A few weeks ago I posted some news about Dan taking part of an interview for the New York TimesTalk, this VERY interesting interview was conducted today and here I have a few notes and quotes from different fans who were in attendance, plus a few pictures from this event.
So, the Times Center theater had seats for about 500 people, and it was full -- there may have been as many as 10 empty seats in the theater, but I doubt it...There were about three long rows immediately in front of the stage (where the orchestra would be in a play), and then there were regular "orchestra-section" seats. I was in the 5th row of those, on the right side... well, I was still only about 40 feet from Dan, even so. No photographs were allowed, but several (non-trade) people broke the rule; I didn't, though. Sorry, y'all; I like my camera and didn't want to lose it!
The Talk started about 10 minutes late (but fortunately, ended about 10 minutes late, too). The introducer pointed out that Dan's TimesTalk had sold out faster than any other they've ever done, and later the interviewer (Julie Bosman, who writes for the Culture section of the NYTimes) added that it sold out even faster than the TimesTalk with Bono.
Ms. Bosman and Dan came out onto the stage together and took their seats (a little table with glasses and water bottles between them) to raucous applause for Dan. I feel the need to emphasize yet again that Dan is way more handsome in real life OMG. He's just a beautiful man. As an aside, I've heard many people who've met him IRL say that, when you're right next to him, he seems really small, but he didn't seem that way to me at all. He's very slender, but not disproportionately so, and doesn't seem unduly short to me either.
Ms. Bosman asked Dan how Broadway is different (from what, she wasn't clear on -- the West End? London?). Dan mentioned that he'd been to the Tonys and found everyone there really "welcoming and lovely," and there was a genuine sense of excitement about theater. He said he'd never really worked with American actors before and was excited about doing so, and added that he feels a real sense of history, coming to Broadway. He pointed out that, because his parents had both been actors, he'd grown up listening to showtunes on car trips. He said that Chicago's overt sexuality terrified him when he was eight , and that his favorite music is Company, but he's also a fan of Sondheim and lots of others. Ms. Bosman asked what was the first Broadway show he'd ever seen, and Dan laughed and said he thought it was actually Chicago, though he enjoyed it more (and was less freaked out by it) at age 14, when he was "pubescent." ( again!)
Ms. Bosman asked how he'd found the play Equus, whether he was familiar with it before he was cast. Dan said the possibility of his being in it had come up when he was about 15 or even earlier; he said he'd read the play when he was 14, but didn't "get it" all at the time. Then, about 2 years ago, he was approached again about doing it, so he read it again...the interviewer asked, had he learned in that time? Dan said that he'd been VERY nervous about learning lines, and that he'd expressed his concern about it to Michael Gambon, who said, "Oh, don't worry about it, just learn them during rehearsals," which freaked Dan out. So he started learning them well beforehand, and by the time rehearsals started, he knew his lines and everyone else's on the first night, because he finds that he listens much more to what the others are saying than to his own lines. Then he added that he'd learned to sustain his energy and concentration for the two hours of the play, and laughingly noted that he feels guilty talking about being exhausted after 2 hours' worth of work, when others work 12-hour days. He said it's a great time, but "I'm just knackered after each show."
Was he surprised at the shocked reactions to his taking the role, or was he braced for it? Dan said that the shocked reactions almost all came before the show opened -- offended mothers calling up places and complaining that he shouldn't do the role. Dan said his response to such folks was, "Well, all right then, if you don't like it, don't come see it..." He said that before the play opened, many people treated it as if it were pornographic or nearly so, when in reality it's just about seven minutes of nudity at the end -- "but don't just come for that, please!" He added that, once people had seen the play, most seemed to like it, and a lot of people found themselves doing abrupt U-turns. He noted that some of the controversy had to do with the fact that, while he was over the age of majority in Great Britain when he took on the role, he was still underage by American standards, and Ms. Bosman took care to point out that he's 19 now... but he still can't legally drink in America. (Wotcher, he did something funny here, and I was writing -- what was it? It was when he said, "No, you shouldn't have laughed at that.")
The interviewer asked if Dan's found that being in Equus has changed his reputation in any way, and he answered that actors see him differently now, in that they see that he's taking acting seriously. He said "it gives me more confidence." On opening night, he said, he's scared to death, worried about fading, thinking "what have I done, I'm going to be hideous" -- he said "your thoughts on opening night are pretty much totally negative," but AFTER the show, it's sheer elation...
* Yes, it came up. The dreaded HBP Delay of DOOOM. He said he found out 24 hours before everyone else did, and he seems disappointed, too. But he was quick to assure everyone that this wouldn’t have any effect on the DH filming schedule or releases.
* He was asked about Emma’s reluctance to sign on for the last two films, which I thought was a bit unfair as he is not Emma and shouldn’t really be interrogated about her personal motives. He answered well, though, and said that he thought it was much more a matter of her wanting to make a careful decision and weigh her options, and that it absolutely wasn’t because she just didn’t want to do it.
* The moderator asked him what was next, and he said that after DH was done, he might take a *few* days off. He mentioned the Dan Eldon project and said that he’d like to do another play – a *new* play.
* If we didn’t know who you were, what would you tell us about yourself?
“Well, first I’d wonder why I was sitting on this stage.” He said he was someone who got really lucky very early in life, that he has a very strong work ethic, and that he’s passionate about cricket, literature (especially poetry) and film. And that he loves his job.
* Any roles you wish you could play on the stage?
He would love to play Puck, and (somewhere down the line, because he’s not old enough yet) Robert from Company.
* Favorite author? Poet?
Favorite book is Old Man and the Sea. Favorite authors are Hunter S. Thompson and Emile Zola. Favorite poets are Tony Harrison, John Keats (and the whole second gen. of Romanticists), and Robert Frost.
* Any plans for celebrating the finish of the final film?
They apparently haven’t had any wrap parties for the previous films, due to nobody feeling like organizing it, but he said they’d probably have a massive blowout at the end of DH. And then people would go on holiday and do all the things that the studio wouldn’t let them do before because of insurance.
* How has your dyspraxia (yes, someone asked) affected (not THAT) your work in film and on stage?
“Of all the comments I wished I’d never made…” He said that he’s been getting messages from friends over the last 48 hours – “So … you can’t tie your shoelaces?” He said that he did gymnastics on the HP set and learned card tricks, which helped his coordination, and that it’s not as big a deal as it’s being spun. But he thanked the questioner for her concern.
* The last question was about his religious upbringing, and we already know the answers to that. He said he was surprised that people didn’t burst into cheers when he said his mother was Jewish. He also assured everyone that, although he didn’t have a religious upbringing at all, he “wasn’t brought up in some moral cesspit.”
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