Even the acting gods of 'Carnage' get a little afraid sometimes
Imagine how jittery the cast of "God of Carnage" must have been just before the Tony Award nominations were announced on May 5. Sure, even back then the megahit was widely considered to be the front-runner to win best play on June 7, so that nomination was guaranteed. But what about the actors? The Tonys administration committee had decreed all four roles to be lead. Could they all get in to the race? Never before had such a thing happened.
Cut to a far happier ending than the one in the play: Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden pulled it off for portraying suburban couples who become more vicious than their children when they hook up to discuss how to resolve a fight between their boys. Gold Derby caught up with the cast and asked for their Tonys reax.
HARDEN: It's what you always hope for — the whole cast to be nominated — but you think, "Ah, that'll never happen, that'll never happen." I believe this is the first time that a show's whole cast has been nominated in the lead categories, so the odds were against us. But when we pulled it off, we all felt tighter as a unit. It's amazing that there was no moment when the unit got split up.
DAVIS: That night I acted up a storm, trying to justify the choice the voters made. Ha! It was such a crazy night for us.
GOLD DERBY: You can't all get so lucky on Tonys night. How are you going to handle it if this one wins, that one doesn't?
GANDOLFINI: We'll be fine. We feel like we've already won.
DANIELS: We crossed the finish line when we all got nominated. At a time when Broadway is supposed to be dying — think about all those closings back in January — it's amazing that this show has become so successful. It's like a rebirth and we are part of it. That's the big victory. Geoffrey Rush is on stage every single second of "Exit the King," so I look forward to celebrating his great work.
GOLD DERBY: That's almost true of all four of you, too. There are only brief times when anybody's off stage. How do you handle that pace?
HARDEN: I've never been in a show like this, with four people passing the ball all the time — no, not passing it, whipping it, spinning it, throwing it. It's not only energetic, it's synergetic.
GOLD DERBY: It's been years since Broadway has seen an original new play become so successful — "God of Carnage" is a hit with audiences and critics. Why?
DAVIS: The play is topical and really interesting and also hilarious. I think we've seen about 100,000 people come through here and they are rolling in the aisles and having the best time, then leave with a lot to talk about.
GANDOLFINI: Someone said something to me the other day I thought was interesting. She said, "There are all different kinds of people in the audience and they're all laughing at the same places." I thought maybe that's what it means for a show to be universal to a lot of different people. That's a sign of great writing.
DAVIS: There are times in this play when you think — look how far we've come in Western civilization and yet you look at the way these four very cultured, very upscale adults behave. You think maybe we have a long way to go. I think a lot about the last line of this play: "What do we know?"
GOLD DERBY: Is there any talk of turning "God of Carnage" into a film?
DAVIS: We hear that Roman Polanski has the rights, but we don't know anything else.
GOLD DERBY: Well, if you land the film roles, maybe there will be Oscars for you next?
DAVIS: Exactly!
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Photo: Jacobs Theatre
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There is a big chance the play "God of Carnage" will be adapted in a full length film. It's story line was great. I've heard that many nominations will be on "God of Carnage" for the upcoming Tony Awards. Good luck to the cast and crew
-peter
Posted by: Best acting classes Los Angeles | July 19, 2009 at 10:00 AM