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Webmaster's Note:
I have to admit...this is one of the worst, if not the worst, editing
jobs I have ever seen in any article or transcript. The transcript has
been reproduced here as featured on the original site.
One On One
"Exiled" Sunday,
November 8 at 9pm ET
Q:
What attracted you most to "Exiled?"
A:
Well it’s a kind of a... a... I mean, we... my partner and I came
up with "Exiled," basically... after... thinking about... what would
be a way to deepen, I mean, what... what really happened to... the
character of Mike Logan after "Law & Order," which was never really
gone into and... The emotional repercussions of it were never explored
and... his relationship with the... like my partner and what really
happened to that was never explored. So there were so many pieces
that could have been picked up dramatically. It was like... it was
a no-brainer really. It was said, "Let’s..." And then, you know,
we wanted to do it on a level was... deeper than most TV movies
go into and... and... We basically said, "Let’s make a feature and
if we can do it, well let’s put it on NBC and use... all the juice
you have." Because there seemed to be a lot of response to my character.
And I said, "Fine, let’s do it. Let’s see if we can get away with
it." So far we have.
Q:
How do you feel about coming back after being gone for a couple years?
A: Coming back... I... I haven’t really come back to "Law & Order."
I mean, we have the "Law & Order" cast participating in the movie
and the... It’s... Let’s... Let me put it this way. Someone asked
me, like, when we shot in the precinct what was that... It was not
a big deal for Chris Noth but it was a big deal for Mike Logan.
I mean, I see Jerry Ohrbach all... in... I live in New York. I see
him all the time, you know, on... I’m pretty happy to have concluded
my time on "Law & Order." I spent five years doing it and it was,
you know, really time to leave. I think I could have... Maybe five
years might have been a year too much. But... so, I’ve never left
New York, you know. It wasn’t... it wasn’t really coming back. But
bringing... But going further into... into the story of Mike Logan
is what interested me, not coming back to "Law & Order" in any way.
And I think we’re doing that in a... in a big way. I think people
are going to see a lot more of... who... who this guy is, without
indulging too much. Because we do have a very incredibly tightly
knit story that moves.
Q:
Since we do produce content for nbc.com, what’s your feeling on technology
and how it’s going to change or affect the entertainment industry?
A:
Well being a... technology ignorant person, I’m probably the last
person... I don’t even have a computer, okay? I just learned how
to use my answering machine... I still have the dial, you know...
No... but I think, well, I don’t know... It seems... you know...
What? People are going to start watching movies at home maybe and...
forego the movie... theater. I think it’s a shame. There are certain
rituals, I think, we need and if everything’s going to be... sort
of reduced to sitting alone in your living room instead of a sort
of communal feed, then... then we’re losing something. I mean, I...
I... I miss the old days of the big old movie theaters with the...
I mean, when you think about it they used to have little stage acts
before a movie or, you know, the whole idea of theater, of... of
communal sharing and... communal... catharsis and things like that
I think as technology is kind of... destroying, you know. I... I...
I try not to participate too much in too much technology. (LAUGHS)
I let, you know... in my life, you know... I still have a 19...
81 Mercedes which is why I’m doing this movie because I have to
rebuild it. (LAUGHS) It’s costing a lot of money. (LAUGHS)
Q:
We build an area on nbc.com...
A:
Oh, an area?
Q:
An area, a little feature which focuses on actors’ favorite holiday
memories. And I just wanted to ask you do you have a favorite holiday
memory?
A:
Let me just try to get one that’s not X rated (LAUGHS). Well, you
know, my holidays... often... are... sort of come after work. Like
I... I think my favorite time is I’d... when I... came out of Yale
School of Drama, I went and did a movie in Indonesia in 1987. And,
it was pretty pathetic movie called "Jakarta." Beautifully shot,
terribly written. And... acting, well, I’ll let all you people out
there decide how I was. It was sort of an action movie, but it was
in Indonesia, shot in Indonesia. And we ended up spending a year
there. And I must say, it was a year I’ll never forget because,
at that time in Indonesia hadn’t totally commercially totally yet
been discovered by the West. I mean, Bali was just about gone, but
now totally. But... I can remember going to an island called Flores
and going scuba diving and then coming back, you know, and we’d
have a week off here and there and just being situated out in...
in... in the... in... Java and... and... for a year and being able
to explore that part of the world was, for me, a really incredible
time in my life. And... I’m not... I don’t know, I... I like to,
you know, I... I don’t like to go somewhere for a week as a tourist.
I like to really spend a month or two and get to know the... That’s
why that was such a revelation to me. I spent actually a year there
working and then also getting to know the country, so... For me,
I... I... I like that more. I like... I’d like, you know, to travel
doing a movie and then stay a little big and things like that.
Q:
We’d also like to ask you do you have any tips for aspiring actors
or writers?
A: Well writers, you know... I... I’ll leave it to my writing partner
when you interview him, Charlie Kipps. Acting... you know, wow,
I... I think you... I think... you have to be honest with yourself.
You have to be in it for the right reasons. You have to love to
act. Because if you’re in it for the wrong reasons, I think the
profession is... can be very harsh and unforgiving and... really
bites you on the ass later on in your life if... if... if you’re
in it for any other reason than the love of the art. There is an
art, I think, somewhere in there amidst all this... nonsense. I
mean, it’s gotten a little ridiculous, I think... The... the...
the... the separation between acting and celebrity, I mean, we are
such a celebrity-conscious... country that I think we... sort of
sometimes lose the distinction. But you can never lose the distinction.
And then you have to just keep working at that, that... that...
that there is something to acting and it’s not just getting your
picture in a magazine, you know, or collecting the big bucks that
are possible or having your own... Whatever that... all the... all
that other stuff is, is really got... and that’s all business, you
know. You leave that to your agent, like, my agent, Kevin Stolper,
right there, that man with the glasses back there. But, once you
decide that that is how you want to... an... an important... way
to express, you know, yourself... then I say find a... a mentor,
find a great teacher. I mean, I don’t think I would have continued
if I hadn’t... in my life studied with a person like Sandy Meisner
or gone to Yale School of Drama where, you know, the... it forced
me into... exploring the craft of acting and falling on my ass and
getting up and... and... doing all kinds of different roles and...
and... and having a healthy respect for what it takes to be an actor.
Because if you can respect, you know, that, if you respect the craft,
that’ll take you through anything.
Q:
Do you have a favorite medium?
A:
I just love good material. I mean, I come from the theater... It’s
where my roots are, it’s where I spent most of my youth, and most
of my dreams have been associated with it. But any piece of great
writing, if there’s a camera or whether it’s on stage, that’s where
you come alive. So...
Q:
And do you have a favorite character that you’ve portrayed in theater?
A:
Oh in theater... Yes, well I got to play Hamlet in Stratford’s Old
Caldwell. I mean, that was... Practically any... you know, "Paraclese"
was one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, the part of Gower. Solioni
in "Three Sisters." Teech in "American Buffalo." I did a little
part at the Ensemble Studio Theater last year called "Patronage"...
by Romulus Lenny, which was a delight. Um, character Mike Logan
is... is... I mean, for film, something I enjoyed. I really enjoyed
doing a movie called "Cold Around The Heart," which (LAUGHS) is
in your video stores. Um... and... I usually enjoy most of the characters
I play, otherwise I, you know, wouldn’t be doing them.
Q:
What’s your favorite NBC show?
A:
What’s my favorite NBC show? Oh brother. What a loaded political
question. You can’t ask me that!
Q:
Then what’s your favorite feature?
A:
My favorite feature of all time?
Q:
Of all time.
A:
Whoa. That’s really heavy. Probably "On The Waterfront." I have
a couple. "On The Water..." "We All Loved Each Other So Much," an
Italian film, is one of my all-time favorite. Laurence Olivier’s
"Hamlet," "On The Waterfront," "The Godfather" films... I really
liked "The Sting." That was a fun movie. Also... "Being There" is
one of my all-time favorite movies. I got a lot of favorite movies.
Favorite TV show? I’ll let you decide. I can’t... I can’t say. I
don’t watch enough TV. I really don’t watch TV, to tell you the
truth, even though I’m on it enough, I guess.
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