If you spend time in the comments section of The Film Experience you might have noticed Paul Outlaw before. He's today's Reader Spotlight. I recently had the privilege of seeing him on stage at the Bootleg in L.A. (three more shows, readers - go see it!) in an experimental theater piece. I took an actress friend of mine and we had a great time.
So let's talk to Paul as we revive the weekly "Reader Spotlight" series!
NATHANIEL R: Why do you read The Film Experience?
PAUL OUTLAW: For one thing, I like serious film criticism that doesn't take itself too seriously; for another, there's more going on at the blog than just cinema talk. Theater, TV and film-tangential pop culture are all up for grabs. Oh yeah—it's a queer site that's not all about the gay. I guess I like contradiction and interesting juxtapositions.
In 1993 you starred in an Oscar winning short film. Did you attend the Oscars? What's your strongest memory from that?
Paul (far right) at the Oscars in March 1994
If you watch the clip of a younger, almost svelte Rosie O'Donnell announcing the nominees and mispronouncing the title of our film (can't really blame her, it was German), you will hear a scream when she reads Schwarzfahrer as the winner. That's me up in the balcony of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. And because the director and producer of the film were sitting in the back of the orchestra section downstairs, they had to show clip after clip of the film, mostly my closeups, as they walked to the stage. But my strongest memory of that time period is the time spent with the film's director, Pepe Danquart (a great filmmaker): rehearsing, shooting and re-shooting the film, attending festivals in Cannes, Berlin and New York.
And of course the Oscars, where I got to watch Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Janet Jackson and Neil Young perform live. It was an amazing ride, one that still continues in many ways. But that's another story.
In your current theater piece "The Late, Late Show" (aside to all Los Angelenos reading: three final shows this week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday so go see it!) you sing, you act, you do your own stunts (!). I was impressed. How exhausting is that show for you?
Thank you for being there! The most exhausting aspect of The Late, Late Show is being one of its producers. The work never ends, and it's been going on more or less non-stop since April (not to mention the development since 2010). Performing the show itself is only exhausting if something is really off, which hasn't happened that much. Otherwise it's like a stimulant; I can't get to sleep for hours afterwards.
Three acts. Three characters... though they're really the same character
In the three acts you play a singer, a vampire, and a slave. So name your three favorite movie characters of each of those types.
Favorite movie singers: Rita Hayworth as Gilda; Liza Minnelli as Francine Evans in New York, New York; Judy Garland as Esther Blodgett in A Star Is Born
Favorite movie vampires: Max Schreck as Count Orlok in Nosferatu; Frank Langella as Dracula; Gary Oldman as Bram Stoker's Dracula
Oh Moses, Moses!Favorite movie slaves: Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur; Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments; Charlton Heston as Taylor in Planet of the Apes.
Ha! As a performer, who are your chief influences? And which current actors/actresses do you obsess over?
As a performer? I'm not sure how to answer that but here's a list of artists whose aesthetic/careers/work ethic I have admired. You tell me if you saw an influence: Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, Prince, Meryl Streep. Jeanne Moreau, Montgomery Clift, David Bowie, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Robert DeNiro, Diana Ross. And I am a Christian Bale fanatic. Just saw Out of the Furnace last night from the second row, which I normally hate, but it was worth it for the proximity to CB (and Casey Affleck and Zoe Saldana) at Q&A afterwards. Also: Michael Fassbender. Cate Blanchett.
Name three movies you've watched a bajillion times.
A Place in the Sun, The Philadelphia Story, Cabaret, off the top of my head.
three great rewatchables
When you're done with your play what movie are you eager to catch up with?
Short Term 12, Blue Jasmine (!), Spring Breakers, Stoker, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Only Lovers Left Alive and all the year-end stuff...
previous reader spotlights
Sydiot's review of The Late Late Show