Jeff Fahey is an actor and producer with a long history in film, television, and theater. Known for roles in The Lawnmower Man, Lost, Wyatt Earp, Silverado, and many more, Fahey joined us for a one-on-one conversation about the process of acting and importance of supporting characters. Here’s what he had to say:
Hello Jeff, thanks for joining me. I know you’re fairly private about your efforts like this, but I’d like to start with some congratulations on receiving a Humanitarian Award in Morocco this past summer.
Jeff Fahey: Thank you. I was quite honored and shocked actually. I didn’t expect it. When they asked me if I would accept an award, it took me a moment because I just don’t deal in that public part of it. But once I was able to wrap my head around that side of it and and then speak out about a few things … I am still moved by the whole experience.
Well deserved. Once again, congratulations and I have to say, I’m really happy to speaking with you. Just by coincidence, I happen to have watched Silverado recently, and I remember that movie on release, and I think that it must be one of your first films, right?
JF: (Laughing) Yes!
You’ve done so much since, and I guess I’m just wondering, do you prefer working in movies or television? Or is there any difference?
JF: I do a lot of theater too, but I can’t say I prefer one over the other. They’re so different. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to jump around all those different styles and genres. I enjoy the big studio productions, there’s wonderful things about them, but the small independent ones with very low budgets, limited time, and tough locations where you have to get everything with one shot are also great. There’s so much to learn and experience in both. For example, I just finished a small film in El Salvador, but before that, had just come off of Kevin Costner‘s Horizon, and you know, you go from this multi-million dollar production to something very small and there’s great things that happen in both spaces.
And that actually leads to my next question because, and I hesitate to use the word prolific, but you are a busy actor. So I’m thinking that jumping from large films to small films must be a challenge, moving from one character to another. Is that right?
JF: Sure, there are challenges, but it’s an adventure. I mean, maybe when I was younger I’d try to gather my thoughts between scenes more on the bigger films than on the smaller ones, where you know, your dressing room is that tree over there and the bathroom is that bush farther down but you know, you just roll with it and see what happens. With the big ones, you can move and groove and you have the time, but with the smaller ones, when you’ve got to get this scene shot in the next couple of hours because we have to get to the next location, things get different. We might lose something along the way. That’s a fascinating creative process, and especially if you’ve got a good crew, got a good director and DP who can roll with the changes. It’s very exciting. I mean, I utilize the time when I have it and I rock and roll when I don’t.
Is that a different experience when you’re doing theater?
JF: Theater. Now there’s a whole world in and of itself. There’s something wonderful about doing eight shows a week, especially when you have a great play. You’re doing all this tweaking with each performance. You’re always working and tweaking something, tightening something up or experimenting with something, even with the older established plays. And people ask, is it the audience? Is that what your after, the applause in the end? And sure, you know, that’s a wonderful added element to it but it’s the play and the interaction with the audience that fuels the energy. Whether it’s a comedy or a drama or thriller, you can feel that, there’s a flow that’s happening between what’s happening on the stage and with the audience … and the applause in the end? Of course it’s wonderful, but you’re so involved with what’s happening that it’s just part of the experience.
And that impact? Do you feel that with movies and TV?
JF: You feel it on set when something’s happening. I mean things in TV and film are so pieced together. Sometimes when you have a scene that goes on for a couple pages and there’s a whole flow happening, you can definitely feel it when you have the crew and your director and DP and everyone involved. That’s a wonderful feeling. But then again with you can feel the relationship similar to an audience with the camera, because, especially if you’re familiar with the director and you worked with them before, which I’ve been very lucky to do, like with Kevin (Costner), you can feel what he’s up to. I mean, you can almost feel it as they describe it to you.
I’d like to keep comparing the theater to the film experience if I may, because I wonder about the pliability, or maybe flexibility that you might have with doing several takes on a film compared to a live performance. On set, you can do a couple of takes and make changes but with theater, from my limited perspective, are you more “stuck” to a specific way of how your performance must be? Does that make sense?
JF: Yes, actually it does. It makes sense, but I’ll tell you, I think you have more freedom in the theater because once the show starts, it’s the cast. Whether it’s two, three, or twenty actors. I mean, you make adjustments during a performance and work as a unit. You feel it when the pace is slowing down and you know you’ve got to pop in and get it going, which happens sometimes, you know, it means that, you know, you get into that seventh show or that second matinee, and sometimes people get tired and so you push it to find its rhythm. It’s all kinds of fascinating, because once that curtain goes up, you’re on your own in theater. And I say that not from a place of fear but rather a place of freedom.
I think that’s incredibly insightful.
JF: And I just want to add, you know, a theater director will give notes, and sometimes they’ll see something that they hadn’t before. They’ll ask you and the others to explore that a little more or they’ll say, you know, they think we should bring it back to the first place. Directors are always still involved but it’s just that they’re not at every show and that’s why I say you’re on your own. Your performance may change but you don’t change the story.
And that makes me curious about the actor experience, those who do find fluidity in a performance where a director feels it shouldn’t be. How do you handle that?
JF: We’re back to the creative process. And ego? That’s one of the great walls of destruction that can come into any creative process. And we all have one, right? Ego. So it’s a question of can we leave it out? Can we leave it at the door and then, what’s the relationship between the director and the actor once that happens? But I think when you have good people, people that understand that even those tried and tested classic plays still have room for interpretation where the story doesn’t change, but there’s still space for interpretation, it works. You know what I’m saying? There’s tiny little things that can make a difference that impact on the audience; you just pick up that rhythm … like music.
And like how you said earlier, how you connect with the cast.
JF: Absolutely. Absolutely … like musicians, you know, you’re feeling you’re all within the same song but each instrument stands on its own.
Such a great analogy. And I could talk all day about this, but, I need to squeeze a question to two about your latest film, Black Warrant and I’m gonna start with an odd question, because it stems from a line of dialogue about the brown suit you wear throughout (laughing). So what’s the deal with the brown suit?
JF: (Laughing) You’ll have to remind me. Was that something Tom (Berenger) says?
Yes. It’s one of the last lines in the film and it’s not explained.
JF: (Still laughing) Tom and I are old buddies so you get a guy with Tom’s caliber out there, you can bet he’ll throw in a line like that. Probably wasn’t a locked script.
I’m glad you said that, because I was in the theater when I watched you in Silverado and Lawnmower Man … Tom in a Platoon; those early movies where I basically grew up watching you guys and now, years after watching you together in Black Warrant I can feel that friendship you share with him.
JF: Thanks. I remember we got together for that day with the director on the boat, just before we shot, we tweaked some of the dialogue; give it more flow. I mean, that’s part of the process.
And I know the film is not about your relationship with Tom Berenger’s character. You’re in a supporting role, so I’m again interested in the process. Is it a challenge–as a supporting character–to be dropped into a film and deliver something that’s important but doesn’t have the presence for the entire film. You know what I’m saying?
JF: Oh sure. I think there’s a there’s a couple of responsibilities that a supporting role like that has, getting dropped in as you say, to the story. You want to do justice to your character and the mark they make without disrupting the whole thing, right? You’ve got to protect the dynamic, the characters and story. You know what I’m saying?
I do. I think you do that well.
JF: Thank you.
So let’s do one more, okay?
JF: Yeah.
So, the movie business has always been evolving, but with the recent pandemic and the growth of streaming services and the rise of at home releases of big titles, there’s been a sizable shift in the entertainment industry. So, I’m just wondering as a person who’s been involved so long in this, what’s your take on how the industry is adapting?
JF: Yes, there’s been a lot of change and adjustment. I first have to take my hat off to the writers who wrote (during the pandemic) these little self-contained stories, yet able to find and keep them interesting with limited casts and financing. And filmmakers able to go in and shoot these films with skeleton crews, if you will, and to be dealing with everything looming over them; everyone worried they’ll get shut down. If somebody is sick, should they be replaced right away, which was really hard because the small ones, if they got shut down, they didn’t have the luxury of pulling cash from somewhere to keep the film going. So I really credit these artists, and the producers to pull it all together. And I really enjoyed the challenge and experience.
I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to chat, Jeff. Good luck with your projects and I hope our paths cross again soon.
JF: Thank you, David. Any time, let’s do this again.