E-mail a friendAdam Arkin
airdate September 30, 2009
Actor-director Adam Arkin has made a name for himself in film, on stage and TV. He's won a Tony nod and multiple Emmy nods, including one for his role on CBS' Chicago Hope, and a win for directing the acclaimed Showtime movie, My Louisiana Sky. The son of an award-winning actor-director, Arkin took acting classes at age 10 and made his feature debut as a co-screenwriter at age 15. Arkin can next be seen in the upcoming Coen brothers film, A Serious Man, and as a guest star in several episodes of the FX series Sons of Anarchy.
Arkin describes his portrayal of a white supremacist in Sons of Anarchy. (3:24)
Full Interview (11:52)
Adam Arkin
Tavis: Adam Arkin is an Emmy-nominated actor who starred for six seasons on the very popular medical drama "Chicago Hope." In addition to his new role on the FX series "Sons of Anarchy," you can also catch him in the new Cohn brothers film, "A Serious Man." The film opens in select cities this weekend. Here now, a scene from "A Serious Man."
XX Legally, I have to warn you it is never easy for the husband unless of course there's some question of the wife having violated the marriage contract.
[Clip]
Tavis: I like that - to my knowledge. First of all, good to see you.
Adam Arkin: Good to see you.
Tavis: Glad to have you on. You and I were talking before we came on the air here and I was asking how your father was doing and you said he's doing very well, and I'm glad to hear that.
Arkin: He said to send his regards, too.
Tavis: I accept that, because I said to you when he was last here it was just before he won that Academy Award so I hope that we sent him off with some good luck.
Arkin: Never mind that, I think you deserve all the credit for it.
Tavis: Well, thank you, I accept, I accept, I accept. (Laughter) I accept that.
Arkin: He wouldn't have it any other way.
Tavis: Yeah, I accept that. I raise that only because I recall in that conversation with your father, delightful conversation, by the way, I recall asking your father whether or not he discouraged you from getting into acting. And I asked him that specifically because I'd read that he knew at five, at the age of five, he wanted to be an actor.
But he told me on the show he didn't get his first gig till he was 28, so that was a long stretch from five to 28. Even though he was young, a long stretch before he got his first gig. So I asked him whether he discouraged you and he gave his answer. But tell me what you recall about wanting to be an actor when that hit you.
Arkin: I was probably about 11 years old when I knew.
Tavis: So a few years behind your dad.
Arkin: Yeah, a few years. And I was in acting classes as a kid, and I'm sure a lot of it had to do with really worshipping him and wanting to be connected with him. I didn't live with him from the time I was five until I was 11, and I saw from a distance, while longing to be back with him, I also saw him go from being a completely unemployed actor to becoming an international star.
And the combination of already missing him and then seeing that transition take place was very - it was very intoxicating. It made me want to be a part of that. And I think primarily not so much to be like him as to be connected to him.
Tavis: I hear that distinction, yeah. How does it feel for you to be as accomplished as you are in this business alongside your father? His wining an Academy Award - it must be a pretty nice feeling, father and son, to have both made a name for themselves in this industry.
Arkin: What I'm happiest about with that, more than the external recognition, which is a great thing and I don't take that for granted, but it has ended up being a source of connection with him. It's something that we can talk about and we share conversations about the business and the craft and about how we navigate and keep our sanity pursuing this career.
And I love that. In many ways, it is the family business and show business, it seems, is one of the few areas where that's viewed with suspicion and a lot of assumptions, but in any other business it's sort of fine if you go into the family business.
Tavis: To my knowledge, Adam, I don't think I've ever met the Cohn brothers, but I feel like I know them only because everybody I know wants to work with them at some point. Why is that?
Arkin: Well, I think primarily because of the quality of their work. I think the body of their work just shows a tremendous - well, it started with tremendous talent and has shown tremendous evolution and willingness to take on challenge in their work. I think they are very much actor's directors. They're brilliant writers, brilliant filmmakers, and have found a way of working that I think really brings out the best in the people that they choose to collaborate with.
They create an environment that's simultaneously very structured and specific, but also encouraging of being surprised. (Laughs)
Tavis: Tell me about, then, "A Serious Man" and the role you play in it.
Arkin: "A Serious Man" is about a professor, a physics professor named Larry Gopnik living in suburban Minneapolis in the '60s with his family, and his life essentially starts falling apart. His wife tells him she wants a divorce and a number of other things start going terribly wrong, and he has this sort of existential crisis in which he starts seeking spiritual advice, emotional advice, legal advice from a variety of people, none of whom is particularly helpful to him. (Laughter)
And the crisis sort of deepens as the film goes on. I play his divorce attorney, who while on the surface very officious and caring is really not of much use in the long run.
Tavis: When I watch you in movies or watch you on television, "Sons of Anarchy," whatever it might be, I know that you direct because I see your name a lot of times in "Gray's Anatomy" or other shows I've seen you direct. How do you behave yourself, as it were (laughter), keep in mind what hat you are wearing, when you're acting versus directing.
Arkin: Oh. It's not that much of a challenge. I have found - one of the reasons I think I started directing and gravitated towards doing that was because even when I was acting I was interested in problem-solving and recognizing where, as an actor, I could contribute to the complexities of a scene being diminished, to some extent.
And I think the producers I started working for recognized that I sort of had a little bit more of a macro view towards what I was doing, and that sort of transitioned into directing opportunities. But it didn't take long to direct some stuff to understand that as an actor it's very good to let directors follow their own vision and stay out of their way. You can certainly make suggestions and ask questions, but at a certain point you have to let them do their thing.
Tavis: So you don't ever feel the pinch when you're acting to say, "You know what? I really should say to him or her X, Y, or Z?"
Arkin: I will always make suggestions that fall within the purview of, I think, I hope, what is appropriate for an actor to be suggesting, in terms of blocking or a move that might work or something that might help solve a problem. But I won't overstep that line. I think I have a pretty good idea of where that line is, and if anything getting to direct myself has made me more aware of that, and I want to be there to help a director fulfill his vision.
Tavis: I mentioned this a moment ago -
Arkin: Or her.
Tavis: Her, yeah. I mentioned this earlier and I want to come back to it, because you're a busy guy. You're directing when you can, you're acting in movies, "A Serious Man," when you can, "Sons of Anarchy." Tell me about that, for those who haven't seen that series.
Arkin: "Sons of Anarchy?"
Tavis: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Arkin: It's a wonderful, gritty, hard-hitting series on FX about a motorcycle gang. It takes place in a fictitious town in Northern California, Charming, California. Ron Perlman plays the head of the gang. His stepson is sort of the heir apparent, the son of Katey Sagal's character, who's married to Ron Perlman, and is going to be the next leader of the club. And when that's going to take place, nobody really knows.
There are political struggles within the motorcycle gang itself, and I, this season, am playing the nemesis of the gang, who is a White separatist who comes in to bust open this club and sort of make a power grab for his own purposes. And I get to work with Henry Rollins as my right-hand man, who is just a great guy. It's a great show, great company of actors, and it's been a wild ride.
Tavis: I guess it's because in part you're such a good actor, but how does one go about playing, much less accepting the role, of being a White separatist?
Arkin: It's just my job, Tavis. (Laughter)
Tavis: Somebody's got to do it, huh?
Arkin: There's very little, thankfully, on a personal level that I can relate to in the specifics of that character, but the job of an actor is to sort of find, I think, correlations, things that you can substitute and reference in your own life that kind of hook up with whatever the character is into, no matter how heinous that may be.
And the most interesting bad guys to me are people that believe passionately in some moral aspect of what they're doing, even if it's horrible. And that's been sort of the challenge with this guy.
Tavis: Just because I'm curious, before I let you go, you're a motorcycle enthusiast? Not at all?
Arkin: I'm an enthusiast; I don't ride. (Laughter) I'm very enthusiastic about people that feel passionately about it.
Tavis: But you're not getting on.
Arkin: No. I rode a dirt bike as a kid and being around the motorcycles on "Sons of Anarchy," there are gorgeous bikes everywhere and at one point I was like, "Can I sit on this?" And they were like, "Yeah." "Can I put the kickstand up?" And I put the kickstand up and I was like, "Oh, my God, this thing." They're heavy.
And it's like the idea of - that's a lot of horsepower to be sitting on top of, and I've got a four-year-old son. I want to be around and see at least his fifth birthday.
Tavis: Well, you just stick to being the White separatist. Stay in your lane.
Arkin: Well, coming from you Tavis, (laughter) that means a great deal.
Tavis: Yeah, if that -
Arkin: If I have your blessing, it's -
Tavis: Yeah. (Laughter) If that ends up on a - I'm sure that'll be a YouTube clip in about five minutes - "Tavis Smiley encourages Adam Arkin to remain a White separatist."
Arkin: You do know that this is a role, I hope.
Tavis: Yeah, yeah, I understand. (Laughter) I'm glad to have you on.
Arkin: So good to be here.
Tavis: His name, of course, Adam Arkin. Great actor, and if you're watching and paying attention, you can catch him, of course, in the movie, the new Cohn brothers film, "A Serious Man;' "Sons of Anarchy" on FX. And if you're paying attention, as I do, to credits, you'll probably see his name pop up here and there directing some of your favorite episodes on TV. Tell your dad I said hello.
Arkin: I will indeed. He said hello as well.
Tavis: Good to see you.
Back to September 30, 2009