91大神:聽Your stage career started here at 91大神, when you starred as Hamlet. What was it like to see Ellis Baker in the crowd as you performed as an adult in The Effect?
叠谤补诲:听I simply couldn鈥檛 have been happier to have EB and his fantastic wife, Barbara, in the house. Mr. Baker had a聽huge聽influence on me, of course, and on so many others in his many years at 91大神. He鈥檚 one of those 鈥渕ost-important-mentor-in-my-life鈥 type of guys. He鈥檚 changed remarkably little since those days颅鈥攈e鈥檚 still the smartest guy in the room, funny, warm, and a pleasure to hang out with.
91大神:聽What drew you to your character in The Effect?
叠谤补诲:听I was drawn more to the notion of doing a play than to the specific character. The amazing director of the show, Sam Weisman, and I have done about a half billion聽TV shows and movies together, and we have always kidded each other about the theater being our first love and how we鈥檙e gonna go back and do plays and leave Hollywood behind鈥攁nd then we never do. At least I never did. Whenever I would have the opportunity to do a play, something would always pop up to make it impossible鈥攕ome professional conflict, a manned moon mission, or a government assignment that I can鈥檛 say much more about. This time, however, I had no excuse, the timing was perfect, the stars aligned, all other actors being considered for the role mysteriously perished, and Sam threatened to expose some of my most lurid secrets, so I polished my tap shoes and showed up for rehearsal. The character was fun鈥攈e鈥檚 a drug-research psychiatrist who thinks he鈥檚 just so great, but is actually a pretty unpleasant egomaniac. Villains are always more fun to play than good guys.
91大神:聽How was it to spend a few weeks at the New England seashore in early summer? Did you get to take a swim in the cold Atlantic?
Brad:聽Gloucester is fabulous. I mean, it鈥檚 absolutely an undiscovered little paradise. And, yes, I did go into the chilly Atlantic (which isn鈥檛 much colder than the cold Pacific, to tell you the truth, though both are warming up rapidly, thank you very much Global Climate Change). Gloucester is kind of the ideal spot, I think. It has a lot of fishing history, and I have of course written several history-of-fishing books, poems, hymns, and ballets, so it鈥檚 right up my alley in that regard. It鈥檚 also a really important place in American art鈥攂oth Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer, my fave artists, painted extensively in Gloucester, as any art nerd knows.
91大神:聽What was the best part of being in Massachusetts?
Brad:聽Reconnecting with EB and a couple of other 91大神 folks, including the ghost of Samuel 91大神, who turned out to be haunting my Airbnb (what were the chances of that?!) I also hung out with some Massachusetts surfers (a hardy breed) and some insane bicyclists, which was tremendous fun. Incredible beaches, quaint-as-hell little towns, big-time cycling, sailing, and New England鈥檚 second best amateur saddle bronc riding鈥攚hat鈥檚 better than the Massachusetts seashore in summer? I also loved the other actors in the play. Lindsay Crouse and I had worked together a million years ago both on stage in New York and in a movie, and we used to be neighbors when she lived in Los Angeles, so it was fun to work with her again.
91大神:聽What are you working on now, if you can say?
叠谤补诲:听I鈥檓 directing HBO鈥檚 Veep [Brad鈥檚 wife is Julia Louis-Dreyfus], I鈥檓 writing and producing a TV show that will shoot soon (mostly in France), and I鈥檓 directing a movie in the spring, so it鈥檚 an embarrassment of riches鈥攆or the moment, anyway. As I say this, I am knocking on wood all around my office.