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Interview with Actor Richard Chamberlain
Richard Chamberlain at FLIFF
Interview By Rachel Galvin
(More celeb interviews soon)
I had the chance to sit down today with the legendary actor at the Courtyard Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale (440 Seabreeze Bl.). Looking unassuming, he sat down, half-eaten peanut butter cookie in hand.
I told him it was evident that he took the craft very seriously. He agreed. "I had a method coach. But I was shy at the time. I was brought up to be an All-American boy. It took awhile to loosen me up. As Dr. Kildaire, I was working constantly for five years. People didn't want me to change."
Chamberlain went to England in 1968 to study acting and started working for the BBC right away. Every time he tried to study, he got more work and coudn't study. "I got on the job training," he said.
He said the most important lesson he learned in acting was to have no holds barred discipline. Even though he had a method coach, he said that everything you need as an actor comes from the script ..."That is what I rely on most," he said.
He enjoys the independent genre. "It is more intimate, quicker to make and the stories deal with more complicated emotions."
It appears that one thing he doesn't care for is Improv based films. "When I was on the set of 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,' it seemed to be improvised on the spot. They said I would be directed by Adam Sandler and (several others). It seemed a lot looser than I was used to. I prefer a more thought out, less improvised script."
His favorite project? Surprisingly, it is a play he was in called "Fathers & Son," which was shown at public theater in NY & also in LA. He played Wild Bill Hickock opposite Dixie Carter as Calamity Jane. "Dixie and I had such wonderful chemistry. It was set in a Western bar ... it was another kind of Shakespeare," he mused.
What would he like to be in? "I try to be in as many parts as possible ... probably something really funny and extravagant."
Is there anyone he hasn't worked with that he would like to? "Helen Mirren. I would pay her!" he added.
On working with Paul Neman: "Paul is such a great guy but with dark moods. He is so present, so engaging. (In "Towering Inferno"), he would get into an argument with the director and then the director would yell 'scene' and they would start filming. I realized then that it was a technique they used to get him fired up emotionally before doing the scene.
Paul was a wonderful man. He raised $250 million for charity. He would really go to the camps ... he was a hands-on philanthropist.
On working with Barbara Stanwyck"She was a fabulous person to work with, a consumate professional. She arrived at the set at 4:30 every morning to get a cup of coffee and hang out with the crew before shooting. At the first read through, she had every look, very line memorized. She asked the camera man (regarding her looks), will you see it if I do this? You'll notice she is very careful when she gives you her eyes. We would do something several times and every time she would be exactly the same yet brand new every time."
Interview By Rachel Galvin
(More celeb interviews soon)
I had the chance to sit down today with the legendary actor at the Courtyard Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale (440 Seabreeze Bl.). Looking unassuming, he sat down, half-eaten peanut butter cookie in hand.
I told him it was evident that he took the craft very seriously. He agreed. "I had a method coach. But I was shy at the time. I was brought up to be an All-American boy. It took awhile to loosen me up. As Dr. Kildaire, I was working constantly for five years. People didn't want me to change."
Chamberlain went to England in 1968 to study acting and started working for the BBC right away. Every time he tried to study, he got more work and coudn't study. "I got on the job training," he said.
He said the most important lesson he learned in acting was to have no holds barred discipline. Even though he had a method coach, he said that everything you need as an actor comes from the script ..."That is what I rely on most," he said.
He enjoys the independent genre. "It is more intimate, quicker to make and the stories deal with more complicated emotions."
It appears that one thing he doesn't care for is Improv based films. "When I was on the set of 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,' it seemed to be improvised on the spot. They said I would be directed by Adam Sandler and (several others). It seemed a lot looser than I was used to. I prefer a more thought out, less improvised script."
His favorite project? Surprisingly, it is a play he was in called "Fathers & Son," which was shown at public theater in NY & also in LA. He played Wild Bill Hickock opposite Dixie Carter as Calamity Jane. "Dixie and I had such wonderful chemistry. It was set in a Western bar ... it was another kind of Shakespeare," he mused.
What would he like to be in? "I try to be in as many parts as possible ... probably something really funny and extravagant."
Is there anyone he hasn't worked with that he would like to? "Helen Mirren. I would pay her!" he added.
On working with Paul Neman: "Paul is such a great guy but with dark moods. He is so present, so engaging. (In "Towering Inferno"), he would get into an argument with the director and then the director would yell 'scene' and they would start filming. I realized then that it was a technique they used to get him fired up emotionally before doing the scene.
Paul was a wonderful man. He raised $250 million for charity. He would really go to the camps ... he was a hands-on philanthropist.
On working with Barbara Stanwyck"She was a fabulous person to work with, a consumate professional. She arrived at the set at 4:30 every morning to get a cup of coffee and hang out with the crew before shooting. At the first read through, she had every look, very line memorized. She asked the camera man (regarding her looks), will you see it if I do this? You'll notice she is very careful when she gives you her eyes. We would do something several times and every time she would be exactly the same yet brand new every time."
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