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Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the

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Speaker 1: Thing from iHeart Radio. Throughout movie history, there have been

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Speaker 1: many talented couples famous for acting together on screen Bogie

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Speaker 1: and Bacall, Newman and Woodward, Burton and Taylor, but one

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Speaker 1: couple occupies a singular place in the show business pantheon.

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Speaker 1: Eli Wallack and Anne Jackson. The couple met during a

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Speaker 1: nineteen forty six production of Tennessee Williams This Property Is Condemned,

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Speaker 1: and went on to star together on and off Broadway.

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Speaker 1: Eli Wallack's legendary movie career includes films like The Good,

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Speaker 1: The Bad and the Ugly, The Misfits, and The Godfather

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Speaker 1: Part Three. Anne Jackson can be found in movies like

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Speaker 1: Lovers and Other Strangers and The Shining. They were also

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Speaker 1: early members of the famed Actors Studio. As part of

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Speaker 1: our ongoing series to commemorate the seventy fifth anniversary of

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Speaker 1: the Actor's Studio, we are celebrating those responsible for its success,

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Speaker 1: which includes Jackson and Wallack. My guests today are two

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Speaker 1: of this illustrious acting couple's children, Roberta and Katherine Wallack.

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Speaker 1: The Wallack sisters grew up surrounded by theatre royalty, Alpaccino, Hume,

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Speaker 1: Cronen actors, studio director Lee Strasburg. Even their babysitter was famous.

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Speaker 1: Her name is Marilyn Monroe. The siblings would go on

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Speaker 1: to become actors in their own right, members of the studio,

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Speaker 1: and eventually sit on its Board of Directors. Later in

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Speaker 1: the episode, I'll speak to Drama Desk nominee Roberta. Wallack,

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Speaker 1: But first, Katherine Wallack is known for her numerous theater

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Speaker 1: credits and appearances in Scorsese films like Goodfellas, The King

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Speaker 1: of Comedy, and Gangs of New York. But the creativity

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Speaker 1: gene doesn't stop there. She's also a jewelry designer. Since

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Speaker 1: Wallach was raised in such an abundantly artistic household, I

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Speaker 1: wanted to know what life was like at home behind

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Speaker 1: the scenes for her mother.

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Speaker 2: It was tough for her because right off the bat

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Speaker 2: he wanted to be the show stopper.

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Speaker 1: For sure.

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Speaker 2: She was offered a role as I forgot the wife's

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Speaker 2: name in The Honeymooners, Audrey Meadows, that's right, you know

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Speaker 2: that story, And she ended up giving it up so

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Speaker 2: she could kind of be a mother and an actor

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Speaker 2: in New York, so she kind of gave up this

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Speaker 2: huge opportunity to be with Jackie Gleason and Hrywood. Anyway,

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Speaker 2: the way that it worked is that we had one apartment,

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Speaker 2: went to the same school, except for two years we.

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Speaker 3: Lived in London.

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Speaker 2: We had a nanny and that was the saving grace

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Speaker 2: of both my parents and their occupation. Why London, because

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Speaker 2: they did a Maurice ciscal play called Love there and

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Speaker 2: we ended up getting put into taken out of ethical

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Speaker 2: culture on Central Park West and we got put into

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Speaker 2: this school that was the absolute polar opposite, with uniforms

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Speaker 2: and curtsying and standing up to know your times tables

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Speaker 2: and it was extremely cruel in London, yes, and closed

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Speaker 2: for cruelty to children eventually. Oh yeah. So we lived

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Speaker 2: in England for two years. But other than that same apartment,

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Speaker 2: my entire life West Side eighty first and Riverside, same school.

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Speaker 2: You know, very dad was like military in his behavior.

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Speaker 1: But does she do less with her career because she's

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Speaker 1: a mom?

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Speaker 2: No, I don't think so, No, really no, I mean

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Speaker 2: she didn't go into film as much, but she worked

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Speaker 2: just as hard at.

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Speaker 4: Theater and they did a lot of theater together, right.

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Speaker 2: That was kind of their you know, calling card was

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Speaker 2: They used to joke about how they got paid to fight.

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Speaker 3: Eight shows weak.

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Speaker 4: No, she didn't, and she wrote a book.

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Speaker 2: She was writing another book, as you know, later in life,

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Speaker 2: which never got finished, sadly, which was about being a mother,

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Speaker 2: an actress, and a wife actually, And I would love

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Speaker 2: to read those notes there at the Harry Ransom Center

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Speaker 2: right now.

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Speaker 1: When he did, he travel a lot, He was gone

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Speaker 1: a lot working, He was gone a lot, and you

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Speaker 1: didn't go with him when.

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Speaker 2: We could in the summers you could, yeah, but.

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Speaker 1: During the school year, your mother wanted you to have

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Speaker 1: a normal life, that's right. And he would leave and

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Speaker 1: which she would work while.

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Speaker 2: He was gone sometimes sometimes, but no, for the most part,

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Speaker 2: she was hanging with us, or she would go and

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Speaker 2: hang with him, and we would be home with the

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Speaker 2: with Nelly, who's a gap toothed woman from North Carolina,

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Speaker 2: and I thought she was my mother.

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Speaker 1: I have this very romanticized view of your parents right

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Speaker 1: where they're sitting there at the dinner table and you're there,

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Speaker 1: the two girls are there, your brother and family, friends

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Speaker 1: and associates, and your father's talking all about what it

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Speaker 1: was like shooting with O'Toole and what it was, and

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Speaker 1: your mother's talking about shooting with Like did they regale

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Speaker 1: you with stories of show business or they didn't give

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Speaker 1: a shit about that.

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Speaker 2: Now when their friends were over, they did, they did.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, but for.

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Speaker 2: The most part, I mean it was kind of strict

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Speaker 2: around the table in what way. Well, dad was kind

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Speaker 2: of strict, you know till I was eighteen. I kind

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Speaker 2: of put him in his place once, but you know,

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Speaker 2: we had table manners and had to raise your hand.

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Speaker 2: Can I be excused? I mean stuff that you do

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Speaker 2: not see no nowadays, you know what I'm saying. And

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Speaker 2: recently a friend from high school said, oh, yeah, I

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Speaker 2: was afraid to go to your house.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, because my dad was like a dinner

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Speaker 1: at our house resembles a production of One Flew Over

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Speaker 1: the Cuckoo's Nets. Yeah, yeah, my dinner at my house

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Speaker 1: is very different.

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Speaker 2: Well, we had also screaming and get up and slam

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Speaker 2: a door, and we're just like, hey, you know, life

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Speaker 2: is normal. I mean theatrics going on, my mother crying,

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Speaker 2: no tears coming down, you know, and like door slam

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Speaker 2: one time she slammed, he slammed himself in the bedroom

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Speaker 2: and then it got locked and he couldn't get out,

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Speaker 2: and it gave him a bull in there, and so she

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Speaker 2: went and got the super and when they finally got about,

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Speaker 2: he went to like a movie they wanted sea together

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Speaker 2: and just slammed the door at the front door of

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Speaker 2: the apartment like I'm out of here, you know, fuck you.

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Speaker 2: But he had a really bad temperament.

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Speaker 1: He did. Oh really he did.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: He would also like show up at the door wearing

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Speaker 2: a wig and an apron. I mean he was crazy,

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Speaker 2: you know, he was great. He was the best, a

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Speaker 2: man of my dream. Seriously, I loved my dad more

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Speaker 2: than anything.

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Speaker 1: Did he come from a family where show business was

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Speaker 1: in his family?

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Speaker 3: No?

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Speaker 2: No, they came from Poland full on. They owned a

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Speaker 2: candy store in Brooklyn, had no money, all of them

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Speaker 2: very easy, yes, his family, very easy, low key people.

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Speaker 2: They all went off to become teachers, his sisters and brothers.

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Speaker 2: His brother Sam was my mother's high school teacher.

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Speaker 1: And what was the thing in him coming from a

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Speaker 1: certain kind of family with their passions and stuff and

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Speaker 1: their goals. What do you think it was that launched

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Speaker 1: him into show business?

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Speaker 2: I think from what my memory brings me is he

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Speaker 2: they grew up like with one of those I forgot

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Speaker 2: what they call them in the candy store where the

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Speaker 2: pictures flip. You put a coin in and it's like

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Speaker 2: a little movie, right, And I think because his dad

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Speaker 2: was pretty strict abe, you know, Polish, very whatever, Jewish school,

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Speaker 2: old school, he would run away sometimes from school and

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Speaker 2: like put money from the register in this little movie

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Speaker 2: thing and just watch these movies over and over and

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Speaker 2: it was his.

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Speaker 4: Escape, I guess fantasy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Now you're a member of the studio. Your sister's

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Speaker 1: a member of the studio. You're both on the board

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Speaker 1: of directors of the studio. And what's your recollection of that,

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Speaker 1: meaning their respective participation in the studio. Your mother was

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Speaker 1: a member as well. Yes, So do you have any

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Speaker 1: recollection of Lee and what Lee was to your dad

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Speaker 1: and your mom?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I do.

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Speaker 4: I was pretty young.

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Speaker 2: I'm not that much younger, Birti's three years older than me,

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Speaker 2: but and she was a student of Lee's. I was not,

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Speaker 2: but I remember we used to go at a very

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Speaker 2: young age. We used to go to Lee's house for

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Speaker 2: passover and there'd be like this really cute guy leaning

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Speaker 2: against a bookcase and that was alphag No or you know,

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Speaker 2: I didn't know. I thought he was my grandfather. I

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Speaker 2: didn't get it. I didn't know who he was. Roberta's

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Speaker 2: middle name is Lee, so I'm like, oh, it's grand

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Speaker 2: that I got another grandfather, because I only met one grandparent.

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Speaker 2: So we would go there and we would look for

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Speaker 2: the matza, and then he would give us a silver

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Speaker 2: dollar if you found the Matzeigman. It was a very

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Speaker 2: big celebration with all these people and very kind of

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Speaker 2: happy Jewish situation that I really didn't understand that well.

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Speaker 2: And then my other memories were at the studio itself

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Speaker 2: watching Lee moderate and thinking, you know, he had an

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Speaker 2: egg timer. For example, Frances Fisher would be up there

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Speaker 2: and she'd take her shirt off and he'd be like, oh,

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Speaker 2: that was wonderful.

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Speaker 4: Dear, that was wonderful.

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Speaker 2: I was like, Wow, you know, this is the big

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Speaker 2: guy behind the Wizard of Oz, behind the curtain.

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Speaker 1: And you didn't get it.

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Speaker 3: No, I didn't get it.

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Speaker 4: He seemed charming.

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Speaker 3: I liked him.

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Speaker 2: He was an old dude and he had once in

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Speaker 2: a while he had some cool shit to say.

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Speaker 3: But I was like, that's interesting.

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Speaker 2: You know whereas like Hume Cronin, Jessica Tandy, these people

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Speaker 2: being around you know, George c. Scott and Colleen and

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Speaker 2: those people, or Paul and Joann, those people had vibes,

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Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. Being around those kind of

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Speaker 2: friends or what would you call them, colleagues, colleagues, those people,

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Speaker 2: I would feel the kind of gig young I remember,

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Speaker 2: you know, I remember some people that really impressed me.

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Speaker 1: Now, how would you say, because obviously you have this

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Speaker 1: very serious business making jewelry, and you've been doing it

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Speaker 1: for quite a while successfully, and I'm wondering was that

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Speaker 1: something that you discovered, as many of us discovered, something

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Speaker 1: to fill in those gaps of the average acting career

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Speaker 1: where you're not always working as much as you want to.

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Speaker 1: You sit there, go I got to do something.

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Speaker 2: I would say yes, except for that, I'm one of

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Speaker 2: those people that has to express myself artistically. I did

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Speaker 2: all the flowers for all the weddings of my nephews,

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Speaker 2: I designed my flowers, I catered for years, I tap danced,

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Speaker 2: I was in a band. I mean, I have to

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Speaker 2: constantly express So the thing that happened with the jewelry

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Speaker 2: was when I was a kid. We went down to

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Speaker 2: visit a friend of my dad's who is a not

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Speaker 2: a friend relative, who had a bead factory on thirty

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Speaker 2: eighth Street, and they let me go rampant in the

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Speaker 2: basement and I went insane, and I was starting a

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Speaker 2: string beads. And so from a very young age. It's

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Speaker 2: also a family business. There's Wallack jewelry. I mean, it's like,

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Speaker 2: that's not mine, you.

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Speaker 4: Know, So it was just it's just a way of

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Speaker 4: which I.

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Speaker 2: Mean, there's pictures of me at six selling in the

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Speaker 2: Hamptons on a towel in front of our house, you know.

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Speaker 2: And but I guess at thirty, really I'm sixty almost five,

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Speaker 2: so at thirty as.

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Speaker 1: One, so the creative impulse to make the jewelry superseded

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Speaker 1: way before acting career.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I got my SAG card when I

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Speaker 2: was seven in a film with my parents, which one

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Speaker 2: Murray Ciskell Tiger makes out.

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Speaker 4: It was the typeist in the Tiger movie.

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Speaker 2: Version, right, And then you know I was not born

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Speaker 2: to be an actress. My sister, I think felt that way.

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Speaker 1: How would you describe your path as an actress?

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Speaker 4: Oh, I kind of was like, well, I guess it's

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Speaker 4: in my bone.

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Speaker 3: You know, I should check it out.

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Speaker 2: And I do things in that way, you know, which

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Speaker 2: I guess is annoying to some people. But I once

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Speaker 2: I for example, we were in Diary Van Frank and

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Speaker 2: I said, look, don't put me in this if I suck,

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Speaker 2: you know. The director said, I'm not putting you in

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Speaker 2: if you suck. So I think I was smoking pot

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Speaker 2: in the attic between acts and the girl who is

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Speaker 2: my sister's understudy, said, Okay, do you really want to

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Speaker 2: do this? Do you really want to be an actress?

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Speaker 2: I said, oh, yes, definitely. It was so high, and

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Speaker 2: so she took me and she called Bill Esper and

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Speaker 2: said that said, I'm enrolling you, and you know, I'm

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Speaker 2: getting you into this class. And for two years I

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Speaker 2: studied Sandy Meisner technique with Bill Asper, and you know

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Speaker 2: it went from there. I moved to Hollywood for four

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Speaker 2: or five years and ended up catering vegan food to

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Speaker 2: hippies on Melrose and you know, whatever the hell I

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Speaker 2: was doing feeding meters and I did some really bad

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Speaker 2: TV shows the thing in my gap and curled hair

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Speaker 2: and fake tits, and I.

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Speaker 4: Said, no, this is not right. Why are they making

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Speaker 4: me look like everybody else?

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Speaker 2: So they came back to New York and I did

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Speaker 2: some plays and started kind of that's when I got

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Speaker 2: into the studio. I think in nine and eighty nine

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Speaker 2: or eighty five or something, I became a member, and

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Speaker 2: you know, just kind.

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Speaker 4: Of like took it easy because it's a hard belise.

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Speaker 1: Knowing as you did that you had your cynicism about

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Speaker 1: Strasburg himself. What becomes the lure of the studio? Why

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Speaker 1: do you want to go to the studio?

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Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean I think

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Speaker 2: it's just the feeling of that it meant so much

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Speaker 2: to my folks and had so much to do with

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Speaker 2: their foundation and their sanctuary, and so I thought, Okay,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to see what this is all about. And

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Speaker 2: even in the beginning, when I was in my twenties

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Speaker 2: and I'm like, I'm just doing some scenes with people

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Speaker 2: that were doing some stuff.

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Speaker 3: I was like, what the fuck are you doing?

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Speaker 2: You know? But then again, there is there's a way

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Speaker 2: that the work is done there that is like no

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Speaker 2: other place on the earth. When it works, when it

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Speaker 2: works and when to something yes, and when people are

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Speaker 2: brave enough literally brave enough to go there and not

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Speaker 2: get up there and do what they're good at. You know,

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Speaker 2: I'm going up tomorrow with one day notice, and I

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Speaker 2: Am not going to do what I'm good at. My

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Speaker 2: instinct is to get up there and you know, do

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Speaker 2: my thing, you know, my shtick. But I wrote bow

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Speaker 2: back actually and said no.

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Speaker 1: No.

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Speaker 2: He said, thank you so much. You know, you're so brave.

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Speaker 2: I said, either brave or crazy. I said, I'm going

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Speaker 2: there because I want to learn. I never want to

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Speaker 2: stop learning. And that's what my folks taught me. Is

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Speaker 2: like even into the nineties, you know, like before he

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Speaker 2: really went into dementia land, you know, he was still

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Speaker 2: trying to work and learn and you know, pitch himself.

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Speaker 4: To directors and shit.

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Speaker 2: He famously wrote a letter to Scorsese saying I want

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Speaker 2: to be in one of your films, and Scorsese apparently

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Speaker 2: thought it was a lie until he saw that he

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Speaker 2: mentioned Cis Corman, so he realized, oh, you know, they

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Speaker 2: maybe this is really like maybe in Stationary, you know

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Speaker 2: what I mean. Like he really wrote a letter to

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Speaker 2: him saying, one of my bucket list things is I

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Speaker 2: want to work with you.

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Speaker 1: Actor's studio member Catherine Wallack. If you love conversations about

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Speaker 1: the craft of acting, be sure to check out my

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Speaker 1: episode with another Actor's Studio board member, the late Patricia Bosworth.

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Speaker 1: Do you speak to Brando much for the book?

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Speaker 5: No, I didn't speak to him at all. I only

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Speaker 5: met him once at the Actor's Studio. I called him

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Speaker 5: on the phone. He wanted to talk to me, originally

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Speaker 5: because he wanted to talk about Kazan, and he actually

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Speaker 5: wrote me a letter that he would talk to me,

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Speaker 5: but then he decided not to and I really became

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Speaker 5: so frustrated. I kept calling him and calling, and finally

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Speaker 5: somebody said, why don't you call his dog.

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Speaker 4: Alec.

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Speaker 5: I did listen to this. I faxed, dear Fido, I

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Speaker 5: want to speak to your master. Within seconds, the facts

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Speaker 5: came back saying my master does not want to talk

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Speaker 5: to you, and signed with two paw prints. This was

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Speaker 5: Brando answering me.

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Speaker 1: Hear more of my conversation with Patricia Bosworth at Here'sthething

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Speaker 1: dot Org. After the break, Katherine Wallack tells us how

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Speaker 1: the Actor's Studio has changed in her lifetime, and later

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Speaker 1: Roberta Wallack shares her experience starring alongside Joanne Woodward and

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Speaker 1: being directed by none other than Paul Newman. While still

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Speaker 1: in high school. I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to

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Speaker 1: Here's the Thing. Actors Studio board member Katherine Wallack made

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Speaker 1: her film debut at age six. She would go on

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Speaker 1: to perform and stand out plays like The Beauty Queen

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Speaker 1: of Lennon, The Walls of the Torreats, and Awake and Sing.

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Speaker 1: I was curious what life in the theater was like

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Speaker 1: coming up as a child of one of America's great

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Speaker 1: acting dynasties.

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Speaker 2: Well, we acted a lot together, which was such a joy,

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Speaker 2: all four of us. We did The Flowering Peach directed

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Speaker 2: by Bobby Lewis. We did a tour directed of Wilson,

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Speaker 2: The Toyers directed by Brian Murray who was an actor,

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Speaker 2: he wasn't a director at the time. We did dire

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Speaker 2: Van Frank directed by Marty Freed. So you know, we

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Speaker 2: we would like kind of go the Flying Walendos, would.

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Speaker 3: Like go on the road.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: It was awesome and I think they pretty much took

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Speaker 2: me often to get me away from my.

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Speaker 3: New York pot smoking ways. You know, we had.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I was Yeah, were you the troubled child?

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Speaker 6: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, So.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how you work in the theater were

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Speaker 1: smoking pot. I did the the Orton play Loot. It

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Speaker 1: was my Broadway debut, as they say, and I did

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Speaker 1: the play with Joe Mahara and Jelcob Ivanic and so

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Speaker 1: we want to make her and Charlie Keating played the husband,

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Speaker 1: and my dressing room was above his, and during the half,

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Speaker 1: Charlie Keating would smoke an enormous joint and the smoke

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Speaker 1: would go up out his window, up the alleyway and

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Speaker 1: go in my window of my room. I could smell

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Speaker 1: the wheel. Because his character was supposed to make an

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Speaker 1: entrance disheveled having been in a car crash, and he

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Speaker 1: enters disheveled in a mess and chaotic and shop. He

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Speaker 1: would smoke pot in his room and then they would

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Speaker 1: we would do the second half, and he'd walk out

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Speaker 1: and go, oh my god, he awful action on the road.

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Speaker 1: And he was like wasted, And I thought, how the

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Speaker 1: fuck do you act waste?

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Speaker 3: I have no idea.

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Speaker 2: I can't I mean except for like when we were

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Speaker 2: in Dire around Frank and Tony Holland would say, bring

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Speaker 2: on the dancing girls. When the Nazis would come and

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Speaker 2: bang the door down, I mean, and I'm trying not

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Speaker 2: to laugh, you know.

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Speaker 4: Anyway, after that, I swiftly.

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Speaker 2: Got my ass to class and stop smoking about I

372
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Speaker 2: can't even smell it now, funny, really like, I really

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Speaker 2: don't like the smell of it.

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Speaker 1: Do you hate it? Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Kind of smoke? Since I'm thirty?

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Speaker 1: What's the last job you did? What's the last show

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Speaker 1: you did?

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00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,680
Speaker 2: I did two films during COVID that have now been

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Speaker 2: written in from shorts to feature, and they kept me

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Speaker 2: in my role. So we're about to shoot the you are, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm excited.

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Speaker 1: Do you still like what you're feeling about acting now?

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Speaker 1: How do you you still enjoy it?

384
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Speaker 4: I absolutely love doing it?

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Speaker 1: You do? Yeah? You're in and out of the studio

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Speaker 1: when you're younger, and your parents, of course are members

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Speaker 1: of the studio. How's it changed in your leftome.

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00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:35,440
Speaker 2: Well, back in those days, there was working working actors,

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Speaker 2: and there was not the school filtering students coming in there.

390
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,439
Speaker 2: Weren't you know, this kind of influx of all different

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Speaker 2: levels of.

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Speaker 1: No relationship with the MFA program.

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Speaker 2: Right, So there was like a very high standard. There

394
00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:52,800
Speaker 2: was also kind of a looser attitude about when you

395
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Speaker 2: could rehearse and go in. We all had keys. You

396
00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,760
Speaker 2: could spend the night there if you stuck, which I

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Speaker 2: have many times. You know, there was a very different

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Speaker 2: kind of vibe. And I was the little one, you know,

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Speaker 2: I was one of the few younger ones at the.

400
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Speaker 1: Bohemian, Yeah, you know.

401
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,600
Speaker 2: And I took me three times to get in, and

402
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Speaker 2: by the time I got in, I did Sidney Kingsley's

403
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,440
Speaker 2: dead End, you know. And by the time I got

404
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:16,800
Speaker 2: in they called me to tell me. I was like,

405
00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,960
Speaker 2: oh yeah, okay, fine and click. Because they put me

406
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,160
Speaker 2: through some major hoops to become a member, which was fine.

407
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,800
Speaker 2: I didn't want any special treatment. I get actually offended

408
00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,679
Speaker 2: when during moderation in a scene where, you know, during session,

409
00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:33,040
Speaker 2: people bring up my parents and I'm like, why.

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00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:35,359
Speaker 3: Didn't you bring up Joe's parents? Huh? You know, I mean,

411
00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:37,000
Speaker 3: could you just get me break? Now?

412
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,639
Speaker 2: You really have to find that underlying thread, You really

413
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:45,119
Speaker 2: have to find that kind of old school connection because

414
00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,119
Speaker 2: there's so many different energies going on there now. But

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00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:50,920
Speaker 2: you know, people that diss it and don't come and

416
00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:52,840
Speaker 2: I just say, you know, it is what you make it,

417
00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,480
Speaker 2: and I don't have a huge career right now, so

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00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,320
Speaker 2: it is my way of expressing, being able to express

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Speaker 2: on the stage, and I cherish that. I mean, I'm

420
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Speaker 2: really lucky, you know. I see movies and plays the

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Speaker 2: other day everybody stands up and yells bravo. My father

422
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 2: used to get so pissed when people stand up and

423
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Speaker 2: yell bravo just because they saw play.

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Speaker 1: It's funny how your dad, who I worship, you know,

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Speaker 1: the mark of a truly great film actor, to me

426
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Speaker 1: is just the indelibility of these lines of theirs. Your

427
00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,879
Speaker 1: father comes from a school, which I don't think he

428
00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,080
Speaker 1: would claim to be a member of this school, but

429
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Speaker 1: I kind of recognize a school of people which is

430
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Speaker 1: just be the best thing in the movie. Doesn't matter

431
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 1: how big your part is, just be memorable in the

432
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,480
Speaker 1: movie of your truthfulness. Your parents' legacy, what would you

433
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:42,680
Speaker 1: hope their legacy.

434
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Speaker 2: Is that they were so in love with each other

435
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:51,120
Speaker 2: and that they worked together so well. The respect I mean,

436
00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,120
Speaker 2: my father. If my mother said this was an umbrella,

437
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,000
Speaker 2: my father would say, your mother said, that's an umbrella.

438
00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:01,880
Speaker 2: That's an umbrella. You know, devotion, devotion, artistic respect, and love.

439
00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,399
Speaker 2: I mean that that would be you know what I

440
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,600
Speaker 2: would say, And they they really did their best at

441
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:11,240
Speaker 2: raising as normal if you could call us that healthy

442
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,120
Speaker 2: non involved in the hole. You know, they kept us accountable.

443
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,320
Speaker 2: And they also at the same time, like Dad was

444
00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:20,560
Speaker 2: more proud of me making you know, ninety grand as

445
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,919
Speaker 2: a rep for an eyework company than he was if

446
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,640
Speaker 2: I was acting. Absolutely, he was like so much more

447
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,520
Speaker 2: proud of it. But yeah, I think it was.

448
00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 1: It was like interesting you mentioned that the legacy is

449
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:31,639
Speaker 1: their relationship.

450
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it is. That's amazing because nowadays, like

451
00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,520
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, there were so few of them

452
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,800
Speaker 2: that that work together as much as my folks. They

453
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,679
Speaker 2: really did, you know, always, especially you don't see it now,

454
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:46,920
Speaker 2: And as they got older, you know, they would write,

455
00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,960
Speaker 2: they would do poetry performances and all sorts of churches

456
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 2: and smaller theaters around New York. My father did student films.

457
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,360
Speaker 2: He and I worked together at the studio. We did

458
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:58,280
Speaker 2: Moon for the Misbegotten. I played Josie. Here he comes

459
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,679
Speaker 2: walking down the aisle. I'm like, that's Eli Wallack walking

460
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:02,359
Speaker 2: gumme oile.

461
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,639
Speaker 3: It was unbelievable, you know.

462
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,919
Speaker 2: After by the way, we stopped and Stephen Lang was

463
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,000
Speaker 2: the moderator, and Dad said, hey, can we try it again?

464
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 2: And then he goes, yeah, go ahead, and we did

465
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,040
Speaker 2: it again with the notes they gave us.

466
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,400
Speaker 4: Can we do it again? He was like eighty something,

467
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,560
Speaker 4: you know, like that's beautiful.

468
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:29,880
Speaker 1: Actress and designer Catherine Wallack my next guest. Roberta Wallack

469
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:33,680
Speaker 1: is known for her work on stage and screen, including

470
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:38,639
Speaker 1: her drama Desk nominated performance in The Model Apartments. She

471
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,240
Speaker 1: made her film debut while still in high school in

472
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: the Effect of Gamma rays on Man in the Moon Maragos.

473
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:50,200
Speaker 1: Since Anne Jackson and Eli Wallack were so prolific throughout

474
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,879
Speaker 1: Roberta's childhood, I wanted to know how her parents balanced

475
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:55,960
Speaker 1: work with raising their children.

476
00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,200
Speaker 7: Dad was gone much more so than mom, and they

477
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,000
Speaker 7: had an agreement basically to try and make sure as

478
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,960
Speaker 7: often as possible that they were not both gone at

479
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,720
Speaker 7: the same time, or if they were very often we

480
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 7: would go with them. But she was around a lot.

481
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:18,280
Speaker 7: And also back then, when for instance, Off Broadway was

482
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:22,440
Speaker 7: still a fairly new thing happening in New York City,

483
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 7: they did a lot of theater a lot, and the

484
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,720
Speaker 7: curtains were later they were eight o'clock, right, So we

485
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,439
Speaker 7: would all sit down to dinner at six eat dinner.

486
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,200
Speaker 7: I remember Mom always had to go take a nap.

487
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,919
Speaker 7: She would take a nap and then they would go

488
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,399
Speaker 7: off to the theater. But then whenever there was free time.

489
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,360
Speaker 7: She was a very hands on mom. I mean, I'm

490
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 7: marvel at the stuff she was able to balance. We

491
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 7: had help, fabulous help, Catherine. I always refer to our

492
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 7: Nelly as our black mother, right, you know, who was

493
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,240
Speaker 7: amazing and came to work for us when I was

494
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 7: only a couple of months old and she was very close.

495
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 7: She really became, I am a family member. But the

496
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,240
Speaker 7: fact that she was able to balance being a wife,

497
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,120
Speaker 7: having the career that she had, which was pretty big,

498
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 7: and to be mom to us was amazing. I mean,

499
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:15,720
Speaker 7: I have memories of her around the holidays, taking us

500
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:20,000
Speaker 7: always shopping to get new outfits and to see Santa

501
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,520
Speaker 7: Claus at Bonwood Teller's or whatever, Lord and Taylor's and

502
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 7: Kath and I, my sister and I. Easter time, we

503
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,040
Speaker 7: always were outfitted in great little outfits to go to

504
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:30,959
Speaker 7: the Easter parade.

505
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 4: They were very both of them.

506
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 7: Actually, you know, when Dad was around, I realized fairly

507
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,159
Speaker 7: young that it was quality time versus quantity time. And

508
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,919
Speaker 7: I remember talking briefly to Kate Winslet about it, who

509
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 7: was very concerned about being a mother, a working mother,

510
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,200
Speaker 7: and I said to her, I get that, and I'm

511
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,320
Speaker 7: not going to lie to you. Could be some therapy

512
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 7: builds down the line, abandonment stuff. But kids, I think,

513
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 7: very early on, realize and recognize that when their parents

514
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 7: really love what they do, especially when it's something like acting,

515
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,480
Speaker 7: which every kid pretty much every kid wants to do

516
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,399
Speaker 7: all the time. Anyway, we give them a pass. We

517
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:14,800
Speaker 7: understand what that sensation is. I mean, I decided absolutely

518
00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:16,480
Speaker 7: for sure I was going to be an actor at

519
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 7: age six. I was taken on a date with Patty

520
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,679
Speaker 7: Tchaiyevsky's son Danny. We were both in school together. We

521
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,399
Speaker 7: went to see Oliver on Broadway six when I was six,

522
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,200
Speaker 7: and I remember sitting there and before that time, I

523
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,520
Speaker 7: kept thinking, well, do I want to be a.

524
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 4: Ballerina or a nurse?

525
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,240
Speaker 7: A ballerina or a nurse, And then I went when

526
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 7: I sat in that theater, I realized, oh, no, I

527
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:42,800
Speaker 7: want to be an actor, because then I can be

528
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,400
Speaker 7: a ballerina and a nurse, and I can also play

529
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,320
Speaker 7: a boy if I want to. I could be a

530
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,920
Speaker 7: boy nurse or a boy ballerina. I could be anything.

531
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:55,960
Speaker 1: Now, your sister mentioned how your dad was a pretty

532
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 1: no nonsense guy when you was home. Yeah, there was

533
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 1: a lot of rules and manners and have you asked

534
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:03,680
Speaker 1: to be excused from the table.

535
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 7: Well, he had been in the military, okay for way

536
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 7: too long. And his estimation because his birthday was December seventh,

537
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 7: Pearl Harbor Day, so he was already in the army

538
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 7: and it was happy birthday. Here's another three years or whatever.

539
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 7: You're stuck here. So yeah, he was very militant about time.

540
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,840
Speaker 7: If you were four minutes early, that was considered late,

541
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 7: and he would pout for and not speak to you

542
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,360
Speaker 7: for about two hours. To this day, sometimes I'm if

543
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 7: I'm walking in my apartment without my barefoot, I can

544
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,879
Speaker 7: hear my father's voice saying.

545
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,040
Speaker 4: I'll find you put your slippers on. Where are your slippers?

546
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,159
Speaker 7: You know, there were certain things that they were strict about,

547
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,879
Speaker 7: but in retrospect, I think it was kind of great

548
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 7: because it gave us all a sense of ethics, a

549
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,119
Speaker 7: sense a work ethic, a discipline that you know we

550
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 7: needed so consideration.

551
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, when did you.

552
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: First become aware of the studio yourself? Was it through

553
00:26:58,720 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 1: your parents and going there with that?

554
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,720
Speaker 7: I have an effective memory, a vague one of an

555
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:09,439
Speaker 7: older version of the studio of walking between these seats

556
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,280
Speaker 7: on a kind of rake. That's all I can remember

557
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 7: about that. But no, my earliest memories of the studio

558
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,360
Speaker 7: are really more about Lee himself, about Strasburg. I think

559
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 7: I mentioned to my middle name is Lee, after Lee,

560
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,400
Speaker 7: your sister, right, So he was for me a sort

561
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 7: of grandpa figure. But when it came to the work itself,

562
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,639
Speaker 7: then we had a much more slightly reserved and what

563
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,639
Speaker 7: I would call more of a professional relationship, even though

564
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,440
Speaker 7: there was tremendous love and fondness there. So those are

565
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:43,640
Speaker 7: my earliest memories. I mean, I got into the studio

566
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 7: in nineteen eighty, but I did my first feature that

567
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,440
Speaker 7: Paul Newman directed when I was sixteen.

568
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:53,360
Speaker 4: I was still in high.

569
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,520
Speaker 7: School, The Effect of Gamma, Right, So I was still

570
00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 7: in high school with Joanne.

571
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 4: What was that extraordinary? Extraordinary?

572
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 7: I mean I have yet to have an experience even

573
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,360
Speaker 7: remotely like it, I'm afraid, but whatever, it was extraordinary

574
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,520
Speaker 7: because from the moment of the audition. And fortunately, when

575
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 7: I first auditioned, I think Sis Corman actually got me

576
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,879
Speaker 7: the audition. When I got in there, Paul didn't know

577
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 7: who I was, who my parents were, and it wasn't

578
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 7: until the very end that the casting director said something like,

579
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 7: we'll say hi to your parents, and he went, who

580
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 7: are your parents? And then I told him And then

581
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,880
Speaker 7: he told me the most hilarious thing I thought, which

582
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,960
Speaker 7: was that his first audition ever in New York City

583
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 7: was with mom and that he absolutely sucked, and that

584
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,120
Speaker 7: he saw the look on me.

585
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:40,320
Speaker 1: You know.

586
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 7: He said to Mom something like Annie, do you want

587
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:44,479
Speaker 7: to go rehearse first?

588
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 4: And she kind of was a little skeptical.

589
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 7: She said, oh okay, and they went to read it

590
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 7: through and she just thought, oh boy, there goes this job.

591
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 7: And so that I thought was hilarious. He said, you know,

592
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 7: I've always loved your mom. That she was so gracious

593
00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,320
Speaker 7: to me after I blew the job from both of us,

594
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,600
Speaker 7: So that was great. But he he treated me, even

595
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 7: at sixteen, like a peer, and I was very serious.

596
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 7: I mean I started training at the Neighborhood Playhouse when

597
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 7: I was quite young. Charles Bush and I were in

598
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,320
Speaker 7: the same singing class together. We took singing and improv

599
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 7: and stuff. But I lied about my age, which I

600
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,560
Speaker 7: found out. I guess my mother didn't have to. We

601
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 7: both first studied at fifteen with Herbert Birkhoff, so again

602
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,000
Speaker 7: I was still in school. I lied about my age

603
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 7: to get into the class, and I was in class

604
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 7: with Joey Pantaliano.

605
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,600
Speaker 1: You have a list of people you studied with. It's

606
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:40,920
Speaker 1: a very heavy hitting list. Yeah, it's Berghoff, It's Hoggin,

607
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:45,320
Speaker 1: it's Bobby Lewis, it's Lee seacat bats And I mean

608
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 1: the only name that's missing here is Win Handman.

609
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 7: I mean when I study with everybody, right Norse Stella

610
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,680
Speaker 7: Adler was that by choice. It wasn't that I felt

611
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,920
Speaker 7: I was eliminating anybody. The truth is that from fairly

612
00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,120
Speaker 7: early on I was working quite a bit, so I

613
00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,480
Speaker 7: just didn't fe that I had to study with everybody.

614
00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,400
Speaker 7: I mean, I was able to apply having worked with

615
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,560
Speaker 7: such extraordinary teachers, but also with amazing actors, and also

616
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,520
Speaker 7: growing up with amazing actors. I guess I didn't feel

617
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 7: like I had to study with everybody. Again, it was

618
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 7: more about quality, not quantity.

619
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 4: For me. That was enough, you know.

620
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,160
Speaker 7: And yet what's funny is now, at sixty seven, I'm

621
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:27,720
Speaker 7: still studying. I'm taking an extraordinary Shakespeare course online with

622
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:31,720
Speaker 7: my friend Christopher Tubori who lives in the Philippines. Yeah,

623
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,560
Speaker 7: so that's been unbelievable. Penny Fuller is in our class.

624
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:40,680
Speaker 7: It's just awesome. And Giles Foreman who studied under a

625
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:45,760
Speaker 7: man called yat Melmgram and Christopher Fettis. And Christopher Fettis

626
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 7: was the man who Anthony Hopkins based his role as

627
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 7: Hannibal lecter on Christopher. He based lecture on christ Why,

628
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:57,719
Speaker 7: oh well, if you ever met Christopher you would understand.

629
00:30:57,800 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 4: But Christopher was a master.

630
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,400
Speaker 7: He found did the Drama Center in London, which is

631
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 7: as close to the equivalent of the Actors Studio as

632
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,400
Speaker 7: you could beat. Yes, yes, well actually no, I think

633
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,200
Speaker 7: Christopher was born in India during the rag you know,

634
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,960
Speaker 7: and all that. But what fascinated me and drew me.

635
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,800
Speaker 7: Although I had met Giles through Susan Batson many years ago,

636
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,680
Speaker 7: and I've been teaching at his studio in London and Paris,

637
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,480
Speaker 7: But what fascinated me about this whole lineage which is

638
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:31,160
Speaker 7: different than our training, but they're in some ways quite similar.

639
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,040
Speaker 7: Is that there are certain actors, the younger actors who

640
00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:38,360
Speaker 7: have all worked this particular method.

641
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 4: Shall we call it.

642
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,280
Speaker 7: Include Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy, And I just went, Okay,

643
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 7: what are these guys doing?

644
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,160
Speaker 4: Would like to figure that Colin.

645
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,760
Speaker 7: Ferrell, Yeah, I mean amazing, amazing actors, you know, going

646
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 7: way way back to Sean Connery.

647
00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,840
Speaker 4: Et cetera, et cetera, who've all studied this.

648
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,600
Speaker 7: A group of these guys were all in after the

649
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,200
Speaker 7: Second World War. They all ended up fleeing the Nazis,

650
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 7: and some of them were gay and whatever, and they

651
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,400
Speaker 7: all ended up in England, including which flipped me out.

652
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 7: And I did not know this at the time. Michael

653
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,479
Speaker 7: Chekhov was part of that whole group, and Udah Hagen

654
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,680
Speaker 7: was interested. She was there as well. And it's based

655
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 7: a lot on what we might call psychological gesture, that

656
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 7: the repetition of a certain gesture over and over and

657
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:30,160
Speaker 7: over starts to elicit something emotional from within. It changes

658
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:31,680
Speaker 7: your rhythm.

659
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:32,120
Speaker 1: For example.

660
00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:35,600
Speaker 7: Well, it gets a little more complicated because another part

661
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 7: that fascinates me that I think Lee would have loved

662
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 7: to because Lee was so interested in psychology as he

663
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 7: got older and older, is that there's a lot of

664
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 7: Yungian premise to this too, and so that each one

665
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:55,520
Speaker 7: of us human beings basically are components of four things sensing, thinking, into, iting,

666
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,080
Speaker 7: and feeling, and then it gets complicated on how you

667
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 7: combine that. But basically, for me, I can't do my

668
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:07,320
Speaker 7: work without emotional memory, without sensory work, It's impossible. But

669
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 7: there was always a part of me from when I

670
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,320
Speaker 7: was fairly young that started to feel like there's a

671
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 7: little bit missing, there's a little something still cloudy. And

672
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,000
Speaker 7: this particular thing that I'm now working on, which is

673
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:22,080
Speaker 7: like learning an entirely new language, has much more to

674
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,719
Speaker 7: do with a certain level of precision. It has to

675
00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 7: do with almost a type of architecture to building a character.

676
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,880
Speaker 7: And again, you know, as a young actor, I remember

677
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,280
Speaker 7: realizing that someone like Sean Penn, who is such an

678
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,240
Speaker 7: internal actors you know, I don't like to use the

679
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 7: word method because he gets such a bad rap. And

680
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:45,080
Speaker 7: also the true definition is whatever method works for you.

681
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 4: That it seemed to me when you.

682
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 7: Watch an actor like that over a long period of time,

683
00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 7: where he's so internal and it's so emotional as he

684
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,800
Speaker 7: gets older, he starts to shift more and al Pacino too,

685
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 7: I think, to more outer stuff, so that you get that. Yeah,

686
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,520
Speaker 7: so did you get the balance between the two.

687
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 1: I'm doing a TV show years ago and I have

688
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,760
Speaker 1: a scene in which the matriarch of the town who's

689
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,919
Speaker 1: going to bestow money on a medical clinic, and she's

690
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,480
Speaker 1: decided to withhold the funding for some quasi political reason.

691
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 1: And I have the scene with her where I'm appealing

692
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,239
Speaker 1: to her to give us the money, and I'm like

693
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,239
Speaker 1: grinding my gears for the whole I'm like, you know,

694
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,200
Speaker 1: because the thing you don't understand, I'm like, right in

695
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 1: my sense memory, my dog died, I found the pigeon

696
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:35,240
Speaker 1: dead by the fucking road or whatever, and you could.

697
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:37,200
Speaker 4: Understand missus cunning it.

698
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,040
Speaker 1: I mean, my god, this is and we're done, and

699
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 1: the director works with me, goes, you know, we don't

700
00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,560
Speaker 1: have to do the whole show in the one scene, right,

701
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:45,680
Speaker 1: So if you don't have to do it, And as

702
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:50,640
Speaker 1: I have gone of these decades on, it becomes the

703
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,359
Speaker 1: word I use is technical. It becomes more to the

704
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,359
Speaker 1: inspiration is either there it isn't right, and I can

705
00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: summon it. No, no, no, we don't have a problem

706
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: connect into some emotional absolutely oc current in me. But

707
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:05,799
Speaker 1: to me, the technical now, I don't want people to

708
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:07,719
Speaker 1: have to reach for the TV dialogue with.

709
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:09,919
Speaker 4: The said, which happens all the time, right.

710
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 7: And the funny thing is is there's a great story

711
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,759
Speaker 7: that Dad told I think he wrote it in his

712
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,520
Speaker 7: book where as a young actor. They were original members

713
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,600
Speaker 7: of the studio, and he went to the studio during

714
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:24,440
Speaker 7: the day and he listened to Lee lecture and he

715
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,600
Speaker 7: got all excited and worked up about it, couldn't wait

716
00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 7: to run to the theater. He was doing Anthony and

717
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,600
Speaker 7: Cleopatra with Catherine Cornell with her company, okay, and he's

718
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,799
Speaker 7: playing the messenger or something. He was so excited, he

719
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 7: was so amped up that he jumped a queue and

720
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,440
Speaker 7: cut out a page and a half of her dialer whatever.

721
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:46,839
Speaker 4: And she was furious.

722
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,800
Speaker 8: And Dad runs back to Lee and he goes, Lee, Lee,

723
00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:52,880
Speaker 8: you know why you told me I was so excited,

724
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:54,880
Speaker 8: And Lee just looked at him and said, pick up

725
00:35:54,880 --> 00:36:03,600
Speaker 8: your cues, Eli Darling, pick up your CUEO.

726
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:07,520
Speaker 1: Actors studio member, ROBERTA. Wallack, if you're enjoying this conversation,

727
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,760
Speaker 1: don't keep it to yourself, tell a friend and follow

728
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:15,400
Speaker 1: here's the thing on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify or wherever

729
00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:19,120
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. When we come back. Roberta Wallack

730
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 1: shares a memory of acting rivalry with her father Eli Wallack.

731
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,759
Speaker 1: I'm Alec Baldwin, and this is here's the thing. It

732
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:43,840
Speaker 1: makes sense that Roberta Wallack would go into the family business,

733
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,960
Speaker 1: having grown up surrounded by the cream of the crop

734
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,399
Speaker 1: in the acting world. I wanted to know what her

735
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,719
Speaker 1: parents thought about her following in their footsteps.

736
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 7: They were interviewed once on a talk show and the

737
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,400
Speaker 7: interviewer asked, did you encourage your kids to become actors?

738
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,000
Speaker 7: And dad said, would you push your kid off a bridge?

739
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 7: So I think that was a mixed thing. I mean,

740
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,360
Speaker 7: to be honest, and there were times where it really

741
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:12,719
Speaker 7: amused me no end where Dad would get a little

742
00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:14,960
Speaker 7: bit jealous of me. I mean, I did the Sopranos

743
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,080
Speaker 7: and he said to me, what can I get on

744
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:17,520
Speaker 7: that show?

745
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:19,360
Speaker 4: And I said, Eli, call your agent.

746
00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:24,400
Speaker 7: You know, I'm not excuse me, go through the proper

747
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,839
Speaker 7: channels the way I had to, you know. So I

748
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,920
Speaker 7: think there was some of that, but also so lucky

749
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 7: that I got to work with both of them on

750
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:37,120
Speaker 7: the stage many times, on television, on film, and so

751
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:41,640
Speaker 7: again we also were able to see each other as

752
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 7: peers in a certain way, which I think was fantastical.

753
00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:46,560
Speaker 1: What did your sister say with the show you all

754
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,520
Speaker 1: did together? And Frank, yeah, yeah, and she prayed you

755
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:49,960
Speaker 1: do that.

756
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:54,520
Speaker 7: We started it in Manhattan off Broadway, and don't I

757
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,120
Speaker 7: don't remember if Kath was in that original production or not.

758
00:37:57,239 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 7: But then we took it to Canada and then we

759
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,799
Speaker 7: took it all around the country. We toured with it

760
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,320
Speaker 7: for a while. That was incredible. That was an amazing experience.

761
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 1: I mean the Leicester for how long.

762
00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:10,919
Speaker 4: Over a year or more.

763
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:12,919
Speaker 1: That's the most amazing thing to me. I mean, it's

764
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,439
Speaker 1: one thing to work with your wife, your girlfriends, right,

765
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:18,759
Speaker 1: one of your siblings or whatever. Right, But to work

766
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:20,200
Speaker 1: with your parents.

767
00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:23,920
Speaker 7: Right, Except that I think again we were exposed to it.

768
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:26,160
Speaker 7: I mean we were exposed to it so young that

769
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:30,840
Speaker 7: it seemed fairly normal. And the advantage, of course, was

770
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:34,040
Speaker 7: I with both I was so familiar with how they

771
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,480
Speaker 7: both worked. I mean Dad asked me to cue him

772
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:42,120
Speaker 7: all the time, so I knew their instruments very well,

773
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,160
Speaker 7: and so that made it easier and comfortable. But for example,

774
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 7: you know, stuff happens. I mean, of course, right, we

775
00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:51,520
Speaker 7: were doing an a mirror play together and I had

776
00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,120
Speaker 7: this very these very sexy scenes with John Shay, you know,

777
00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,839
Speaker 7: and I said to the director, excuse me, but could

778
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 7: you ask these two to leave the room while I'm

779
00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:04,319
Speaker 7: they're not on stage while John and I are having

780
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,160
Speaker 7: this scene. I don't need to compound it with even

781
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:10,040
Speaker 7: more therapy. Thank you very much that I'm about to read.

782
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 4: We suck aspect out of this room, please exactly? Or

783
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:15,080
Speaker 4: the funny things.

784
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,200
Speaker 7: I don't know if Kav told you, but there were

785
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,240
Speaker 7: a number of instances during Ann Frank, during other things

786
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,759
Speaker 7: that we did together, where and Brian Murray told this

787
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,800
Speaker 7: great story about we're doing walts of the Torriodors together

788
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,520
Speaker 7: and mom and Dad are having this huge fight. They're

789
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,120
Speaker 7: just into it. They're just going at it, and Catherine

790
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,600
Speaker 7: and I are paying any attention. We're just eating, We're

791
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:36,759
Speaker 7: talking to each other as if nothing is happening, and

792
00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:40,120
Speaker 7: everybody else is just frozen and shocked, you know, but

793
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 7: the two of us are like, this is a day,

794
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:45,120
Speaker 7: you know. Biggie, Yeah, no, Biggie, they'll be you know,

795
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:46,439
Speaker 7: they'll get through this.

796
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:47,799
Speaker 4: This is just part of you know.

797
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:51,200
Speaker 7: It's usually the Anne Jackson I can't act moment where

798
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,560
Speaker 7: she storms off and then god damn it, he says,

799
00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:56,120
Speaker 7: you know, and whatever, and they go through this whole

800
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,839
Speaker 7: thing and then she comes back and it's as if

801
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:03,000
Speaker 7: nothing happened. So and they talked a lot about it

802
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,560
Speaker 7: being therapeutic for them to get fights on stage together.

803
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:09,120
Speaker 7: So I think there was an element of that with us.

804
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,640
Speaker 7: I mean one time I almost brought Dad up on

805
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,239
Speaker 7: charges though, when we were doing the Diary of Van

806
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,200
Speaker 7: Frank and we were in a black joking I'm not joking.

807
00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:21,000
Speaker 7: Charge is meaning equity charges, no, of course, not criminal,

808
00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:22,160
Speaker 7: but we were.

809
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,200
Speaker 4: In the middle of a blackout.

810
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:25,839
Speaker 7: We were in an exit and he started to give

811
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 7: me a note in the dark, and I pulled him

812
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:33,120
Speaker 7: aside and I said, mister Wallack, you have anything to

813
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:34,799
Speaker 7: say to me as an actor. You talked to my

814
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,680
Speaker 7: stage manager and the stage manager will go to the director.

815
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,480
Speaker 7: Don't you ever give me a note again? And his

816
00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:44,719
Speaker 7: tail went right between his legs. He was got I'm like,

817
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:47,680
Speaker 7: oh no, no, no no. In the meantime, I would

818
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,640
Speaker 7: sometimes beg my mother for a note, what.

819
00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:54,400
Speaker 1: Did each of them, respectively teach you about acting?

820
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:54,719
Speaker 2: What?

821
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:59,440
Speaker 1: Would she emphasize, Wow, you need to what and then correspondingly.

822
00:40:58,719 --> 00:40:59,680
Speaker 4: Him, Okay.

823
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:03,319
Speaker 7: So in the earlier days, I would say, as I

824
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,040
Speaker 7: was saying before about how familiar I was with the

825
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:10,720
Speaker 7: way that they worked. Dad had to learn all his lines,

826
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,439
Speaker 7: I mean, have them down, pat. He had to first

827
00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:18,240
Speaker 7: pretty much get those that down really quickly.

828
00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:21,799
Speaker 4: Mom, on the other hand, did not care.

829
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 7: She needed to know what the hell she was doing, whatever, whatever, whatever.

830
00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:31,000
Speaker 7: And so the good news is I saw the value

831
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,200
Speaker 7: of both, right. So, I think the truth is that

832
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,920
Speaker 7: they never really came that directly at us in terms

833
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,719
Speaker 7: of acting. They really didn't. They really didn't talk about it.

834
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 7: I think so. And I think they also respected the

835
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:48,160
Speaker 7: choices that I had made in terms of training.

836
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:50,719
Speaker 4: Although I had to fight Dad for that first role.

837
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:54,200
Speaker 7: He said to me when I got the role, when

838
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 7: Paul Newman cast me in the film, he said to me.

839
00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:57,839
Speaker 4: What about school? I said, what about it?

840
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:00,840
Speaker 7: I will do my school work and I will co

841
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,799
Speaker 7: star opposite Joanne Woodward. Enough, I wanted to go to

842
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:08,000
Speaker 7: professional children's school when I was a kid, and they

843
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,400
Speaker 7: said no. He said no, you will get an education

844
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:13,680
Speaker 7: like everyone else. In retrospect, I'm really glad that he

845
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:14,120
Speaker 7: said that.

846
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:16,040
Speaker 1: What about her? What did she want you to know?

847
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:19,000
Speaker 7: I think they both What they really wanted to instill

848
00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:23,960
Speaker 7: was the joy of acting. To never lose that under

849
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:28,320
Speaker 7: any circumstances, to stay true to that pure joy.

850
00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,000
Speaker 1: You know, I'm very much I would say more of

851
00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,399
Speaker 1: your mother's school, maybe for different reasons, where I've worked

852
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,279
Speaker 1: with actors who came in and they were, you know,

853
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:38,799
Speaker 1: if not letter perfect, they were pretty damned close day

854
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,880
Speaker 1: one of rehearsals, right, Like, there's no discoveries that can

855
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:45,239
Speaker 1: be made. But if you're there, you're several steps down

856
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,640
Speaker 1: the board from where I am, and I'm not quite

857
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:48,600
Speaker 1: sure what happens exactly.

858
00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:49,520
Speaker 4: Cat accept that.

859
00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:52,960
Speaker 7: For example, I'm saying here, I take longer usually to

860
00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:56,360
Speaker 7: learn text, but then when I do, I don't forget it.

861
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:58,960
Speaker 7: I'm the one who gets the least number of notes.

862
00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 1: Right, I'm the same way once I get I have

863
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,000
Speaker 1: a very good memory. But my point is that I

864
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,759
Speaker 1: would say to myself, well, I found myself incapable, or

865
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,400
Speaker 1: at least I just didn't prefer maybe I was capable

866
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:15,320
Speaker 1: of going into rehearsal and having memorized all my lines

867
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,960
Speaker 1: and because what I need, what's missing is what are

868
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:19,000
Speaker 1: you gonna do? Well?

869
00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:21,799
Speaker 7: Look, I worked as a very young actor with Ruth

870
00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:24,480
Speaker 7: Gordon and Gar Kannan directing, and they said to me,

871
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:26,719
Speaker 7: you have to have all your lines down before we

872
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:27,600
Speaker 7: start rehearsing.

873
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:30,240
Speaker 4: And to me, that was torture. It was crazy.

874
00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:32,600
Speaker 7: You know, it was really hard for me to work

875
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,479
Speaker 7: that way, but out of respect, I thought, okay, we'll

876
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,960
Speaker 7: do that. So it's remarkable when you get to work

877
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,080
Speaker 7: with another studio member.

878
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:41,640
Speaker 4: I mean years ago, I did a little film.

879
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:44,440
Speaker 7: I don't think anything ever happened with it with our

880
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:47,600
Speaker 7: buddy Stephen Lang and Stephen and I immediately before the

881
00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:51,400
Speaker 7: director even got into anything, we start improvising, we're jamming,

882
00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:53,600
Speaker 7: we're doing all this stuff. By the time they say action,

883
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:58,200
Speaker 7: we're already into the scene with our own words first.

884
00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:01,120
Speaker 7: So being able to am that way again, it's like

885
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:04,719
Speaker 7: playing with musicians, right, Being able to work that way,

886
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:07,319
Speaker 7: that is what I prefer still to this day.

887
00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:08,000
Speaker 2: Now.

888
00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:13,000
Speaker 1: Your sister was very candid. She did not have warm

889
00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:18,480
Speaker 1: and glowing and idolatrous things to say about Strasburg. She

890
00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:20,440
Speaker 1: said that when she was there, she was kind of like,

891
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:24,359
Speaker 1: maybe gett that. I'm not getting I'm not gonna when

892
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:26,200
Speaker 1: you were in the studio, you were there when Lee

893
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:28,640
Speaker 1: was there, Oh, absolutely, and what was your experience.

894
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:32,839
Speaker 7: So he taught me an extraordinary lesson very early on,

895
00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:36,840
Speaker 7: which was I remember going up to do a scene

896
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:40,279
Speaker 7: and when it was over, I started making all kinds

897
00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:42,759
Speaker 7: of excuses about how I didn't have a lot of

898
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:47,799
Speaker 7: time to prepare, and he went ballistic.

899
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:53,480
Speaker 6: Darling, I don't care if you have two minutes for

900
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:57,640
Speaker 6: twenty minutes work twenty years and my whole body is shaking.

901
00:44:57,680 --> 00:44:59,880
Speaker 4: I'm like leaving my body and it.

902
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,960
Speaker 7: It was extremely valuable because I realized, yeah, you know,

903
00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:04,160
Speaker 7: you have to do the work.

904
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:04,920
Speaker 4: You have to.

905
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:07,720
Speaker 7: I mean, yes, it's about having fun, but the flip

906
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:11,040
Speaker 7: side of that is also preparation. And this is something

907
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:13,840
Speaker 7: I know al Pacino doesn't credit himself with this, but

908
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:16,200
Speaker 7: that notion of which is very zen by the way of.

909
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:17,799
Speaker 4: You do the work, you do the work, You do

910
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:19,200
Speaker 4: the work, you do the work, and then you throw

911
00:45:19,239 --> 00:45:19,840
Speaker 4: it all away.

912
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:25,800
Speaker 7: So Lee was incredibly inspiring because he had that laser

913
00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,400
Speaker 7: beam ability to cut into something. But yeah, he was

914
00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:32,640
Speaker 7: a human being. He had favorites. He liked young women

915
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:36,239
Speaker 7: and jeans and you know whatever. Okay, you know he

916
00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:40,759
Speaker 7: had that. But he was incredibly insightful and it was

917
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:44,040
Speaker 7: fun to watch some of the really older established actors

918
00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:46,279
Speaker 7: turn into kids. I mean, Shelley Winter's turned into a

919
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:49,240
Speaker 7: child in front of Lee. So a lot of people

920
00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:52,080
Speaker 7: were terrorized by him. I thought he was quite funny

921
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:53,840
Speaker 7: a lot of the times. I mean I think I

922
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:56,400
Speaker 7: mentioned to you that in his class once he suddenly

923
00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:58,400
Speaker 7: listed like thirty books in a row.

924
00:45:58,440 --> 00:45:59,960
Speaker 4: And this is before self.

925
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:03,000
Speaker 7: Oh, I'm frantically writing down all of his references, and

926
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:05,120
Speaker 7: finally he gets to the end of it and he goes, yeah, button,

927
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:07,799
Speaker 7: He's addressing the whole class. He goes, yeah, but you

928
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:13,120
Speaker 7: don't read anyway, and I burst out laughing. So, yes,

929
00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:16,640
Speaker 7: my experience was different. I adored him. I felt honored

930
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:19,319
Speaker 7: to work for him, and you got it and I

931
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,680
Speaker 7: got it. And also back to the Anne Frank thing,

932
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:24,719
Speaker 7: was I did it asked backwards out of respect for him,

933
00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:27,640
Speaker 7: meaning I wanted to get into the studio as a

934
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:30,440
Speaker 7: member first before I studied with him. So that's what

935
00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:33,040
Speaker 7: I did. And so when I went to study with him.

936
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:35,440
Speaker 7: He had not seen me do Anne Frank and I

937
00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:39,200
Speaker 7: understood why because of Susan Strasburg playing it and he

938
00:46:39,239 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 7: didn't want to see it, and I understood that. But

939
00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:44,000
Speaker 7: he said to me, Donald, would you bring a scene in?

940
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:46,000
Speaker 7: I said, sure, if that's what you want me to do.

941
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,120
Speaker 7: And I remember setting up and doing my thing and whatever,

942
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:50,759
Speaker 7: and when it was over, and I felt pretty good

943
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:53,480
Speaker 7: because I had played it for so long. When it

944
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:56,520
Speaker 7: was over, I said, yeah, so I did my preparation.

945
00:46:56,640 --> 00:47:00,279
Speaker 7: He went what I said, I did a preparations said

946
00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:04,280
Speaker 7: when I said, well, while I was setting up, he went, ah,

947
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:09,600
Speaker 7: very good. I did not see that. So my experience

948
00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:12,839
Speaker 7: with him was quite different. I mean, I'm aware, very

949
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:16,880
Speaker 7: aware because of historical information, particularly when he was younger,

950
00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:20,000
Speaker 7: a lot of people had problems with him and issues

951
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:23,399
Speaker 7: and whatever. But for me going to work with him

952
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:25,799
Speaker 7: much later in his life, I think it had softened him.

953
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,200
Speaker 7: I mean, he was drinking chocolate milkshakes a lot, you know,

954
00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:31,080
Speaker 7: he was. He was a boobie to me in a

955
00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:33,600
Speaker 7: lot of ways. You know, I wasn't terrified by him.

956
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:36,800
Speaker 1: So my last question for you is your parents' legacy,

957
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:40,880
Speaker 1: and that is when you think about your parents, what

958
00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:41,720
Speaker 1: comes to mind?

959
00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:43,400
Speaker 4: Great love story?

960
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 1: Right? Your sister said that she thought your fear she

961
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:49,880
Speaker 1: thought your mother was more talented than your father, and

962
00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:50,839
Speaker 1: he kind of knew it.

963
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:54,560
Speaker 7: Right Well, it frustrated, similar to Paul and Joanne right binga.

964
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:57,200
Speaker 7: But but I think the truth of that. I would

965
00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:00,719
Speaker 7: adjust it only slightly by saying, no one could could

966
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:04,799
Speaker 7: touch Annie on the stage. No one, so in that sense, yes,

967
00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:09,160
Speaker 7: but when it comes to film, maybe not so much.

968
00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:13,359
Speaker 7: Maybe that was Dad's territory more so, that's fair. But

969
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:17,719
Speaker 7: she was so instinctive. I mean, she was incredible. I

970
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:21,399
Speaker 7: remember her saying to her once something about improvisation.

971
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,719
Speaker 4: She just went, I hate that. I hate improvisation.

972
00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:27,600
Speaker 7: I said to her, that's because Anne Jackson, your entire

973
00:48:27,719 --> 00:48:31,120
Speaker 7: life is an improv That's how you live your life.

974
00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:34,200
Speaker 7: We mere mortals have to actually train in that, but you,

975
00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:35,840
Speaker 7: that's how you.

976
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:37,800
Speaker 1: You look forward to coming into a theater. As I

977
00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:39,440
Speaker 1: used to someone said to me, why do you love

978
00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:41,640
Speaker 1: the theater? I said, I know exactly what I'm going

979
00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:44,720
Speaker 1: to say. I know exactly what you're going to say.

980
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,000
Speaker 1: I know exactly how they're going to react. I said,

981
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:49,839
Speaker 1: that's heaven. To me, for I'm a control freak. That's

982
00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:52,759
Speaker 1: two and a half hours of just pure pleasure for me. Right,

983
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:55,400
Speaker 1: But it's interesting you say that about the movie and

984
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:56,560
Speaker 1: the stage thing.

985
00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:58,000
Speaker 4: It's slight different set of muscles.

986
00:48:58,080 --> 00:48:59,600
Speaker 7: And then there are those of us who are lucky

987
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:01,719
Speaker 7: enough to be able to adjust and do both, which

988
00:49:01,719 --> 00:49:03,880
Speaker 7: has always been for me a joy that I've been

989
00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:07,520
Speaker 7: able to jump between big screen, small screen and the stage.

990
00:49:08,560 --> 00:49:11,279
Speaker 1: I think that you know, with your dad especially, I

991
00:49:11,640 --> 00:49:14,600
Speaker 1: think to myself, because I'm I'm an enormous fan of

992
00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:16,919
Speaker 1: your father, and there are moments of your father's career

993
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:20,080
Speaker 1: that are just so indelible to me, and he's one

994
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:23,000
Speaker 1: of the greatest movie actors of all time. Eli Wallack

995
00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:27,040
Speaker 1: was a person who had this power of understanding and

996
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:30,520
Speaker 1: the character and insight and strength, and none of it

997
00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:31,680
Speaker 1: was at the expense of the.

998
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:33,719
Speaker 4: End, right. I think that was to both of them.

999
00:49:33,719 --> 00:49:35,360
Speaker 4: They were hugely generous.

1000
00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:39,160
Speaker 7: I mean not just as people but also as actors,

1001
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:40,680
Speaker 7: amazingly generous.

1002
00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:43,000
Speaker 4: And that's something I hope too.

1003
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:47,120
Speaker 7: I hope I've narrowed in big time because it's important.

1004
00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:50,919
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1005
00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:55,480
Speaker 1: My thanks to ROBERTA and Catherine Wallack. This episode was

1006
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,960
Speaker 1: recorded at CDM Studios in New York City. Were produced

1007
00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:04,360
Speaker 1: by Kathleen Russo, Zach MacNeice, and Maureen Hoben. Our engineer

1008
00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:08,920
Speaker 1: is Frank Imperial. Our social media manager is Danielle Gingrich.

1009
00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:12,200
Speaker 1: I'm Alec Baldwin. Here's the Thing is brought to you

1010
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:25,520
Speaker 1: by iHeart Radio