Sad to hear of the death of Treat Williams at 71, from a motorcycle accident in Vermont. I interviewed him in 1986 for Caught in the Act: New York Actors Face to Face, a collaboration with Susan Shacter, who took the most beautiful and sexy portrait of this guy that I’ve ever seen. (A print of it hangs in my hallway art gallery.) When I met him, his hair was just starting to grow out after he shaved his head to play Ernest Hemingway for a movie that never happened. The first thing he did when I arrived for the interview was invite me to run my hand over his buzzcut, which did indeed feel very soft and lovely and, you know, flirtatious all at the same time.
I just posted on my writing archive the interview as it appeared in the book. My favorite passage:
Do you mind auditioning for roles?
I don’t mind if I’m not being taken advantage of, if they’re really unsure. Nothing’s handed to you. The only things that come easily are the things you’ve already shown you’re capable of doing. In life, you have to struggle to get what you want.
But there are other uses for auditions besides seeing if you’re right for the role. The reason you have so many meetings on a movie is often just to see if you’re emotionally compatible with the director. After all, you’ll be working together five or six months, up to fourteen hours a day.
How do you determine if you’re compatible?
First you see their work. Then you meet them. If you go to dinner with someone you’ve never met, and he starts slapping you on the back and calling you “baby,” something’s wrong. You’re interested in their approach to the work. You’re interested in the unspoken – Is he clearheaded? Is he abusive? Is he a drunk? Will he let me take chances? Will he let me use my sense of humor? Will he force me to play the character the way he sees it? Does he have a discerning eye, or will he edit out the good stuff? Does he know what kind of movie he wants to make, or is he just making a movie? None of those things are talked about, but they’re all going on.
another eye opens 