November 18, 2025 • 19 mins
Few actors can claim a career as rich and varied as F. Murray Abraham. From his classical theater roots to his unforgettable Oscar-winning turn as Salieri in Amadeus, from Tony-nominated Broadway performances to his recent scene-stealing work in The White Lotus, Homeland, and Star Trek: Discovery—Abraham has mastered the art of reinvention without ever compromising his craft.
In this intimate conversation, the 85-year-old legend opens up about the highs and lows of a six-decade journey through American entertainment. He reveals why winning an Academy Award didn’t guarantee stardom, how he’s chosen challenging roles over commercial success, and what it means to still be delivering career-best performances in his ninth decade—including his current starring role in the new Broadway production of The Queen of Versailles.
Abraham discusses what drew him back to live theater at this stage of his career and the unique electricity of performing before an audience eight times a week. He shares insights from working with the Coen Brothers on Inside Llewyn Davis, reflects on his rigorous classical training, and explains the discipline required to sustain a working actor’s life across film, television, and stage.
He offers behind-the-scenes stories from iconic productions spanning Amadeus to The Grand Budapest Hotel, discusses the art of playing complex villains and antiheroes, and provides hard-won wisdom about longevity, artistry, and staying relevant across generations.
Whether you’re an aspiring actor, a film buff, or simply a fan of great storytelling, this episode offers a masterclass in dedication, versatility, and the power of choosing substance over flash. F. Murray Abraham proves that the best careers aren’t built overnight—they’re crafted one brilliant performance at a time.
Listen now to hear from one of the most respected character actors of our time.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk. It's a hard business, but I never
lost faith. Well, a couple of times, I doubt it.
It's hard after about ten months of no work, but
you persevere or you get out.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm buzz night and welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast.
And I'm honored to have a man who's appeared in
more than eighty films including I'm a Dais Inside, Lewin Davis,
The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Scarface. Now he's on Broadway
in the Queen of Versailles. What an amazing talent he is.
(00:33):
I can't wait to talk to him next. It's f
Murray Abraham. I'm taking a walk, Taking a Walk. I
came up with taking a walk because I was literally
walking in Chicago. I was trying to figure out what
to do with my life. I had read a book
that was a reverse engineering book, and I'm just walking.
(00:57):
I literally was walking thirty thousand and steps in Chicago,
just having a great day. But I was trying to
figure it out because I come out of the radio
business and that had sort of moved on for me,
and I started thinking, well, wait a minute, comedians and
cars getting coffee is such a great concept that Jerry
Seinfeld came up. Yea, I know Jerry Seinfeld, but why
(01:20):
can't I come up with my take on storytelling and
interviewing because I always loved interviewing. So it was hatched
there a good idea. Yeah, and here I am. I'm
so lucky talking to f Murray Abraham.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
My god, but you mentioned Chicago. That's one of my
absolute favorites cities home me too. I was there both
the summer and winter. I mean, I mean, of course
it's famous for its winners, but it's fine. It was different.
But that was a surprise too. That closes up early too.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'll bet Pittsburgh closes up early these days.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Mary, What I'm taking my purview, my my take on
it is when I get out of the show, there's
no place to have dinner. You know, of course, get together,
but if you know where to go, you know, so
it's not just Boston or Poe Dunk, it's it's generally.
I'm not that's too bad. That used to be part
(02:19):
of the action going to the theater was getting together
after then hashing it out right. It's right, yes, exactly right?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Oh man, Well, okay, if you could take a walk
with someone living or dead. Who would you take a
walk with and where would you take that walk with them?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Ah, there's a bunch of Brando comes to mind right away.
But I just read that Edna Saint Vincent Malay's house,
little house, the smallest house in New York City, is
up for sale. And she was a big sponsor of
the theater. She was one of the people responsible for
(03:00):
the Cherry Lane Theater being established. So she's on my mind.
I'd like to walk around with her. I think that
that would have been nice to hear what she had
to say about some of the amazing people she hung
out with. But I mean, there's not this I'd like
to walk around with Charles Dickens. Wouldn't that be a treat?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
It? Would it would? I'd love to be a fly
on the wall for any of them. Yeah, for sure.
So you had that incredible piece of your career in Amadeus,
and that that monologue that you have about hearing Mozart
for the first time as your as your character, which
(03:40):
was so unbelievably incredible. What was the first time f
Mary Abraham heard Mozart for the first time?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh, I guess I was in high school. I was
not a classical music fan, but I heard my first
piece of music is Mendels's Concerto D Minor, and I
was captivated because I was rock and roll. I mean,
I was rhythm and blues then in those days. But
that opened my eyes to some other music, and I
(04:10):
asked the teacher what she would suggest, and she came
up with a magic flute. Some people made fun of
the magic flute. They think it's trivial. I don't think so.
But aside from the fact that it was my first Mozart,
that's why I remember it so fondly. But there's there's
some wonderful stuff in it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
We are going to touch on your work currently, The
Queen of Versailles, but back to music for a second.
There was that incredible period in inside Lewyn Davis where
you're in the uh, the Gate of Horn, and it
was the i'd say honest assessment that you gave of
(04:54):
the musician that was on stage. How did you channel
that and had you personally gone through a similar experience yourself?
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's true? It's like that thing where they say, in
other words, get out of here, you know, telling bum.
I mean, that's what it amounts to. But I saw
that for the first time that movie with a you know,
a much of it was a It was a preview showing,
so it was all people in the business, and that
(05:29):
line got this huge laugh because everybody really understood and
it was a good line. By the way, that that
whole scene we shot that lesson half a day. Those
guys are great to work with, by the way, the
Kong brothers, I mean, boom boom. They know what they're doing,
and their scripts are finished scripts. You know, it's it's done,
(05:51):
it's ready to do as this. That was true, obamadeus.
It's you can't go wrong with a good piece of
work like that. You shouldn't just say the words.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
For those that don't know the line I'm referring to.
And if I do fall off my chair when you
give the line, will you forgive me? First of all,
what was that line? Again?
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I don't see any money here, very straight, very honest.
Oh man, that guy I played, by the way, was
I don't know. If you know, I'll bet you do that.
In this tough business called the show business, the toughest
of the tough or in the music business, I'm not
talking about the gangsters and all that crap. I'm talking
about hard, hard people, and this guy I play but
(06:36):
was the hardest. He was really tough, and so that
was very straight ahead of him. But he didn't have
a lawsuit problem with Dylan anyhow. It's easy to play him.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
But isn't that line true of like the restaurant business
as an example, when people, you know, get all wild
eyed and enthusiastic about the restaurant business as well.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, of course you're right, you know you're right.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So how does it feel now that you're you're in
New York City and the Queen of Versailles is happening?
Tell me, first of all, how that all came together.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's one of those lucky things. That's all the people
thought of me for this thing. I don't know, you know,
I'm saying that I'm not a singer like these people
I'm on the stage was I can you know? I
can carry my own I've done to think Benny Opera.
I shouted it out doing children's theater musicals for ten
bucks a show and one of the piano players was
Steven Schwartz. That interesting, But so that's not why I
(07:36):
got into the show. Someone suggested me for it, and
they all said, that's a great idea. Would he do it?
That's what I heard later. But when you were, you know,
offered something like this with the people involved, of course
you're going to take it. If they believe you can
do it, then you can. And they've been faithful to me.
(07:58):
But I'm on stage with some I guess, some of
the best in New York. I think it's become one
of the best experiences in my career sixty years. It's
remarkable a show this size, with this many people, and
everyone gets along so well. It reminds I'm carrying on
and on how I got involved in this is just
(08:21):
one of those things that happens, and I'm very grateful.
There's no way to who came up with thinking of me.
I don't know, but I'm grateful. That's all I can say.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Did you know Kristin chenoworths before?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
No? I didn't, but we fell in love with each
other right away, but I think everyone does. She's what
you see is what you get. She's the real McCoy.
She's a hard and soul of this production.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
So I had Charles Brown from the Do Wop Project
on the podcast and I told him I couldn't contain
my excitement that I was going to be speaking with you.
And I asked him, I said, Charles, as a Broadway artist,
do you have a question for f Murray Abraham? And
(09:06):
he didn't even blink. He said, yes, I do have
a question for him. He said, please ask him? What
is his ritual when he's performing on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Well, I stretch, I vocalize. I don't eat much at
all before the show, if anything at all, and I
just stretch out and lay on the bed. It's very easy.
The vocalizing is very important to me, whether I'm singing
(09:39):
or not. But I remember doing the show with Helen
Mirren and I would vocalize every day before the show
and she would come out and look at me and
go and then go back into dressing room. That was
her warm up. So everybody has a different warm up.
Mine is pretty mundane.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And the first time that you walk on stage after
rehearsals have happened and everything, can you describe to someone
what that feeling is on opening night?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
There's no way you can describe it to anyone who
hasn't experienced it. It's I mentioned that I've been doing
it for sixty years. That's not an exaggeration. That's the truth.
And even as I say it, it's hard to believe.
But I was trying to explain to someone that this
opening night, which is within six days, I suppose on Sunday,
(10:34):
it feels the same as it's always felt, and that
surprives me. It hasn't become off hand or it's just
as exciting and thrilling and by the way, anxiety producing
as it ever was. And that's hard for people to believe.
(10:55):
Because I'm made six years old. You would think I
would become jaded. That ain't me. And if you do,
I think you better get out of the business.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Could you have imagined, as a rough and tumble character
in El Paso, Texas, that your career path would have
taken you to Broadway.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
There's a funny thing about your imagination. Everybody has a dream.
I think, whatever, I shouldn't say that, I shouldn't. I
take that back. A lot of people have a dream
and some of them come true. And I thought there
was no limit. I wasn't aware of what it would take.
(11:35):
I had heard it was hard, but I had no
idea it was as hard as it was because I
don't think you're an actor unless you're acting, and that
can be long periods where you don't act. You've got
to do something to keep your chops up and keep
your your sense of yourself. Do you lose yourself? So
(11:56):
you continue to take classes or you study on your own.
You do whatever it takes to keep this here and
your physically your body in good shape for when the
opportunity presents itself. And too many actors don't do that.
I think too many artists don't. It's it's a hard business.
But I never lost faith. Well, a couple of times
(12:19):
I doubt it. It's hard after about ten months of
no work, but you persevere or you get out. And
the other thing, you know, I teach from time to time.
I'm a good teacher, but oh whenever I can, I
gather a class at the Atlantic Theater Company, and I
tell them, if you are dedicated to doing the work
(12:39):
as you should, honest work, which means searching yourself for
the character, your own traits finding out the truth about yourself.
If you can't make it in this business, you haven't
lost any of that time. You've examined yourself, and it's valuable.
Leave the business for a while because you can always
come back to it, because it's all there. I'm carrying
(13:02):
on because I think it's important to know that any
endeavor in art, if it's an honest endeavor in search,
nothing is lost.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I love when you carry on, by the way, absolutely,
I love it. Now. Is it true you play a
little game that is sort of like a Where's Waldo
sort of game with your Academy award, the actual award,
And if so, is that happening at the Queen of Versailles?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Oh yeah, every show I've done since I'm since I
want it. He's responsible a great deal for my success,
a lot. Anyhow, I give it to stage management and
they put it, hide it on the stage from different
places they don't tell me, and then it ends up
in the wardrobe department and they make little costumes. He
has all these little costumes. As a two two. He
(13:54):
has a surfer board outfit. I mean it's fun. The
idea of putting it someplace and shrining it, it's silly
to me because not many people going to have a
chance to hold that trophy and play with it. And
I do let them do it, and they they're delightful.
They're just like kids. Oh can I hold it? I mean, yeah, well,
(14:16):
of course you can hold it. And the old they
and they all want to make a speech.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You have had this remarkable ability to reinvent yourself across decades.
What is the secret to staying relevant and hungry as
an actor?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I don't know, man, It's a gift. I suppose, I
don't know. I wish I could. I don't know. Then
capsulize it. I wish I could bottle it, because it's
a great gift and I have it, and I'm again grateful.
I don't know where these gifts come from, these things,
but I do know that if you do have any
(14:58):
kind of a gift, it's your responsibility to nurture it.
That's easy to say because I work. But where you
are gifted and you can't work, it's killing and it
can embitter people, and it does, and that's too bad, because,
as I say, you can always come back to the
(15:18):
business and you will be a better actor if you do. Anyhow,
I'm carrying on because I know so many people who
haven't made it, and I'm mourn for them, you know,
But you know, keep punching baby.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Homeland the White Lotus, Marvel projects. You keep showing up
in these surprising places. How do you choose roles now
versus twenty thirty years ago.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Well, you make it sound as though I have all
these offers that I can select from, and in fact,
the ones that are offered are are interesting, and so
I do them. But there's a lot of crap out
there too. I don't know how I still let them
because they're interesting and because other people involved sometimes, but
(16:07):
those that you have mentioned were really a lot of fun,
and that's important to have a good time. It's hard
enough work. You may as well have a good time.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Is there a performance that you haven't been part of
that you sort of dream and think maybe this could happen.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
It's always the next part. By the way, I was
very proud of my performance. They're not a lot that
I think were great. But I think my roy comb
was wonderful, and so does my shylock that was wonderful.
I liked my leer and my bottom in Midsummer Night's Dream,
but the shylock and the roy come were superior. Until recently.
(16:53):
I did crap in craps last day and not I think.
Finally is my best performance. That was very good. We'll
have to get it to discover it. But I did it,
I think, And to answer your question, it's the next
one I'd like to do, Edipus. I think it's I'm
too Long in the tooth, But I think it's an
important play, a very important play. It talks, it speaks
(17:16):
to the responsibility of political leaders, and I don't think
political leaders understand the word responsibility. Now they understand the
word cop out, but they don't understand how to take
the heat well.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
In closing, though, I want to ask you community is
so important more than ever these days, and certainly Broadway
when you attend, is this amazing community that you're part of?
Why is it more important than ever?
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Because it is one of the last venues where a
whole bunch of strangers gather in one place and they all,
especially with laughter, They all are collected, no matter what
their religion, their color, their politics. When they all laugh,
(18:11):
what it does is promote and remind them of their
common humanity. And that I think all this red state,
Blue states stuff people forgetting is called the United States
of America. Remember that united? Yeah, make America united again.
But that's the value of it because there's no electronic
(18:32):
media between you and anyone else. It's you and that
living creature up there who is just like you. That's
a reminder of our common humanity and I think that's
very important.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I'm so grateful for everything you continue to do for
us and everything in your career, and for the opportunity
to talk to you on Taking a Walk f Mary Abraham.
Folks to check out the Queen of Versailles. It's a
hot ticket. They're gonna they're gonna have some challenges getting them,
but they're available, and I wish you only the best, sir.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Thank you, buzz. It was a pleasure, man, really was.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a Walk. It's a hard business, but I never
lost faith. Well, a couple of times, I doubt it.
It's hard after about ten months of no work, but
you persevere or you get out.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm buzz night and welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast.
And I'm honored to have a man who's appeared in
more than eighty films including I'm a Dais Inside, Lewin Davis,
The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Scarface. Now he's on Broadway
in the Queen of Versailles. What an amazing talent he is.
(00:33):
I can't wait to talk to him next. It's f
Murray Abraham. I'm taking a walk, Taking a Walk. I
came up with taking a walk because I was literally
walking in Chicago. I was trying to figure out what
to do with my life. I had read a book
that was a reverse engineering book, and I'm just walking.
(00:57):
I literally was walking thirty thousand and steps in Chicago,
just having a great day. But I was trying to
figure it out because I come out of the radio
business and that had sort of moved on for me,
and I started thinking, well, wait a minute, comedians and
cars getting coffee is such a great concept that Jerry
Seinfeld came up. Yea, I know Jerry Seinfeld, but why
(01:20):
can't I come up with my take on storytelling and
interviewing because I always loved interviewing. So it was hatched
there a good idea. Yeah, and here I am. I'm
so lucky talking to f Murray Abraham.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
My god, but you mentioned Chicago. That's one of my
absolute favorites cities home me too. I was there both
the summer and winter. I mean, I mean, of course
it's famous for its winners, but it's fine. It was different.
But that was a surprise too. That closes up early too.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'll bet Pittsburgh closes up early these days.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Mary, What I'm taking my purview, my my take on
it is when I get out of the show, there's
no place to have dinner. You know, of course, get together,
but if you know where to go, you know, so
it's not just Boston or Poe Dunk, it's it's generally.
I'm not that's too bad. That used to be part
(02:19):
of the action going to the theater was getting together
after then hashing it out right. It's right, yes, exactly right?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Oh man, Well, okay, if you could take a walk
with someone living or dead. Who would you take a
walk with and where would you take that walk with them?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Ah, there's a bunch of Brando comes to mind right away.
But I just read that Edna Saint Vincent Malay's house,
little house, the smallest house in New York City, is
up for sale. And she was a big sponsor of
the theater. She was one of the people responsible for
(03:00):
the Cherry Lane Theater being established. So she's on my mind.
I'd like to walk around with her. I think that
that would have been nice to hear what she had
to say about some of the amazing people she hung
out with. But I mean, there's not this I'd like
to walk around with Charles Dickens. Wouldn't that be a treat?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
It? Would it would? I'd love to be a fly
on the wall for any of them. Yeah, for sure.
So you had that incredible piece of your career in Amadeus,
and that that monologue that you have about hearing Mozart
for the first time as your as your character, which
(03:40):
was so unbelievably incredible. What was the first time f
Mary Abraham heard Mozart for the first time?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh, I guess I was in high school. I was
not a classical music fan, but I heard my first
piece of music is Mendels's Concerto D Minor, and I
was captivated because I was rock and roll. I mean,
I was rhythm and blues then in those days. But
that opened my eyes to some other music, and I
(04:10):
asked the teacher what she would suggest, and she came
up with a magic flute. Some people made fun of
the magic flute. They think it's trivial. I don't think so.
But aside from the fact that it was my first Mozart,
that's why I remember it so fondly. But there's there's
some wonderful stuff in it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
We are going to touch on your work currently, The
Queen of Versailles, but back to music for a second.
There was that incredible period in inside Lewyn Davis where
you're in the uh, the Gate of Horn, and it
was the i'd say honest assessment that you gave of
(04:54):
the musician that was on stage. How did you channel
that and had you personally gone through a similar experience yourself?
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's true? It's like that thing where they say, in
other words, get out of here, you know, telling bum.
I mean, that's what it amounts to. But I saw
that for the first time that movie with a you know,
a much of it was a It was a preview showing,
so it was all people in the business, and that
(05:29):
line got this huge laugh because everybody really understood and
it was a good line. By the way, that that
whole scene we shot that lesson half a day. Those
guys are great to work with, by the way, the
Kong brothers, I mean, boom boom. They know what they're doing,
and their scripts are finished scripts. You know, it's it's done,
(05:51):
it's ready to do as this. That was true, obamadeus.
It's you can't go wrong with a good piece of
work like that. You shouldn't just say the words.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
For those that don't know the line I'm referring to.
And if I do fall off my chair when you
give the line, will you forgive me? First of all,
what was that line? Again?
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I don't see any money here, very straight, very honest.
Oh man, that guy I played, by the way, was
I don't know. If you know, I'll bet you do that.
In this tough business called the show business, the toughest
of the tough or in the music business, I'm not
talking about the gangsters and all that crap. I'm talking
about hard, hard people, and this guy I play but
(06:36):
was the hardest. He was really tough, and so that
was very straight ahead of him. But he didn't have
a lawsuit problem with Dylan anyhow. It's easy to play him.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
But isn't that line true of like the restaurant business
as an example, when people, you know, get all wild
eyed and enthusiastic about the restaurant business as well.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, of course you're right, you know you're right.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So how does it feel now that you're you're in
New York City and the Queen of Versailles is happening?
Tell me, first of all, how that all came together.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's one of those lucky things. That's all the people
thought of me for this thing. I don't know, you know,
I'm saying that I'm not a singer like these people
I'm on the stage was I can you know? I
can carry my own I've done to think Benny Opera.
I shouted it out doing children's theater musicals for ten
bucks a show and one of the piano players was
Steven Schwartz. That interesting, But so that's not why I
(07:36):
got into the show. Someone suggested me for it, and
they all said, that's a great idea. Would he do it?
That's what I heard later. But when you were, you know,
offered something like this with the people involved, of course
you're going to take it. If they believe you can
do it, then you can. And they've been faithful to me.
(07:58):
But I'm on stage with some I guess, some of
the best in New York. I think it's become one
of the best experiences in my career sixty years. It's
remarkable a show this size, with this many people, and
everyone gets along so well. It reminds I'm carrying on
and on how I got involved in this is just
(08:21):
one of those things that happens, and I'm very grateful.
There's no way to who came up with thinking of me.
I don't know, but I'm grateful. That's all I can say.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Did you know Kristin chenoworths before?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
No? I didn't, but we fell in love with each
other right away, but I think everyone does. She's what
you see is what you get. She's the real McCoy.
She's a hard and soul of this production.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
So I had Charles Brown from the Do Wop Project
on the podcast and I told him I couldn't contain
my excitement that I was going to be speaking with you.
And I asked him, I said, Charles, as a Broadway artist,
do you have a question for f Murray Abraham? And
(09:06):
he didn't even blink. He said, yes, I do have
a question for him. He said, please ask him? What
is his ritual when he's performing on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Well, I stretch, I vocalize. I don't eat much at
all before the show, if anything at all, and I
just stretch out and lay on the bed. It's very easy.
The vocalizing is very important to me, whether I'm singing
(09:39):
or not. But I remember doing the show with Helen
Mirren and I would vocalize every day before the show
and she would come out and look at me and
go and then go back into dressing room. That was
her warm up. So everybody has a different warm up.
Mine is pretty mundane.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And the first time that you walk on stage after
rehearsals have happened and everything, can you describe to someone
what that feeling is on opening night?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
There's no way you can describe it to anyone who
hasn't experienced it. It's I mentioned that I've been doing
it for sixty years. That's not an exaggeration. That's the truth.
And even as I say it, it's hard to believe.
But I was trying to explain to someone that this
opening night, which is within six days, I suppose on Sunday,
(10:34):
it feels the same as it's always felt, and that
surprives me. It hasn't become off hand or it's just
as exciting and thrilling and by the way, anxiety producing
as it ever was. And that's hard for people to believe.
(10:55):
Because I'm made six years old. You would think I
would become jaded. That ain't me. And if you do,
I think you better get out of the business.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Could you have imagined, as a rough and tumble character
in El Paso, Texas, that your career path would have
taken you to Broadway.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
There's a funny thing about your imagination. Everybody has a dream.
I think, whatever, I shouldn't say that, I shouldn't. I
take that back. A lot of people have a dream
and some of them come true. And I thought there
was no limit. I wasn't aware of what it would take.
(11:35):
I had heard it was hard, but I had no
idea it was as hard as it was because I
don't think you're an actor unless you're acting, and that
can be long periods where you don't act. You've got
to do something to keep your chops up and keep
your your sense of yourself. Do you lose yourself? So
(11:56):
you continue to take classes or you study on your own.
You do whatever it takes to keep this here and
your physically your body in good shape for when the
opportunity presents itself. And too many actors don't do that.
I think too many artists don't. It's it's a hard business.
But I never lost faith. Well, a couple of times
(12:19):
I doubt it. It's hard after about ten months of
no work, but you persevere or you get out. And
the other thing, you know, I teach from time to time.
I'm a good teacher, but oh whenever I can, I
gather a class at the Atlantic Theater Company, and I
tell them, if you are dedicated to doing the work
(12:39):
as you should, honest work, which means searching yourself for
the character, your own traits finding out the truth about yourself.
If you can't make it in this business, you haven't
lost any of that time. You've examined yourself, and it's valuable.
Leave the business for a while because you can always
come back to it, because it's all there. I'm carrying
(13:02):
on because I think it's important to know that any
endeavor in art, if it's an honest endeavor in search,
nothing is lost.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I love when you carry on, by the way, absolutely,
I love it. Now. Is it true you play a
little game that is sort of like a Where's Waldo
sort of game with your Academy award, the actual award,
And if so, is that happening at the Queen of Versailles?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Oh yeah, every show I've done since I'm since I
want it. He's responsible a great deal for my success,
a lot. Anyhow, I give it to stage management and
they put it, hide it on the stage from different
places they don't tell me, and then it ends up
in the wardrobe department and they make little costumes. He
has all these little costumes. As a two two. He
(13:54):
has a surfer board outfit. I mean it's fun. The
idea of putting it someplace and shrining it, it's silly
to me because not many people going to have a
chance to hold that trophy and play with it. And
I do let them do it, and they they're delightful.
They're just like kids. Oh can I hold it? I mean, yeah, well,
(14:16):
of course you can hold it. And the old they
and they all want to make a speech.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You have had this remarkable ability to reinvent yourself across decades.
What is the secret to staying relevant and hungry as
an actor?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I don't know, man, It's a gift. I suppose, I
don't know. I wish I could. I don't know. Then
capsulize it. I wish I could bottle it, because it's
a great gift and I have it, and I'm again grateful.
I don't know where these gifts come from, these things,
but I do know that if you do have any
(14:58):
kind of a gift, it's your responsibility to nurture it.
That's easy to say because I work. But where you
are gifted and you can't work, it's killing and it
can embitter people, and it does, and that's too bad, because,
as I say, you can always come back to the
(15:18):
business and you will be a better actor if you do. Anyhow,
I'm carrying on because I know so many people who
haven't made it, and I'm mourn for them, you know,
But you know, keep punching baby.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Homeland the White Lotus, Marvel projects. You keep showing up
in these surprising places. How do you choose roles now
versus twenty thirty years ago.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Well, you make it sound as though I have all
these offers that I can select from, and in fact,
the ones that are offered are are interesting, and so
I do them. But there's a lot of crap out
there too. I don't know how I still let them
because they're interesting and because other people involved sometimes, but
(16:07):
those that you have mentioned were really a lot of fun,
and that's important to have a good time. It's hard
enough work. You may as well have a good time.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Is there a performance that you haven't been part of
that you sort of dream and think maybe this could happen.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
It's always the next part. By the way, I was
very proud of my performance. They're not a lot that
I think were great. But I think my roy comb
was wonderful, and so does my shylock that was wonderful.
I liked my leer and my bottom in Midsummer Night's Dream,
but the shylock and the roy come were superior. Until recently.
(16:53):
I did crap in craps last day and not I think.
Finally is my best performance. That was very good. We'll
have to get it to discover it. But I did it,
I think, And to answer your question, it's the next
one I'd like to do, Edipus. I think it's I'm
too Long in the tooth, But I think it's an
important play, a very important play. It talks, it speaks
(17:16):
to the responsibility of political leaders, and I don't think
political leaders understand the word responsibility. Now they understand the
word cop out, but they don't understand how to take
the heat well.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
In closing, though, I want to ask you community is
so important more than ever these days, and certainly Broadway
when you attend, is this amazing community that you're part of?
Why is it more important than ever?
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Because it is one of the last venues where a
whole bunch of strangers gather in one place and they all,
especially with laughter, They all are collected, no matter what
their religion, their color, their politics. When they all laugh,
(18:11):
what it does is promote and remind them of their
common humanity. And that I think all this red state,
Blue states stuff people forgetting is called the United States
of America. Remember that united? Yeah, make America united again.
But that's the value of it because there's no electronic
(18:32):
media between you and anyone else. It's you and that
living creature up there who is just like you. That's
a reminder of our common humanity and I think that's
very important.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I'm so grateful for everything you continue to do for
us and everything in your career, and for the opportunity
to talk to you on Taking a Walk f Mary Abraham.
Folks to check out the Queen of Versailles. It's a
hot ticket. They're gonna they're gonna have some challenges getting them,
but they're available, and I wish you only the best, sir.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Thank you, buzz. It was a pleasure, man, really was.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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