I wanted to take a moment to share my notes from the Ed Begley Jr. session from Tuesday. These are by no means complete and if there are any discrepancies noted between my notes and what was said please add your comments and corrections to this thread.
Ed was very gracious and mentioned he would like the session to be as interactive as possible. He commented that he began acting at a very young age and didn't actually begin "training to be an actor" until he was approximately 16. He said that having a father who was a famous and respected actor, Ed Begley who appeared in "12 Angry Men" and has an incredible film resume (see IMDB) that films roles should have come easy. This was not always his experience.
He started acting in 1967 and worked behind the camera as well and his life truly didn't change until the 1982 success of St. Elsewhere. He felt that his father was proud of him and would have liked to have had the opportunity to work with him. He gave a tremendous amount of credit and thanks to the cast of talented actors and writers he was surrounded with. In my opinion he is a very humble man especially when it comes to the level of talent he has and his efforts on the environmental front.
Ed shared his experiences working with Chris Guest on so many projects and the creative process that went behind those films. He stated that most of Chris' works are 25 page treatments, unlike a typical 100 plus page script, that may describe a scene but not necessarily provide all of the dialogue. The example he cited from "Best In Show" where Gerry and Cookie Fleck check in to the hotel and their credit card is declined was pretty all of the detail provided in the script. Ed told us that Chris looks for actors who can pull of a scene with the foundation provided. He mentioned his ability to keep a straight face while the cameras were on only to laugh out loud once they were off.
Ed did recounted one example where he auditioned for a Cohen brothers film. While reading the dialogue he couldn't contain his laughter as he thought it was so well written and humorous. He jokingly mentioned that is probably why he didn't get the part.
I asked him about his work on the HBO film "Recount" related to the 2000 Florida election scandal. He had high praise for the cast and writers and mentioned that with Danny Strong's script being so well written you didn't want to "mess with the words." He also felt he wasn't a good fit for Boies' character in terms of looks, but when they dyed his hair and took photos of him he realized that the production team knew something he didn't. He told a story about emailing a picture out of "David Boies" without glasses to his friends and asked them if they thought it was Ed or David. They all responded that they thought it was David Boies but as it turns out it was a photo of Ed. Talk about selling the part!
A fascinating and informative section of the discussion revolved around his environmental activities. Ed labeled himself as Vegan/Environmentalist/Activist and has been that way since the early 70's. Before I share some of his comments I will say that the manner in which he articulates environmental issues is fantastic and is extremely non-confrontational. His style, presentation, ideas and facts are well presented in manner that doesn't offend anyone. I feel he really gives sound thoughts and actions we can take to help the environment a chance to sink in.
He started with a great impersonation and quote from T. Boone Pickens, Jr. regarding "The Saudis are not our friends" which had the room laughing. He talked about oil production facts that currently worldwide 65 million barrels a day of extraction and refining capacity exist with a demand for 66. Something else needs to be done in his opinion.
He discussed the fantastic potential of Ethanol and that natural renewable material other than raw corn, cellulose, corn stalk and certain types of grass can be used to create E85 and other fuel alternatives. Ed also stated that in his opinion that a "Healthy environment would help produce a healthy economy."
Sam asked a great question regarding what influences had finally brought people around and created so much focus now on environmental issues and activities that he, Ed, had been championing since the 70's. Ed responded with "two things", Al Gores film and Hurricane Katrina.
He shared a few funny stories about Marlon Brando wanting to work with him on a "project" which over time he learned related to Solar Energy and a plan to power homes with Electric Eels. The way he told the story has me laughing as I write this.
Andrew brought a great topic to the room when he asked about some of Ed's friends and their mutual environmental efforts. (Andrew if I get anything wrong here or omit anything please correct me)
Ed talked fondly of his dear friends Eddie Albert, who served on the Malibu Coastal Commission and whom we lost in 50's to cancer, and Dennis Weaver who also died of cancer in his 80's. He shared stories about Dennis' rammed earth home that was made of tires and dirt that would keep a base temperature of 55 degrees making it easy to heat and cool. He seemed very proud of the early environmental efforts of his two departed friends who left us too soon.
Ed was also asked about his thoughts on technology and use of computers. He stated that he began using a computer to answer all of his fan mail in 1984, something he still does to this day with the help of his 30 year old daughter Amanda. He also is his own manager and has done his bookkeeping with his computer since 1987. He fondly recounted the days of "The Source" and 300 baud modems for sending posts.
On his Living with Ed - Hit TV Series site he said he had to pull the Contact Ed button link down for the past 30 days or so since he has received so much fan mail he couldn't answer it all timely. He feels strongly about responding to all of his fan mail.
This session and the experiences Ed shared gave me wonderful incite into, in my opinion, a great actor and environmentalist.
I certainly have a greater appreciation for Ed Begley Jr. as an actor and as a wonderful human being who demonstrates his care and concern for the world we live in.
Ed was very gracious and mentioned he would like the session to be as interactive as possible. He commented that he began acting at a very young age and didn't actually begin "training to be an actor" until he was approximately 16. He said that having a father who was a famous and respected actor, Ed Begley who appeared in "12 Angry Men" and has an incredible film resume (see IMDB) that films roles should have come easy. This was not always his experience.
He started acting in 1967 and worked behind the camera as well and his life truly didn't change until the 1982 success of St. Elsewhere. He felt that his father was proud of him and would have liked to have had the opportunity to work with him. He gave a tremendous amount of credit and thanks to the cast of talented actors and writers he was surrounded with. In my opinion he is a very humble man especially when it comes to the level of talent he has and his efforts on the environmental front.
Ed shared his experiences working with Chris Guest on so many projects and the creative process that went behind those films. He stated that most of Chris' works are 25 page treatments, unlike a typical 100 plus page script, that may describe a scene but not necessarily provide all of the dialogue. The example he cited from "Best In Show" where Gerry and Cookie Fleck check in to the hotel and their credit card is declined was pretty all of the detail provided in the script. Ed told us that Chris looks for actors who can pull of a scene with the foundation provided. He mentioned his ability to keep a straight face while the cameras were on only to laugh out loud once they were off.
Ed did recounted one example where he auditioned for a Cohen brothers film. While reading the dialogue he couldn't contain his laughter as he thought it was so well written and humorous. He jokingly mentioned that is probably why he didn't get the part.
I asked him about his work on the HBO film "Recount" related to the 2000 Florida election scandal. He had high praise for the cast and writers and mentioned that with Danny Strong's script being so well written you didn't want to "mess with the words." He also felt he wasn't a good fit for Boies' character in terms of looks, but when they dyed his hair and took photos of him he realized that the production team knew something he didn't. He told a story about emailing a picture out of "David Boies" without glasses to his friends and asked them if they thought it was Ed or David. They all responded that they thought it was David Boies but as it turns out it was a photo of Ed. Talk about selling the part!
A fascinating and informative section of the discussion revolved around his environmental activities. Ed labeled himself as Vegan/Environmentalist/Activist and has been that way since the early 70's. Before I share some of his comments I will say that the manner in which he articulates environmental issues is fantastic and is extremely non-confrontational. His style, presentation, ideas and facts are well presented in manner that doesn't offend anyone. I feel he really gives sound thoughts and actions we can take to help the environment a chance to sink in.
He started with a great impersonation and quote from T. Boone Pickens, Jr. regarding "The Saudis are not our friends" which had the room laughing. He talked about oil production facts that currently worldwide 65 million barrels a day of extraction and refining capacity exist with a demand for 66. Something else needs to be done in his opinion.
He discussed the fantastic potential of Ethanol and that natural renewable material other than raw corn, cellulose, corn stalk and certain types of grass can be used to create E85 and other fuel alternatives. Ed also stated that in his opinion that a "Healthy environment would help produce a healthy economy."
Sam asked a great question regarding what influences had finally brought people around and created so much focus now on environmental issues and activities that he, Ed, had been championing since the 70's. Ed responded with "two things", Al Gores film and Hurricane Katrina.
He shared a few funny stories about Marlon Brando wanting to work with him on a "project" which over time he learned related to Solar Energy and a plan to power homes with Electric Eels. The way he told the story has me laughing as I write this.
Andrew brought a great topic to the room when he asked about some of Ed's friends and their mutual environmental efforts. (Andrew if I get anything wrong here or omit anything please correct me)
Ed talked fondly of his dear friends Eddie Albert, who served on the Malibu Coastal Commission and whom we lost in 50's to cancer, and Dennis Weaver who also died of cancer in his 80's. He shared stories about Dennis' rammed earth home that was made of tires and dirt that would keep a base temperature of 55 degrees making it easy to heat and cool. He seemed very proud of the early environmental efforts of his two departed friends who left us too soon.
Ed was also asked about his thoughts on technology and use of computers. He stated that he began using a computer to answer all of his fan mail in 1984, something he still does to this day with the help of his 30 year old daughter Amanda. He also is his own manager and has done his bookkeeping with his computer since 1987. He fondly recounted the days of "The Source" and 300 baud modems for sending posts.
On his Living with Ed - Hit TV Series site he said he had to pull the Contact Ed button link down for the past 30 days or so since he has received so much fan mail he couldn't answer it all timely. He feels strongly about responding to all of his fan mail.
This session and the experiences Ed shared gave me wonderful incite into, in my opinion, a great actor and environmentalist.
I certainly have a greater appreciation for Ed Begley Jr. as an actor and as a wonderful human being who demonstrates his care and concern for the world we live in.
