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>>Man: It's the last Bohemian area around left for the artists here
>>Q: Yeah? Hiya John, how are you? >>John Voight: How are you?
>>Good. I'm talking to Louie. He's telling me about the neighborhood here.
Hey, you're from the 'Lonesome Cowboy' movie.
He's from 'The Midnight Cowboy' movie! Huh? What a natural!
You got a story working here, you two. [laughter]
How about giving me a tour of the theater you've got going here?
>>I will >>Alright, great Thanks, Louie >>Good to see you
>>Back to work? >>Louie: Yeah, I'll see you later, alright? >>Okay
>>Voight: [indistinct] Wonderful fellow! >>Yeah
>>Oh, this is much better.
Come on in.
We can have a seat down here if you'd like. >>Thanks. Sure.
Tell me a little bit about this production and the folks who are involved in it, Jon.
>>Well, it's a play by Julian Barry >>Mm-hmm
>>and uh, and it's a play that I had read, and I kind of fell in love with.
>>You're actually involved in the building of the sets, I understand?
You're hammering nails, sawing or what have you?
>>Actually, when I started, when I was in grammar school and high school,
I used to design sets
because I was, I was an artist. I was the artistic one in the family
and I was the painter and I'd build sets and design them
and at one point along the line, several times in my young life,
I was asked to get, you know, say,
well, would you do, since you're here, would you do this part?
And then I stepped in front of the set
and eventually I just got comfortable there
so this is a bit of a return for me >>Mm-hmm
>>although, I must say, I wouldn't have been able to do it without
James Eric, who designed, not only this theater, but the theater for
the Cassavetes pieces and the stage for that and the Matrix Theaters.
>>As I understand it, you folks are all doing this without pay.
Is this a labor of love?
>>Everyone who's here is working without pay,
the producers and the
the people who worked on the set, put the lights together, all of us.
It's a very complicated, complex play, has a lot of video in it,
lots of technical stuff to answer, and so it's a difficult play. It's very ambitious.
>>What problems have you encountered as a director?
>>As a director, I think that the one thing I've learned most is
the idea of patience and thoroughness
is so important for a director and
and it's,
and I realized so, I realized, realized how
knowing how fragile the actors are because I've been one myself,
I know that I have to speak to them in, you know, in very clear terms
and in as few words as possible, usually.
That's usually the best way. And I find myself, being an actor,
wanting to get up and act a bit and
fool with it in my own way
and I have to be very careful not to take,
take away the,
you know, the energy of the actor and his imagination.
[sound from rehearsal] >>Voight: Not bad, very charming!
>>Q: John, did you have a mentor in your career,
a director who might be considered a mentor?
>>Voight: I think I've had quite a few mentors at different times
I remember there was a,
my first director
was my mother pulling the curtain for a show when I was in fifth grade
[laughter]
and she was a pretty good director, actually
she stayed out of my way, gave me encouragement and
did a lot of the, you know, just was there >>Mm-hmm
>>and there was a fellow in high school that was a terrific director and
and then all my professional directors have been wonderful.
>>How does Jon Voight, the actor, differ from John Voight, the director?
>>Jon Voight, the actor, is much taller.
>>Ahh >>Jon, the director, is a short fellow and [laughter]
cowards in the corner >>Yeah
>>screams a lot
I think as an actor I,
when I'm good, I'm staying in character most of the time
I'm relaxing. I'm checking myself out emotionally a lot
and I'm staying in a, in a kind of a,
a very high sensibility state, you know,
watching for the things that only relate to my character. I'm feeding off that.
As a director I find that I have to protect,
I'm the, like a warrior protecting that space for my actors.
If I'm good at it, I stay away from them when they're in that space
and I encourage them to get to that space.
[rehearsal sound] >>Voight: Say your goodbyes
>>Actor: Okay uh >>Okay
Go ahead, come on, say your goodbyes.
>>Okay, we don't have to
[indistinct]
>>Voight [narration]: It's a position of trying to give that,
trying to give something to the actors that, that
so that they can move beyond my control,
you know, to set up a structure so they can fly a bit.
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