Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
An actor with a very wide range and many interests.
On the island
Eight records
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan
simply because I first became acquainted with it at Cornell in a music theory class and had never quite realized how powerful one man's imagination could be musically until I heard a recording of this work.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18: II. Adagio sostenuto
Van Cliburn with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
this particular piece, the Rachmanonov, was the year that I was there, the piece that was being held in competition from all the piano students. And the the winner would get to play it with the Juilliard Orchestra. And I'll never forget sitting there in the Juilliard Theater listening to this all-student orchestra with this girl, whose name I can't remember, having been picked to be soloist.
Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy
I've picked this because on my desert island, again, I'll be seeing a lot of the sea sitting there surrounded by water. And as I look at it, I'd like some music to go along with it that helps me to think kindly of it as a warm and appealing place rather than as some forbidden wasteland.
this next record I've picked, going back to what it's going to be like to be on this island, this is the emotional romantic side of loneliness. And sitting there on the island, I'm going to be thinking day after day about love and about relationship and girlfriend in the past and my lady now. And I think you need something to express it musically.
Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14, No. 2
this was one of the first pieces. Having played the piano since I was about 8, by the age of 15, I was ready to tackle some difficult music. And this was one of the pieces that I went after time and time again. And I can remember sometimes that I would practice an hour, get really frustrated, particularly at the very fast runs and the difficult fingering. Then I'd go over to the record player and put this on and go, huh.
I now have to look at the stars. And while I'm doing that I'd like some very nice music. Some very relaxing music, and this particular track is from Apollo, Atmospheres and Soundtracks recorded by Brian Eno.
The Bach Choir, conducted by Sir David Willcocks
One of the very first choral pieces that I conducted was this piece by Mozart, Abe Verum, which is I think a motet. So I just wanted to pick this as such a beautiful choral sound. It reminds me of that time back in school when I tried a little conducting.
ImagineFavourite
this next record is about my wish for what might have happened in the world while I was away, that maybe things have gotten better and uh this is a subject that John Lennon is singing about in his greatest record that he ever made, Imagine.
In conversation
Presenter asks
4:37What were your interests at school as a boy?
Anything except science and math. If there's any way to avoid mathematical calculations of any kind, I would uh take them. And I I didn't like science. In fact, it was in a science class when I was nine, learning all about dinosaurs or whatever, that someone came in from the local Gilbert and Sullivan Society and they said they needed a a boy soprano to play the town crier in a production of Yeoman of the Guard over at the the local theater. And I auditioned for the part and that was my first time on stage.
Presenter asks
5:13Was your mother encouraging you [with your early theater work]?
Yes. I think my my mother, from a very early age, she gave both my brother and I a lot of responsibility. And we didn't ever really abuse it. And I can remember, for example, when I was 15, saying, There's a summer theater in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where I've been accepted as an apprentice. May I please have $200 and I'll be back on Labor Day. And she let me go for nine weeks. And in fact, you know, I saw her once. She came up to see if I was still alive. I took her out for a sandwich and a root beer at the local drive-in. Said, I'm doing just fine. I've got to go back and paint the sets now. Goodbye.
Presenter asks
12:25What did you do [at the National Theatre]?
I worked backstage unofficially. If you went to the National right now, no one would remember me. But they were doing a production of the front page. And at the bottom of the cast list, it's, you know, whores, beggars, townspeople, etc. And they were all trying to do American accents. And I noticed that some were limping along here and there. And I said, listen, if you don't mind, I can tell you a vowel sound or two. And I was allowed to hang around on that basis.
The keepsakes
The book
Paul Brunton
I want something that helps me to go inwards towards meditation, towards a kind of peace with myself and acceptance of destiny.
The luxury
scuba diving equipment and a compressor
what I want it for is to be able to change perspective on this island. ... to be able to go down into the water in the cool and to see the coral and the fish and it's to explore that world and the peaceful weightless feeling of being down there.
Presenter asks
14:04What was your first Broadway production?
I had graduated from Juilliard and much to the envy of my friends got this very big part in a play by Enid Bagnold about a a woman and her grandson. And they all thought, well, that's the end of him. He's off to fame and fortune. Actually, none of us really came out of the play because it was a written by Enid Bagnold when she was eighty-seven, and she didn't bother with the formalities of playwriting. She'd get tired of a character and just sort of leave him stranded on the stage. He wouldn't even get an exit. And the focus would go to somebody else. So I remember being quite wooden and very afraid in that part, but I did have the privilege of spending this time with Catherine Hepburn, who took a very great interest in me, probably because since I was playing her blood relation, she took that kind of an interest in me as though I were actually her grandson.
Presenter asks
21:48How did they hoist you [for the flying scenes in Superman]?
you take a construction crane and you you have a long cable to a T bar and beneath the T bar are two very thin sixteenth inch five hundred pound test wires, going down to a um sort of a a nappy really. I mean this is a sort of leather number that you wear underneath with two attach points on the hips. And simply by balancing the body, which is done through extending the hands and the feet, you you maintain an equilibrium and and then are are hoisted and and it takes quite a lot of coordination. There were eight guys who I worked with as my flying team who went everywhere with me and and knew my sort of dynamics and I knew what their moves were. And we got it to the point by the middle of Superman One where I think we achieved pretty realistic simulation of a human being flying.
Presenter asks
30:24You've flown the Atlantic solo. Was that easy?
No. … It came closest to being one of the great disasters of my life.
“I think that an actor without an opportunity and a location to perform would be a miserable kind of person. No, I would have to be back among people. Pretty soon.”
“When I put on the costume, I went crazy. I just I did things. You'd put that costume on and you'd just become somebody else. I mean, they'd used to have to drag me away from some of these scenes before I hurt myself. Particularly walking through fire, things like that. I mean, I was very keen, it was very young, it was being you know, uh opportunity of a lifetime. And I'd sometimes take the clothes off and think, I can't believe where I was today.”
“I really, really panicked and I think that's it's the most scared I've ever been in a situation of my own making. Ever. I got a hold of myself. I mean, you you do remember from your training that that panic is your worst enemy, and you've got to find a practical solution. You you simply have to make your mind cause you to do active things.”