Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert
Peter Riegertis an American actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in Animal House, "Mac" MacIntyre in Local Hero, fast-talking gangster Aldo in Oscarand the tough, no-nonsense Lt. Kellaway in The Mask. He directed the 2000 short film By Courier and, along with producer Ericka Frederick, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth11 April 1947
CountryUnited States of America
Obviously, any time you're closer in terms of what your knowledge is to a character, you can add something. But an actor's job is not to play only people he can identify with.
When you get older, unless you're a huge star, the parts become less and the competition becomes greater. Because the guys left standing are the best.
There is a temptation for an actor to editorialize what they're doing. And you can't do that with Pinter. It's almost like a musical score. His lines are so specific, but they can mean different things to different people, like an alternating current.
There are movies I've seen or books I've read that attach themselves in a way that's greater than the ability to understand why. How do you explain that kind of connectedness?
I've learned there is a void in adult stories across the land. Hollywood, whatever that is anymore, is losing their ability to tell those stories because they're not even thinking of that audience.
I think when you're younger, as an actor you have much more of a notion that you are doing something to the audience. But with experience, I think you begin to worry less about what the audience's experience is and concentrate on working with the other actors, and that tends to let the audience do more work.
I got to learn from the American audience. Hearing what it is they're not getting. These are audiences, 35 to 40, an older demographic that controls seven to 10 trillion dollars. And the producers and distributors have convinced themselves this group doesn't go to the movies.
I did a play in high school, then one in college. My first professional experience was off-off-Broadway. I'm conveniently blocking the title. I'm sure I was terrible.
I did 'Animal House' in 1978, then 'Local Hero' in 1983, and then in '88, 'Crossing Delancey.' And I realized that every three to five years, you need a big role to put you into the national psyche.
A movie is a filmed rehearsal in a way. The audience doesn't know that because you're taking out the things that don't work. There's no comparison to the theater because it's live. But making a movie is just as challenging and exciting, I find. A movie is pure process. The theater is the result of process.
You rely on a lot of things about learning to play a particular character.
You realize Shakespeare wasn't stuck for an idea when he said, 'All the world's a stage.'
Sometimes you make a connection with a writer or a piece of material, and there's not much to ask.
Setting a movie in an earlier age gives it a mythical quality.