ANIMAL HOUSE: It's about time I put in on the queue |
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Sunday night dinner at Justin and Kathy's place is always a blast. You never know what's going to be on the menu or who's going to be there. Justin and Kathy know lots of artists and writers in Milwaukee, and a glorious group of Milwaukee's coolest are bound to be there, I might be there, and no fewer than three dogs. Recently, I was excited to see Mark and his son, Julius. Julius is 14 and has the dreamiest brown eyes (and I mean that in the least Debra Lafave way possible) of anyone I know. I hadn't seen them in a long time and I was excited to hear about their trip to Africa, including, rumor has it, a balloon ride over the Serengeti. (!)
Justin and Kathy are moving to L.A. in a couple of months, which makes me sad. But they are remarkably talented, and if anyone can make it there without losing their souls, Justin and Kathy can. Still, I'll miss them terribly, as well as our Sunday night dinners. On a recent Sunday night, over beer cheese soup (made by Marla) and trout, caught, stuffed, and cooked by Mark and Julius, Julius announced to his dad that he would be going along to California afterall in December (when Mark goes to film a movie) because Kathy and Justin will be there. And it occurred to me: I didn't know much about Mark Metcalf. I see him at Sunday dinner because he's a friend of Justin's. I'm aware of his major roles (although I've still never seen ANIMAL HOUSE) but we don't really talk about it. He doesn't tell us call him "Maestro," I can tell you that. Sure, he's the only one who comes to Sunday night dinner who has a membership in SAG, but it's a non-issue.
After knowing him for about a year, I decide that for one day I can be a pop culture obsessed, Hollywood-infatuated, E-watching dork and ask him about the business, especially since he'll have two new movies out next year.
So I sent him links to a couple of my previous columns (including the one about Steve) and invited him out for coffee to talk. (Mark doesn't drink coffee, but that's hardly the point). My plan was informal and not meant to be an interview, per se, I basically just set to find out how he feels about the rumors on IMDb of his death, what it was like to be the first (and many fans' favorite) "Big Bad" on Buffy, and why he lives in Milwaukee. Ah, if only I'd studied journalism; I may have met those goals.
Mark has the ability to be selective about his TV and film roles, as the majority of his time is spent here in Milwaukee working at the First Stage Children's Theater. He is currently busy with the play GOSSAMER, which 
Du and Jules at Fakesgiving, 2008 (what's with the funhouse mirror effect?) |
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opened September 19 at www.firststage.org. His eyes flash with pride (with a sparkle I'd only ever seen when he spoke about Julius) as he talks about GOSSAMER and last year's production of THE GIVER, both of which are adaptations of novels by Lois Lowry, an acclaimed writer of books for young adults. His descriptions are so intriguing that I put them on my list of books to pick up. Some actors might be flummoxed by Mark's decision to leave Los Angeles for Milwaukee, but he has no regrets. Julius is happy here, and to maintain their rock-n-roll lifestyle (not really) here, Mark only has to be involved with projects of substance. Not that he has regrets about his work. He thought Seinfeld was one of the few sitcoms that was original and it "makes people laugh, and I see value in that," he says.
I ask him if he heard about Conan's stalker (a priest who left a psych hospital AMA), and he has not. I'm picking up on the fact that he doesn't watch much TV. I mean, at all. "It's depressing," he says, "especially the news. We're in a war, and they report on how Britney did on some award show. The obsession with fame we have in this country is mind-boggling." For a brief moment, I hope that he didn't actually read any Take Your Queue From Du columns, as all I generally do is talk about how ga-ga I am over stars like Drew Barrymore and Kate Winslet. Embarrassing! But I force myself to focus, and ask if he's ever had an obsessed fan or stalker. "No, not really. At least, not to the extent of Conan's. But there was a man who used to bring me gifts." He names several of them off; the strangest item, in my opinion: a pheasant pot pie.
So I have this theory, and I bounce if off him. I figure that he would get recognized more often in LA than in Milwaukee because when people are walking around in LA, they are looking to--hoping to--recognize the face of anyone who passes them on the sidewalk. In Milwaukee, it is my assumption that if people were to recognize him, they might think to themselves, "Trippy. That guy looks a lot like The Maestro," but wouldn't really consider it could be, because what would The Maestro be doing walking around Milwaukee?
Sadly, my theory is bogus. He is recognized a lot in Milwaukee, partly because it's no secret that he lives here. Although he no longer has stakes in the restaurant in Mequon that he used to run with Julius's mom, fans did drop in quite frequently to say hi (or even present a gift or two like, say, a pheasant pot pie).
I admit, sheepishly, that I had IMDbed him that morning, and there is an enormous amount of TV shows to his credit. (Buffy and Seinfeld, of course, but also JAG, Ally McBeal, 
Justin (aka Wayne Chinsang) actually surprised at his surprise party |
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Star Trek: Voyager, and even Walker, Texas Ranger! The list goes on and on). I tell him that I distinctly remember one of the episodes of Ally McBeal he was on (his character was a lawyer who defended a shock jock played by Wayne Newton). By this point, is is clear that he doesn't watch TV. He also doesn't IMDb or Google himself (I simply cannot relate). He has no opinion on the IMDb thread about his death because this is the first he is hearing about it.
By now, the hyperactive air conditioning has driven us to the sticky outdoors, where my forehead is glistening profusely. I wipe my brow, and ask, "Do you watch anything on TV?," not meaning to sound exasperated, but a little impatient; yes, there is a lot of crap on TV, but for twelve crap shows, there is at least one gem.
"Sometimes I see things that Julius is watching while I'm making dinner or something," Mark says, "like Seinfeld or Everybody Loves Raymond." I attempt to convince him that there are good shows currently being made; I offer suggestions: How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, The Simpsons, The Office.
He tells me he's been getting The Office from Netflix, and he concurs that it's cleverly written and is not the same old formulaic sitcom, and then asks if HIMYM is the show with "Doogie Howser."
"Um, yeah! And Alyson Hannigan!" (da-ding, da-ding).
"Oh, Alyson," Mark says with an affectionate smile, "I like her." I feel like I'm supposed to tell her "hi" from him when I see her the following Monday evening. Mark reminisces about Season 3, when his character, The Master, comes back for one episode and Alyson gets to play the bad girl. I quote evil Willow: "bored now" and Mark grins. I can't help myself, and I blurt, "So she's sweet, then? She just seems like she's actually a good person." Damn! I didn't want to do that, ask an actor about other actors. It just seems so tacky. Plus, what if it's something I don't want to hear? (Luckily, she is the real deal according to Mark. Just as warm and kind as I had assumed. Whew!)
Mark tells me he's enjoying Julius getting older because he can take him to more movies. One they'd seen recently: PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. Mark thought it was funny, but I can't help but suspect his affection for it was mostly in the joy Julius found in it. At one point, he tells me, Julius exclaimed aloud in the theater, "This is classic comedy!"
While Mark wouldn't have taken it that far ("it's no DUCK SOUP," he said) he did appreciate the writing and the layers of comedy at work.
We end up chatting another hour about our friends, his son, movies, politics, especially Sarah Palin (who is "no different than the multitude 
As The Master-- is it any wonder I didn't immediately recognize him? |
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of annoying North Shore Nancies" that litter Fox Point and Bayside). I realize that it's close to noon, we've been chatting for almost two hours, and I have almost nothing written down. Yikes: I wish I'd realized sooner that I'm not a journalist. My latte is long gone as is Mark's smoothie. He glances at his watch and asks if I've got enough as he's got errands to run before rehearsal.
"Well," I say, "I haven't really asked you about the two new movies you'll have out next year . . ." (FT. McCOY, which he filmed over the summer in western Wisconsin and THE ADVENTURES OF BELVIS BASH, the film that will be the reason for the aforementioned trip to California).
Mark didn't have to travel too far to film FT. McCOY. Based on a true story (with a screenplay by Kate Connor, who also produces and acts in the film), FT McCOY is a WWII drama about a barber's family who moves to a POW camp in Wisconsin. The barber's daughter is befriended by a German girl, and, well, except for the fact that Eric Stoltz and Camryn Manheim also appear, that's all I got. The makers of FT. McCOY hope to have it finished in time for Sundance, or it may appear at other film festivals, so keep your eyes peeled!
THE ADVENTURES OF BELVIS BASH will be a very different movie, and, if it's made right (Mark tells me) it will be hilarious. He says he hopes the director decides to take a Benoit approach, a la LA MORT du CHINOIS, and I nod and smile knowingly (while clearly I have no idea what the hell movie that is). Belvis Bash is an American entertainer who sees himself as a combination between Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. He is sent to Afghanistan to entertain under a ruse, and, hopefully, hilarity ensues.
I'm proud of myself for not bringing Steve Martin up to Mark (not any more than I already have by sending him the column, anyway), but Mark, the sweet guy that he is, lets me off the hook and mentions that he did know Steve and had been to a party at his home once. He did not burst my bubble; he said everything I wanted to hear (that he's serious, brilliant, kind, has excellent taste, etc.).
Mark walks me to my car, and I have to squint up at him to say goodbye (it's sunny he's really tall). I ask if he'll be at Fakesgiving at Justin and Kathy's (he did go; he brought pie). I get in my Honda and he walks in the direction of Pick-n-Save.
If you see Mark sipping a smoothie at a Caribou Coffee on the North Shore, don't call him Maestro, call him Mark. And look for FT. McCOY at a film festival near you and THE ADVENTURES OF BELVIS BASH in 2009. Oh, and IMDb says that one of Mark's Seinfeld episodes ("The Doll") will be on TBS on Wednesday (Oct 1) afternoon!
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Semi-wholesome Midwestern girl and certified Geek Magnet offers her suggestions - often new, sometimes classic - for DVDs that are definitely queue-worthy.
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