The Man Who Speaks To The Stars
James Lipton, as host of Inside the Actors Studio on Bravo, talks to the Hollywood elite and gets even the most reclusive celebrities to open up. The Saturday Early Show is turning the tables and talking to him.
Lipton runs the show in conjunction with the New School University's Actors Studio, of which he is the dean. The series began in 1994 with an interview with Paul Newman.
The interview program, says Lipton, has totally taken over his life, immersing himself in research.
"When they step out on the stage and we start, I can see how nervous they are," he explains. "And then, when they see the amount of work I have put into knowing their career, they change. A lot of times, they are shocked by what I find out, but they feel free to talk. Homework is the key."
To those who criticize him for fawning over his guests, Lipton says, "We are a classroom. What would be a point of discussing things they do not want to discuss? If an effort failed, why bring it up? Who cares who they are sleeping with? What we want is a description for the students of why something worked and what shaped them. And I respect and admire the people I have on the show."
There are still two very big fish he hasn't been able to reel in: Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando.
"Nicholson simply doesn't do interviews," Lipton explains.
Brando is another story. Although he has turned down Lipton's several requests, he can't seem to remember he already said no. Lipton says the actor will often telephone him out of the blue to say he can't do the show, even though he has not been asked again.
"He sits up there on Mulholland Drive, and he'll talk to me for 45 minutes to tell me all the reasons why he doesn't want to do it."
But those who have said yes include: Paul Newman, Sidney Lumet, Shelley Winters, Arthur Miller, Sally Field, Dennis Hopper, Neil Simon, Sydney Pollack, Lee Grant, Faye Dunaway, Matthew Broderick, Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Ellen Burstyn, Jessica Lange, Carol Burnett, Gene Wilder, Martin Landau, Anjelica Huston, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Anthony Quinn, Willem Dafoe, Billy Crystal, Harvey Keitel, Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall, Martin Short, Anthony Hopkins, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Lemmon, Gary Sinise, Kathy Bates, Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Laurence Fishburne, Donald Sutherland, Ron Howard, Sharon Stone, Sean Penn, Steven Spielberg, Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kim Basinger, Ellen Barkin, Jerry Lewis, Billy Joel, Mary Tyler Moore, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Bernadette Peters, James Woods, Andy Garcia, Michael Caine, Kevin Spacey, Alan Alda, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Val Kilmer, James Caan, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Dreyfuss, Gabriel Byrne, Spike Lee, Ed Harris, Ben Affleck, Ned Beatty, Mike Myers, Melanie Griffith, Michael Douglas, Helen Hunt, Robin Williams (june 2001), Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio BanderasKevin Kline, and Gene Hackman.
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