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ishido-enjoyer · 1 month

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Another new interview with Takehiro Hira (this must be my lucky month ^^); he talks about working with Tadanobu Asano & Anna Sawai, Ishido's character and what it was like having to play a more introspective character, and the Toranaga/Ishido rivalry. Full audio at the link.

Excerpts:

Takehiro: I guess he [Ishido] was really lonely among the lords, who were actually born in that ruling class and they had their, you know, career path, life path, already determined when they were born, but Ishido was the opposite of that, so he didn’t have anyone to talk to, back then you don’t make friends with other lords, I guess there’s a lot of backstabbing and betrayals and stuff like that, but Ishido was really loyal to his former boss, Taiko, and that’s why during the show there were a few moments where he stares at the armor of his former boss, Taiko, as if he was looking at himself in the mirror, asking questions like “Am I doing alright, father?” kind of moments.

Q: How do you approach a character who’s not a textbook villain? We know he has reasons for being who he is but he’s not necessarily a full-on antagonist like we see in most blockbusters now.

Takehiro: He has his personal ambitions but on top of that, I guess Ishido can’t really stand Toranaga or people who were born into the privileged families, because you know he had to go through so much to be where he is and Toranaga is like “Oh I don’t want to be Shogun,” but you know, I know you want to be Shogun, so I guess it’s more of a personal grudge against him, not so much political I guess.

[On working with Tadanobdu Asano]

Takehiro: He's really an interesting guy, and did you know he’s a musician too? He’s a good painter, a great graphic artist, he just had a little gallery thing in Japan, and his drawings are really comical and really nuanced, and it’s really great. And he’s a really humble guy, funny, he’s a renaissance man. You can’t put a finger on who he really is, and that’s almost like Yabushige himself. So it was really great working with him and just playing off of what he does, was a great experience.

[On working with Anna Sawai on Shogun and other shows]

She was really focused on the show, so I only had a handful of scenes with her but I didn’t really talk to her off camera at all, she was focused in a little corner, so I just let her be and let her focus, but you know when we do traditional Japanese samurai shows, in order to move or act in that costume is really difficult, especially for women and for men as well, it takes a lot of years of practice to be able to move freely, but it was her first samurai show, for Anna, but she did it so effortlessly and it was just so amazing how she could do that, I’ve never seen any actresses do it so easily [....] I think we have developed more confidence with each other now, we did work in Giri/Haji, Shogun, and Monarch season 1 but we didn’t have many scenes together, but we talk about the shows, and how we approach the characters and stuff like that, and now we’re shooting season 2 of Monarch and it seems like we have more confidence with each other and we’re more comfortable with each other.

#I love how incredibly humble he is about the Emmy nomination too #I'm thrilled he got nominated but he doesn't seem like he thinks he deserves it #Takehiro Hira #Anna Sawai #Tadanobu Asano #Shogun #FX Shogun #Shogun FX #interviews #Ishido Kazunari

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musette22 · 2 years

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good morning my darling Minnie! new Seb interview dropped and here's a summary in case someone wants it:

- Lily had an interview prior him and said she and Sebastian became really good friends and spoke about how generous and brave Seb is as an actor ❤️

- Sebastian said he was filming a scene of adm when the nominations were announced and he said the first one to congratulate him was the director Aaron Schimberg, he gave him the news and then they just kept on filming 😂

- he was asked if he's still getting excited about working with great people, the interviewer mentioned Nicole Kidman and you know what this sunshine said? 🥺 he said he almost had a breakdown the other day while filming his current movie. no "big" names yet he's still so excited to work with Renate, Adam and everyone involved. his heart ❤️

- He spoke a lot with Jessica Chastain before/during p&t and she recommended him to wear an ear piece to listen to Tommy's voice all the time, he listened to music instead 😂

- he said he tried to eat once a day to lose weight but then he'd feel without energy

- he is literally so grateful for everything he's achieved and the people who've helped him in the way ❤️

- he said this could be the only time he ever gets an Emmy nomination and the interviewer said "no way" and Seb proceed to say that as an eastern European he was raised to no have expectations ever and his mother taught him to always look behind his back 💔

- he said for him it was really difficult the first years in America because he didn't speak English, he had an accent and couldn't communicate correctly with other people

- he said before this interview he was followed by paparazzis for an hour and a half and he was just circling around to basically not get home because he was scared to being followed 🙁 he then proceed to say he often tells to himself "Sebastian suck it up, you choose this profession" and the interviewer told him he's very generous because he shouldn't have to 😩 this man is way too kind i swear, incredible.

- he said that even though he went to college and he got his degree, hes never stopped studying. This guy has been constantly studying his whole life - and we can notice it, i hope he knows that!!

- he told again about how he was asked to get Chris to voice the penis in p&t and he said there was no way he was telling Chris about it because if he said yes "it would be too much for Chris and himself 👀"

- she asked about the penis scene and Seb said the show proves a point because that's the question he's been asked the most during the press of p&t

https://variety.com/2022/tv/awards/pam-tommy-lily-james-sebastian-stan-1235327825/

Good morning my love! Aaahhh THANK YOU for this summary, that's fantastic seeing as I probably won't have time to listen to the full thing (though I'll skip through it for sure and read the interview!) but I do very much want to know all the interesting things that were no doubt said!

Oh god, everything he said about his past, and the fact that he's still so unbelievably humble, and how hard working and dedicated he is, like we knew all this but he proves it time and time again and it's incredible 😭 But GOD, the thing about the paparazzis is so sad ugh, I can't believe it. That breaks my heart. Yeah, he did choose this profession, but he chose acting, not being hounded by photographers, wtf. I hate that, he deserves so much better :(( But he really is too kind and generous, such a good person, ugh.

And then the whole P&T Penis thing with Chris, it's just hilarious and cute and amazing, I love it so much. I was a little worried at first what he was going to say because I was like 'too much..?' but then I listened and it was like 'ooohhh, too much, I see...😏' This cutie!!! Sebastian honey, your crush is showing <33

Thank you so much again for this rundown, lovely! I really appreciate it, big kiss for you! 😘😘

#sebastian stan #minnie answers

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ultrahpfan5blog · 4 years

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My very belated thoughts on Game of Thrones and season 8 in particular

I feel like I have a somewhat unique perspective on GoT. The show has been such a pop culture phenomenon that I feel that fans have been invested in it for years, either having been book fans who watched the show, or those having watched the show for the better part of a decade. For me, I was never a part of the fandom because I never watched the show until it was in season 7. The books sound great but because I can’t stand reading incomplete series, I have never read them, and at this point, it just feels unlikely that GRRM will end up finishing the series. That sucks because its just the sort of fiction that I would love. I started watching GoT in season 7, and then in season 8. Obviously, I had very little clue what was going on other than the broad strokes and I was watching purely because the spectacle and scale was something I had never seen before on tv. On that front alone it was entertaining. Given the incredibly divisive reaction, I didn’t feel like spending the amount of hours required to watch the show from scratch, but because covid ended up impacting so many ongoing tv shows and movies, I ended up deciding to give it a go. I started a couple of months ago and just finished season 8 a couple of days ago. Its been quite an experience, belated as it may be.

I still feel that I view the show differently than a lot of people. Obviously, its a very different emotional commitment for me, having watched the show in 2 months whereas other have watched the show for about 10 years. Having not read the books, I don’t have the issue of comparing the quality of the books to the show. And given I saw season 8, I watched the show with the ending in mind, so I could understand if the ending made sense to me or not.

On the whole, the show is worth a lot of applause. The production, acting, music, writing, visuals etc... is something I have never seen on tv. Juggling such a huge cast of characters with so many ongoing storylines is an incredible achievement. Say what you will about season 8′s writing, but from a production, scale, and performance standpoint, the show remained stellar all the way through. And for that, I do think D&D deserve credit. I know that is an unpopular thing to say but they still have created something that is truly one of a kind. The show is definitely not perfect, even before season 8. There are storylines that drag, storylines that aren’t given the time they deserve, character developments that don’t completely work etc... but I feel that is part and parcel of every long running show. There are very few that are perfect, and for the sheer complexity of the narrative, its amazing that the show isn’t more convoluted. I do agree that the final 2 seasons are the weakest seasons of the lot. I still think season 7 is very good, and the first half of season 8 I also like a lot, but seasons 1-6 are superb. Its difficult for me the select my favorite season. I suppose season 4 is probably at the top. Its kind of the end of the era season, with the death of Joffrey, Tyrion’s trial, then him leaving Westoros. Arya and Sandor’s time together coming to an end with her traveling to Braavos, death of Tywin, and Jon rising in the ranks of the Nights Watch and becoming a more prominent character in the show. I love seasons 5-6 because of the rise of Jon. Season 2 arc of Tyrion as hand of the King was also excellent. My favorite episodes all come from these seasons. I love the battle episodes, with Blackwater, Hardhome, and Battle of the Bastards being 3 of my favorite eps. The Laws of Gods and Men is another episode I love just for the climax where Peter Dinklage just tears into the scene with his full might. I also loved Pedro Pascal as Oberyn in season 4. He added a unique quality and I was sad to see him not last past season 4. There were a few storylines that I wasn’t completely fond of. The early years of Daenerys weren’t the most compelling, Arya in Braavos was just too slow for my taste, the Littlefinger and Sansa storyline in season 4 also felt like they were treading water and then they backtrack on Sansa’s development in season 5. Also, Staanis was someone who went a little too batshit crazy in his lust for power. Felt a little out of character.

Now, when it comes to season 8, There are a lot of complaints about a lot of things. I will say that the main issue with season 8 is that it crams what should be 2 seasons of storylines and crams it into a single 6 episode season. I think virtually every complaint can be traced back to that. I actually really like episodes 1 and 2. Especially episode 2. Brienne’s knighting is actually very touching. Its great to see characters reuniting and characters meeting for the first time. I know lots of people complained about episode 3 and while its not as good as the other 3 battle episodes that I mentioned before, I still think its excellent. I did not have the lighting problem that others had. I watched it on my laptop and I could see everything. The episode is titled ‘The Long Night’ so I expected things to be dark, but it isn’t as if I had trouble seeing what happened. The episode is incredibly intense and while its a bit difficult o figure out how so many survived and there are some questionable tactics for sure, its still quite a spectacular spectacle. My only issue with the episode is really all Jon related, which I will get back to in a bit.

I know that Daenerys turning into the mad queen is a huge point of contention for the season. While I absolutely agree that that character arc went from 0 to a 100 way too fast, I don’t think it was completely out of the blue. Knowing the ending, I kept an eye on Daenerys, and I think there are a lot of instances where her first instinct to fixing problems has been to unleash her dragons. She has had characters around her like Selmy, Jorah, later Tyrion, even Daario, who have tempered that instinct somewhat. But that is still a natural instinct for her. Not to mention, in Essos, she was dealing with a fairly black and white issue when it comes to slavery. And she mistakenly thought, her experiences in Essos would translate to Westoros. She came with the idea that the common people would support her without fully processing the idea that she was bringing foreign armies into their land and three dragons, which had not been seen by people for generations. So they had legitimate reasons for fear. So it wasn’t completely out of the blue that she unraveled when confronted with the revelations that she was feared more than she was loved and that she did not have the sort of universal support she thought she would have. Obviously, that was compounded by the losses that she tacked up one after another. Definitely, one more season was required to make that a satisfactory arc, but I don’t think it was completely random. And honestly, once she did what she did in episode 5, she was never going to survive the show. I will say this, Emilia Clarke was outstanding in season 8. She was never the cast member who stood out in seasons past, but season 8 was really her season. While the character development was rushed, she sold every scene and earned her lead actress emmy nomination.

There are some endings which people hated which I understood. Like Jaime’s ending, which people were pretty pissed about, is an ending I quite get. As much as we love the story of redemption, the Cersei and Jaime bond was just too deep and toxic for him to so easily extricate himself. I get why he would be drawn back to her when he knew she was in danger. I think Lena and Nikolaj really sold their final scenes together. I felt for Lena as an actress. As a result of the short season, she really didn’t get much to do all season. Her death scene is really the only time she gets material to chew on. So that was a pity. I think Brienne and Sandor Clegane were two characters for whom their endings were perfect. Brienne becoming a knight of the six kingdoms and Clegane finally getting revenge on his brother was extremely satisfying. Theon’s ending was pretty much perfect. Sansa becoming queen in the North makes sense. The show seemed to be building towards it. Sophie Tuner gets some good material in the final season where you can see that there is a lot happening in her head and not all of it is altruistic. She does have a power hungry side to her, even if she’s not self destructively so. Maisie Williams was strong again. I wasn’t a huge fan of her getting to kill the Night King over Jon but there lots of good moments she has with Jon, Sandor, Gendry, Sansa etc... Bran becoming King of the six Kingdoms is definitely not the greatest ending. I don’t know whose decision it was to turn Bran into a robot and have him do nothing other than sit and stare, but it definitely wasn’t the greatest. I can’t imagine it was a particularly satisfying experience as an actor for Isaac. I did enjoy a couple of moments with him and Jaime, harking back to season 1.

The two other major characters are Tyrion and Jon. Certainly the finale is very heavily centered on those two. I do agree with the notion that they really dumbed down on Tyrion’s intelligence as he makes a lot of wrong moves in the last couple of seasons. But Peter Dinklage the actor has never disappointed. His performance in the finale ranks as one of his finest on the show. There has never been a time when he has not given his all. Him ending up as the hand is pretty effective ending. He is a humbled man, admitting that he’s not as smart as he thought he was. So maybe he would be a better hand as a result of that experience. Jon’s ending is another controversial one. I am in the audience who really wasn’t a fan of how Jon was treated in season 8. Kit Harington was quite poorly served in season 8, which was a bit of a whiplash since Jon was arguably at his most badass in season 5-7 and became a huge a fan favorite. Certainly he took over from Dinklage as the de facto male lead of the show. The character only comes back to life at the very end of episode 5. Part of that is probably the point. That Jon became too bent to Daenerys’ will, as Varys said.to Tyrion. It took Daenerys burning down King’s Landing to wake him up. I get that from a narrative standpoint, buts its dissatisfying from a character perspective when its the final season. Certainly I found it very strange how little role he played in The Long Night, given the White Walker storyline was Jon’s primary storyline on the show. Put aside killing the Night King, a showdown which was promised on the show, he didn’t even do much else in the episode. At the very least he should have gotten to destroy the undead Viserion. The memes about his dialogue in the season aren’t unfounded. But, I will say that Kit Harington is fantastic in the series finale. He arguable has the centerpoint scenes of the finale, the two scenes with Tyrion, and then the scene with Danaerys where he is literally begging her to give him a reason not to kill her and she keeps saying the wrong thing. Certainly Peter and Kit end the season on a high note. Him ending up with the Wildlings seems appropriate because Jon never seemed cut out to be King, nor did he ever want that responsibility. He probably would have been better than Bran, but its a decent enough ending for him. In the end, the way the show ends I was mostly ok with, but the path to getting there should have come with one extra season at least.

In the end, the production and the acting will always be something I will remember. I didn’t even mention great performances from Sean Bean, Charles Dance, Alfie Allen, Stephen Dillane, Conleth Hill, Aiden Gillen, Diana Rigg, Jerome Flynn, Liam Cunningham among many others over the years. So even though I do have issues with the final season, I feel that the good far outweighs the bad when it comes to the show. Its not a show I foresee rewatching any time soon since its one of those shows that requires some digestion and a lot of hours, but I certainly don’t regret the time I gave to it.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #jon snow #daenerys targaryen #sansa stark #arya stark #jaime lannister #cersei lannister #tyrion lannister #bran stark #ned stark

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mrmichaelchadler · 6 years

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A Look Back at Those We Lost in 2018

Below is a full index of our tributes from 2018, celebrating the unforgettable talent we lost like Penny Marshall, Stan Lee, Aretha Franklin, Burt Reynolds, and more. Each tribute includes a passage from the obituary, a credit to the respective author, and a link to the full piece.

John Mahoney (1940-2018)

“Whether it was in film, on TV, or on stage, John Mahoney found a way to always feel like he was present in a scene, listening to the actor opposite him and not just waiting to say his rehearsed lines. I was lucky enough to see him at the Steppenwolf, and he was so completely captivating that he stole nearly every scene he was in. What he did was so subtle—whether it was in “Frasier,” “Barton Fink,” or on stage—that it probably didn’t get the attention it deserved, but he’s one of those rare actors about which one can honestly say that he made everything he was in just a little bit better. And sometimes a lot.” (Brian Tallerico) [link]

Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018)

“He leaves behind an incredible discography, made from his sensibility to tell stories with minimalist melodies, grandiose arrangements and meditative pacing that challenged the conventions of music composition. Aside from his own accomplishments as a nearly unclassifiable composer, his film work was pivotal to helping numerous movies deeply resonate with audiences.” (Nick Allen) [link]

Steven Bochco (1943-2018)

“On the Mt. Rushmore of TV creators next to faces like Norman Lear and David Chase, there should be a spot reserved for Steven Bochco, the man who changed the medium of television drama in the way he emphasized ensemble over star vehicles and multi-episode arcs over standalone stories. Shows like “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” and “NYPD Blue” earned Bochco a stunning 10 Emmy awards, along with prizes from the Directors and Writers Guilds of America and four Peabody Awards. In 1996, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. He should probably have his own wing.” (Brian Tallerico) [link]

Isao Takahata (1935-2018)

“As a producer, he co-founded the legendary Studio Ghibli with the legendary Hayao Miyazaki and would go on to collaborate with him on a number of his internationally celebrated films as a producer. […] Without his efforts and influence over the years, it is safe to say that the animated film industry would be a markedly different beast than it is now, and definitely a less interesting one to boot.” (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

Milos Forman (1932-2018)

Milos Forman, the Czech-born filmmaker who helped revolutionize cinema in his home country before moving to America and becoming one of its most celebrated directors as well, has died. The man behind such celebrated films as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) and “Amadeus” (1984), both of which won Oscars for Best Picture and earned him prizes for Best Director, passed away from what was described as a short illness at the age of 86 at his home in Connecticut. Mixing together surreal humor, documentary techniques and an interesting blend of cynicism and affection, Forman helped put Czech cinema on the map. When he applied those same techniques to the projects produced in his adopted country, the result was some of the most incisive, knowing and most profoundly American films of his era. (Peter Sobczysnki) [link]

R. Lee Ermey (1944-2018)

“Ermey was fun to watch. He became an actor by playing himself, a rare breed of man who was familiar as himself—an American, a Marine and later, an actor. While many scream over Hollywood's liberal slant or other preconceived notions, Ermey's presence on screen was an example talent always wins out. We're all winners for having the Sarge in our viewing life.” (BJ Bethel) [link]

Anne V. Coates (1925-2018):

“Throughout a career spanning over 60 years, she worked on over 60 films, receiving numerous accolades that included two Oscars and four additional nominations, and is credited with creating perhaps the most famous single cut in movie history. [...] In 2003, she was named an Officer of the British Empire by the Queen in celebration of her career. In 2007, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, who had in the past nominated her work on “Murder on the Orient Express,” “The Elephant Man,” “In the Line of Fire” and “Erin Brockovich," presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She received her second Oscar, a Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2017.” (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

Margot Kidder (1948-2018)

“She was a spiky brunette with a sexy low voice, but she had her goofy side. Her “Superman” director Richard Donner once said that Kidder was so physically maladroit that if she walked into an empty room with a small trashcan in it she would somehow find a way to get her foot caught in that trashcan.” (Dan Callahan) [link]

Tom Wolfe (1931-2018)

“As a journalist, he would take subjects that I would ordinarily have little interest in—Southern California car culture, LSD, the early days of the space program—and attack them with both a zingy writing style that was practically novelistic in nature. He had an enormous depth of detail that made the subjects come to life in the most memorable and unexpected of ways. Later on, Wolfe applied those same techniques in the service of narrative fiction and came up with a series of best-sellers that included one of the most popular and influential novels of the second half of the 20th century.” (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

Philip Roth (1933-2018)

“Early novels like Goodbye, Columbus and later novels like The Humbling might show differences in relative aggressiveness but they grow from the same work aesthetic and the same desired relationship with the reader. Much like the greatest films, they pick you up, they draw you in, they show you a world—and the world, usually, is not the world you would have dreamed up. It is a world in which you are morally and intellectually uncomfortable.” (Max Winter) [link]

Harlan Ellison (1934-2018)

“That said: if you want to send Ellison off in style, do as he encouraged, and not just as he wrote: read more; talk back to any authority figure within earshot; raise a stink if you feel like you're being taken advantage of, even if it's by a friend; value your time, and don't be afraid to walk away from somebody you love if they don't; respect artists by paying for their work; denounce superstition whenever you can, especially when it seems harmless; reject platitudes, and don't let anybody tell you that your informed opinion doesn't matter. Life may be a series of confrontations, as Ellison said at least once, but you can't let the bastards get you down.” (Simon Abrams) [link]

Claude Lanzmann (1925-2018)

“The 1985 documentary “Shoah” was a movie whose critical reception, at least in its United States incarnation, was defined by a slight paradox. The nine-and-a-half hour movie about the Holocaust, specifically the Nazi death camps operated in Poland, was a work utterly defined by the personality, the aesthetic, and the moral determination, and determinations, of its director, Claude Lanzmann. [...] Lanzmann’s flame was an uncommon one. Filmmakers and people of conscience and compassion the world over would do well to keep its memory close by.” (Glenn Kenny) [link]

Tab Hunter (1931-2018)

"And yet, it was the very things about him that the system sought to repress—such as a sly, self-effacing sense of humor and his homosexuality—that helped breathe new life into his career a couple of decades down the line. Now that he has left us, three days before his 87th birthday, Hunter will be remembered not just as a pretty face with an admittedly memorable name. He'll also be celebrated as a trailblazer whose accounts of his experiences as a gay matinee idol in Hollywood at a time when such things were unheard of helped pave the way for acceptance." (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

Aretha Franklin (1942-2018)

“Her lyrics told you to think, but her voice taught you to feel. She was a fountain of useful knowledge, too: She could tell you who was zoomin’ who, where Dr. Feelgood’s office was and the exact speed limit on the Freeway of Love. She also knew that the only path to immortality was through her art, so she infused every one of her performances with an otherworldly staying power.” (Odie Henderson) [link]

Neil Simon (1927-2018)

“Neil Simon’s work was often about human connection. It was a message often hidden in humor, but he was clearly a playwright and screenwriter who believed in empathy and compassion, bringing together disparate personalities to ask a simple but crucial question: If Felix and Oscar can get along, can’t we all?” (Brian Tallerico) [link]

Burt Reynolds (1938-2018)

“His screen persona often fused the strong-silent jock-adventurer with the anti-establishment wiseass, a combination that had never been attempted in movies before, at least not to such staggering effect. In the '70s and early '80s, Burt (that's how you referred to him, as Burt) was the biggest movie star in existence.” (Matt Zoller Seitz) [link]

Scott Wilson (1942-2018)

“Every time I got to talk to him, he was unfailingly kind and open and, best of all, filled with great stories. I mention all of this here upfront because as you read this, I want to stress the fact that he was not just a great actor but a great guy as well. [...] Because of his association with “The Walking Dead,” it was ensured that his passing would not go unnoticed and I can only hope that the renewed interest in the man will inspire some to go looking at some of his past work to see what a truly gifted and memorable actors he was. He may not have been the most famous of actors but when it comes to the things more important than fame—little things like talent and decency—what he left behind will more than stand the test of time." (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

Stan Lee (1922-2018)

“It is impossible to fully grasp the influence Stan Lee had over the world of popular culture since he first achieved fame in the Sixties. As a writer, editor and publisher of comic books, he, along with an extraordinary group of collaborators, revolutionized and expanded what could be said and done in that particular art form in ways that reverberate to this day.” (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

William Goldman (1931-2018)

“William Goldman changed the perception of the screenwriter in Hollywood, often refusing to give in to studio or directorial demands—his list of “unproduced screenplays” is as long as the ones that got made. He was an icon in his industry that helped pave the road for well-known screenwriters that would follow him like Aaron Sorkin and Cameron Crowe. Movies wouldn’t be the same without him.” (Brian Tallerico) [link]

Nicolas Roeg (1928-2018)

“Roeg was one of the least celebrated influential filmmakers of the last half-century. In terms of the techniques that he helped refine, he's as important as Orson Welles or Stanley Kubrick. And if you judged contemporary cinema purely in terms of the grammar that it has borrowed and retained from past masters, you might have to give Roeg the edge, because of how he told stories.” (Matt Zoller Seitz) [link]

Ricky Jay (1946-2018)

“He was a sleight-of-hand magician whose illusions startled and amazed audiences throughout the world; a student of the history of magic who used his extensive knowledge to pen several books, and put together a number of museum exhibitions and lectured extensively on the subject; an actor whose cagey screen presence made him a favorite with such filmmakers as David Mamet and Paul Thomas Anderson; a crucial man behind the scenes who helped create a number of the screen’s most celebrated illusions.” (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

Bernardo Bertolucci (1941-2018)

“Bertolucci was the opposite of austere, providing the element of danger in these movies—this was dependent on plumbing a sub-conscious that could be seen as out-of-date in some areas, but that was part of taking such risks. Sometimes it felt like Bertolucci was providing the idea of a certain type of Italian film director of his time, and that idea was meant to be more than the sum of his filmography.” (Dan Callahan) [link]

Penny Marshall (1943-2018)

“To some, she was the co-star of one of the most popular sitcoms of its era and a familiar face/voice on any number of shows over the years. To others, she was a trailblazing filmmaker who became the first American woman to direct a movie that made over $100 million at the box office, a feat she would repeat for a second time just a few years later. Whichever side of the camera she was working on, Penny Marshall was a consummate entertainer who could handle everything from the broadest slapstick comedy to serious drama.” (Peter Sobczynski) [link]

from All Content http://bit.ly/2TogguT

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jimdsmith34 · 7 years

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Martin Landau on His Relationship With Marilyn Monroe, Playing Gay for Hitchcock, and His Oscars Triumph

For Martin Landau, the turning point came when he found himself watching the 1984 Academy Awards, “having a beer in my underwear, saying: ‘I should be there.’”

In 2012, Landau—then 84—recalled this to me in an interview for the Times of London as the moment he knew he wanted to save his career.

Starring roles as a Hitchcock villain or in the TV series of Mission: Impossible were lost to the mists of time. Agents had told Landau he was “finished.”

“It was frustrating. I knew what I was able to do, I was at the height of my powers but no one was giving me the chance,” the charming and wry Landau told me. And so his fightback began, not simply for recognition and glory, but also just to act—his true and abiding passion.

The career of the Academy Award-winning actor—who died Sunday at 89 after unexpected complications during a stay at the UCLA Medical Center—spanned many generations, many peaks and troughs, and many characters on our TV and cinema screens.

Perhaps you remember him as Rollin Hand in the original TV series of Mission: Impossible (for which Landau won a TV Golden Globe for Best Male TV Star in 1968), or—as it is for me—the tunic-wearing silver fox Commander John Koenig in the 1970s drama Space: 1999.

Yet, as that 1984 nadir showed, Landau’s career was uneven to say the least, going from playing the villain in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959)—which he later told me he deliberately played as a gay man—to a role in the 1981 TV movie The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island.

The serious movie awards came later in Landau’s life, after he had roused himself from the mid-1980s doldrums.

First came a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, and an Oscar nomination, for his performance as a financier in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988). Landau’s second Oscar nomination came for playing a shifty and panicked adulterer in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).

He finally won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as horror movie star Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (1994), and he won the corresponding Golden Globe for that too, as well as many other laurels. Landau also amassed six Emmy nominations, including one for appearing in Entourage.

“It was like an out-of-body experience,” Landau told me of winning the Oscar. There are wonderful pictures of him kissing the statuette and giving a humble salute as he holds it. That humility, and a gentleness, was evident the day we met.

“I felt I knew Lugosi,” Landau told me. “Like him I had worked for good directors and terrible directors. I went thinking I was going to have a nice dinner and probably be miserable at the end of the night.”

“When I win you can see Samuel L. Jackson [nominated for Pulp Fiction] say ‘Shit,’ probably the most honest reaction one can have.”

When I met Landau in 2012, it was connected to Burton’s Frankenweenie, the first black and white animation shot in 3-D, which had just been released.

In what was a remake of a 1984 Burton short film, Landau voiced a science teacher who, by electrocuting a dead frog into life, inspired a 10-year-old Victor Frankenstein in ’60s American suburbia to reanimate his beloved dead dog.

Naturally, chaos of the comic and fairly gruesome kind ensued, all the magnificently weird visions of Burton distilled into a unique format; the 3-D element making it particularly eye-popping for cinema audiences.

Landau was happy: Though he was a well-known name, his fame was not of the supersonic kind enjoyed by his one-time best friend James Dean or his one-time paramour Marilyn Monroe. Landau was a link to old Hollywood, and after a career that zig-zagged around film and TV, in his later years he finally gained critical lionization.

And so, of course, Landau had tales to tell in a nondescript conference room of his agent Dick Guttman’s Los Angeles office, all in his magnificently gravelly voice. He was both warm, wonderful company and a candid raconteur.

Meeting Marilyn

He had met Monroe—she a couple of years his senior—under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York.

“She was there because she was dissatisfied,” Landau told me. “People perceived her as a Hollywood blonde bimbo. She was very needy and would go from being on top of her game to absolutely bereft of any self-belief or confidence. She see-sawed between those two personalities.”

Landau told me that when he and Monroe would go to the theater, she would change her outfits many times. “We’d never see the first act of the play.”

I asked if he desired her. “She was terrific… I don’t talk about those things,” he replied quietly.

Did he have a relationship with her, I asked.

“I had a relationship with her. It was just before Arthur [Miller, the playwright; he and Monroe married in 1956]. It was an interesting relationship, I look at it very differently than the way I did then. She was incredibly attractive but very difficult.”

I asked how he coped with that. “You can’t. That’s why I didn’t.” It lasted “several months,” he said, he not able to negotiate the poles of her personality. “Yeah, you didn’t know which one would show up in the middle of something.” I asked if he ended the relationship. “I did, by becoming more busy.” Was she upset by that? “I don’t know, probably. I didn’t want to upset her.” Because she was fragile? “Yes. I busied myself with other things.”

After the relationship ended, Landau and Monroe saw each other “a couple of times in passing” in New York and Los Angeles, he told me.

I asked Landau if he was in love with Monroe.

“I don’t know if I was in love with her or fascinated by her or flattered by her. She was incredibly attractive and fun to be with much of the time. When she wasn’t she wasn’t. I mean, that was the problem. She could get very withdrawn.”

Did he want to marry her, I asked. “No, no. It was almost a form of purgatory. I never knew who [ie, which Marilyn] I was going to be with.”

Landau told me he had been changing planes in Rome in 1962 when he read that Monroe had died.

“I was heartbroken. As the mystery unfolded I was more and more shocked. It didn’t seem possible that she killed herself intentionally. It was possible she took more barbiturates than necessary, just losing count, or possibly it was foul play. Nobody knows.”

‘Martin, You Have a Circus Going on Inside You’

Landau grew up in Brooklyn: his father had been a machinist; his mother, he told me, took him to the movies. He was sensitive, and loved acting and drawing. When he listened to radio dramas like The Shadow with Orson Welles, it “allowed you to create a set of images and characters.”

Landau studied art at the Pratt Institute and became a cartoonist for the Daily News in New York. (“Tim and I work well together,” Landau said of Burton. “I understand him, we both started as cartoonists.”)

Landau quit that job after seeing a friend act and deciding he could do better. He attended the Actors Studio (Steve McQueen was a fellow student), and later he became its artistic director, tutoring such stars as Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston. He headed the Hollywood branch until his death.

Hitchcock saw Landau’s stage performance in Paddy Chayefsky’s Middle of the Night and cast him in North by Northwest (1959), saying: “Martin, you have a circus going on inside you. Obviously if you can do that part you can play this little trinket.”

In the movie, Landau’s character wants to get rid of Eva Marie Saint’s because, Landau decided, his character “had to be gay; she was interfering with his relationship” with James Mason’s character. “I made it subtle; I knew in big cities they’d get it. Hitch loved it. People told me: ‘Don’t play gay. It will affect your career.’ I said: ‘I’m an actor.’”

He recalled to me meeting his friend James Dean—“he was a farm boy, I was a New Yorker”—at an open casting call. Dean asked him how the process worked, and Landau, observing how different they looked, deduced they would not compete for roles.

Regarding Monroe and Dean’s early deaths, Landau told me: “It’s so hard because everyone else I’ve known who died got old—they’re both frozen in time.”

Landau was married to the actress Barbara Bain from 1957 until their divorce in 1993: a “natural end,” he told me.

They had met at an acting class, and Space: 1999 fans will remember they starred opposite each other in that show. (They had first starred alongside one another in Mission: Impossible.) Landau is survived by Bain and their two daughters Susie and Juliet.

Facing Ageism in Hollywood

Landau cherished his late-career renaissance. “Ageism is something that does exist,” he told Deadline in April. “As a young actor, I was working much more readily, and being offered more things. I don’t like to do what I call ‘the grunters’—a character who sits at a table and grunts, and young people make fun of. I turn a lot of those down. I like a character that is still alive, and is necessarily thinking, and either grows or diminishes, or whatever.”

As for never making the A-list, Landau seemed sanguine. “I think it would have held me back in a certain way,” he told me. “I played a wide variety of roles.” Others had “great careers and became major stars, but I played more things, had more fun, and I’m still doing it.”

Indeed he was. After Frankenweenie came more roles: in The Red Maple Leaf with Kris Kristofferson and James Caan; Remember, alongside Christopher Plummer; and, most recently, The Last Poker Game opposite Paul Sorvino. Three other projects are listed at various stages of production on Landau’s IMDb page: Herstory, Without Ward, and Nate & Al.

‘An Actor’s Actor’

When it came time to say farewell that day in 2012, Landau told me he had greatly enjoyed our conversation. He suggested to me and to Guttman that, should he ever come to write it, would I like to work on his memoir with him?

Nothing ever came to pass, although I was extremely heartened to read tonight, via Deadline, that Landau had been working on a memoir at the time of his death. A documentary, appropriately titled An Actor’s Actor: The Life of Martin Landau, is also apparently in development.

Landau was both quite the storyteller and also a true actor's actor, so both projects, should they reach fruition will be fascinating. Landau believed in acting, rather than stardom, passionately—as both craft and vocation. That might explain his longevity and late-in-life triumphs. It certainly illuminates why it was an honor and pleasure to meet and spend time with Martin Landau.

source http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/02/martin-landau-on-his-relationship-with-marilyn-monroe-playing-gay-for-hitchcock-and-his-oscars-triumph/ from All of Beer http://allofbeer.blogspot.com/2017/11/martin-landau-on-his-relationship-with.html

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adambstingus · 7 years

Text

Martin Landau on His Relationship With Marilyn Monroe, Playing Gay for Hitchcock, and His Oscars Triumph

For Martin Landau, the turning point came when he found himself watching the 1984 Academy Awards, “having a beer in my underwear, saying: ‘I should be there.’”

In 2012, Landau—then 84—recalled this to me in an interview for the Times of London as the moment he knew he wanted to save his career.

Starring roles as a Hitchcock villain or in the TV series of Mission: Impossible were lost to the mists of time. Agents had told Landau he was “finished.”

The serious movie awards came later in Landau’s life, after he had roused himself from the mid-1980s doldrums.

“When I win you can see Samuel L. Jackson [nominated for Pulp Fiction] say ‘Shit,’ probably the most honest reaction one can have.”

When I met Landau in 2012, it was connected to Burton’s Frankenweenie, the first black and white animation shot in 3-D, which had just been released.

Meeting Marilyn

He had met Monroe—she a couple of years his senior—under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York.

Landau told me that when he and Monroe would go to the theater, she would change her outfits many times. “We’d never see the first act of the play.”

I asked if he desired her. “She was terrific… I don’t talk about those things,” he replied quietly.

Did he have a relationship with her, I asked.

After the relationship ended, Landau and Monroe saw each other “a couple of times in passing” in New York and Los Angeles, he told me.

I asked Landau if he was in love with Monroe.

Did he want to marry her, I asked. “No, no. It was almost a form of purgatory. I never knew who [ie, which Marilyn] I was going to be with.”

Landau told me he had been changing planes in Rome in 1962 when he read that Monroe had died.

‘Martin, You Have a Circus Going on Inside You’

Regarding Monroe and Dean’s early deaths, Landau told me: “It’s so hard because everyone else I’ve known who died got old—they’re both frozen in time.”

Landau was married to the actress Barbara Bain from 1957 until their divorce in 1993: a “natural end,” he told me.

Facing Ageism in Hollywood

‘An Actor’s Actor’

Landau was both quite the storyteller and also a true actor’s actor, so both projects, should they reach fruition will be fascinating. Landau believed in acting, rather than stardom, passionately—as both craft and vocation. That might explain his longevity and late-in-life triumphs. It certainly illuminates why it was an honor and pleasure to meet and spend time with Martin Landau.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/02/martin-landau-on-his-relationship-with-marilyn-monroe-playing-gay-for-hitchcock-and-his-oscars-triumph/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/167043370892

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samanthasroberts · 7 years

Text

Martin Landau on His Relationship With Marilyn Monroe, Playing Gay for Hitchcock, and His Oscars Triumph

For Martin Landau, the turning point came when he found himself watching the 1984 Academy Awards, “having a beer in my underwear, saying: ‘I should be there.’”

In 2012, Landau—then 84—recalled this to me in an interview for the Times of London as the moment he knew he wanted to save his career.

Starring roles as a Hitchcock villain or in the TV series of Mission: Impossible were lost to the mists of time. Agents had told Landau he was “finished.”

The serious movie awards came later in Landau’s life, after he had roused himself from the mid-1980s doldrums.

“When I win you can see Samuel L. Jackson [nominated for Pulp Fiction] say ‘Shit,’ probably the most honest reaction one can have.”

When I met Landau in 2012, it was connected to Burton’s Frankenweenie, the first black and white animation shot in 3-D, which had just been released.

Meeting Marilyn

He had met Monroe—she a couple of years his senior—under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York.

Landau told me that when he and Monroe would go to the theater, she would change her outfits many times. “We’d never see the first act of the play.”

I asked if he desired her. “She was terrific… I don’t talk about those things,” he replied quietly.

Did he have a relationship with her, I asked.

After the relationship ended, Landau and Monroe saw each other “a couple of times in passing” in New York and Los Angeles, he told me.

I asked Landau if he was in love with Monroe.

Did he want to marry her, I asked. “No, no. It was almost a form of purgatory. I never knew who [ie, which Marilyn] I was going to be with.”

Landau told me he had been changing planes in Rome in 1962 when he read that Monroe had died.

‘Martin, You Have a Circus Going on Inside You’

Regarding Monroe and Dean’s early deaths, Landau told me: “It’s so hard because everyone else I’ve known who died got old—they’re both frozen in time.”

Landau was married to the actress Barbara Bain from 1957 until their divorce in 1993: a “natural end,” he told me.

Facing Ageism in Hollywood

‘An Actor’s Actor’

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/02/martin-landau-on-his-relationship-with-marilyn-monroe-playing-gay-for-hitchcock-and-his-oscars-triumph/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/11/02/martin-landau-on-his-relationship-with-marilyn-monroe-playing-gay-for-hitchcock-and-his-oscars-triumph/

0 notes

allofbeercom · 7 years

Text

Martin Landau on His Relationship With Marilyn Monroe, Playing Gay for Hitchcock, and His Oscars Triumph

For Martin Landau, the turning point came when he found himself watching the 1984 Academy Awards, “having a beer in my underwear, saying: ‘I should be there.’”

In 2012, Landau—then 84—recalled this to me in an interview for the Times of London as the moment he knew he wanted to save his career.

Starring roles as a Hitchcock villain or in the TV series of Mission: Impossible were lost to the mists of time. Agents had told Landau he was “finished.”

The serious movie awards came later in Landau’s life, after he had roused himself from the mid-1980s doldrums.

“When I win you can see Samuel L. Jackson [nominated for Pulp Fiction] say ‘Shit,’ probably the most honest reaction one can have.”

When I met Landau in 2012, it was connected to Burton’s Frankenweenie, the first black and white animation shot in 3-D, which had just been released.

Meeting Marilyn

He had met Monroe—she a couple of years his senior—under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York.

Landau told me that when he and Monroe would go to the theater, she would change her outfits many times. “We’d never see the first act of the play.”

I asked if he desired her. “She was terrific… I don’t talk about those things,” he replied quietly.

Did he have a relationship with her, I asked.

After the relationship ended, Landau and Monroe saw each other “a couple of times in passing” in New York and Los Angeles, he told me.

I asked Landau if he was in love with Monroe.

Did he want to marry her, I asked. “No, no. It was almost a form of purgatory. I never knew who [ie, which Marilyn] I was going to be with.”

Landau told me he had been changing planes in Rome in 1962 when he read that Monroe had died.

‘Martin, You Have a Circus Going on Inside You’

Regarding Monroe and Dean’s early deaths, Landau told me: “It’s so hard because everyone else I’ve known who died got old—they’re both frozen in time.”

Landau was married to the actress Barbara Bain from 1957 until their divorce in 1993: a “natural end,” he told me.

Facing Ageism in Hollywood

‘An Actor’s Actor’

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/02/martin-landau-on-his-relationship-with-marilyn-monroe-playing-gay-for-hitchcock-and-his-oscars-triumph/

0 notes

chanceconstruction · 7 years

Text

Kevin O’Connor – Host of This Old House

We’re kicking off our interview series with the host of This Old House, Kevin O’Connor. Six years ago Kevin was working in finance but was also an avid DIY homeowner intent on renovating his 1894 Queen Anne. His unlikely ascension to the “dream job” as host of This Old House has become legend. “In Kevin, we found the perfect mixture of optimism and energy, two ingredients an old house owner must have to survive” says Russell Morash, creator of This Old House.

Nominated for an Emmy award in his debut season, Kevin is currently hosting his 7th season of This Old House and Ask This Old House as well as his first season of co-hosting This New House.

C&H: Your casting as the host of This Old House was very serendipitous, can you please share this story? Kevin: It’s a remarkable story and even five years later I’m still surprised by it. My wife and I bought our first house five years ago and it was real fixer-upper. It needed everything, which is just what we wanted. It didn’t take long to get in over our heads though and after several months of working away we emailed This Old House for some advice. It seemed like a logical thing to do since I grew up watching the show and have always been a big fan.

Remarkably This Old House didn’t just respond to the email they came to our house and filmed a small segment for the TV show (for Ask This Old House to be precise). My wife and I were thrilled. I got to meet the crew and Jim Clark, the show’s painting expert and Tom Silva. We all know who he is. After half a day of filming and having a great time the crew left and I thought that was the end of it. I took my picture with the gang, cracked a beer and called some buddies to tell them about my foray into TV. The next day I put my suit back on and returned to my job as a banker.

About three months later, completely out of the blue, a This Old House producer called and asked if “I wanted to help with the show.” I had no idea what that meant and he was cagey about it but I figured I had such a good time when the crew was at my house I had nothing to lose. So I went to the studio for a meeting, then to one of Tommy’s job sites for another meeting. And then just like that they asked me to be host of the two most popular home improvement shows on television.

Bizarre. But I never looked backed.

C&H: How has your life been most impacted by your career change as host of TOH? Besides your DIY IQ going through the roof. Kevin: Day to day it’s just a job. You have to get up, work, travel, work some more and always fight to put out a great product. That weighs on you when you inherit a legacy and don’t want to be the guy to screw it up.

I say that because the biggest impact on my life is how the show has changed my life day to day. It’s a job for sure, but it’s also a great one. This job allows me to be creative, it challenges me, I learn from it every day, and I have great exposure and access to things I care passionately about. And I work with a team that cares passionately about those things as well. This might sound trite but the fame part, the being recognized in public, being asked for your autograph, getting a good table at a restaurant, all of that is fleeting. It quickly becomes background noise. It doesn’t satiate, or fulfill any part of me. Having the opportunity to work and to create is what excites me. And now, thanks to this job, I have that opportunity every day I show up at the office – or the job site as the case may be.

C&H: Do you have a favorite House Project and what did you like most about it? Kevin: I’ll always have a warm spot for my first project, the little barn conversion in Concord, MA. It was simple, elegant, and thrilling to do since it was my first. But my favorite of all time is the Carlisle project which we did the next year and was in celebration of our 25th anniversary. The project was huge. There were three buildings involved; we renovated one, completely rebuilt another, and converted a third from a working barn to a magnificent living space.

I loved the scope, the challenge, the fact that we spent longer than usual on the project (a full season of 26 episodes rather than the usual 18), which allowed us to dig deeper into the stories. And I loved the fact that we owned it, and weren’t working for a homeowner with a real life budget. Owning the property allowed us to build our dream house with all the bells and whistles, which makes for great TV but is also a lot of fun.

I’ve worked on six projects since and Carlisle is still my favorite.

C&H: How are things coming along in New Orleans? What is TOH’s philosophy towards the rebuilding of N.O.? Kevin: The New Orleans project is tough. There’s a labor shortage, problems with infrastructure, and everything seems to take longer in NOLA. We’ll get our project done but not without some incredibly hard work from our producer who is making miracles happen every day. And of course the craftsmen doing the work are the ones making it possible. When we do a project out of state we rely on our local team for everything.

Our philosophy? I’m not sure we have a company philosophy on New Orleans. It’s a good project and a great story. That’s all that matters.

That said I’m sure everyone on the crew has their own opinion of the project and the significance of being in New Orleans. Personally, I don’t get caught up in the politics and shouting about what should and what shouldn’t get rebuilt. When I met the homeowner and heard her story I was on board. She grew up in the neighborhood. She bought the home and spent a year fixing it up with friends while living in it.

Then she took on six feet of flood water after the levies brook and all her work was destroyed. She spent two years fighting to get back into her house, raising money, and putting a plan together to rebuild. Now, she has the help of This Old House and we’ll make sure her new house respects the historic nature of the original structure and her neighborhood. And along the way we’ll tell stories about individuals rebuilding their houses and teach people about New Orleans architecture and building styles. I’m on board for that.

C&H: What is your take on the growth of online DIY sites especially independent publishers such as ourselves or Houseblogs.net? Do you ever refer to any particular online resources besides ThisOldHouse.com? Kevin: The growth in DIY is remarkable. On the one hand I love it because I think it’s vindication for all of us house lovers and do-it-yourselfers. There are a lot of great shows and web sites out there that never existed and that’s great.

On the other hand there’s a lot of crap out there too. I can think of a dozen shows and web sites that wouldn’t hold my interest for a nanosecond.

C&H: How close are you with the other guys and is there anything you can share about them that the TV viewers don’t know (not too embarrassing of course). Kevin: The five guys are tight and I’m honored that they let me into their little family. They’ve all been together for 20+ years and I’m still the new guy. But despite that they made me part of the team from day one and now we’re tight friends.

Remarkably there aren’t any great secrets or revealing tidbits to share because each one of the guys is as down to earth and as regular as they come across on TV. Honestly, what you see is what you get, and I love that. After all this time and all this exposure each one of them is unchanged, approachable, humble, and dedicated to their craft, and I don’t mean just the craft of making TV. I mean their crafts of carpentry, plumbing, landscaping, etc. They are great role models as well as friends.

C&H: Can you share any particular remodeling/renovating trends you are seeing and which have the most relevance? Kevin: The single biggest trend in renovation right now is “green”, however you define it. It’s as if we’re in at perfect storm of consequences. People are aware of rising fuel prices, global warming, the resources our homes consumer and the impact that consumption has on the environment. That may seem like a predictable answer but it’s a revolution, for sure.

C&H: What will it take for the green building movement to become more widely accepted? Kevin: Instead of the practitioners pushing these ideas now the consumer is now pulling them, and I think that is a much more powerful force. And the field is only in its infancy. I think it’s impossible to predict what forms, technologies, or conventions will emerge as winners. But I will predict the movement is here to stay. The American consumer is a powerful force.

C&H: What stamp do you feel you’ve put on the show that may be different from your predecessors? Kevin: Approachability. The job of the host is to ask questions and to get great information out of the craftsmen who have spent a lifetime accumulating it. It’s not to become an expert on everything myself. That would just be bad, fake TV.

I have great respect for the guys I work with and I hope that comes though to the viewer. Despite our friendship and closeness I still know they are the real pros and I try to get as many great lessons from them and then get out of the way.

C&H: How is your own Victorian fixer-upper coming along? Kevin: Slowly. But we’re getting there. My wife and I have been working on it for five years and in a few months we’ll be done with Phase One, which is most of the necessary improvements. We’ve redone the kitchen, two bathrooms, turned an unfinished attic into three bedrooms and a bath, rebuilt the porch, an office, a playroom and a laundry room. We replaced the heating system, most of the electric and plumbing, and a lot of the old plaster. We reconditioned all the windows and tackled the landscaping. And we spent twenty grand to have the place painted. I’m getting hives just writing this.

It’s been and continues to be a great learning experience and rewarding. It informs my performance on the show, makes me a better interviewer and gives me a better respect for the real craftsmanship that we show on This Old House.

It also has been and continues to be hard and frustrating. There have been weekends when I’ve wanted to reach for my checkbook and pay to have it finished so I could play with my three year old son or spend more time with my wife – not discussing the house. But I’m committed to finishing. Hopefully that will be soon.

C&H: What are your interests outside of Home Improvement? Kevin: Would you believe finance? I love it and miss it sometimes. I used to be a corporate banker and loved working with clients and helping them with their capital structures and putting together deals. I was a deal junky and still read the Wall Street Journal everyday. It’s almost like the sports page to me. O.k. that was weird.

I also like golf and try to play as much as I can, which isn’t enough. And I love being at the beach with my family, both immediate and extended. We’re a beach clan and any activity within a whiff of salt air is fine with me.

And travel. I’ve been to about twenty countries in my life and would life to get to another twenty. Right now it’s hard with a little child at home but eventually we’ll get back on the road. Russia and China are high on my list.

C&H: Can you share your most important DIY tip? Learned before or during your time with TOH. Kevin: It will take longer and cost more than you think. It will cost more and take longer than you think. How else can I say it? Remember that, adjust your expectations, and you’ll be fine.

C&H: Well said, Thanks Kevin. This spring you can watch Kevin and the rest of the This Old House crew as they rebuild an 1892 New Orleans home of a fourth-generation Lower Ninth Ward resident, that was damaged by hurricane Katrina. photo courtesy of This Old House and Tracey Powell

Kevin O’Connor – Host of This Old House posted first on your-t1-blog-url

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