So Will & Grace star Eric McCormack is meeting his agent about taking a part in the Broadway revival of Gore Vidal‘s The Best Man alongside James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Candice Bergen, Kerry Butler, Jefferson Mays, Michael McKean and Angela Lansbury. McCormack says, “My manager was reading the list of names and I said, ‘Stop. You had me at Earl.'”
But besides starring along with one of the most talented casts in Broadway history, McCormack had other reasons to take the part: he gets to play a villain. He explains, “People come in going, ‘Oh, there’s that nice guy from Will & Grace, and within about 20 minutes, they’re like, ‘Oh. I. Hate. That. Guy.’ It’s a bit like a betrayal.”
Of course, that seems to be all part of McCormack’s plan. After all, what fun is it being an actor if you cannot defying people’s expectations? He says, “There are a lot of people out there that are afraid that America won’t see me in other ways. I take a role like this and remind them I used to play a lot of bad guys. That was my bread-and-butter before I was a nice, gay good guy.”
McCormack enjoys working as villainous character, but realizes that he has to be just as good as his talented co-stars or the entire cast suffers. He explains, “Theater is the great equalizer. It doesn’t help you if you’re great and the other person onstage sucks. There are no close-ups, it’s always an ensemble. Everybody’s in the same boat, which is great.”
Still, despite how happy McCormack is to be back on stage, he admits that he would like to star in a television series again someday. He says, “I miss it. I like playing a character every day. I like having something to go back to. I always enjoyed that with Will & Grace. I like the camaraderie. I like having a crew that I know and I can work with every day.”
The Best Man is currently in previews at Schoenfeld Theatre. It opens on April 1 and runs through July 8.
via Yahoo News
