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Washington Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Bill Camp is the platonic ideal of a ‘That Guy'
NEW YORK — There is this moment Bill Camp chases. Finding it is rare. But it's beautiful. It's the elusive high. It's the drug itself. It's nearly impossible to reach intentionally, but it's also the point of his craft. 'You can feel it in a theater sometimes,' Camp says. It's difficult to describe because it is difficult to define. No one can. For all its estimated million-plus words, the English language doesn't have one for the feeling he chases, the one when 'the audience, someone onstage, the circumstances have just sort of aligned in such a way that everything goes …' Camp makes a sound with his lips meant to convey some spiritual convergence. 'The air changes,' he says. 'It's fleeting. It doesn't last. But it's electric, man. I don't know what it is. It's vibrational.' 'Just as humans, we're suddenly together,' he adds. 'I don't know how to describe it. It's pretty trippy.' Spending time with Bill Camp is pretty trippy — after you've seen him in seemingly every movie and TV show you can think of. (An overstatement, yes, but a slight one.) He's delighted and excitable and caught in currents of nostalgia on a sunny May afternoon, as we wander around his old stomping grounds — Lincoln Center, where his wife, Elizabeth Marvel, would perform that evening; Juilliard, where he and Marvel fell for each other while training to be actors; Central Park, where he performed Shakespeare and played softball in those early days and dreamed of what he has now. Even if you don't know his name, you probably know Bill Camp. Even if you don't know you know him. He's the embodiment of a That Guy. He's the That Guy. (That that guy?) During the past two decades, the 60-year-old has become one of the most reliable actors in the business, appearing in just about anything and everything from highbrow films (Alejandro González Iñárritu's 'Birdman,' Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln,' Yorgos Lanthimos's 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer') to prestige TV (HBO's 'The Night Of,' Netflix's 'The Queen's Gambit,' Apple TV+'s 'Presumed Innocent,' the David E. Kelley show for which Camp was just nominated for an Emmy). 'I always think of Bill Camp,' Kelley says when he considers casting his shows. ''Could Bill do this? Could Bill do that?'' Kelley asks himself. 'You know he's going to deliver. He's going to show up. He's going to be prepared. He's going to make the other actors better.' In the past few months alone, Camp appeared in Netflix's 'Sirens' and HBO's 'The Gilded Age.' He's recently filmed alongside Will Ferrell and Zac Efron in Atlanta for an upcoming comedy, and he's in two highly anticipated movies later this year: A24's 'Huntington' and Kelly Reichardt's 'The Mastermind.' This isn't even a full list of his screen work, not to mention the Tony-award nominated actor's decades of stage work. He's the ultimate character actor. And, no, he does not find the term insulting. 'It means I play the character well. And that's the highest compliment. It's my job. It's like saying, 'He does his job well,'' Camp says. 'It also implies, I think, that I can play many different parts. That makes me happy, because that's what I strive for. That's what interests me the most: Telling all sorts of different people's stories.' And to think, once upon a time, he quit. Wait, there was a time when Bill Camp, probably the most reliable screen presence around, the working actor's working actor, the anchor of good shows and the elevator of weak ones — there was a time when this guy wasn't acting? Camp graduated from Julliard in 1989 with no real-world experience: the school discouraged students from working while in training. He immediately appeared in two Shakespeare in the Park productions — 'Titus Andronicus' and 'Twelfth Night' — and landed a small film role, in 1990's 'Reversal of Fortune.' Acting wasn't yet a career. It was 'just a thing I was doing,' he says. And that's more or less how it remained throughout the 1990s. He was learning, particularly onstage, but he wasn't progressing to a point where it felt like a career. 'I was going to places and hanging out for six months, doing a couple of plays,' he says. 'Basically, taking everything I could learn from these actors that had done five times as many things as I had.' After a decade of stage work, he followed his then-girlfriend Marvel to Los Angeles, hoping to break into what he calls 'commercial work,' but … 'I couldn't find a foothold there and got very frustrated by the whole deal and stopped.' Hollywood is not Broadway. He didn't know how to audition and get a part. 'I was like f--- this place,' he says. And so he f---ed off from it. And life piled on. He moved back to New York. He worked random, nonacting jobs: landscaper, cook, mechanic, security guard on the graveyard shift. He f---ed back to Los Angeles. He and Marvel broke up. Life rarely plays out the way movies do. Most of us don't get that one phone call that alters the trajectory of our lives. We don't make that one decision that changes everything. But before quitting, Camp had lived a decade of his life embodying people who did have those moments, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that he did receive one of those fork-in-the-road calls. It was from playwright Tony Kushner. He wanted Camp to perform in 'Homebody/Kabul.' 'I really was like, 70-30, nah,' Camp says. 'I wasn't sure I wanted to pursue this anymore. I wasn't sure what I was getting out of it anymore. I felt like I was spinning my wheels. I was a mouse on a wheel.' But. 'But then, it was Tony Kushner. And it was a part I really loved, and …' If that's true,' that I brought him back, Kushner says, 'then at least I know that I've done one really good thing for American theater, film and television because I think Bill is one of the great actors of our era.' 'If we lived in a real, actually civilized society, Bill Camp would be as famous as any actor you could think of,' Kushner adds. During the production of 'Homebody/Kabul,' Camp's character goes through a woman's suitcase and pleasures himself with her underwear. Camp took things a notch further by putting the panties on his head during the scene, a directive that does not appear in the script — and probably shouldn't appear in this newspaper — to mirror the main female character, who wears a burqa. 'I immediately said, 'Please, can I steal that and put it in the script?'' Kushner says. 'It was like the whole play in a nutshell, and the audience, you could feel, got it. It was so outrageous and kind of gross. The two polar opposites of the way women are treated.' 'That kind of invention from an actor is everything to a writer,' Kushner says. In most professions, doing such a thing might not earn you the label 'true professional' nor would it win you an Obie Award, but in Camp's world, it did. His other collaborators echo Kushner's praise. They call him a 'positive role model' on set (Kelley) and describe him as 'rock solid,' 'a pro,' 'no bulls---.' (Jeff Daniels). 'When the casting director puts out his list, he's probably on it almost every time,' says Kelley, who worked with him on 'Presumed Innocent.' Camp can do drama. He can do comedy. He can be wry or serious, sentimental or cold. 'He's so versatile,' Kelley adds. 'He's like a toy for a writer.' Daniels worked with Camp on 'The Looming Tower,' 'American Rust' and 'A Man in Full.' In these Camp 'played three different people. And they were always fully realized on take one.' Daniels credits this, in part, to Camp's theater background. 'Coming out of the theater, you've got weeks of rehearsal to get ready for an audience,' Daniels says. 'Well, the audience is the camera, and there is no rehearsal.' And Camp is always ready. 'It's as if he goes through six weeks of rehearsal to get to take one on day one, all on his own. Which is what theater people do. We come in ready. Choices have been made.' 'And that's gold.' Gold that almost went undiscovered. Camp first acted in 1973, in a fourth-grade production of the new musical sensation 'Godspell.' Even now, he'll claim he wasn't the best in the room, saying, 'There were some very talented people in my class who could have probably had better careers than myself that went on to do other things, like become a vet or go into finance.' He didn't get the bug. He didn't think about it all that much. 'I had fun,' he says. 'It was a blast. But it was equally as fun as playing baseball or playing soccer or hockey or the other things I did as a young kid.' In high school, he did a couple of plays after breaking his leg and giving hockey a rest. He went to college at the University of Vermont, where it quickly became clear he probably wouldn't graduate. He majored in just about everything for a minute — Environmental studies! Classics! Undeclared! — while working in the theater department as part of his work-study financial aid. He used his carpentry knowledge to become a stagehand, a job that took him to plays and rock shows around the state. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he liked theater people. 'We're of the same sort of cut,' he remembers thinking. He liked the communal creativity. Then he spent a summer working as a carpenter at a Shakespeare festival and found himself fascinated by the language. He put the pieces together. College wasn't working, and the theater felt like home. At 20, he decided to go for it. 'My parents were happy that I had made a choice,' he says of enrolling in the Juilliard School. 'I was really focused for the first time. I was really sure this was the right thing I was doing.' He graduated in 1989 and quit acting about a dozen years later. After Kushner nudged him back into acting, he finally began getting consistent screen work beyond the occasional 'Law & Order' appearance, and he had to learn that unlike on the stage, 'replication is not necessarily the goal,' he says. 'I felt like I had to be extremely consistent because I didn't want to f--- anything up. I had this understanding like 'This is how they really want it.'' 'I didn't need to be a Swiss watch all the time,' he says. It worked. Since his return to acting in 2004, he's racked up more than nearly 100 roles in TV and film, while continuing stage work. Jobs began dovetailing and overlapping, which puts him at some ease. Having all these various parts and differing roles and types of performances, which he compares to 'the film version of being a theater actor in a company,' is comforting. 'That kind of thing is delicious to me, as an actor,' he says, as he finishes a sandwich in Central Park and returns to the present. He has to get home soon to feed his dogs: A French bulldog named Butters after the 'South Park' character and a dachshund-miniature pinscher mix named Houdini. 'There were days I'd be doing 'Sirens,' and then I'd wrap and get into the car and drive to shoot the next morning as J.P. Morgan' in 'The Gilded Age.' 'I love it. I think it's great,' he says. 'And if I wasn't a character actor I wouldn't be able to do that sort of thing.' 'And if it stops tomorrow,' he adds, 'I'll be fine.'
Elle
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Lux Pascal Joins Her Brother Pedro Pascal at the 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' Premiere
THE RUNDOWN Pedro Pascal's younger sister, Lux Pascal, has become a star in her own right. The 33-year-old (to Pedro's 50) has graced red carpets and acted in notable projects like Narcos. Here's everything to know about Lux and her sweet sibling dynamic with her older brother Pedro. Lux was born on June 4, 1992, in Orange County, California. She was raised in Chile and studied theater there. She earned her bachelor's degree at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and later attended Juilliard, graduating with her MFA in 2023. Her acting roles include Netflix's Narcos and the Spanish-language productions Miss Carbón and La Jauría. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lux revealed that she currently has a few American roles in the works. 'I have two projects coming out, and I filmed one,' she shared with THR. 'I can't really give details of what's coming up, but yes, I do have projects coming up in the United States, and I'm excited.' In her 2021 Ya Magazine cover story, Lux publicly came out as a transgender woman. In the story, she spoke about how much Pedro supported her throughout her transition. Translated to English, she said, 'He's been an important part of this. He's also an artist and has been a guide. He was one of the first to give me the things that shaped my identity.' Pedro also posted her Ya cover on his Instagram and captioned it, 'Mi hermana, mi corazón, nuestra Lux,' which translates in English to 'My sister, my heart, our Lux.' Lux has since elaborated on what Pedro's support means to her. 'What makes him so fabulous is that he wears all of his humanity on his sleeve, and he doesn't hide who he is,' she told THR. 'And I think that's refreshing, because usually we move around the world hiding who we are. That's the main lesson I've gotten from him: There's no reason for me to hide who I am, right? And I think people are seeing that.' 'We protect each other very much,' Lux told People. 'He protects me a lot, but I guess I'm more under the radar, but I protect him a lot too.' She also spoke about the joys of growing up with him. 'He has a very powerful personality, and he was always the most fun to be around with,' she said. 'I would ditch all my friends just to hang out with my brother. It was such a special moment whenever he would visit us in Chile.' In his 2023 Esquire cover story, Pedro spoke about their childhood, too. '[Lux] ruled the household right away,' he shared. 'When my older sister and I would visit [Chile], we were like intruders. Our mother was her mother, but for us to think that we were entitled to this woman's attention in any way was absurd.' He elaborated on their connection, saying, 'She is and has always been one of the most powerful people and personalities I've ever known. My protective side is lethal, but I need her more than she needs me.' Lux has made several red carpet appearances with Pedro. In January 2024, the siblings attended the Emmys in Los Angeles. Pedro was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in The Last of Us. They also stopped by HBO's post-Emmy Reception in West Hollywood. Last November, Lux joined her brother for his Gladiator II premiere in London. In May 2025, the siblings attended the Eddington red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in France. On July 21, Lux went to Pedro's Fantastic Four: First Steps Los Angeles premiere.
Perth Now
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Uma Thurman reveals the one reason she doesn't want to force her children to obey her
Uma Thurman does not want to force her children to obey her. The Kill Bill actress is a mother to three children: Maya, 26, and Levon, 23, from her marriage to Ethan Hawke, and Luna, 13, whose father is the financier Arpad 'Arki' Busson. Opening up about her busy life juggling her career and motherhood, Uma told The Sunday Times about her clear view on discipline when it comes to her kids: 'You don't want to make a girl be obedient. It's not in her best interests.'' She made the comments during a Zoom interview from her rural New York home. Uma also spoke warmly about the joys of her childrem's spirited independence, adding" 'It's kind of wonderful that they know the rules and don't always listen.' She added she reflects on her own youth when it comes to raising her family, adding: 'As a mother, the freedoms I was given as a teenage girl are mind-boggling. 'I mean, it's unimaginable. Those were different times.' Uma described her teenage years as marked by independence and self-reliance during her interview with The Sunday Times, By 15, she was earning money, navigating New York alone, and attending auditions with 'just a Filofax and a quarter in case I got lost and needed to call someone', she revealed. Her upbringing had encouraged autonomy – as her parents, Robert Thurman and Nena von Schlebrügge, were independent figures who allowed her to follow her path without restraint. She said: 'Both my parents did the same sort of thing when they were young. They were very independent. So I think there was a certain amount of being raised to be independent.' Uma shared her approach to parenting her own children, particularly when it comes to giving her eldest daughter, Maya, advice about her blossoming acting career. She said: 'Oh, she knows what she's doing. She went to Juilliard, thank God. She actually finished high school. 'And what I did learn (about mothering) is that nobody listens. So it's really about being there for them rather than telling them what to do.' She also spoke about allowing Maya freedom with her style, laughing her daughter has 'ransacked' her iconic 1990s wardrobe, including the very first Prada dress she wore to the Oscars. With her youngest now a teenager, Thurman described entering what she calls the 'sunset period' of motherhood. She added: 'I'm starting to think about what comes next, when I don't have to invest so much energy in shopping and driving and emailing teachers and all the things we do.'
Forbes
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
How To Master Your Craft Like Composer John Williams
John Williams and Stephen Spielberg Even if you've never heard of John Williams, he has made your life better. His music is an integral part of movies including Star Wars, Jaws, E.T., Schindler's List, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones, enhancing those experiences for all. He is a true master of his craft with a different level of caring and sensibilities about music's impact on storytelling. Part of what got him there was his family heritage and innate talent. He built on that by learning about music, practicing like crazy, experiencing music in multiple ways, and soaking in all he could from a variety of masters of different crafts. Family heritage and innate talent Williams' father was a jazz drummer. His mother was a dancer. His parents' friends were musicians. Their home was always filled with music and musicians. He and all his siblings studied music. It was just a part of who they were. He inherited a talent for music. His family nurtured it, giving it every opportunity to grow. The lesson for you is not to fight the tide. Nurture your natural instincts. People generally enjoy things for which they have an innate talent. Embrace what comes easy and what you enjoy. Musical learning Williams was an avid student of music, getting piano lessons and studying music at UCLA, Los Angeles City College, and Juilliard in New York. He learned to play multiple instruments including piano, trombone, ukulele. He learned about harmony and orchestration, and studied late Romantic and Modern music. It's no wonder that his movie scores were so lush and complex, often performed by full symphony orchestras. Invest in learning – all kinds of learning: book learning, class learning, workshop learning, learning about things you're not sure you need to learn about, and especially learning about things you already know about. Because you can never learn all there is to learn. Practice like crazy As Williams said in the wonderful celebration of his life and work, 'Music by John Williams,' he practiced piano several hours a day, and 'all day' on weekends. He said it was more akin to athletic training than normal practice. Later in his career he wrote every day consistently for years. It's like the old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Practice. Practice. Give yourself the opportunity to practice skills. Be disciplined about it. Be devoted to it. Diverse experience Williams claims he never planned to be a film composer. He worked as a jazz pianist, then studio musician on film and television scores. Along the way, people asked him to orchestrate short pieces, then conduct some sessions. At one point he helped with music editing. Embrace diverse experiences and intelligent failures as essential steps in building your own strengths. Soak in what other masters have to share Early on Williams worked under legendary film composers like Alfred Newman and Franz Waxman. Later in his career he collaborated with some of the world's great musicians like Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. Perhaps his greatest, most enduring collaboration was with Stephen Spielberg, partnering with him on the music side of his storytelling. That was his cause - storytelling. He used leitmotifs to tell stories, writing specific themes for different characters, places, or ideas. As Spielberg said, in Indiana Jones, even the individual snakes had themes. Williams was always trying to get better. When something he composed didn't match the film director's vision, he adapted. When he first saw Spielberg's Schindler's List, he told Spielberg the film was amazing and that "You need a better composer than I am for this film." Spielberg replied, "I know. But they're all dead!" The minute you think you're a master, the only way to go is down. Instead, devote yourself to a worthy cause and the pursuit of mastery. Implications for you 1) Embrace your innate talents and build on those. Don't try to be what you're not. 2) Invest in learning to acquire knowledge – books, courses, workshops and the like. 3) Practice to build skills – often on your own. 4) Be open to a wide range experiences in projects, assignments, roles including some that push you in new directions. These are the four components of strengths: innate talent, learned knowledge, practiced skills, and hard-won experience. If, and only if you want to go to the next level, then 5) Spend time with master craftspeople to develop craft-level caring and sensibilities for a cause that matters to you. Click here for a categorized list of my Forbes articles (of which this is #953)
New York Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Mark Snow, Who Conjured the ‘X-Files' Theme, Is Dead at 78
Mark Snow, a Juilliard-trained soundtrack composer who earned 15 Emmy Award nominations, including one for his eerily astral opening theme to 'The X-Files,' a 1990s answer to the timeless 'Twilight Zone' theme and the basis of a surprising dance hit in Europe, died on July 4 at his home in Washington, Conn. He was 78. The cause was myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare form of blood cancer, his son-in-law Peter Ferland said. Over an extraordinarily prolific five-decade career, during which he tallied more than 250 film and television credits, Mr. Snow excelled in a field that comes with built-in creative challenges. 'Some producers describe their musical idea as 'fast but slow,'' he said in a 2000 interview with Film & Video magazine. 'The director might say he wants to hear music that's 'blue with a hint of green.' Now, no one really knows what those terms mean. That's a big part of my job, interpreting the search for a project's musical voice.' Mr. Snow provided music for 90 episodes of 'Hart to Hart,' which starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as a jet-setting couple who double as amateur sleuths, and 40 episodes of 'Falcon Crest,' the 1980s prime-time soap opera. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
