I wanted to share this interview with you because of all the people I’ve interviewed this person is one of my favourites. I found it the other day. The site it was on no longer exists – hence the reposting.

Another reason why I’m posting it here is to show you that not all Hollywood actors are stuck up their own behinds.

Maury Sterling is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

You may recognise his face? He’s done a lot of TV and most recently he’s been in Smokin’ Aces 1 & 2 and just completed the film version of the A-Team.

I feel a dinner party with Maury and the gang is way overdue – maybe when I’m in LA in summer we will make it happen!

Far From the Madding Crowd -

with Maury Sterling

by Vanessa Reece© 2005 – 2010 All Rights reserved

So Hollywood is a crazy place. On first glance it can be seen as a place where dreams mostly don’t come true. Where most of the people who wait the tables in restaurants are actors and actresses waiting for their big break. Some of them never get it but they still dream. Some get it for a fleeting moment. But there are a few who get to work with the biggest names in the business, live their dreams but still they remain just under the radar of the general public. And they like it that way.

Maury Sterling is one of those actors. You’ve probably seen him in more movies and TV shows than you think. He’s worked steadily with the best; honing his craft and enjoying every minute of it.

When I first met Maury I was in Hollywood. I was sitting in a trendy martini bar on Fairfax. He walked in and immediately turned heads. Why? Because he looks like a movie star. The walk, the talk, those eyes! Everything about him screams confidence. Yet when he talks about his roles it’s with a sense of humility, respect and thankfulness for every opportunity he’s been given. He’s a sweetheart and gentlemen. I’m guessing you don’t find many of those in Hollywood?

I saw Maury one last time during my stay – at a dinner party thrown by him and his girlfriend at the time. Once again there was no time to whisk the man off for an interview. So we arranged to hook up when things were less manic.

We’re far from the madding crowd now, Maury and I. And I suppose that if we’d have still been in hustle and bustle of Hollywood I wouldn’t have got such a great interview. I’m extremely lucky to have met this man on his way up. But Momma always told me to share so ladies and gentlemen I give to you one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets.

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Vanessa : Maury you’ve been in the business for a long time. How did it all start?

Maury: I started acting when I was about seven. The story I tell is that I wasn’t any good at baseball so I got into theatre. Not really true though. I remember seeing kids doing plays after school and knew that I wanted to be a part of it. My first role was Little Daniel Cupid in my school’s production of “The Sacred Caterpillar”, a classic. Pretty much fell in love with it.

Vanessa: How do you stay focused and motivated to stay in acting when it’s so competitive?

Maury: Good question. And my answer might be, I don’t know. When it’s good, good writing, people, role, it is really great. And the competition is unavoidable. It’s hard not to take it personally, to hang myself on other people’s opinions. But that can be the death of an actor or artist. It helps me to travel, to learn, to do other things, to not take it too seriously and yet take it seriously enough that I always show up when it is time.

Vanessa: So when does an actor or actress turn into celebrity? Does it worry you that it may happen to you, where paparazzi camp outside your house and the gossips want to know about your love life?

Maury: I think that you are truly a celebrity if your name shows up in the crossword. Then you have really made it. I guess it does worry me a little. I mean, who knows if it will ever happen, and I guess I am supposed to want that in order to be aggressive about my life and all, but I prefer the actors who seem to be well respected and have lives that are below the radar. I don’t want celebrity. Too much work, and too many functions to get dressed up for. I’d rather hang out at the barn and play with the horses.

Vanessa: What are the perks of the job?

Maury: So far they have been meeting great people, getting to travel all over the world, getting to explore types of people and knowledge that I might not be exposed to otherwise. And a life that has given me free time to do my own thing.

Vanessa: And the less desirable side of acting?

Maury: The free time. I work enough to pay rent and live reasonably well. But my jobs don’t always last over long stretches. I have had those too, but lately they have been shorter, which means that there is a lot of free time to fill. I have been starting to write, and volunteer, and ride horses a lot, teaching etc. But the free time can be a killer. I have an over active mind which can run in circles and get me into some not so good places if it isn’t distracted. That is part of the focus and discipline that one needs.

Vanessa: You ever think of starting your own production company. So many actors have done that. I beg the question – what the heck is that all about? I mean I understand wanting to be in charge of what you make and be involved with but aren’t productions ten a penny in Hollywood?

Maury: I have started writing a few projects. A short film, a short story, and maybe a screen play. It is important for actors, well any of us, to develop our own projects, or hobbies, or lives so we aren’t “waiting by the phone”. And yes, nowadays, it seems like everyone is doing what everyone else is doing.

Vanessa: You balance TV appearances with film, and some stage work to boot. Is there one particular platform for acting you prefer?

Maury: My heart is in theater. It is such a dynamic and physical form of art. Body, voice, community, all things I like to play with. And I get to spend a longer time in a character, which is always rewarding, to get to live and breathe in something.

Vanessa: I can relate. I have to say there is something to be said about an actor who’s worked the boards. It really shows when they cross over to TV or film. Mel Gibson is a prime example of that. That said it must be frustrating when you go and do TV and film and the director says cut. You don’t have that in the theatre. You are able to give everything in each performance. Good or bad, there’s no retakes. How do you handle the change in genre?

Maury: It’s fun and frustrating. I am still learning, and developing technique. Finding stillness and truth. My tendency is to want to “show” what I am feeling rather than create a space from which expression can come. All the genres have their perks. In film and TV you can always shoot it again. When something is alive, in any genre, it is really exciting.

Vanessa: You’re first movie was ‘Outbreak’ with Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman and  Rene Russo. You saved the town man! Seriously, you must have been pumped to get the role?

Maury: I was pumped and I was terrified. I think that I shot on the last day of the shoot. I remember people getting loaded having a blast. But it was Wolfgang Peterson directing and Michael Ballhaus as the DP. Big people. I was green. A guy named Dale Dye, who is in the film, but was also the military advisor was giving me direction through the headset I was wearing. He is a real military guy and had me doing push-ups between takes. But a lot came from that. It was a small part that a lot of people took notice of.

Vanessa: And what about your part in Hart’s War with Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell and Cole Hauser. I guess that was a pretty good gig to get. Right?

Maury: It was pretty great. We shot in the Czech Republic for 3 and a half months. Pretty much living in luxury. We stayed in downtown Prague and I travelled every chance I could. It was a crazy shoot and a great experience to be on a set like that with people of that calibre. So yes

Vanessa: I suppose with every role you play and every production you make you take something with you as an actor. What did you bring back from Hart’s War? Because you’ve got a heck of a lot of talent in that one movie.

Maury: There was a lot of talent in that group and a wide range of styles and types of people We had the movie stars like Willis and Farrell, both of whom were great to work with. Cole was great, the group of guys that I mostly spent my time with were a blast. We collected quite a few stories. And I got to meet people like Linus Roache and Marcel Lures, both incredibly talented and from very different backgrounds. It was an international cast. I guess I brought back all the joys and exposure that one gets from living in a foreign city and the stories of getting to watch the Big Boys do their thing.

Vanessa: I was watching Dinner For Five. Have you ever seen that show hosted by Jon Favreau? Basically John has four guests who’re in the movie industry. He sits them down and chews the movie industry fat with them in some nice restaurant. If you had to invite four guests in the movie industry to a Dinner for Five style meal who would you invite and why?

Maury: I hate these questions. Too much pressure. I’d invite my friends and girlfriend and just pretend like we were bigwigs. I don’t know – Paul Newman, Judy Dench, Rob Duvall, Ridley Scott, Wong Kar Wai, Noam Chomsky, and Daniel Day Lewis  but who knows if I’d like any of these people?

Vanessa: Would you cook? You’re a pretty good cook if you’re last dinner party is anything to go by. Sorry Maury I couldn’t resist. I was just reliving the night I saved Phil Cruz’s (co-writer/director Song Of The Knife), life with my knowledge of pesto sauce. You feel brave enough to share the story?

Maury: I’m just pissed it didn’t work. *laughs a lot* Sure. My girlfriend and I had a dinner party to which we invited Phil Cruz, his girlfriend April, you, Vanessa, and some other pals. We made/threw together some pesto on pasta, salad and garlic bread. At some point my girlfriend comes to me in the kitchen followed by Phil and tells me that Phil is allergic to nuts, so could I make him a salad without nuts. We then looked at his plate which was empty of the pesto he had just eaten. It kind of dawned on us that the pesto was made with a lot of pine nuts and Phil had eaten a good helping. He was fine for a while but then his eyes started to swell and the hives came out. It was such a perfect plan. But you saved him Vanessa.

Vanessa: Oh sheesh, it’s pretty sad that I know all the components of pesto sauce.  *laughs* You know he was still laughing in the car on the way home. Even when the hives were breaking out all over his body! He’s a fun guy no?

Maury: Phil is great. He is a blast to work with (on Andre The Butcher : Dead Meat). He has an eye for what he wants and he is totally free to improvise and has a good time. He takes fucking around very seriously. Great sense of humor and a good sense of how to live.

Vanessa: Maury do you have a dream? I mean do you have a plan for your career or are you one of these people in the industry who’s taking each day as it comes?

Maury: A little bit of both. I’d like to play Hamlet, a cop, do a western, own a ranch. I want to be a part of projects with great writing, that are intelligent, fun, funny, deep, that effect people. I’ve gotten some of my dreams, so now it is more about quality and depth. And working with like-minded people, good people, in whatever capacity. I’d like to get out of LA at some point. My life is pretty good.

Vanessa: You’d like to get out of LA? In what sense?

Maury: I always talk of getting out of here. Somewhere with more nature. I grew up in Northern California and feel very much at home there. It has great Feng Shui. I have pretty cliché Montana dreams. New Mexico. France. Luckily for now I have friends in all of these places who pretend to enjoy my company when I come visit. I find other places where I am in nature and can do hard work give me a lot.

Vanessa: I found something out about you when I was in LA and you know it surprised me and I don’t know why?  But I heard you still religiously take acting classes. Why do you do that? I mean you’re a great actor. Is it a case of keeping your talent sharp and your engine well oiled?

Maury: I always like to be doing something. And I go in and out of classes. I am not consistent. I will start to feel rusty and go back. I have been fortunate enough to study lately with Jeffrey Tambor who I find to be the real deal. But one thing he said to the class when I first studied with him was “I don’t want to see you here in a year.” Which I translate as, get out in the world, live, don’t hide in a class. Pick up some skills and then go out and use them.

Vanessa: I used to study acting in college and one of my favorite classes was improv. Do you like that Maury? How much do you get to do when you work?

Maury: Improv terrifies me. I tend to cling to structure. Lately I have been feeling braver and find that improv and fluidity lead to much more exciting work. That’s where I should probably take a class.

Vanessa: Has an acting job ever overwhelmed you to the point where you had to step back and take a deep breath for whatever reason?

Maury: I think what has overwhelmed me is the stress that accumulates around wanting to do a good job, or satisfy myself. I have had moments where I have frightened myself, where the role and the scene or play start carrying me and I don’t know where I am going. That has been scary at times.

Vanessa: Auditions are always something that’s fascinated me. How do you personally prepare and do you have any tips for the actors and actresses on how to get through an audition?

Maury: Be relaxed and focused. Make it your own. You aren’t going to get all of them. Some people to tell you to picture the casting directors and producers naked. I find that distracting. They want you to get the part. It makes their life easier. And often there is so much bullshit behind the scenes, so much out of your control, all you can do is tell a good and truthful and exciting story. Try and surprise yourself.

Vanessa: What do you like to do to unwind Maury?

Maury: Get out of town. Travel. Ride horses. Horseback riding has been a great hobby for me in the past few years. Gets me into nature, takes my mind totally off of LA and the acting thing. Do things for other people. Play. Read. Travel is a big one. Especially a place where the life is really different and the life isn’t all about entertainment and appearance (that is an unfair cliché). I went to a dude ranch in Montana last year for 3 weeks and worked and got dumped and stomped on. Kind of life changing and my work has been better since.

Vanessa: You’ve done a lot of TV work. Notably, CSI, Six Feet Under, Monk, Angel, ER, to name but a few. Do you ever get recognized when you’re out and about minding your own business? Or have you not had that whole ‘Weren’t you the guy in such and such’?

Maury: I get it now and again. It’s nice for the ego.

Vanessa: I was very impressed by your role in Charmed you played Lord Dyson. Did you have a coach for that English accent? It was pretty convincing I have to say.

Maury: Thank you. That is kind coming from you. I can’t remember if I watched any movie for some help. I don’t think so. I have always enjoyed playing around with accents. You Brits get to come over here and play Americans all the time. I just wanted to start evening the score.

Vanessa: Maury, take a deep breath and tell me the meaning of life?

Maury: Chocolate. The funny thing was, I almost took this question seriously and was going to try and give you an answer. That’s embarrassing.

Vanessa: But believe me, woman all over the world are probably now praising your name. ‘Maury understands the NEED for chocolate’! I think your fan following just hit record numbers. Congratulations!

Related Links:

- Maury Sterling IMDB Profile

* Title picture courtesy of Maury Sterling