You don’t have to act so much. Over the course of [August: Osage County], I ended up doing less and less and less, and ended up revealing more and more and more about the character. — Francis Guinan
We continue with season two and today on the show is Francis Guinan, a Chicago-based actor who has been a part of the Steppenwolf Ensemble for over 30 years and been in more than 40 shows with them.
In fact, you can see him onstage in the world premiere DOWNSTATE by Bruce Norris until November 18th in Chicago and then the cast heads to the National Theatre in London. I actually saw the show back in October and like much of the work Steppenwolf produces, not only does it entertain, but it challenges you—it asks really uncomfortable yet important questions, all while delivering a first-rate production and they truly do some of the best theatre around. Go if you have the chance, either in Chicago or London!
Just a bit of what we cover in this episode:
- The process of working on the show Boss
- Why he wishes he had taken business classes
- His approach to auditions and what he’s learned over the years
- The discipline and focus required to be an actor, and that “it ain’t all glamour”
- How they kept performances fresh over runs at Steppenwolf
- What Francis learned from watching Tom Irwin in The Seafarer
- One of his failings as an actor
- How acting made him stop smoking, and lots more!
Plus, Francis works on a piece from THE REMBRANDT, which had its world premiere at Steppenwolf!
About the guest
Francis Guinan grew up in Iowa and went to Iowa State to study pre-med, but changed directions and went to Michigan State and then did graduate work at Illinois State in theatre.
He was in Minnesota doing theatre and improv, and then got a call to join a few college classmates in a production in Chicago. This was the beginning of Steppenwolf. He has been an ensemble member for 30 years and a few notable productions with them include Balm in Gilead (which we discuss a bit), True West (directed by Gary Sinise, and with Jeff Perry, Laurie Metcalf and John Malkovich), The Grapes of Wrath and August: Osage County, (both of which went to Broadway), and The Seafarer.
He’s also performed at numerous other theatres in Chicago including the Goodman, Court, and Victory Gardens Theatres, as well as at the Mark Taper Forum in LA. He has over 85 credits in film and tv, including as the Governor on Boss with Kelsey Grammar, the movie The Last Airbender, and as a series regular on the show Eerie, Indiana. He was also part of the inaugural group as a Lunt-Fontanne Fellow.
Please enjoy my chat with Francis Guinan!
Total Running Time: 1:22:17
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Want to hear more from another Lunt-Fontanne fellow? Check out my talk with Nike Doukas!
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let us know in the comments.
Scroll below for links mentioned in today’s episode and additional show notes…
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Here are a few recommendations:
- The Actors Life by Jenna Fischer (from The Office), read by the author and others, including our guest Reed Birney
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- Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen, read by Angele Masters
Get one of these or anything else at workingactorsjourney.com/audible.
Show Notes
Francis Guinan around the web
Steppenwolf | Film/TV | Wikipedia | Broadway | Off-Broadway | Additional Theatre
Highlights
- The process of working on the show Boss
- What he did as a kid in Iowa, and why he couldn’t be a jock
- Working for his father in the grain business
- Why he wishes he had taken business classes
- His approach to auditions and what he’s learned over the years
- The discipline and focus required to be an actor, and that “it ain’t all glamour”
- How they kept performances fresh over runs at Steppenwolf
- The Chicago style of theatre
- What Francis learned about being open and playing from Steppenwolf shows
- One of the shows that the audiences hated at Steppenwolf
- What great directors do for actors to help them keep discovering
- What he learned from watching Tom Irwin in The Seafarer
- Glenn Headley being present (without lines) for Laurie Metcalfe’s 20 minute monologue in Balm in Gilead
- The ease and joy that develops working with John Mahoney numerous times
- One of his failings as an actor
- How acting made him stop smoking
- The emotional toll acting takes on your life
- Working on Shakespeare with Vanessa Redgrave with the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship
- Why he is so knocked out by the younger actors he works with
- Why painting has him excited now
Selected People and Items Mentioned
- Boss with Kelsey Grammar
- Gabe Ruiz, actor
- Pantalone from commedia dell’arte
- Dudley Riggs, Brave New Workshop comedy troupe
- The Second City, Chicago improv
- The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship
- URTA (University Resident Theatre Association)
- Steppenwolf: Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney, Laurie Metcalf, John Malkovich
- Potbelly Sandwiches
- Joan Allen in And A Nightingale Sang
- Sheldon Patinkin
- Orson Welles, Mercury Theatre
- The Group Theatre
- St. Nicholas Theatre, Organic, Compass Players
- Viola Spolin Acting Method
- The Guthrie Theatre
- Road to Nirvana by Arthur Kopit
- Tina Landau, director
- Anna Shapiro, Steppenwolf Artistic Director
- August: Osage County
- The Seafarer with Tom Irwin
- Glenn Headley in Balm in Gilead
- Tina Landa’s approach to theatre (Viewpoints?)
- The Rembrandt with John Mahoney
- K. (Kenneth) Todd Freeman, actor
- Downstate by Bruce Norris
- The Seagull, directed by Robert Falls
- Amy Morton, actress
- Hamlet’s O what a rogue and peasant slave speech
- Kelly O’Sullivan, actress
Francis’ monologue from The Rembrandt by Jessica Dickey
[accordion clicktoclose=”true”][accordion-item title=”+ click to view/close the monologue” id=rembrandt state=closed] HENRYI touched it.
It was… surprisingly– spiky.
The paint.
Slashes of ochre
and black
and white
and red.
I suddenly thought–
Art is such a slight thing.
It’s a trick.
The closer you get, it recedes, like a shadow.
It lives, it glows, and then you touch it and it’s not really there.
Or it’s ALL there—Rembrandt. Homer.
I touched it all…
Well, specifically three of us touched it—myself, this girl Madeline and Dodger.
We counted to three, and we touched it.
HENRY
I remember my Dad reading in the paper that this Rembrandt had been purchase for 2.3 million– and this was 1961 mind you!–and he turned to me, I was all of FIVE, and he said (ala gruff dad) “Come on Hank, we’re going to see what the hell is worth 2.3 million.” And he dragged me to the exhibit. We stood in front of it, his brow furrowed, the callouses on his hand… There was something about the way he stood there—staring—as if he felt separate—as if it was some Great Thing that would always be just beyond his reach…
I never asked him what the thought of it, the painting.
If he liked it.
If it pleased him.
(I’d like to thing it did—that somehow he was—touched by it.)
I regret that actually.
Terribly.
It’s just a slight thing—canvas, paint—and yet it contains—what?
Wordls. Truths.
I stood there today, and I thought,
There is only one of this– in all of time.
I touched that fragility
and my heard just…
I want you to know.
You’ve been
a wonderful
partner.
You have.
I have failed you so terribly.
So terribly.
But I am here now.
I’m here.
Production Photos at Steppenwolf
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