Post 1985 Academy Award Winner “Getting Full of Myself”: NPR

like nominations Announcing the 2023 Academy Awards, white lotus Murray Abraham, who won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1985 for his role as composer Antonio Salieri in Amadeushe reflects on how the award changed his life—and nearly cost him his career.

“I became arrogant, I became overly demanding, and I became full of myself,” he says. “And the movies that were shown were just awful. I mean, there was a lot of money, but they were just heavy-handed gangsters and infanticide, and I didn’t care.”

Abraham began to turn down movie roles and continued to do a lot of theatrical work. “But,” he says, “you can’t do it for long without being forgotten by Hollywood. … After a while, [the phone] Stop ringing.”

After Wakil Ibrahim retired, he struggled to find new acting. But a meeting with someone who offered to be his manager paid off: “He’s a good friend of mine, and since he hooked me up with my current agent, I’ve never stopped working.”

Among his many roles in television, film, and theater, Abraham is best known for playing a black ops specialist on the Showtime series. homeland, prominent role in Wes Anderson film, Grand Budapest Hotel. But he believes that his performance in Amadeus Perhaps it helped persuasion white lotus originator Mike White for his portrayal as Burt, a chauvinistic (yet sometimes charming) 80s-something on the HBO series.

“[White] You must have seen what I thought was an essential and charming quality about Salieri in Amadeus, which is that he had a wonderful sense of humor. “It was a sinister thing to do, but it was funny,” Abraham says. “There is a sense of life and lightness in a lot of my work, and he must have recognized that.”

The second season of white lotus Focused on a number of guests staying in a luxury hotel on the coast of Sicily. Ibrahim The character is vacationing with his son and grandson (played by Michael Imperioli and Adam DiMarco), with whom he argues about masculinity, infidelity, and how to interact with women. Working with the younger cast and the rest of the cast has been exciting, says Abraham. He’s also recently worked on other projects with younger actors, including the Apple TV+ series Legendary questand the Disney + series Moon Knight.

“It’s great to be accepted, by the way, to be recognized as something that might be of value [to them]. “It definitely keeps you on your toes,” he says. “I’m 83 and I don’t feel like there is any end to me. I’m going to drop dead on stage — that’s my dearest hope.”

Interview highlights

on him white lotus Chauvinistic behavior of the character

I am a first generation American. My father is from Syria and my mother is from Italy. I grew up with people like Burt, and their attitude towards women was very real. And my mother, an Italian woman, treated them as if they were the king, and the children the princes. … In a strange way, I’m still confused [the fact that] A lot of women like my personality, even though he’s really nothing but a chauvinistic male pig, as we used to call him, in the old days. I’m a feminist myself, but the way he treats women as people to be pursued and earned and enjoyed…but I think women who respond to this character understand that he really does have a good heart, that he’s really a decent guy, just from another time.

on archery white lotus At a resort in Sicily

All I can say is, I thank my lucky stars for that, because that was the best job I think I’ve ever had in my life – and I’ve been acting for a long time. It was just heaven. I asked when that show ended after four months in Sicily [Mike White] If only we could shoot it all again. It was really great. It wasn’t just the text or its direction. It is a pleasure to work with him. But it was everyone I was working with, and I’m talking about the crew, the crew. I go on with this because it is a very rare experience.

The place was closed. We were the only residents and everyone lived in the hotel – the crew, the cast, we were all together. So sometimes we were able to show up for makeup in our pajamas. It was poetic. I think what contributed to the making [series] is real fun and life comes through on camera, although there are some real dark things to be dealt with. I think what you feel is family.

on a secret of his own homeland Personality, CIA agent Dar Adal

I always thought he wasn’t just sissy, I thought he was up for anything. And I mentioned to the locker people that I thought he was wearing women’s underwear and what the locker people did was sew lace on my panties. There are certain scenes where I wear those lace underwear. I won’t tell you which scenes they are, but I can give you a hint: they are the most violent scenes. … These secrets add something to every character I do and are nobody’s business. Which… I think just adds to the character’s ambiguity, no matter what I do.

About growing up in the United States, near the Mexico border

I grew up about four blocks from the Rio Grande, and I grew up with all my Mexican friends. I speak spanish fluently. Juarez, Mexico, in those days was not dangerous, not as it is now, and we really had free passage back and forth. It cost a penny to cross the bridge, but they never collected. If you don’t have a penny, you won’t pay. Well we were driving through Rio, no problem at all. It’s too bad there’s a wall out there in El Paso, because growing up with two cultures is a huge perk and I grew up with that perk. …the accent that I have ScarfaceFor example, this is very similar to what I looked like when I was growing up.

On studying with a legendary acting teacher Uta Hagen in New York City

It’s great being loved by someone like Uta Hagen, and being a favorite, becoming an observer in her class. … And every student should keep this in mind: the more attractive your teacher is, the more you will give up your talent in order to please this teacher. This is the path I was taking. And at some point, after studying with her for over a year, I was really lost. And at one point during rehearsal, she stopped me and said, “This actor has an amazing talent and he pees all over the place.” And that was the last chapter I had with her. She realized I was losing her and she wanted to force me out of class. … And as soon as I let it go, I started to find my feet again. It’s an interesting lesson for everyone to learn. … I was shutting down my instincts in order to do exactly what she was saying. This is a dangerous path to follow.

Upon landing Salieri’s role Amadeus Although he is an unknown actor

The idea that this unknown actor would get the role was out of the question. The only reason I ever made it [director Miloš Forman] had to meet him. And I knew I didn’t stand a chance. She was [written by] British writer and has written for a British actor. The point is, Milosz had seen something in me, and invited me to his apartment to do some rehearsals. Then we videotaped it, and at the end of the videotape, he said, “Okay, now the old man does [version of the Salieri character]And I said, “Well, Miloš, give me a chance to look at it. I haven’t even checked…” He said, “No, no, just do it.” So I did it and improvised. I looked at the text and when I passed, I looked to see what the reaction was and he went. He wasn’t there. He left the studio before I even had a chance to say anything to him! So I thought he hated it. Two days later, he called and said that I was the first choice, but that was only one step, and then I had to meet with the producer and meet with the writer. I still know I don’t have it, it was asking too much, really, it was a dream.

Lauren Krenzel and Joel Wolfram produced this interview and edited it for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper, and Beth Novey have adapted it for the web.