SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
In the new series "American Classic," Richard Bean is a Broadway star who moves back to his small hometown in Pennsylvania, where his parents built the local theater. At his mother's funeral, which he has stage managed, he's got an idea. But is it a good one?
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AMERICAN CLASSIC")
KEVIN KLINE: (As Richard Bean) Together, I will restore the soul of this town by producing and directing and maybe starring in the greatest production this country has ever seen of a true American classic, Thornton Wilder's "Our Town."
SIMON: Oh, my word. That's Kevin Kline as Richard Bean. He costars with Jon Tenney, Laura Linney and Len Cariou in the MGM+ series "American Classic." Mr. Kline is also the executive producer and joins us from our studios in New York. Thanks so much for being with us.
KLINE: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
SIMON: Richard Bean crashes out from Broadway in the worst way.
KLINE: Yeah.
SIMON: He goes viral in the worst way - by throwing a drunken tantrum at a theater critic who doesn't like his Lear.
KLINE: Yes.
SIMON: But he is distressed when he gets back to small-town Pennsylvania, to find out what's become of his old family theater, isn't he?
SIMON: He certainly is. And he tries to rectify things in a way that only he can - by putting on a show, as he announces at his own mother's funeral with one of my favorite lines, that together, I will restore the soul of the...
SIMON: Oh, my gosh.
KLINE: ...Stage. Together I will...
SIMON: I missed that. And this is, like, the third time around.
KLINE: It's to help himself. He's a little self-absorbed.
SIMON: What kind of a man - as opposed to actor - is Richard Bean?
KLINE: Difficult to say. He is so much an actor. And that's part of his charm, or curse, is that he's - all of his references are to the theater. He's from a dynastic theater family. It's all he knows, sadly.
SIMON: Well, dynastic but not exactly one of the great, well-known theater families.
KLINE: No. It - they're very big fish in a pretty small pond.
SIMON: For someone who can be distant, Richard Bean can sure unlock tears in people. And I'm thinking of the scene where he and his brother are in a bank, trying to get a loan for their production of "Our Town."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AMERICAN CLASSIC")
KLINE: (As Richard Bean) What a piece of work is man. How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angel.
SIMON: And he gets applause and tears from the bankers, doesn't he?
KLINE: Yes. Yes, pretty much. Yeah. He's trying to woo the entire community. He's trying to woo the banker, just trying to get some money. And all he knows how to do is, you know, a bit of Shakespeare now and then or whatever. So he just let's go with one of "Hamlet's" great monologues.
SIMON: Without giving too much away, he wins applause and tears. The loan might be another question.
KLINE: Yeah. Yeah, sadly. But he tried.
SIMON: I - look, I followed you for years. I didn't know, until recently reading, that you sort of learned acting or reacting from your mother.
KLINE: (Laughter) She was a big reactor. She was very dramatic. She had a flare for histrionic behavior. I think that had an effect on me.
SIMON: Well, can I get you to speculate?
KLINE: Well, just, osmosis-wise, I think I just kind of picked up that flare for theatricality. I mean, I thought my entire family was crazy. I wanted to monetize that theatricality - see if I could make a living doing it.
SIMON: How sincere is Richard Bean about finding a new sense of purpose in mounting this production in his childhood theater?
KLINE: I think he's very sincere. When we first meet him, he's at a kind of impasse. He has to be pushed on stage because he doesn't feel that he's on, and he's kind of at that stage in life where he's questioning his purpose. And he's searching for that Greek ideal of Talos (ph) - I think they call it - you know, a sense of conclusion, of purposefulness. It's the perfect occasion for that.
SIMON: As we speak, I have seen only three of the eight episodes. But I've already been reduced to sobbing.
KLINE: Oh.
SIMON: The uncle, father and daughter sing on what amounts to an open mic night at the theater.
KLINE: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AMERICAN CLASSIC")
KEVIN KLINE AND JON TENNEY AND NELL VERLAQUE: (As Richard, Jon and Miranda, singing) Still strove with his last ounce of courage. To reach the unreachable star.
SIMON: All right, I'm a wreck all over again.
KLINE: Well, then it worked. Yes. His brother induces him to recreate a bit of his "Man Of La Mancha," also his niece, played by the incredibly talented Nell Verlaque. And so they drag him on stage. And, of course, his brother is trying to stir up his courage to fulfill the promise he makes at his mother's funeral to restore the theater. And, of course, you just need to sing a little "Man Of La Mancha," and you'll get, your mojo back.
SIMON: What was it like for all you theater kids - old and new - to work on this project? Does "American Classic" remind you why you're in the business?
KLINE: Well, yes. That's - it's - it was weird. There's something very meta about the whole experience. It was a sort of deja vu because it was, of course, based on a lot of my stories and a lot of the other participants' life stories. But, of course, things were changed. I labored under the delusion, briefly, that I'll have a chance to kind of undo all the wrongs that cinema - especially Hollywood cinema - has done to actors over the years, in terms of portraying them as childish, foolish egomaniacs. But I don't think I succeeded.
SIMON: (Laughter).
KLINE: They're - I think there's...
SIMON: That's the charm of it, though.
KLINE: Well, there's some insights, I think, as to what the reality is of being an actor. But it does embrace the silliness that comes along with it. You know, he quotes - he's always quoting something. He believes, I think, that within "Hamlet" and "King Lear" are all of the verities of life that one needs. And that's comical, but typical, I think, of some actors.
SIMON: I don't find that an indictment of show biz. I find that a way of the gift that great actors can have to peel back the layers and let us see something true, even if it's phony to them.
KLINE: That's the paradox - isn't it? - of the actor. Diderot wrote a whole piece about that - the actor's paradox. But the key to great acting is don't involve yourself in it. That flies in the face of everything that method acting in 20th century onwards professes. And that is that you connect to your character. There are paradoxes abounding in the profession, and I think that comes out in the playing out of this story, too.
SIMON: Kevin Kline is executive producer of "American Classic," which he also stars in. And the new series is now on MGM+. Thank you so much for being with us.
KLINE: Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you.
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