if I'd love to start with you about much of your work has been around
interpreting and reinterpreting classic classic works from the theater Canon
shakespeare Williams certainly o Neal Miller now with this why why didn't
choose to work with these texts why do you go back to serve reinterpret works
that have been have been interpreted so many times
totally by coincidence I was asked at a very young age to teach actors in a
school in Antrim I was 24 so it's teaching people that were 21 and then I
thought about it ahead to classes together sort of a huge group and I
thought well what to do with them and then I thought of this play very
difficult play actually trial is increasing William Shakespeare and I
think well let's do that because I have this bunch of people I can do that I
will see and then I discovered from myself that I could make much personal
work through the filter of this all text so that what I've done before was told
to me less personal but it was my own texts you know then when I used the
Texas shakespeare so I discovered a huge potential even in a Texas 400 over 400
years ago or fifty sixty years ago that I could still even more about myself
about what I thought of the world of people mankind by using attacks by a
good author what kind of place are used particularly attracted to and is it true
character that you come into play that you want to work on or is it about the
story and I think for me when I read a text from you it has to be a love affair
and so is if you on the street you look at somebody and you really are struck
that's what it is so it has to
to touch to move me some way but it can be moved in and sometimes in an
intellectual be London right now has so much serve rich political theater wonder
what kind of scripts attract you when and if you were particularly drawn to
two plays that have such sort of Keene messages to them if it's more about
characters it's about character and I think when you find somebody that you
feel you can play somebody you can flesh out somebody that's interesting
complicated confusing you know a mix of good and all of that
multi-layered and that's kind of an actor what you're always looking for
reefer did you find with the Miller state requirements that they had were
they happy for you to take it very interesting direction but had to
communicate because there is a huge slide little changes and
for instance the character of Lewis in the play is the origin play two
characters you know when I thought well bringing the lines together could take
one much more interesting character for an actor to do and they allowed me to do
that and France's the rest when the immigration police finally comes to
business situation but almost extras who have no no lines or one line from Family
done they're all their cult in over these are the two people are hiding
upstairs so I also asked to cut them and they allowed to do that and I'm working
on the crucible is saying I do with Rebecca Miller directly about slightly
to change some of them fill out some of them you knew hesitated at first in
doing a view from the bridge as I understand it can you talk a little bit
about that and what sort of brought shame to that now I have to admit we all
have shelters
are two middle head I thought totally wrong but it is a place where to
moralistic for me and I mean an immoral moralistic that of course there are
moral issues but it also like giving an opinion like this is good and this is
bad
which I'm not so interested in art and theater I go to the theater to be
confused to set a time provoked to think in a new way about things but I thought
this I had a preconception about his work but then young shrinking my
designer he said to me if you're totally wrong should read it I can and should
really be considerate and then I read it again in the immediate discovered of
course reading it very carefully it's a gold mine of difference in israel you
know and now I'm in the middle of the crucible preparations of course there's
a gold mine so I was to the wrong what was going on in your childhood or
adolescence or adulthood when the inner became meaningful to you what was
happening and why and why did theater take hold
I didn't really I wasn't involved with plays and things at school when you know
I wasn't a twinkle toes at the age of five and the kind of kid where people
say we should be on the stage I don't have any family in the business and I
knew nothing about it people on the stage on the TV and in movies were
separate from me they they they lived in another world I didn't think I had
access to that world but my first introduction to performance was through
music
Republican 77090 evil you know probably had a similar kind of traitor you know
what it meant to to get out there and make a noise and i enjoyed the idea that
you could express your opinion to a lot of the people lot of people and
and ironically I don't ignore all of that went off and studied law which you
both did that law is a great catalyst was hoping you'd understand what you
really want
seen your work I would I would have thought maybe would have assumed some
maybe simplistically that there would be at that there was a very strong vision
that you would come into the rehearsal room with and to some extent want to be
leading the actors toward that but is that not how you work or does it depend
on Thurs may be spent on aids but I try to work on it but once in my life but
he's very he's very he's you know as a man he's very astute he kind of
understands that you tell somebody something it's totally different from
allowing them to find it themselves i mean we fought even on a lot of things
in the rehearsal room you know we wore shoes would you leave behind shoes and
after about a week we should all take off our shoes and we all went well you
mean take off my shoes i would we take off our shoes and we know we had a day
or two of rebelling against that and now we didn't even think about why didn't
you
you want to take up the issue when I didn't play with me taken off Broadway
shoes it didn't occur to me that you could perform without you of course now
I don't play with mark where you just unreservedly enthusiastic about taking
on the role of it he or did you have any hesitations for to play great part but
no I was looking at a pilot movie scripts I've been doing movies for 12
years and for the last play I did was done on companion 1291 company did both
played the Bridgeport was called the bridge project then but it was Sam
Mendes directed it was fascinating because obviously the the parts relate
to one another both players and it was a wonderful exercise we did it and it was
such a wonderful production I thought how do you follow that what do you do
now so suddenly the movies came calling a night I got involved with those twelve
years later there's a pilot movie scripts and I'm reading them and in
there is a view from the bridge and to be honest it was reading and the
character was incredibly fascinating and I just realized I had to do it so there
was there was no qualms about doing it I was in Cydia is it a while since you've
been on stage I said we're about six years and they said no it's twelve years
so the time just kind of goes past but what's marvelous about Miller interests
with reference to your question is how he can make these tiny little microcosm
of stories so epic the question of you know what is what is the purpose of our
in our lives is a really valid what I think why do people go into a dark room
switch the lights off watch a group of people pretending to be other people
what is that about why we why we still doing that couple of thousand years
after the Greeks decided it was a good idea