One of a series of actors’ reminiscences researched by Jack Tewkesbury

WOODY HARRELSON

Look, I have no problem  with  twenty-five-year-old  virgins. In  another  twenty-five  years  they’ll  be  fifty.  Think  of  all the  fun  they’ve  missed.

We  have  a  very  puritanical  view  of  sex  in this  country. It’s  time  to  evolve, to  embrace  sex  as  a  cool  thing.  But you’re  right.  For  a  long  time  I  wasn’t  able  to  sustain  a relationship  with  a  woman, I  was  never  really  capable of  viewing  a  woman  as  anything  but  sexual. If  I  didn’t look  at  her  in  a  sexual  way,  my  interest  was  nil.

The  modern  American  male  is  socialized  into  his  need for  coquest. I was into having as many  physical  experiences as  I  could,  but  I  changed. It  started  when  I  hired  this  lady as  an  assistant. We  worked  together  for  two-and-a-half years  before  anything  romantic  happened,  which  allowed  us to  become  really,  really  good  friends  first.

Through  her  I  was  able  to  establish  a  great  relationship with  a  woman  that  was  completely  non-sexual. It’s  tough, really.  Men  aren’t  programmed  to  have  friendships  with women.  Even  with  men, it’s limited. Very  often  sports  is  our common  interest.   In  every  other  area,  we  are  competitive.

We  compete  for  money, we  compete  for  women. Women  are better  at  friendship  and  relationship.

When  I  was  young, I  was  kind  of  shy  around  women, so I  thought  I’d  make  up  for  it  by  becoming  a  total  hedonist. I  spent  my  first  five  years,  while  on  Cheers, accomplishing that,  but  then  I  started  to  focus  on  my  spirituality,  so  it’s been  a  process  of  balancing  my  physical,  emotional,  and spiritual  lives.

I  was  kind  of  a  troubled  child.  I  have  an  enormous shadow,  the  so-called  dark  stuff  in  your  life  that  you  suppress  or  repress.  People   tell  you  you  are  bad  from  the time  you  are  very  young.  You  put  in  this  bag  and  you carry  it  along  with  you. It  gets  bigger  and  bigger , it  keeps growing. I have  to  deal  with   my  shadow  because  it’s  enormous.  But  it’s  a  good  thing  for  me  to  confront  my  shadow.

Phil, currently chairman of the HFPA board of directors, will be one of a distinguished group of world critics,  programmers, academics and curators who every ten years take part in the poll. A major worldwide endeavour, the aim is to help remind people of film’s rich history and to refine what is meant by the best of cinema.

Those chosen to take part are being asked to select ten films in no particular order and one vote will be allotted to each film.

Sight and Sound explains: “As for what we mean by ‘Greatest’, we leave that open to your interpretation. You might choose the ten films you feel are most important to film history, or the ten that represent the aesthetic pinnacles of achievement, or indeed the ten films that have had the biggest impact on your own view of cinema.”

Throughout the world the magazine is known for the prestigious critics’ Top Ten Films poll that it conducts every ten years. This first took place in 1952, the only time the poll wasn’t won by Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane —– Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves took the honours that year – and was most recently done in 2002, when Kane beat Hitchcock’s Vertigo by two vote.

The Honorable Supreme Leader of Wadiya, Shabazz Aladeen, met with members of the HFPA recently while promoting Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest – and most personal – film, The Dictator.

Surrounded by two members of his Virgin Guards security team, the Admiral General praised the HFPA for having so many members representing countries that were once ruled by dictators: “Germany, the Philippines, Argentina … you are a true inspiration. It doesn’t get any better than this!” according to the Supreme Leader.

One of a series of actors’ reminiscences researched by Jack Tewkesbury       

ANTHONY  HOPKINS

I  overheard  a  producer  say,  “If  you  kicked  an  En – glishman  in  the  heart,  you’d  break  your  toes.”

Oh,  we  work  aplenty.  After  all,  we  have a  much stronger  tradition  of  theatre. Actors are schooled in England.

We are technically  trained. Not  America’s  subjective approach to  acting.

But  it’s  interesting  that  British  actors  are  usually  cast  as heavies  in  American  movies.  Maybe  it’s  some  kind  of  cultural  archetype  in  America  that  believes  the  British  are  not to  be trusted.

Robert Duvall  once  said  to Glenn Close — Jeremy  Irons told  me  this  when  he  and  Glenn  were  doing  The Real Thing  on Broadway –Duval  took  her  to  lunch,  and  he  said to  her about  Jeremy  Irons,  “How  can  you  trust  a  guy  that talks  like  that?”  So,  deep  in  the  American  consciousness, we’re  not  to  be  trusted.  Maybe  it  goes  back  to  the  American  Revolution.

A  lot  of  directors  are  bullies.  No  matter.  I  need  a  good director  because  I  can’t  be  on  my  own,  either  on  stage  or in  film. In  the  past  I  have  led  the  fray  against  directors because  I  didn’t  always  respect  them,  but  do  now  more than  ever.

Actors  can  be  infuriating  people  with  big  egos,  but  a really  good  director  is  somebody  who  will, like Jonathan Demme, let  you express character  through  your  psychology and  body. If  he  knows  his  stuff, he  will  concentrate  on guiding  the  speed  of  the  scene,  the  rhythm,  the  pace.

In  the  theatre,  the  director  has  to  have  the  whole  plan in  his  head. He’s  got  fifteen  actors  on  stage, all  those  egos bumping about. He’s  got  to  sort  them  out. If  an  actor doesn’t agree, a  sensible  director  will  negotiate.

The  worst  directors  are  the  ones  who  shout  and  scream. They’re  a  nightmare.  The  late  John  Dexter,  who  directed Equus  and  M.  Butterfly, was  one. John was a  very  tough, brutal  director.  He  could  be  savage.

After  Equus  I  vowed  I’d  never  work  with  him  again,  but as  the  years  passed  I  thought,  I’ve  got  to work  with  this guy  again  to  get  the  record  straight.

So  I  worked  with   him  on  M.Butterfly, and  it was a  pleasure, not  because John  had  changed  but  because  I had.  We had  a  lot  of  fun, and  he was  very  nice. I  put  up  with  his bullying  because  he  knew  what  he  was  doing.

 —Jack Tewkesbury

HARRISON  FORD

AT  FIRST,  ACTING  WAS ONLY  A  MENTAL  EXERCISE

I  was  a  college  intellectual — you  know,  the  kind  of a  guy   who  can  write  in  three  languages  on  a  restroom wall.

I  was  a  philosophy  major  in  college,  which  prepares  you to  do  nothing  but  teach  philosophy  or  write.  I  had  done  a couple  of  plays.  I was  looking  for  something  that was  challenging  and  would  provide  me  with  a  variety  of  experience.

When  I  first  went  on  stage I was  frightened  to  death,  so I was  interested  in  overcoming  that  fear.  Later  I  became fascinated  with  the  process  of  working  with  a  group  of people. If  I  had  known  then  how  difficalt  it  was  to  get a  job  as  an  actor, I  might  have  tried  something  else.

But  even  then  I  thought  of  it  as  a  job  you  worked  on for  a  finite  time,  and  when  you  finished  that  you  went on  to  something  else. It  seemed  an  interesting, productive way  to  live.

I  worked  as  a  carpenter  only  because  I  was  doing  the same  part  over  and  over  again  on  episodic  television. I wanted  to  begin  to  control  my  own  career, so  I  found another  way  of  making  money  to  pay  for  the  food  and rent. I  wanted  to be  able  to  choose  from  among  the parts that  were  offered  me. I  never  gave  up  my  desire  to  be  an actor.

I’m  not  the  type  who  hides  behind   a  character. Neither am  I  a  rubbernosed  actor. I don’t  go  for  accents  or  vocal characterizations. I  pretty  much  use  myself  in  my  films, but I  don’t  rewrite  the  role  in  terms  of  myself. I  try  to  play the  character.

I  never lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  I’m  acting. I don’t became  so  immersed  in  the  part  that, if  you  were  to  talk to  me  after  the  camera  stopped  rolling, I would  still be in character. I’ve  never  developed  anything for  myself  because many  times,  when  projects  are  developed  with  a  specific actor  in  mind, they  tend  to lean  on his  supposed  strengths and  avoid  what  are  thought  to  be  his  weaknesses.

I would  rather play something  written  for Dustin  Hoffman than  what  is written for me. I don’t  think  a  character  should be  written  to  serve  an  actor. He  should  be  created  both  by the  screenwritter  and  the  actor  to  serve  the  story.

—Jack Tewkesbury

Longtime HFPA member Ahmed Lateef was honoured by the Indian Film Festival Los Angeles at a lunch at the House of Blues when he was presented with the festival’s lifetime achievement award.

It marked a long and varied career of accomplishments and achievements which were outlined to the audience by his friend of 60 years and fellow HFPA member Noel De Souza.

After attending film school at UCLA in the 1950s, Ahmed Lateef worked as a cameraman for director Roger Corman, became a film editor and went on to direct  more than 1,000 commercials,  becoming the first Indian to win a coveted Clio award.  He was also the first  to  make  a  music video, filming the first one in 1966 for Sergio Mendes.

Ahmed Lateef is regarded as a pioneer who paved the way for other Indian filmmakers who followed in his footsteps. He is still a valued member of the HFPA, working for an Indian newspaper and a magazine in Hong Kong  and has close ties to the Hawaiian Film Festival, which he visits annually.

“I am in love with my dog. Her name is Emmie, and she’s a cover girl! See?” The actress proudly showed off the  cover of the AARP magazine which features her and Emmie.  “The love that I feel for this dog – and any other dog that I have had – is unlike any love that I experienced … talk about unconditional. And they don’t talk back!.”

In Darling Companion the actress plays a woman who finds the love, devotion, commitment and courage she needs all wrapped up in a bloodied stray dog who becomes her “darling companion.”