From Dave (1993)
October 24, 1947– Kevin Kline:
“I vowed I would never do a commercial, or a soap opera… both of which I did as soon as I left Julliard & was starving.”
The van came to pick me up first & I didn’t even know that I was sharing the ride to the film set. The driver stopped in front of the hotel & in slipped a handsome man, matinée idol handsome actually, who turned to me, smiled, extended his hand, & greeted me: “Hello… my name is Kevin Kline”. My retort: “No kidding”.
Do you have any idea what it is like when you meet someone that you truly idolize? I had been crazy in love with Kevin Kline beginning in 1977 when I saw him on Broadway in the Hal Prince directed musical On The 20th Century featuring John Cullum, Madeline Kahn, & Imogene Coca.
When we worked together, Kline had just won an Academy Award for his outrageous comedic performance as Otto in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) & he had a new baby with wife Phoebe Cates. I congratulated him on both.
Kline asked me about the theatre scene in Seattle & he kept insisting that we had worked together before: “Shakespeare In The Park in 1978?” Stephen: “No, Kevin Kline… I think I would have remembered that”.
I kept up my part of the conversation. While letting him know how much I admired his work, I kept a nonchalant, yet engaged demeanor. But, my brain was racing a million miles an hour with:
“Oh my God, oh my God, It’s Kevin Kline. I am sitting right next to him. He has freckles. He has freckles on his arms. His arms are hairy. I think I love him. Kevin Kline! He is talking to me! He thinks he knows me. Can I sneak a peek at his crotch? Will he notice? No, don’t do it! Oh…you did it, you looked at his basket! I’d like to give him an Oscar, right now.”
I finally let him have it & out I gushed about how much I admired his work, that he was a favorite actor, & how thrilled I was to work with him. I let him know that I held him in the very highest regard as an artist. Kline replied:
“I am never completely satisfied with what I’ve done as an actor. I tend to look at it all too critically. I’m trying to get better about that. I’ve got that Jewish guilt & the Irish shame & it’s a hell of a job distinguishing which is which.”
Kline was so much fun to work with. Our director, Lawrence Kasdan, didn’t know we had traveled to the set together & he introduced us all over again. We reenacted the ride to the set.
Kline had an almost Robin Williams-like manic energy on the set, joking, playing the piano & singing between takes. In contrast, his co-star Tracey Ullman, whom I worship, was shy & she stayed in character when the cameras were not rolling. But, as soon as the director said “cut”, Kline was back to his antics.
At the end of the day, he touched my shoulder, looked me right in the eye, & stated: “That was fun; we need to do it again sometime”. I smiled back & deadpanned (he had thought my deadpan was funny during the shoot): “Yes indeed, Mr. Kline, let’s do it every day. Please?” Still, my brain was going:
“Oh my God, oh my God, it’s Kevin Kline! & he is looking at me… It’s Kevin Kline! He is so handsome! He is actually talking to me, Stephen!”
I beamed, but tried to act like it was no big deal:
“Oh my God, I just filmed a scene with Kevin Kline. He is like the best American Actor, he is our Laurence Olivier & I am acting with him! I think he likes me. He keeps smiling & at me. I think I am in love with him!”.
Did I mention that I really love Kline? My favorite of his film roles include musicals, dramas & comedies: The Pirates of Penzance (1983), Sophie’s Choice (1982), The Big Chill (1983), Silverado (1984), A Fish Called Wanda, Soapdish (1991), Grand Canyon (1991), The Ice Storm (1997), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), & As You Like It (2006), last year’s My Old Lady with Dame Maggie Smith, & reluctantly In & Out (1997). For me, In & Out is not really a very good film, but I watch it every time I come across it while channel hopping. With all of its lapses in logic, the film still makes me feel all gooey. I love watching Kline play gay.
Worth revisiting in these interesting times is Kline’s 2 roles in the White House comedy Dave (1993) with Sigourney Weaver as a First Lady & his spot-on fast, drunk, womanizing Douglas Fairbanks opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992).
In 1970, Kline was in the first class of the newly formed Drama Division at the Juilliard School in NYC. In 1972, he joined fellow Juilliard grad, Patti LuPone as members of The City Center Acting Company (now The Acting Company), formed & directed by John Houseman. Kline & LuPone worked together for 4 years performing with the company in NYC & touring the country by bus.
The 2 acting greats had a passionate & volatile affair that lasted on & off for a decade. In her terrific memoir, imaginatively titled Patti LuPone: A Memoir (2010), she writes honestly, & with humor, about a certain LuPone/Kline/Peter Weller Love Triangle. Kline was apperantly LuPone’s “first great love”. In 1977, LuPone began a romance with a pre-Robocop (1987) Peter Weller when they worked together in David Mamet’s The Woods, a drama about an intense relationship. At the closing night party, LuPone writes:
“In a drunken stupor, I declared my love for Peter to Peter with Kevin standing right next to me.” We were able to patch things up until he slept with a chorus girl in Boston while he was doing On The Twentieth Century.”
Kline can currently be seen on the screen in Ricki & The Flash, directed by Jonathan Demme with a screenplay by Diablo Cody. The comedy stars a singing, guitar slinging Meryl Streep, Kline’s costar in Sophie’s Choice & A Prairie Home Companion.
Up next for Kline in spring 2017, Beauty & The Beast, a live action version of the Disney animated musical. It is directed by openly gay Bill Condon & features a first-class cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Josh Gad, Audra McDonald, & Stanley Tucci. In this version he plays Belle’s father & not Gaston or The Beast, but at least he will be doing some singing.
The post #BornThisDay: Actor, Kevin Kline appeared first on World of Wonder.