Danny, the rockstar character you play in Danny Collins , gets stage fright when he wants to play his original song and then falls back on a popular one. Have you ever had such a moment yourself?
All the time, especially when I’m on stage and forget my words. Three thousand people and you don’t know where you are or what you’ve got to say. You know you should be saying something but it’s gone. That’s tough!
But with all roles, the process starts when you’re given a part; you’ve got an empty canvas. After a while, you build a technique to make something out of the canvas. It’s like anything else. It’s like riding a bicycle.
What aspects of Danny’s character did you immediately identify with?
I liked the story, and got clues about what happened to the character. I then started asking myself questions. Who is he? Who is he in relation to me? Who am I? I don’t do this consciously. I came with two images — of musicians Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart. My character seemed like a love child of those two. I thought, “Who would that be?” I also liked the idea that this guy is a survivor. That’s what got to me. It’s almost incomprehensible that a kid at 20 or 21 gets touted as the next big superstar and soon, gets thrown off his game. What does he do?
Can you tell us about that survival aspect?
I liked the idea that Danny copes with what’s there, what’s available. It spurred me and energised me that someone could cope like that. But then, even that method runs out of gas at one point. Naturally, the booze, the drugs, the lifestyle, the fame, and all of that becomes part of his life. All of it lasts a while, and then come the marriages he doesn’t even remember; then the slow disintegration. It’s classic. It’s just classic.
How was it working opposite Annette Bening?
She’s like a lioness. Her talent is ferocious. It was staggering being around her. She is almost possessed when she’s acting even if it sounds a little pejorative. Even when the director says, “Cut!” she’s not done. “Let’s do it again. There’s more I can do,” she says. It’s so much fun to be around someone like that.
Were you a fan of John Lennon’s music?
Oh yeah! I loved the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I love the 50s. ( He breaks into song singing ‘Sh-Boom’, a 1954 doo-wop song by The Chords that helped kick-start rock ‘n’ roll ) “Sh-Boom, Sh-Boom. Ya-da-di Ya-da-di Ya-da. Sh-Boom, Sh-Boom. Ya-da-di Ya-da-di Ya-da. Sh-Boom. Hello! Ding-gong. Dinga-dinga-ding. Sh-Boom. Whaa-ya.” I’m surprised it’s still there in my head. ( Laughs ) You guys don’t know what I’m talking about. You don’t.
Danny gets a letter from John Lennon in this film. Is there anyone you would have loved to get a letter from?
As much as anybody would love to get a letter from somebody like that, I’m sure Beethoven couldn’t write me such a letter. I thought for a while that I was Beethoven reincarnate. There was a time when I just started playing the piano. In my own way, I was writing music. I had a tape recorder. It wasn’t like today, when it is so easy to turn on something and record yourself play. I was doing that for a while, and it helped me reflect on my inner self. I wasn’t doing that in my acting at the time. I wasn’t getting that opportunity.
Do you enjoy acting today?
Every single time I get the urge to act, I lie down until it passes. Oscar Wilde said that. I love it when I am in an environment that makes it possible for me to act. But it really varies from project to project today though. Acting is like anything else; you just do it because it’s your profession.
You’ve had some great lines in your career such as “Say hello to my little friend”, “I knew it was you, Fredo”, or even single words like “Whoo-ah” or “Attica!” Which lines do fans mostly quote to you?
Mainly lines from Scarface . There was a time when they’d keep saying, “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” But that’s dated now. It’s mainly Scarface now. It’s almost like I did the film last month. It’s amazing how that happened.
