With a Little Bit of Luck

“This is not a part you can afford to get sloppy with,” says William Atherton, who is playing opposite Gregory Harrison and Brian McNamara as the foreboding Latin teacher Jerome in “Child’s Play.” (Robert Marasco’s 1970 Tony-winner opens Monday at the Coast Playhouse.) “It’s very dark, very intense,” he says of the thriller set in a Catholic boys’ school. “Afterward, you feel like, ‘Whoa, I’ve been through something.’ ”

And he has been through a lot. Atherton’s stage credits are impressive, including the original productions of David Rabe’s “The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel” and John Guare’s “House of Blue Leaves.” His film career took off in 1974 when Steven Spielberg tapped him for the lead opposite Goldie Hawn in “Sugarland Express,” followed by “Day of the Locust,” “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” “Ghostbusters,” the original “Die Hard” and upcoming “Die Hard 2.”

“He’s not really obnoxious,” the Connecticut native says of his pushy newscaster character in the “Die Hard” movies. “Here’s the actor’s apology: It’s the kind of ambition that can take over a person. You’re praised by the culture, but when you see that (ruthlessness) nakedly, it’s not very pretty.”

Of his “Child’s Play” character, the actor is likewise diplomatic: “Soul of granite . . . enormous integrity . . . personally formidable . . . powerful.”

Atherton, who is married to writer Bobbi Goldin, credits his longevity to “just always wanting to be an actor. I want to be good. I want to do good work. When you’re with good people, you’re good by default. I’ve also lucked out with terrific writers. I was friendly with John Ford Noonan at Carnegie, and when he wrote ‘Goodbye and Keep Cold,’ I was in that. John Guare saw me in that and cast me in ‘House of Blue Leaves.’ David Rabe saw me in that and cast me in ‘Pavlo Hummel.’ So it was a nice start.”