Frank Langella: “There are, for some reason, more parts available to me in these years than I ever thought would be”
Langella talks about how he feels about still getting great roles at his age and how he managed to act against the “robot.”
Paul Rudd: “Theatre is the best way for an actor to improve”
As funny of a guy as Paul Rudd is, when he takes the lead in a film the box office isn’t always there. His last three starring roles — Wanderlust, Our Idiot Brother, and How Do You Know — all underperformed. So it’s a good thing that Rudd is more than just a movie actor, since he is making a return to Broadway after several years in movies to star in Grace alongside Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, and Ed Asner.
Frank Langella on Acting Against a Robot: “It wasn’t difficult… I have acted opposite actors, who, no matter what you do, do not change a flicker of their performance”
Frank Langella is one of those veteran actors who I would love to share a few drinks with (I’d even pay the tab!) He seems to be so full of great stories about his long career in theater and film. He also stars in one of my favorite films of 2012, Robot & Frank, which he talks about Reuters. He opens up about the importance of working from a good script, acting against a robot, and whether or not the Hollywood of his youth has changed.
Frank Langella on the First Time He Was on Stage and the Advantage He Has Over Other Actors
Frank Langella has been talking all over the place lately to promote his new film, Robot & Frank, and he had perhaps his most extensive interview with NPR. In the interview he talks about how he got into acting and why he has had such a varied career acting in film, television, and on the stage.
Movie Review: ‘Robot and Frank’
It seems like almost every septuagenarian actor is required to do at least one “grumpy old man” movie role in which its pretty typical for such a character to go from a cranky and surly old coot to a smiling, kindly grandfather with a young heart by the end of the film. Thankfully, in Robot and Frank director Jake Schreier and writer Christopher D. Ford, with a great performance by Frank Langella, find a way around that cliche by sticking the grumpy old man with… a robot pal.
Frank Langella: “There is nothing wrong with walking on a set with an empty brain and then on action allowing your adrenaline and your trust in yourself to take over”
Langella speaks about not only how he typically chooses and prepares for roles, but how he rose to the challenge of acting against a robotic character in Robot and Frank.
Frank Langella: “You really just need the platform and the actor, another piece of humanity, sharing his humanity with the audience”
Frank Langella won a Tony for playing a very unappealing Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, but that wasn’t his only run as the “bad guy” of a play. In fact, Langella is currently starring in a revival of Terrence Rattigan‘s 1963 play Man and Boy with the Roundabout Theatre Company at