Two For The Road

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(2 of 2)

Because of your fame, do you both feel an obligation to be socially active?

HANKS: Responsibility is the word I would use. Because if guys like me don't do it, who's going to? Sure it's an obligation, but the Jeffersonian anarchist in me, the 1960s spirit of the Peace Corps, the Bobby Kennedy-esque young Democrat that I've always considered myself to be is the guy who says, "Don't curse the darkness; light a candle."

NEWMAN: I was pretty quiet until the Vietnam War. Then I became very active in that 1968 campaign. My highest single honor is that I was No. 19 on Nixon's enemies list. All the other actors were so jealous. But volunteerism is the best part of America. There's a much more personal kind of gluttony that exists today that didn't exist then. You can see it in business ethics.

Did you create the Scott Newman Foundation out of that sense of activism? [Newman's son Scott died of a drug overdose in 1978.]

NEWMAN: It was simply the recognition of unacceptable neglect. [Director] George Roy Hill said, "Luck is an art. People watch luck go by them, and they're so blind they never reach out and grab it." You could say the same thing about grief or loss. Something runs by you that you should recognize. You watch it go by, and you say it'll turn out all right. And then something happens, and it doesn't turn out all right at all. And you look back at all the signals you should have seen along the way. But — whoosh — like luck, it all ran right by you, and you didn't notice it until it was too late.

Which is easier, acting or directing?

NEWMAN: I think directing is a lot easier. Because you're constantly going. In acting, especially if you've got a huge emotional thing, you shut it off, you turn it on. You go back; you have a hot dog; you've gotta get it back on again. It's like being a stud in a whorehouse. "I've been doing this since 9 o'clock in the morning, and here comes this broad through the door again." It's very, very difficult to turn it off and start it up again. When I'm directing, the day goes much quicker for me.

HANKS: I always felt when I was directing that I was the only guy on a runaway stagecoach with a team of horses. I found myself always questioning myself, always testing a choice of shots. I remember I was doing an episode of Band of Brothers, and I saw all those guys, all the actors, over there. I said, God I wish I was over there. Instead I've gotta go out and worry about what we're shooting this morning and this afternoon, and try to get one more shot in.

If you could redo any of your performances, which one would it be?

NEWMAN: Almost everything up to 1978, I think. I hate to look at those. The worst, of course, is The Silver Chalice [a 1954 biblical epic]. The other failures were minimal compared to that disaster. Virginia Mayo was in it, and Jack Palance was in it, and a couple of camels. I'm a sculptor, and I'm seeking enlightenment.

HANKS: Let's get it on DVD.

NEWMAN: I had to ride a camel. Have you ever tried to ride a camel?

HANKS: I can't say I've ridden a camel.

NEWMAN: The gait is very uneven. Just try to hit a mark on a camel. We were all in terrible disarray.

HANKS: I was on The Love Boat, for crying out loud. I wish I could have another crack at that. I played Gopher's old college buddy. I was the one guy on The Love Boat who didn't get lucky. But when I did it, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced cheese.

Paul, you usually don't go to the Oscars even when you're nominated. Why? [Newman makes a face like he's just taken a swig of lemon juice.]

HANKS: I think he just answered your question.

NEWMAN: I don't understand why competition has to exist between actors. Some guy starts with a marvelous character, and the script is all there. All he has to do is show up. Another guy digs it out by the goddamn roots with a terrible director and turns in this incredible performance. And someone says one is better than the other. That's what's nice about car racing. It's right to a thousandth of a second. Your bumper is here. That guy's bumper is there. You win.

HANKS: Just going there, win or lose, you're praying, please, keep me from doing something so stupid that it haunts me for the rest of my career. That's either falling down or making a joke that's not funny. Or trying to be serious and sounding sappy. If you can't handle that pressure, don't go.

What's the secret to a long marriage, which both of you have?

NEWMAN: I never know what she puts in my food.

HANKS: Mine is, I know I'm a lucky man — but she could have done better.