In “A Clean Escape,” you play a strong-willed authority figure, which is something you’ve often done in the roles you’re best known for. Is that because of the kind of role you prefer to play, or because people expect to see you that way?
I think that’s sort of riding off what I’ve done on TV, but – it’s true of what I did on I’ll Fly Away and of what I’m doing on Law & Order, but it’s not true of my work in general. Though it’s true of Abraham Lincoln, too, he was an authority figure. It does tend to be true in dramatic literature in general, whether on TV or on the stage, that as men grow older there tend to be a certain number of roles to play. So if you’re acting at all, you tend to get your share [of those kinds of roles], if you’re a man. But the other thing is, in “A Clean Escape,” he may have been an authority figure, but clearly he’s not any more.
How did you get involved in the Masters of Science Fiction project?
Through my manager [Keith Addis], who is one of the producers of Masters of Science Fiction. He offered me the chance to do this two-hander with Judy Davis directed by Mark Rydell, so I was already very interested before I even read the first word.
You have to be selective about what you do during your hiatuses from Law & Order. What made this stand out as the thing you were doing that year?
Part of it was just an accident because I didn’t have any plans to do anything in particular. We had gone to Norway – our daughter-in-law is from Norway – and we went there to see our granddaughter christened, and I came straight from that in a nonstop flight from Norway to Vancouver to start work on this. It came up very much at the last minute. And it interfered with our plans to do nothing. (laughs) It always strikes me funny that a person’s work is always supposed to be the result of careful planning when in this business there’s so much that’s accidental.
You actually did your work for this last year. Why do you think Masters of Science Fiction sat on the shelf for so long?
You know, the whole business of programming and scheduling on television is a complete mystery to me. I mean, an anthology show? Anthology shows are scarce and therefore present their own scheduling difficulties even to the experts in scheduling, so I think it probably had to do with that.
Does it bother you that it’s airing in August, when fewer people are likely to see it?
For things that are rare, smart, and exciting like this is, you know, you just have to be glad that it gets on the air at all. I felt the same way about I’ll Fly Away -- it was extraordinary that a major network would give an opportunity to such a show. People were always saying how sad it was that it didn’t last long and all that – I think the miracle it that it got there at all.
And I think that for a show like Masters of Science Fiction that’s so very intelligent, that’s operating at such a high level, it’s great that it’s there at all, it’s nice that the network found a berth for it. So the whole reason why shows are on the air at all is because people watch them, so if anyone’s interested in this level of TV, all they have to do is turn on their sets and we’ll have more of it.
Science fiction roles are relatively rare for you – is there other science fiction that you like, or that you’d like to do?
I’m not an expert in science fiction. I mean, no particular genre has ever been a career target of mine. The fact that I haven’t done a lot of it doesn’t imply anything other than a certain random action of fate.
Toward the end of “A Clean Escape” you have a major emotional scene where you really pull out all the stops. Is it freeing to blow open a one-off character, as opposed to keeping Jack McCoy reliable?
Yes, if safe conditions are established by the people you’re working with. So to do that with Mark Rydell making sure you don’t blow it and with Judy Davis to play it with – it makes all the difference in the world. There wasn’t a whole lot of time to do this, and I don’t know whether it would have been so easy to commit to such a big spin if it hadn’t been for the people there. It certainly did make it easy, and it was a lot of fun. I mean, it is fun to pull out all the stops, as you say, and know that you’re not going to wind up with egg all over your face.
The episode makes it a question whether to take what we’re being told about your character at face value. Without giving away the twists, did you decide for yourself what he was really thinking?
You mean, whether it was all part of a clever plan? No, I didn’t think it was part of a clever plan. Except perhaps it might be a clever plan, subconsciously. I thought it was clear from the first time I read it that Judy Davis’s character thinks that he is hiding something. It would be difficult for a mentally disturbed person to cleverly hide from themselves, and I think that that’s what he’s doing. Does he know that he’s hiding something? That would sort of ruin the game – there would be no self-protection there.
Tell me about working with Judy Davis.
It was absolutely thrilling! Her readiness to commit and the fact that it’s just not a problem for her at all to dive into the deep end of the pool without really knowing whether there’s any water there or not. She just has so much courage as an actress, it makes it easier – much, much easier – to go there yourself, and then there’s somebody there for you when you do, so it turns out there is water in the pool. It’s great.
