December 13, 2025 • 19 mins
Part 1 of The Artist premiered on ThanksgivingPart 2 of The Artist premieres on ChristmasWritten and Directed by Aram RappaportExecutive Produced by Aram Rappaport & Hilary ShorStarring Mandy Patinkin, Janet McTeer, Danny Huston, Hank Azaria, Patti Lupone, Katherine McPhee, Clark Gregg, Ever Anderson, and Zachary QuintoSynopsis: In the twilight of the Gilded Age, murder strikes the estate of an eccentric and failing tycoon. As he hosts the era's biggest celebrities including Thomas Edison, Edgar Degas and Evelyn Nesbit, lies, mystery and ambition collide as the truth is shockingly revealed.Here's the trailer:Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoA7msjfqkA
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Since twenty sixteen, we've had this great opportunity to share
conversations with those that have been featured on NBC's The Voice.
But where can we get them all in one place?
Very easy? Arrow dot Net, A R r Oe dot Net.
It's under that voice. Enjoy the exploration. Hey, good morning, Danny.
How are you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm good Arrow, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Absolutely fantastic looking forward to sharing a conversation because you
guys have done something with the artist here that is
so unique in the way of giving me a cliffhanger
that gives me the chance to look forward, if you
know what I mean. It's like that's what's been missing
from life, that opportunity to look forward to something.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Well put? Well put? What is that?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
What is that like?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Though?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
For you as an actor? Because I mean continuity, it
doesn't go one, two, three, four five, I mean, I
mean to build this entire project together for the network
is just amazing.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, you know, Aaron Rappaport is who we should be
paying attention to here because he he wrote, directed, produced,
and has created, uh this the network where you can
stream the artist. So it's it's it's wonderfully independently minded
(01:17):
of of aarum. He's he's you know, he's he's up
against the giants as far as releasing. But it's but
it's it's an independent, uly minded way of doing this.
So it's a bit of a David and type of situation.
Uh And and one has to make a bit of
(01:38):
an effort to to you know, to to upload and
get the app. But it's but it's it's worth it
because it's it's it's beautiful writing, it's irreverent, it's it's rude,
it's historic. Even though it's it's it's a conceit how
(01:58):
these characters come together at this particular mansion.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well, I just love the fact that you guys have
put it on a display that that really, Like you said,
it was kind of a challenge to find the network work.
But when I found it, though, everything fell writing the place.
And I don't want listeners to to say, oh I
couldn't find it. Yes you can. It is there, Go
get it and then you will see it. I mean,
you guys have the headlined banner, man, I mean to
have that banner the second you get on that on
(02:23):
that app is amazing to me.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Oh great, man, great, Yes, as you said, you have
to make a little bit of an effort sometimes, but
you're where we're going against the stream here, so any
help we can get from our viewers is much appreciated.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So now, why doesn't it feel like an indie film
or an indie story, because I mean, what I'm getting
out of this is total quality. There's pacing, there's great writing,
the acting is unbelievable, and it doesn't have that vibe
to it that says, oh, this is just something that's
you know in one day out the next. Nope, this
one's going to stick around for a while.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
From from your lips to God's ears. But you know,
a lot of the richness comes from the actual location
where we shot. We shot at the Placestead and in Farmington, Connecticut,
where you know, you have you have real manaise and
mayonnaise and whistlers and and and and diga which is
(03:16):
the character that I play. So I'm playing a character
in front of the real, real paintings, which is uh
was was electric for me. Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Now, I've been to a lot of galleries. I'm that
freak when I get put in front of real paintings
like that where I have to go in there and
look at brushstrokes. Did you get to study any of
that art at all?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Well, you know, little little did I know that you
know these pistels, this mix of pastels and watercolors, these
ballerinas that he painted, which is exquisite purples and pinks
and blues, and uh, they're just, you know, so vivid
that the man who was painting them was going blind.
So the brightness is actually is a o the dark
(04:01):
story there and uh, he's, uh, this is invented by Aaron,
but he's he's invited to this mansion when times are
hard to paint Mandy Patinkin's and joannat mcteer's poodles, poodles
as I call them. So it's it's a it's a
rather humiliating a situation that I've got myself and my
(04:23):
character is stuck in this place with the likes of
Thomas Edison played by Hank Azaria and ye Avaran Evelyn Nesbitt.
So it's a real sort of cacophony of of of
characters that clash at this particular place. And and the
setting is a it's a sort of Agatha Christie type setting.
(04:43):
It's it's a who done it? There's a murder that
we can kind of hang our hat on as far
as plot is concerned. Uh. And in the process of
doing that, we uh, we get to know these characters.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, you know what's gonna happen here, Danny, Because I mean,
this is that one type of storyline that during the
holidays people want to have a great binge watch and
the artist is the one and I want to be
a part of that circle when people break it down
like a book club and they and they can sit
there and try to piece it together quicker than what
you guys did, and it's like, I don't know, man,
but but the thing is though, it still creates conversation.
(05:16):
That's what I like about the artist.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah. And what what's what's what's the fun thing to
do is to try to spot the paintings.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Really but see. And it's almost like you're giving us
that opportunity to have mind games going on and this
as well, because if you sit there and you pay
attention to that background while listening to the storyline, to me,
that's the fulfillment of the entertainment.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yes, yes, and it's it's you know, we were so
lucky to be able to shoot at Hillstead, because the
location itself is a character in the piece.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
How did you keep your hands to yourself? Because if
I get into a place like that, I've got to
touch everything.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I did at one point think this would be a
perfect opportunity to to rob which one of those paintings out,
you know, without anybody saying they were so kind to me.
I was able to spend time, yeah, privately in in
(06:16):
a in a in a room with with with a
diga and uh, you know just look at these paintings. Uh,
in preparation of of of playing playing the part. So
that was that was such such a treat in itself.
And uh and also working with with with such a
(06:36):
great group of actors who were all, you know, firing
their pistols in all directions there were the dialogue is
in a way the action of the piece. And uh.
And and just just to be there working kept me
on my toes at the speed of it.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Well, I mean, just the lineup itself, the whole entire cast.
I mean, this is something you dream of one day
be coming to part of and now that it's here,
it's like wow, and people are reacting Wow. I mean
it's it's like That's what I love about about acting
in general, is that what you do today will have
an impact when it's released and long after.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Let's let's le let's hope so and and it's it's uh,
it's as I say, it's it's it's not a it's
not a difficult it's for free. You know, if you
want to watch it with commercials. If you don't, you
have to pay a little bit of money. But it's
it's it's it's something which is a perfect viewing over Christmas,
I believe.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Do you find yourself wanting to get involved in your
own writing and directing in something like this, because I mean,
this platform is right here screaming for you to say, hey, Danny,
come on over here. You've had you've got something you've
been hanging around with for a while. Time to put
it to work.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Well, this is this is why the network is so
important for me as as a as a as a
way to to make create, produce shows that maybe be
picked up otherwise.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You know, yeah, because I mean that that's what happened
to radio in the way that we were all on
this terrestrial thing for for a long time and then
once once streaming took place all of a sudden, all
these creative mindset, Oh well, here we go. And I
feel like actors are doing the same thing where they
it's like, here's this platform, don't let it just sit there.
Do something with it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Exactly exactly. And if and if as a group of
of of of actors, producers, writers, we can we can
get behind a something like the network, then we can create.
We can create our own work, which is which is
a great luxury.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Is it like a lot of these bands where they've
got to do their own grunt work in the way
of promoting and making sure that everything in the studio
is getting done, whereas before, you know, you would show
up as a band and all of a sudden, everybody
else was doing the work for you.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yes, very much. It's it's it's it's home grown, isn't it.
So yeah, we're out, we're out, We're we're here where
we're we're playing all our different instruments. And in this
in this particular case, it's quite aid cophony of rhythms
uh and and uh and and and actors literally colliding
(09:10):
against each other. But uh, you know, creating what it
is that we want to do, and we're we're we're
very much, you know, coming against the other networks that
do that do the same thing, but this doesn't have
those corporate pressures.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Your smile is so addictive. I mean, it's you. You
could be having the worst day of your life and
all of a sudden you smile on TV and it's like,
everything's fine, Danny, he smiled, Everything's fine.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
What?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
What?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
What?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
How did you hone the skills of that? And did
you recognize it as being a tool or a signature
of yours?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I know, I have no control over whatsoever. And my
my eyebrows tend to in all directions. It's all. It's
all about what I'm thinking, not about how I'm u
just showing it my my my face doesn't betray my emotion.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
When you do a period piece like this, do you
do you ever sit back as an actor and go,
I wonder what they were like in real life and
how would they have handled this if this situation that
we're presenting in this storyline was really taking place right now?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yes, I think that's very much. The key to the
piece really is it's it's putting putting historical characters that
are defined and we can research the same with Thomas
Edison and Evelyn Nesbitt uh, but putting them in situations
that they were never in, uh, and and seeing how
(10:39):
they would react in those particular situations. And and as
I said, uh aarm is irreverent and rude and his
writing and it's it's it's it makes it makes it
an exciting rollercoaster.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Please do not move. There's more with Danny Houston coming
up next. The series is called The Artist. You'll find
it on the app, the network. It is such a
great experience. We're back with Danny Houston. Well, you speak
of Thomas Edison, and right here in my studio not
even three feet it's one of those cylinders that has
music that he put on it. And it's like and
(11:15):
so we're and it's like, wait a second. I mean
we're talking about a man that's part of this storyline
and the continuation of what history does in our lives today.
So we need something like The Artist to remind us
don't throw everything away. There's things that you can have
in your personal life now and be.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
And be inventive.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Yes, yeah, don't be afraid of that, because I mean
you come across as that type of person that I'm
gonna take a chance here. We're gonna we're gonna invent
something new here. And if I stumble, okay, I know
how to fall.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, exactly right, and then we get back up. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
What how did you digest the script?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Though?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I mean because I guess because I'm such a show
prep fanatic that I've got to be able to know
what's going on, what's happening to live in what you
know that so we have a way to go. But
as an actor, you don't know how everybody else is
going to deliver their lines.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
No, and and and in the company of Mandy Potent
and and and Joanna mcteerney, do you you have really
no idea, But they're going to bring bring to it.
They're such a forces of nature really, and that that
makes it very exciting in it in itself. But uh,
(12:26):
it's aar Aaram's writing really was what we were all serving.
And uh that that created a uh I wouldn't say
an anarchy, but there there was a lot of the dialogue.
He was writing side by side, so we literally had
to speak over each other. Yeah, that that made it
(12:49):
very dynamic, and and and and and we really had
to collaborate in a sort of musical type way to
make this stuff work and not just to all end
up like mud.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
See I'm into that, and the reason why is because
I've been doing so much research on you know, the
way that AI technology is making everything so perfect. But
everybody is saying, no, we need to have people talking
on each other. They need to be tripping, they need
to be doing different things because humanism is about having
human things go right or wrong. But in talking over
each other is perfect.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah yeah, no, And we were literally tripping all over
each other. But you know, but but also you know,
stepping on each other's lines but not not creating too
much chaos.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
But see, but doesn't that just take that equal balance
of respecting each other's skills As an actor, because I mean,
I mean, if I guess, if I were jocking here
with a bunch of people in the studio with me,
if somebody were to step on me, of course I
would react to it. But to do it in acting
in a movie, how do you keep it all together?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's it's that you definitely, and you need to need
to be on your toes.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yeah yeah, I'd be singing nursery rhyme songs is what
I would do in those little rounds, you know, like
you know, here we go a was Silanda dead? And
then and here comes the next group are ready to sing.
So now, in a project like this, when you have
to play, let's pretend that feels like reality to us
on this side of the network. How is it that
(14:19):
you're able to bridge that gap of reality?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I think I think you just you just start with
a reality in mind. And when you have a character
that's already been defined and who's a real character like Diga,
you know, you know who you know, but but you're
in a situation that is that is uh fictitious. Uh
so you know how how does how does he react
(14:48):
to this? And and just the idea that this great
man was invited to this place to paint the owner's
poodles the poudas is is you know, so humiliating for him.
But yet he finds something in this place. And there's
there's something that happens between him and Mandy, sorry, with
(15:08):
Joanna mcteer's character, which is potentially quite quite romantic. So
there's there's he he finds himself and his passion again,
which I think is quite endearing even though he's such
an unpleasant cross at the old guy.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I mean with any anytime you mess around with with
paint on a canvas, you're messing around also with somebody's emotions.
And because you can have a conversation with someone like
Peter Max, who's very much known for his canvas work,
and and it's it's it's just fun to sit there
and watch the mindsets of an artist on canvas grow.
And then you turn to an actor like yourself. Oh
my god, it's one and the same, except you're putting
physical movement into it.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yes, yes, and at times at times the physical movements
are are are almost slapstick in this in this this
particular piece. Uh. So you know like like well like
with like with naked gun. You know, you the way
to deliver the lines is straight, and that's what makes
them funny. So so you have you have to be
(16:10):
uh somewhat grounded, uh to make some of these uh
extravagant gestures work.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Now, come on, Danny, you got to love those moments
when you deliver a straight line like that and there's
silence in the room and then all of a sudden
you go on to the next thing. But because you
took the time to put the pacing and the right
inflection in there. It's like, kyah, we nailed it.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I mean, leave Lisa and I we literally have to
look at each other in the forehead yea, through those
lines straight. Otherwise we'd be dead in the water, I
tell you. But yes, you have to. You have to.
And and when the characters are star collected to Guy,
I mean, there's it's it's it's so, it's so rich,
(16:54):
he said, the characters are rich already that you kind
of know how he would how he would react in
a certain situation.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Did you have hot newity directors on set though, to
sit there and say, no, this is the way it
has to be. We have to be as close to
history as possible.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
No, absolutely not. We were a as a reverence as
we could be, and we but we have we have
the location that kept kept us historically in place. But
but but the paintings that are there, I mean, this
house will never have had those particular paintings. So it's
it's fun viewing to see what paintings you can spot
(17:29):
in the background because it's the location itself was just
a treasure chest.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
When you when you do a series like this, and
it split up the way that it is. The One
thing that it did was it purchased time for my
wife and I to do research on the characters that
are in this movie. That's what I love about the
artists is that you invite me go find out for yourself.
It's almost like my dad, go find out for yourself
and then come back to me.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yes, yes exactly, and but but set in a entertaining yes.
And and the who done it? Part of it is
the murder. I think it is quite clever, and so
far as that it gives you a dramatic thread that
(18:16):
that that that moves the plot along.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So two things come out of that. Okay, do you
look at paintings differently? And number two, when you hear
a new murder story, do you go hmmm, I think
we can go deeper than this. There's something more here
than what everybody else thinks. Because I've done the movie.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Well in so far as the do you look at
paintings differently? Yes? Absolutely. With With with with Diga, I mean,
uh my, my my children, uh my, my two girls,
uh all I have grown up with dig those those
those ballerinas are so so beautiful and appealing and gorgeous
(18:55):
to look at. They're just incredible. Uh. But uh, you know,
you can be all of four or five years old
and appreciate the God's paintings. But little did I know
that the man was was was suffering with blindness when
he was painting them. So it's always it's always great
(19:17):
to know the history and the painter and what the
painter was going through when he when he when he
painted paintings that are that are so famous and uh,
and to have that background makes one appreciate the works
all the more.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Wow, You've got to come back to this show anytime
in the future. The door is always going to be
open for you.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Thank you, Thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Well, you'd be brilliant today. And thank you once again
for the artist on the network. It really is a
conversation piece this holiday season.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I hope, I hope audiences enjoy it and and Merry
Christmas and happy Holidays to you.
Since twenty sixteen, we've had this great opportunity to share
conversations with those that have been featured on NBC's The Voice.
But where can we get them all in one place?
Very easy? Arrow dot Net, A R r Oe dot Net.
It's under that voice. Enjoy the exploration. Hey, good morning, Danny.
How are you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm good Arrow, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Absolutely fantastic looking forward to sharing a conversation because you
guys have done something with the artist here that is
so unique in the way of giving me a cliffhanger
that gives me the chance to look forward, if you
know what I mean. It's like that's what's been missing
from life, that opportunity to look forward to something.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Well put? Well put? What is that?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
What is that like?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Though?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
For you as an actor? Because I mean continuity, it
doesn't go one, two, three, four five, I mean, I
mean to build this entire project together for the network
is just amazing.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, you know, Aaron Rappaport is who we should be
paying attention to here because he he wrote, directed, produced,
and has created, uh this the network where you can
stream the artist. So it's it's it's wonderfully independently minded
(01:17):
of of aarum. He's he's you know, he's he's up
against the giants as far as releasing. But it's but
it's it's an independent, uly minded way of doing this.
So it's a bit of a David and type of situation.
Uh And and one has to make a bit of
(01:38):
an effort to to you know, to to upload and
get the app. But it's but it's it's worth it
because it's it's it's beautiful writing, it's irreverent, it's it's rude,
it's historic. Even though it's it's it's a conceit how
(01:58):
these characters come together at this particular mansion.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well, I just love the fact that you guys have
put it on a display that that really, Like you said,
it was kind of a challenge to find the network work.
But when I found it, though, everything fell writing the place.
And I don't want listeners to to say, oh I
couldn't find it. Yes you can. It is there, Go
get it and then you will see it. I mean,
you guys have the headlined banner, man, I mean to
have that banner the second you get on that on
(02:23):
that app is amazing to me.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Oh great, man, great, Yes, as you said, you have
to make a little bit of an effort sometimes, but
you're where we're going against the stream here, so any
help we can get from our viewers is much appreciated.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So now, why doesn't it feel like an indie film
or an indie story, because I mean, what I'm getting
out of this is total quality. There's pacing, there's great writing,
the acting is unbelievable, and it doesn't have that vibe
to it that says, oh, this is just something that's
you know in one day out the next. Nope, this
one's going to stick around for a while.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
From from your lips to God's ears. But you know,
a lot of the richness comes from the actual location
where we shot. We shot at the Placestead and in Farmington, Connecticut,
where you know, you have you have real manaise and
mayonnaise and whistlers and and and and diga which is
(03:16):
the character that I play. So I'm playing a character
in front of the real, real paintings, which is uh
was was electric for me. Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Now, I've been to a lot of galleries. I'm that
freak when I get put in front of real paintings
like that where I have to go in there and
look at brushstrokes. Did you get to study any of
that art at all?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Well, you know, little little did I know that you
know these pistels, this mix of pastels and watercolors, these
ballerinas that he painted, which is exquisite purples and pinks
and blues, and uh, they're just, you know, so vivid
that the man who was painting them was going blind.
So the brightness is actually is a o the dark
(04:01):
story there and uh, he's, uh, this is invented by Aaron,
but he's he's invited to this mansion when times are
hard to paint Mandy Patinkin's and joannat mcteer's poodles, poodles
as I call them. So it's it's a it's a
rather humiliating a situation that I've got myself and my
(04:23):
character is stuck in this place with the likes of
Thomas Edison played by Hank Azaria and ye Avaran Evelyn Nesbitt.
So it's a real sort of cacophony of of of
characters that clash at this particular place. And and the
setting is a it's a sort of Agatha Christie type setting.
(04:43):
It's it's a who done it? There's a murder that
we can kind of hang our hat on as far
as plot is concerned. Uh. And in the process of
doing that, we uh, we get to know these characters.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, you know what's gonna happen here, Danny, Because I mean,
this is that one type of storyline that during the
holidays people want to have a great binge watch and
the artist is the one and I want to be
a part of that circle when people break it down
like a book club and they and they can sit
there and try to piece it together quicker than what
you guys did, and it's like, I don't know, man,
but but the thing is though, it still creates conversation.
(05:16):
That's what I like about the artist.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah. And what what's what's what's the fun thing to
do is to try to spot the paintings.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Really but see. And it's almost like you're giving us
that opportunity to have mind games going on and this
as well, because if you sit there and you pay
attention to that background while listening to the storyline, to me,
that's the fulfillment of the entertainment.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yes, yes, and it's it's you know, we were so
lucky to be able to shoot at Hillstead, because the
location itself is a character in the piece.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
How did you keep your hands to yourself? Because if
I get into a place like that, I've got to
touch everything.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I did at one point think this would be a
perfect opportunity to to rob which one of those paintings out,
you know, without anybody saying they were so kind to me.
I was able to spend time, yeah, privately in in
(06:16):
a in a in a room with with with a
diga and uh, you know just look at these paintings. Uh,
in preparation of of of playing playing the part. So
that was that was such such a treat in itself.
And uh and also working with with with such a
(06:36):
great group of actors who were all, you know, firing
their pistols in all directions there were the dialogue is
in a way the action of the piece. And uh.
And and just just to be there working kept me
on my toes at the speed of it.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Well, I mean, just the lineup itself, the whole entire cast.
I mean, this is something you dream of one day
be coming to part of and now that it's here,
it's like wow, and people are reacting Wow. I mean
it's it's like That's what I love about about acting
in general, is that what you do today will have
an impact when it's released and long after.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Let's let's le let's hope so and and it's it's uh,
it's as I say, it's it's it's not a it's
not a difficult it's for free. You know, if you
want to watch it with commercials. If you don't, you
have to pay a little bit of money. But it's
it's it's it's something which is a perfect viewing over Christmas,
I believe.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Do you find yourself wanting to get involved in your
own writing and directing in something like this, because I mean,
this platform is right here screaming for you to say, hey, Danny,
come on over here. You've had you've got something you've
been hanging around with for a while. Time to put
it to work.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Well, this is this is why the network is so
important for me as as a as a as a
way to to make create, produce shows that maybe be
picked up otherwise.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You know, yeah, because I mean that that's what happened
to radio in the way that we were all on
this terrestrial thing for for a long time and then
once once streaming took place all of a sudden, all
these creative mindset, Oh well, here we go. And I
feel like actors are doing the same thing where they
it's like, here's this platform, don't let it just sit there.
Do something with it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Exactly exactly. And if and if as a group of
of of of actors, producers, writers, we can we can
get behind a something like the network, then we can create.
We can create our own work, which is which is
a great luxury.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Is it like a lot of these bands where they've
got to do their own grunt work in the way
of promoting and making sure that everything in the studio
is getting done, whereas before, you know, you would show
up as a band and all of a sudden, everybody
else was doing the work for you.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yes, very much. It's it's it's it's home grown, isn't it.
So yeah, we're out, we're out, We're we're here where
we're we're playing all our different instruments. And in this
in this particular case, it's quite aid cophony of rhythms
uh and and uh and and and actors literally colliding
(09:10):
against each other. But uh, you know, creating what it
is that we want to do, and we're we're we're
very much, you know, coming against the other networks that
do that do the same thing, but this doesn't have
those corporate pressures.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Your smile is so addictive. I mean, it's you. You
could be having the worst day of your life and
all of a sudden you smile on TV and it's like,
everything's fine, Danny, he smiled, Everything's fine.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
What?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
What?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
What?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
How did you hone the skills of that? And did
you recognize it as being a tool or a signature
of yours?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I know, I have no control over whatsoever. And my
my eyebrows tend to in all directions. It's all. It's
all about what I'm thinking, not about how I'm u
just showing it my my my face doesn't betray my emotion.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
When you do a period piece like this, do you
do you ever sit back as an actor and go,
I wonder what they were like in real life and
how would they have handled this if this situation that
we're presenting in this storyline was really taking place right now?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yes, I think that's very much. The key to the
piece really is it's it's putting putting historical characters that
are defined and we can research the same with Thomas
Edison and Evelyn Nesbitt uh, but putting them in situations
that they were never in, uh, and and seeing how
(10:39):
they would react in those particular situations. And and as
I said, uh aarm is irreverent and rude and his
writing and it's it's it's it makes it makes it
an exciting rollercoaster.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Please do not move. There's more with Danny Houston coming
up next. The series is called The Artist. You'll find
it on the app, the network. It is such a
great experience. We're back with Danny Houston. Well, you speak
of Thomas Edison, and right here in my studio not
even three feet it's one of those cylinders that has
music that he put on it. And it's like and
(11:15):
so we're and it's like, wait a second. I mean
we're talking about a man that's part of this storyline
and the continuation of what history does in our lives today.
So we need something like The Artist to remind us
don't throw everything away. There's things that you can have
in your personal life now and be.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
And be inventive.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Yes, yeah, don't be afraid of that, because I mean
you come across as that type of person that I'm
gonna take a chance here. We're gonna we're gonna invent
something new here. And if I stumble, okay, I know
how to fall.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, exactly right, and then we get back up. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
What how did you digest the script?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Though?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I mean because I guess because I'm such a show
prep fanatic that I've got to be able to know
what's going on, what's happening to live in what you
know that so we have a way to go. But
as an actor, you don't know how everybody else is
going to deliver their lines.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
No, and and and in the company of Mandy Potent
and and and Joanna mcteerney, do you you have really
no idea, But they're going to bring bring to it.
They're such a forces of nature really, and that that
makes it very exciting in it in itself. But uh,
(12:26):
it's aar Aaram's writing really was what we were all serving.
And uh that that created a uh I wouldn't say
an anarchy, but there there was a lot of the dialogue.
He was writing side by side, so we literally had
to speak over each other. Yeah, that that made it
(12:49):
very dynamic, and and and and and we really had
to collaborate in a sort of musical type way to
make this stuff work and not just to all end
up like mud.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
See I'm into that, and the reason why is because
I've been doing so much research on you know, the
way that AI technology is making everything so perfect. But
everybody is saying, no, we need to have people talking
on each other. They need to be tripping, they need
to be doing different things because humanism is about having
human things go right or wrong. But in talking over
each other is perfect.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah yeah, no, And we were literally tripping all over
each other. But you know, but but also you know,
stepping on each other's lines but not not creating too
much chaos.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
But see, but doesn't that just take that equal balance
of respecting each other's skills As an actor, because I mean,
I mean, if I guess, if I were jocking here
with a bunch of people in the studio with me,
if somebody were to step on me, of course I
would react to it. But to do it in acting
in a movie, how do you keep it all together?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's it's that you definitely, and you need to need
to be on your toes.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yeah yeah, I'd be singing nursery rhyme songs is what
I would do in those little rounds, you know, like
you know, here we go a was Silanda dead? And
then and here comes the next group are ready to sing.
So now, in a project like this, when you have
to play, let's pretend that feels like reality to us
on this side of the network. How is it that
(14:19):
you're able to bridge that gap of reality?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I think I think you just you just start with
a reality in mind. And when you have a character
that's already been defined and who's a real character like Diga,
you know, you know who you know, but but you're
in a situation that is that is uh fictitious. Uh
so you know how how does how does he react
(14:48):
to this? And and just the idea that this great
man was invited to this place to paint the owner's
poodles the poudas is is you know, so humiliating for him.
But yet he finds something in this place. And there's
there's something that happens between him and Mandy, sorry, with
(15:08):
Joanna mcteer's character, which is potentially quite quite romantic. So
there's there's he he finds himself and his passion again,
which I think is quite endearing even though he's such
an unpleasant cross at the old guy.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I mean with any anytime you mess around with with
paint on a canvas, you're messing around also with somebody's emotions.
And because you can have a conversation with someone like
Peter Max, who's very much known for his canvas work,
and and it's it's it's just fun to sit there
and watch the mindsets of an artist on canvas grow.
And then you turn to an actor like yourself. Oh
my god, it's one and the same, except you're putting
physical movement into it.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yes, yes, and at times at times the physical movements
are are are almost slapstick in this in this this
particular piece. Uh. So you know like like well like
with like with naked gun. You know, you the way
to deliver the lines is straight, and that's what makes
them funny. So so you have you have to be
(16:10):
uh somewhat grounded, uh to make some of these uh
extravagant gestures work.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Now, come on, Danny, you got to love those moments
when you deliver a straight line like that and there's
silence in the room and then all of a sudden
you go on to the next thing. But because you
took the time to put the pacing and the right
inflection in there. It's like, kyah, we nailed it.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I mean, leave Lisa and I we literally have to
look at each other in the forehead yea, through those
lines straight. Otherwise we'd be dead in the water, I
tell you. But yes, you have to. You have to.
And and when the characters are star collected to Guy,
I mean, there's it's it's it's so, it's so rich,
(16:54):
he said, the characters are rich already that you kind
of know how he would how he would react in
a certain situation.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Did you have hot newity directors on set though, to
sit there and say, no, this is the way it
has to be. We have to be as close to
history as possible.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
No, absolutely not. We were a as a reverence as
we could be, and we but we have we have
the location that kept kept us historically in place. But
but but the paintings that are there, I mean, this
house will never have had those particular paintings. So it's
it's fun viewing to see what paintings you can spot
(17:29):
in the background because it's the location itself was just
a treasure chest.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
When you when you do a series like this, and
it split up the way that it is. The One
thing that it did was it purchased time for my
wife and I to do research on the characters that
are in this movie. That's what I love about the
artists is that you invite me go find out for yourself.
It's almost like my dad, go find out for yourself
and then come back to me.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yes, yes exactly, and but but set in a entertaining yes.
And and the who done it? Part of it is
the murder. I think it is quite clever, and so
far as that it gives you a dramatic thread that
(18:16):
that that that moves the plot along.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So two things come out of that. Okay, do you
look at paintings differently? And number two, when you hear
a new murder story, do you go hmmm, I think
we can go deeper than this. There's something more here
than what everybody else thinks. Because I've done the movie.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Well in so far as the do you look at
paintings differently? Yes? Absolutely. With With with with Diga, I mean,
uh my, my my children, uh my, my two girls,
uh all I have grown up with dig those those
those ballerinas are so so beautiful and appealing and gorgeous
(18:55):
to look at. They're just incredible. Uh. But uh, you know,
you can be all of four or five years old
and appreciate the God's paintings. But little did I know
that the man was was was suffering with blindness when
he was painting them. So it's always it's always great
(19:17):
to know the history and the painter and what the
painter was going through when he when he when he
painted paintings that are that are so famous and uh,
and to have that background makes one appreciate the works
all the more.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Wow, You've got to come back to this show anytime
in the future. The door is always going to be
open for you.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Thank you, Thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Well, you'd be brilliant today. And thank you once again
for the artist on the network. It really is a
conversation piece this holiday season.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I hope, I hope audiences enjoy it and and Merry
Christmas and happy Holidays to you.
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