Bruce who, you ask? That is what I asked too, upon receiving an invitation from The Theatre Lab to watch this "living legend," as they called him, teach a master class and then be interviewed on stage as part of the Smithsonian Resident Associates Program, Wednesday May 2.
Then I looked him up online. "Oh, that guy!" I exclaimed, "I love that guy."
Although you may not recognize his name, you would most certainly recognize his face. The international movie database (IMDb) has 124 acting credits for Bruce Dern running from 1960 up through today. If you watch movies at all, you have seen him.
Some of his more memorable roles include Coming Home, for which he received an Oscar nomination, The Great Gatsby, The Astronaut Farmer (which came out this year), and his continuing role on HBO's popular show Big Love.
He has a slightly crazed look and an unsettling smile that brings a unique quality to each of his films. You may also know his daughter, Laura Dern, of David Lynch, Rambling Rose, and Jurassic Park fame.
What you probably don't know about him is that he was making films with Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda back when all of them were struggling to make it in Hollywood.
He came up under the wings of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg in the Actor's Studio. Alfred Hitchcock had a soft spot for him (well, actually Hitchcock didn't really have soft spots, but if he did, one of them probably would have been for Bruce Dern), and although he never quite got his just desserts in the business, everyone knows him and everyone respects him.
The appearance last week came as part of the promotions for his new book, When Bruce Dern walked into the auditorium at 733 Eighth Street, NW, wearing his signature ball cap, and started talking, one thing was obvious, this was a man who had achieved that rare, coveted status in society wherein he can say or do basically anything he wants and people will not only accept it, they will enjoy it.
The Master Class
The Theatre Lab's part of the evening consisted of four pairs of actors from their Honors Conservatory Program, performing bits of scenes for the audience and Mr. Dern. They all seemed nervous.
After about a minute and a half into each scene though, the regular teacher would cut them off and 'Brucy,' as he likes to call himself, would get started.
Here was a 70 year-old-man who had succeeded in doing exactly what each of them hopes to do, coaching them through their scenes, and the results were more entertaining and dramatic than most plays I have attended.
"The key to acting," he said, "is very simply having the ability to be publicly private. If you won't do that, well then, you can just go be Alex Trebek," referring to the straight host of Jeopardy! He isn't very fond of game shows or reality TV.
Each group went through different exercises, two of the actors broke into genuine tears—not actor tears mind you—these people went through some genuine emotional experiences on stage as Mr. Dern got them to open up and "get real," as he said.
It was intense watching the triangle of interaction between the actors and Mr. Dern. He was so focused on his work with them that he would forget that he was holding the microphone, and departing with all the formalities, he would unconsciously use his microphone hand to gesture as he shared the secrets of his craft with them.
At one point he had two actors who had just performed a humorous, tense scene from Neal Simon's Barefoot in the Park just lock eyes and tell each other how they felt. The young lady began to speak a few nice words and then suddenly her eyes swelled, cheeks flushed, and they both just embraced in what became an extremely moving moment, even for the audience.
They were no longer "in character." They were off the script, but it was the best part of their time on stage.
"It took a different shape. We had to cut out the mechanical BS, to not let the words cut off the human side of the performance and take away from that one-on-one connection," said Yassir Nadifi, who was one of the pair who embraced on stage.
Dern complimented all of the actors on their talents and was encouraging to everyone in the room. Even I, for the moment at least, wanted to drop it all, audition for the Actors Studio, and chase the Hollywood dream.
The Interview
Attending a Smithsonian Resident Associates event can be a transforming personal experience, not to be forgotten. All year long, celebrated professionals of every discipline come to our fair city to give a lecture, seminar, or, like last night, just sit down for a couple of hours and talk from experience.
In short, Bruce Dern was both fascinating and entertaining, telling stories of his family, of Hollywood, and of his life's path as an actor.
Coming from a family of established lawyers and politicians, acting was not part of his plans until he left college. He was an athlete, dreaming of Olympic glory rather than stage fame, but destiny eventually called. Actually, he refused to cut his side burns and got kicked off of the university's track team.
The night was full of first-hand stories about American icons like Elia Kazan, Walter Matthau, Paul Newman, and so many more. Then he even stayed late answering questions from the eager audience.
The Theatre Lab
Jane Coyne, associate director of The Theatre Lab, says that this was the organization's first collaboration with the Smithsonian, and that more will hopefully come. She also added that Mr. Dern will host an interactive blog on The Theatre Lab website for 30 days beginning later this month.
Fast becoming an important part of the D.C. arts community, The Theatre Lab-School of the Dramatic Arts, offers everything from summer camp for kids to professional-level training for adults and everything in between.
Check out their upcoming summer sessions at www.theatrelab.org.
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