Richard Easton
“Revolutionary Road”
Every coach knows that it isn't just the star players who make the team great, it's also the depth of the bench. In directing "Revolutionary Road," Sam Mendes filled the bench behind Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio with a wonderful group of New York theater actors, including Richard Easton.
Easton began acting at the age of 15 in Montreal, his hometown. He was invited to study in London by Alec Guinness, played Edgar opposite John Gielgud's King Lear, and was invited to Broadway by John Houseman. In 2001, he won a Tony for Tom Stoppard's "Invention of Love."
But when it comes to film, Easton says, "the smaller the part, the better as far as I'm concerned." He couldn't fathom how Winslet and DiCaprio could still be as full of energy and concentration at the end of a long day of shooting as at the beginning.
It was Easton's work in Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" that introduced him to Mendes, a fan of the play. In "Revolutionary Road," he plays the husband of gossipy Helen (Kathy Bates) and father of unstable truth-teller John (Michael Shannon, nominated for supporting actor). As Howard Givings, he stays quietly concerned in the background until the film's closing frame, when his wife's irritating chatter causes a most surprising, sly response; in a close-up and unbeknownst to her, he slowly and quietly turns off his hearing aid to tune her out.
"I thought, well, I'll do some subtle acting here," Easton recalls in a plummy British accent. "So I sort of relaxed and got a kind of beatific look on my face, and I thought this was very funny." After the take, Mendes came over and told him to do nothing instead. "And I said, 'Nothing?' And he said, 'Yeah, just nothing.' 'All right,' I said, so I did that. And it's wonderful," Easton concedes. "Sam's always right."
Easton, 75, is working again with Mendes in New York on two plays in repertory, "The Cherry Orchard" and "A Winter's Tale." After performing in New York, they will take off on a world tour, ending at Epidauros, in Greece, the oldest theater in the world. Last week, Easton was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
"He's a wonderful actor," Mendes says, adding that when it comes to the smaller roles in the film, "I'm just as proud of all those performances as of Kate and Leo's."
Easton began acting at the age of 15 in Montreal, his hometown. He was invited to study in London by Alec Guinness, played Edgar opposite John Gielgud's King Lear, and was invited to Broadway by John Houseman. In 2001, he won a Tony for Tom Stoppard's "Invention of Love."
But when it comes to film, Easton says, "the smaller the part, the better as far as I'm concerned." He couldn't fathom how Winslet and DiCaprio could still be as full of energy and concentration at the end of a long day of shooting as at the beginning.
It was Easton's work in Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" that introduced him to Mendes, a fan of the play. In "Revolutionary Road," he plays the husband of gossipy Helen (Kathy Bates) and father of unstable truth-teller John (Michael Shannon, nominated for supporting actor). As Howard Givings, he stays quietly concerned in the background until the film's closing frame, when his wife's irritating chatter causes a most surprising, sly response; in a close-up and unbeknownst to her, he slowly and quietly turns off his hearing aid to tune her out.
"I thought, well, I'll do some subtle acting here," Easton recalls in a plummy British accent. "So I sort of relaxed and got a kind of beatific look on my face, and I thought this was very funny." After the take, Mendes came over and told him to do nothing instead. "And I said, 'Nothing?' And he said, 'Yeah, just nothing.' 'All right,' I said, so I did that. And it's wonderful," Easton concedes. "Sam's always right."
Easton, 75, is working again with Mendes in New York on two plays in repertory, "The Cherry Orchard" and "A Winter's Tale." After performing in New York, they will take off on a world tour, ending at Epidauros, in Greece, the oldest theater in the world. Last week, Easton was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
"He's a wonderful actor," Mendes says, adding that when it comes to the smaller roles in the film, "I'm just as proud of all those performances as of Kate and Leo's."
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