Original subtitles

Was To Live and Die in L .A. my first feature film? I think it was.

I'd done a mini -series of Thorn Birds, and I know I did an AFI film when I

first arrived here, but yeah, I mean, it was pretty exciting to be a part of,

you know, even have an audition for something like, you know, To Live and

L .A. I mean, it sounds like a cool name, and here I'd just come out to Live

Die in L .A., so it was, you know, seemed apropos.

It was just an audition like any other audition.

What was kind of fun about it was, you know, we got there, you know, Friedkin's

in the room, which is, you know, a little unusual, you know, sometimes, at

in my experience. And, you know, here's the guy who directed French Connection.

And he was just so nice and, like, you know, inviting.

And what was kind of cool is he wanted to improvise a scene. It was just a

scene and, I don't know, a few lines of dialogue or whatever. But he said, yeah,

let's just improvise. And he was so excited about it, it seemed like. And, I

mean, I'd never even had any director do that, let alone, you know, Academy

Award -winning director.

And so I had just left Chicago where I had been studying improvisation for, you

know, a year and a half and, you know, done a bunch of improv before that. So,

mean, I was just stoked about it.

You know, we went off on the scene, and I swear the scene probably went on for,

you know, five or seven minutes. He just kept throwing things out there, and I'd

just answer them as if I was the doctor who was, you know. So it was really fun.

You know, it's the kind of audition you leave, and you're like, wow. I mean,

even if I don't get the part, that was so much fun, you know. So it was an

bonus that I actually got the gig.

You know, my initial impressions of Bill Friedkin, well...

At the audition, like I said, he was just so kind of available and playful

just really there, seemed very interested in actors and in me.

So I just thought, wow, I guess every director must be like that, which of

course isn't true.

It was really refreshing.

On the set, of course, there was a lot of things going on that day and he was

busy, but he'd already made a great impression on me.

So it was just... fun all around, you know.

I'm pretty sure we probably shot that in a day. You know, that was just, you

know, a little hospital thing. I think we shot that at maybe one of the

abandoned hospitals in greater L .A. or something. But, you know, it was, you

know, of course it was nerve -wracking for me because it was, you know, my

little part. And, you know, it was really needed for a little exposition,

know, I think for Billy Peterson's character to understand how...

You know, they'd lost their mark there at the hospital.

But, you know, it was a thrill for me. And, you know, even if it lasted all

you know, you spend the whole drive home thinking, did I put everything into

that I could have, you know?

Roseanne Brown is a black woman.

She's recuperating from a fall she took from a bicycle near USC.

She's married.

Her husband has lifted a serving time for armed robbery at San Luis Obispo

Prison.

I think you ought to let us take a look at you.

You know, I was a young actor in Chicago at a time when, you know, I think Billy

Peterson maybe had been there a couple years. He worked with the Romaine

Company there, and I loved going to see their stuff. So I was kind of a fan, you

know, so I was, you know, a little, I mean, I wouldn't say starstruck, but,

know, what was cool about that era of there was a lot of Chicago actors kind

making their way to L .A. and, you know, John Malkovich.

Gary Sinise and all those guys were pretty hot, you know, the Steppenwolf

Theater Company and all that. And I'd worked with the Organic Theater Company

when those guys were at, when Peterson was at Remains and Malkovich and those

guys were at Steppenwolf. So I was, you know, we were, you know, he knew who I

was and I knew who he was. But, you know, of course, he's the lead in the

and I'm playing this doctor.

And, you know, so it was kind of cool. I think there was a little camaraderie

amongst all the Chicago people, kind of like, yeah, man, we're, you know, we're.

You know, we're in Hollywood now or something, you know. But, you know,

always nice and, you know, very much about the work. You know, that's what's

cool, too. I think all of us, we're kind of theater people. So, you know, we...

We tried to find ways that we could tweak things and, you know, make them

that, you know, maybe, you know, people wouldn't think of if this was such a

small scene or something, you know. And Panko was also, you know, the Chicago

guy. So, you know, it was fun sort of having that time offset to kind of like

talk about, you know, the theater and, you know, all that stuff. It was fun

meeting those guys, you know, and Willem Dafoe and, you know, that's, these are

actors who are, you know, kind of like, you suddenly find yourself, you know,

rubbing elbows with people who you,

you know, admired.

And it was, you know, that was just a thrill in itself. You know, the hardest

part was just trying to be cool and like, yeah, yeah, just hanging out with

William Peterson and Willem Dafoe.

What's fun about that, I mean, that movie was like, to me, it was a string

things. Like, I happen to have been in The Thorn Birds, which was a big

miniseries, which got a lot of buzz. And To Live and Die in L .A. was one of

those films that was really kind of different. It kind of...

set up a whole era of filming and filmmaking that was kind of new. I mean,

Chung's soundtrack was, you know, kind of amazing. And so it was one of those

films that you were kind of, oh, yeah, oh, yeah, I was in To Live and Die in

You know, and I'm sure, would you play? Oh, I was a doctor. It was an important

scene that, anyway, I'm sure I made more out of it than it was. But, you know,

it was just one of those films. And, you know, Willem Dafoe was like so crazy,

spooky, great in that movie that...

It was fun.

I've been coming to this gym three or four times a week for five years.

I'm an easy man to find.

My reputation speaks for itself.

The fact is that if you can't come up with the front money, you're not for

What's funny about Hollywood is if people saw a film and they liked it, it

lead directly to work. You might never know it, you know, like, you know, oh my

gosh, he was a part of To Live and Die in L .A., oh, you know, and suddenly

you're, you know, you're raised in someone's esteem and, you know, you have

little cachet.

I don't remember anybody saying, oh, you were To Live and Die in L .A.? You can

be in my movie, but, you know, like I said, it sort of has a cumulative effect

and, you know, it just is.

It's just one of those, it's like a calling card. It's like, oh, you were in

film I've heard of. That's worth something.

As far as meeting Friedkin again, it was a little bit of a coincidence. I had

just finished Field of Dreams, and Friedkin had this Guardian project

he'd cast Jenny Seagrove and Carrie Lowell already, but they were still

for the male lead in it.

And so, you know, Friedkin scheduled a meeting with he and Joe Zan, who was the

producer, and me at Joe's office. And, you know, I came in and, you know,

everybody was happy to meet me. And, you know, Friedkin was saying, oh, gosh,

just loved your work in Field of Dreams.

And, you know, I look forward to working with you. And I said, oh, well,

actually, you know, Billy, we worked together in a movie to live and die in L

.A. And I swear to the color just drained out of his face. And he was so,

embarrassed that he hadn't remembered, you know, and I said, oh, you know, I

in. And he was like, oh, my gosh. Yes. Yes, of course. You know, and I.

I told many of my friends that I think it was because I, you know, I caught him

in that little lack of memory there that he cast me in the movie. He was kind of

so embarrassed. I mean, hopefully he liked me as an actor as well. But I

I mean, I'm not usually the kind of person to do that, you know, like, so I

kind of proud of myself. And it was good because you can rarely get freaking,

you know, like, it's hard to surprise him, you know.

So anyway, that was a little more than coincidence, but I had to work it a

little bit.