the ball cap. He said no I shave my head for the role First thing he said second thing I said oh, let's go and we'll go we went to lunch and And in the middle of talking there a whole group of autograph people But they're hovering they're not in front of him and they're kind of kind of work up enough nerve to and he's telling me Regale me with a great story because he was a great story tellers you know and as they're coming Towards the table he goes like this like a traffic cop but he goes like this and they ran I thought holy cow what power what power that man I could I could yes Yes, he did yes, he had power and and it really is something well you know Here's first of all we have to say I'm the real thing as you said it's like almost a mic wanted a cut like a movie Yeah, it was very dramatic and here's the play you're in right now this play and this play is the closest thing I've seen to that idea you're absolutely right This is called left on 10th. You're with Julianna Margolis. You're there at the court No, not the court the James Earl Jones theater which by the way is gorgeous Re-furbished beautifully even for audiences, which is nice and You're doing this and we have to talk a little about it and then I'm gonna Ask you if we can do another show because I have I've got to do the OC. I got to do a merrily I mean so let's let's talk a little about left on 10th and then maybe we can try Part two of Peter Gallagher. Oh my goodness. I've been talking too much. No, I love it You know it's worse when someone says yep nope Well, I wouldn't be guilty of that Why do when you can overdo? But tell me tell me how that came to pass. Are you enjoying doing it? How is it working with Julianna? How is it working with Stroh? Go I'm loving doing left on 10th for all those reasons Stroh Juliana, Delia, Peter the cast, Darryl Roth being in that beautiful theater and You're absolutely right that there's Stroh's scene changes because there are their play is not a traditional kind of structure and We break the fourth wall frequently. It's it's they're almost it's almost impressionist bits here and there that she weaves together with dance music and a cinematic kind of approach to scene changes and lighting and Sort of familiar Bite side as we become accustomed to bite size bits of information with Instagram and and all of these things and in weaving this is a kind of a modern I think of as a modern storytelling And what's boy does it move that play moves? Right it does and What's crazy is that it's all true? It's all that happened to Delia Efron based on her book left on 10th and her experience of being a leukemia survivor twice and falling in love with Peter Rudder and so it's a true story told by a wonderful writer so we have that going for us and with Stroh's direction and finding a way to Presented to the audience in a compelling way we have that going for us and there are only four people in the cast two of us play two of our cast members play a Million roles and do it brilliantly and then Juliana Margles and myself play Juliana plays Delia Efron and I play the man she is married to now and loves Peter Rudder and I am so lucky to be working with Juliana. We've been friends. We'd never worked together and It you know it reminds me of the best times I had back in the 80s and the 70s where everybody's really accomplished and everybody's kind and everybody's wants to be there and is
supports each other. And from an audience point of view, I mean, they always write about chemistry. Do people have chemistry? The two of you guys could blow up a chem lab. Your chemistry is fantastic. You really do. It's a it's a great thing to see from an audience point of view. When you see two actors hitting their stride, doing beautiful work, as you say, breaking the fourth wall, but playing off each other where you absolutely as an audience believe this is happening. This really a compliment to the both of you. It really is. I thank you. And she makes Juliana makes it very easy. I feel, you know, really lucky that she's she's confident in her life and in her accomplishments and available in a game bold brave way to show up every moment. And it just makes me really look forward to going to work. I was also really looking forward to telling a story that, you know, people our age would recognize that would resonate with people our age, people who can afford the theater tickets. Who go to the theater? Who's who's who the theater is part of their life. And it's been compelling, you know, as we meet a lot of the audience members on this autograph thing at the after the show at at the stage door, how many people have survived leukemia or their spouses or have, you know, experienced second chances in life. And so as I'm fond of saying, there's nothing more exciting for me than contributing to a story that has a place in the world that we live in. That's right, because we don't get that very often period. We just don't. And on top of it, it's not depressing. In fact, it's life affirming. It's exactly the opposite of what have somebody might think. So, you know, it's a, and we get our laughs, laughs and tears and, you know, and people are just really grateful for it. You know, they're really just, you've done comedy, you've done drama. And in my opinion, as an observer and a producer, I don't think it's that different, you know, I really don't. I agree with you so completely. I think they every, you can't have real comedy if you don't understand the drama behind it. And you can have real drama if you don't. I mean, I remember in some extreme situation, I'm talking about, you know, rescue workers. And after 9/11, when we went down and and saying, you know, the Javits Center and talked with it, and I said, yeah, we were, we were down there. And in the depths of the subway with the water and the thing, stories below and finding our way, trying to get up through the thing. And somebody said something and somebody started laughing. And, you know, I remember, you know, being down at ground zero and thinking, I want to, I'm going to quit acting because what I do is meaningless, you know, I'm going to become a cop. I'd lost cop friends and firefighter friends. And what am I and I'd see these one sheets of actors pretending to be cops on the sides of buses and they go, God, what does. And then all of us were going to see all the firefighters on the, you know, the beams and all the stuff. What says, hey, it's the fucking king. What are you doing here? Fuck me, you're majesty. And of course, he was saying lines from American beauty. We'll have a Sunday coming over. We're laughing and it's okay. That's what we do. Maybe that's why. Maybe that's why. And that's a wrap for this episode of Julian Schlaffsberg's movie talk. Thanks so much for tuning in. We couldn't do this without you. We'd love to hear from you. So drop us a line anytime at Julian dot movie
[email protected]. You could find us at wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. And don't forget to check out our YouTube channel for even more content. If you enjoyed this episode, why not subscribe and give us a thumbs up or leave us a five star review. If you're on social media, follow us up on Instagram and Facebook to stay connected. Our theme song is performed by the incredible Tom Kubis. You can find them at tomcubis.com. Thanks again and we'll see you here next time on Julian Schlaffsberg's movie talk. Coming soon to Julian Schlaffsberg's movie talk. Hello, I'm Christine Bransky and I will be joining Julian Schlaffsberg on his podcast. Very soon.
PodcastTranscript AI