Thanks to SCQ member Laura and Andrea, we now have detailed reports about Dan’s appearance and interview at Inside the Actor’s Studio programe held at Pace University. Hosted by James Lipton, Dan talked about his life, career, movies, music, sports, Equus and many more. Here are some experpt:
There was a lot of laughter from the audience, Dan really had them eating out of the palm of his hand at this point.
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Favorite word – verdurous (from Keat’s “Ode to a Nightingale”) – means lush and green, a word “he uses all the time” (jokes)
Least favorite word – mediocre
What turns him on – “bathtubs and plumbing” (running joke how many of his significant moments have been when he was in the bath). Life in general turns him on (he won’t get into sexual details) finds restaurant signs amusing (Cosmic Diner, Galaxy Diner)
What turns him off – unprofessionalism in people, especially actors
Sound he loves – cricket ball hitting a bat at 90 miles an hour
Sound he hates – his voice on tape, when a pencil point breaks when he’s writing
Favorite curse word – bollocks “rolls off the tongue” (as in Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols)
Harry’s favorite curse word – bollocks (Lipton asked him this)
Profession he’d like to attempt – writing, journalism
Profession he wouldn’t want to attempt – being “down a mine” (another running joke about his dad telling him to stop complaining because he’s not working down in a mine)
What he would say when he goes to the Pearly Gates – “Are you surprised to see me?” he would be polite, God would smoke a pipe and say “it’s amazing we’re the same height”
Will we see Dan do more comedy? Yes, he wants to do more comedy but more a film that has comedic moments rather than a full on comedy.
Student Q&A
<Funny bit here where Lipton leaves Dan with the students and he jokes that he’s never seen the rest of the show.>
Student #1 – How does he choose between a challenging role vs. one that’s not a good fit?
Dan talks about his small stature – he couldn’t play a security guard, Richard Griffiths won’t play a “fat” role (Falstaff) but it’s important to take on challenge
Student #2 – What does he do to prepare for live performance?
Dan listens to unhappy music on Ipod, thinks about Alan’s crime against the horses – the intensity, but relaxes and doesn’t worry
Student #3 – Who does he want to work with? What’s his favorite spell?
Alahomora (to open doors), Woody Harrelson is brilliant, Johnny Depp (yelps from the audience, makes running rain forest joke), the Coen brothers
Student #4 – Does he pull direction from HP novels or the script? The script first, book as a backup. Mentions Steve Kloves, he doesn’t read the Potter books over and over (he’s not obsessed)
Student #5 –Artistically, what is the best and worst thing about acting?
Worse – unprofessional people, or those who aren’t in it for the right reason, who don’t treat you well
Best – being in atmosphere of creativity and practicality (on film set)
Student #6 – What is art meant for?
Communicate a story, to feel. Tells story about watching one of the dancers from Equus had a short video on Youtube
Student #7- Are there stage roles he wants to do?
Shakespeare (he’d like to learn), dream role is Bobby in “Company” (in 20 years)
Student #8 – What vocal techniques did he learn for Equus – Projection and Articulation.
Student #9 – Has he thought about playing Napoleon, due to his stature?
Dan tells a funny story that he was on the HP set with best friend/wardrobe guy Will Steggle and they were doing a night shoot and he put a dressing gown on him and said he looked like Napoleon. Later, Dan asked Will “What was Napoleon’s first name?” Will replies “Napoleon” and Dan says, “What-Napoleon Napoleon?” (lots of laughter). Dan jokes he needs to do research and suggests that “Napoleon Napoleon” should be the name of the film and he’ll be in the bath.
Student #10 – What is the difference between Hollywood and European cinema?
In US they treat child actors differently than in Europe. Talks about music – counterculture (indie) music. Studio Indie films are peculiar – indie=quirky. Hollywood does great action films (“can you imagine a French action movie?”) Hates when people won’t see subtitled films.
Student #11 – How do you keep your performance Equus fresh?
People paid a lot of money to see him, do it like it’s your first time out there – “its’ your job” (good answer, Dan!)
Dan thanks audience for being welcoming and that he was intimidated when he saw the line of people outside b/c most were older than him – he thanks audience again for coming.
If anything doesn’t make sense, let me know. There were a lot of running jokes during the evening.
Dan was greeted with huge applause and screaming when he came onto the stage and sat down and he immediately quipped, “This is easy. I don’t have to say anything.”
You could tell that he was determined to be entertaining, to provide the energy for the interview. Lipton is always VERY low-key, professorial.
Lipton had a couple of huge piles of big index cards on the table between them and he patiently traced Dan’s ENTIRE life, from birth! Dan talked briefly about his parents–Lipton wanted to know THEIR full names–and explained that Gresham is an anglicized version of the Jewish name Gershorn.
Dan talked briefly about being an only child. Said the one thing he missed was having a younger sibling he could wrestle with because as a child he watched at lot of WWF (World Wrestling Federation).
He is not religious now, as he’s said before. When he was younger he was religious but “out of fear.” What he does want to hold onto from his childhood is the childlike “fascination with the world.”
Lipton then proceeded to go through EVERY bit of acting Dan has ever done, starting with David Copperfield. He always asked Dan about particular actors that he worked with on each project.
Dan, not surprisingly, had not read David Copperfield when he got the part. He had a “really, really good time….I wasn’t in school.” He added: “I remember being intensely embarrassed” in the scene of “kissing a girl on the cheek.” Maggie Smith recommended him for the role of Harry Potter. He also mentioned that Smith was the star of the one film his father made, “The Passion of Judith Hearne.”
Dan was attending Sussex House school at this time and pointed out that there was a 3 to 1 girl-boy ratio, which he was “far too young to appreciate.” It was a Public ( i.e., private) school and his parents were one of the very few who weren’t “bankers and lawyers,” just ordinary middle class.
As a child he always loved going to the cinema, right down to the “smell of popcorn.” The first one he went to was “Toy Story.”
