AOL CHAT WITH BRIAN DENNEHY

The chat took place on Sunday, February 21, 1999

AOL: We'd like to welcome Brian Dennehy. Mr. Dennehy is joining us this evening from his dressing room at the theater.

Question:  In a recent interview, you said that Willy Loman is one of the most challenging roles of your career. Could you explain why?

BD: Well, first of all it's a very long role. It's physically longer than Hamlet.

In two days of his life he's living through the manic depression of his life. Making those transitions believable is very demanding. It's tricky.

At my age, the most you can hope for is interesting parts, and this is the most interesting part there is.

Question:  You've said that you've always wanted to play Willy Loman. What roles, do you think prepared you for this production?

BD: What prepares you to play Willy Loman is living a life. I am sixty years old, I've had some success, and a lot of failure. I've had some acceptance and some rejection. I can't imagine playing Willy if I were 40 or 50. I think the sum total of the good and bad parts or my life have helped me invest in this role.

It's not so much the roles I have played as the life I have lead that has helped me in this role.

Question:  What new perspective have you tried to bring to this role, after Dustin Hoffman and Lee Cobb?

BD: Well, I think I answered that. It is very like Hamlet. 

Willy has been described as the American Lear, and what you can bring to that is your experiences, your life, your sin, your success. Hoffman, Cobb, Scott have all brought different things to the role. They are all different, and they should be different. What I have brought is myself. The highs and the lows, the success and failure. It gives an actor an opportunity to bring all of themselves into the role.

Comment: I feel the pairing of Mr. Miller's Loman with Mr. Dennehy is very exciting

Question: What kind of recognition do you see in people's faces at the curtain call? How does it affect you as an actor?

BD: It depends. The people who seem to be most affected by the play are the men -- men in their 40's 50's and 60's. In many cases these are men who have learned to protect themselves. When this breaks through, they are not able to hide. As with any great work of art, it says to the members of the audience: "what resonance does this have in your life?" They are devastated and tremendously moved by it when it breaks through to their lives. All great art reflects something about your own experiences very powerfully, and certainly that is true of this play.

Question: The NY Times reviewer singled out a particular gesture you made during the performance he saw. Does that make you self-conscious? Does that make you want to drop the gesture? Or do you just not read the reviews?

BD: I try to avoid reading anything about the production until long after it has closed. I have found over the years it is best not to read review when they are good and when they are bad. It is better to leave them alone.

Ben Brantley of the Times has been of influence with this play. His first piece in Chicago was more of a "think piece" that was largely responsible for bringing the production to NYC. So I have very fond feeling about that review, but in general I find it is best to avoid reviews until long after the production is closed.

Question: What did you do before becoming an actor?

Question: Which work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

BD: The usual answer for a question like that is: "Whatever I am doing now". In this case I would have to say that is most accurate now. This has been the most wonderful experience of my life. At first I was unsure of what to expect. I have found at the center of this a wonderful piece of art, doing this character has restored in my something that really needed to be restored.

I will always be grateful for this experience. Not because it has been a success, but because it has given me back something I had lost along the way.

Question: You have been in many media, which one is the most rewarding and which one is the most demanding?

BD: It depends on what you mean by rewarding. The theater is the most exciting.

Movies can be rewarding, as with TV but there are many people making decisions, adding layers and techniques that separate you from the audience.  In the theater all that separates is space.

It is what an actor does.

It is the oldest profession, storytelling and acting. It is so profound, and by far it is the most rewarding. 

AOL Chat - February 21, 1999 Transcripts
From the AOL Live Chat conducted with Arthur Miller and Brian Dennehy, produced by Toby Simkin on Feb 21, 1999.