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Ben Gazzara Remembers

June 10, 2009

The Strange One, a curious 1957 film directed by and co-starring Jack Garfein based on Calder Willingham’s novel and play (he also wrote the screenplay) isn’t as much a must-see as is the supplemental section featuring star Ben Gazzara. The 78-year-old actor is on-hand for a 10-minute interview about the film and its orgins—and it’s a pleasure to hear what he has to say. In his trademark gravelly voice, he discusses everything from performing in the stage version in downtown New York (he and his fellow Actors Studio colleagues rented a theater and put it up for a substantial run for only $2,000!!) to his discovery that his buddy James Dean was considered for his role in the film even though Gazzara himself had created it on stage.

 

“I heard James Dean actually was after my part in the movie,” Gazzara remembers of his buddy and colleague at

the Actors Studio. “And I thought he was my friend. Bad boy.”

 

And speaking of the Actors Studio, Gazzara makes a point of distinguishing the kind of style he studied at the famed school for thesping and the kind of emoting that came to be embodied by performers on film as the years went by.

 

“There is no difference any more between theatre acting and film acting,” Gazzara says about the naturalistic acting style’s conquest of cinema. “The only difference would be a level of energy.”

 

Posted by Laurence Lerman on June 10, 2009 | Comments (0)