Interview

Nothing Doing

Before I ever had my first formal acting class, I took improvisation classes. San Francisco old-timers may remember the Committee and its offshoot, the Wing, and the public workshops the Wing held in North Beach.

What's Up With... Fyvush Finkel

Who he is: An Emmy- and Obie-winning actor, Fyvush Finkel began his career at the age of 9 performing in Jewish theatres in New York City. He currently portrays outspoken teacher Harvey Lipschultz on David E. Kelley's high school drama Boston Public.

Prince of a Guy

There's a unique and universal reaction one encounters when mentioning Cary Elwes' name. While the actor may not boast the marquee power of a Tom Cruise or the pin-up status of a Brad Pitt, it seems everyone knows his name. People's eyes light up immediately, generally followed by ...

Theatre's True Revolutionary

Edward Albee, arguably our greatest living playwright, is sitting in his Tribeca loft home, pondering the lingering effects of his Tony Award–winning play The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? recently playing at the Mark Taper Forum. Adamantly opposed to the idea of purposeful shock or controversy in playwriting, he ...

Tapping Into History

hile most 11-year-olds occupy their free time riding bicycles and playing video games, Newark, New Jersey-born Savion Glover was busy working on his flourishing career as a tap dancer at that age. Glover made his Broadway stage debut starring as the title role in the Tony Award-winning musical The Tap ...

Kim Hunter

Has anyone encapsulated quiet suffering more memorably than Kim Hunter? For the 1951 film version of A Streetcar Named Desire, Hunter snagged an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and embedded herself in the lexicon as the "Stella!" to Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski.

The Elephant in the Room

Elephant, directed by Gus Van Sant, was inspired by the mass shootings at Columbine High School in April 1999. Using the routine of a an ordinary high school day as its backdrop, Van Sant worked with actual high school students to create a film that depicts the lives of average ...

The Gambler

James Caan has never shied away from taking chances as an actor, sometimes to excellent effect as in The Rain People, Brian's Song, the cult classic Rollerball, Cinderella Liberty, The Gambler, Thief, Misery, The Way of the Gun, and most notably his Oscar-nominated role as the explosive Sonny Corleone ...

Telling Details

Robert Altman wants you to see his films twice. Not that he's vain, or out to top the repeat-business box office of Harry Potter. It's just that this fiercely independent auteur—who's been directing films, television, and theatre since 1951—views filmmaking as a kind of layering ...

Seriously Now

Irving "Ving" Rhames didn't always want to be an actor. He didn't grow up watching films or dreaming of the footlights of Broadway. In fact, the Harlem-born-and-raised Rhames had his sights set on playing football, not becoming one of the great character actors in the business today. Luckily ...