Ned Beatty disses his costars in tomorrow's Times

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 8:39pm

Get ready for a cool breeze to wash over the already tepid tin roof. Mr. Beatty makes pointed comments about the shortcomings of his two (young) co-stars in a beyond "candid" interview in the Tuesday Times. He doesn't mince words dissing Patric's and Judd's work. Even if he's right, as many here and elsewhere suggest, this is a breach of ettiquette, bad form, ungenerous -- and just plain tacky. Is this his idea of helping sell the show?

Updated On: 11/24/03 at 08:39 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 8:48pm

Mendacity - just plain good old fasioned southern mendacity

Must be a barrel of laughs working backstage on this show. Even the waterdown movie version has the ultimate leads - Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor & Burl Ives

Updated On: 11/24/03 at 08:48 PM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 8:48pm

Oh, Daddy, you bitch!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 8:58pm

Ruh-roh!! Ned better watch out backstage.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 9:35pm

Why? Will somebody make him squeal like a pig?

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 9:37pm

Deliverance was bad enough...I don't need that picture in my head. Although..who do you think would be more likely to do it...Jason or Ashley?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 9:41pm

Wynona, while visiting Sis backstage.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 9:56pm

Isn't this a "Murder She Wrote?" plot? Who's gonna clong big daddy on the head when he's slipping into his Lincoln Town Car? And speaking of Deliverance, maybe ol Burt is waiting in the wings. He's been shoppin' for a b'way property.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 10:10pm

I betcha Harvey Fierstein is waiting for Ned to get whacked by Jason & Ashley so Harvey can take over the role.

I bet Forbidden Broadway is peeing their pants to get this sketch onstage.

Updated On: 11/24/03 at 10:10 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 10:14pm

You got it. I'd pay seventy-five bucks to hear Harvey get every bit of juice outta MEN ... dacity!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 10:16pm

Maybe Brando is planning to step in and make a comeback?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 10:31pm

Jason & Ashley won't whack him.

They'll just toss a coin to see who gets to pee in Beatty's coffee that day.

[nyctopone]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 11:39pm

The main problem is, Ned Beatty is right, Judd and Patric are boring in parts that are so perfectly written. Both are good screen actors but can't deliver on stage (in other words, they are celebrities and not actors). Shame on the producers for bringing in names that can't do the roles. Bravo to Mr. Beatty for simply saying the truth.

[SuttonBebeFaith]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 1:08am

Really?

Then I can't wait for your co-workers to bitch about your job performance to the boss and everyone else.

What Beatty did was unprofessional...whether he was speaking the truth or not.

He likes to call himself a "veteran" of the theater, but any veteran would know how to treat a fellow co-worker.

[bob8rich]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 4:03am

It is such a shame to read of both the unrest amongst the cast and the apparent shortcomings of messrs Patric and Judd. This is a GREAT play that deserves great performances. I saw the West End production in 2001, in which Beatty was superb. That staging also went for big screen names in its casting but in that instance they got it right. Brendad Fraser was excellent as Brick and Frances O'Connor was electrifying as Maggie.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 10:16am

All this talk about Big Daddy has me thinking of Blanche from the Golden Girls.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 10:23am

c'mon, it's not like ol' neddy came out with, "well it's a bit like being onstage with tape recorders placed on furniture, because these two are as animated flip books." i mean even the director said that the cast was not where he wanted them to be when he left the production. sounds like the producers mucked it up by not getting the scheduling right and allowing the director to get away before the product was finished.

i get a big kick though out of people on message boards who spent a good deal of time trashing the performances of both judd and jason who now have come out and voiced righteous indignation at the fact that beatty shares their views and has the audacity to speak them. no, i don't necessarily mean anyone on this board. hey, what does neddy care. he says clearly that he's done better work in regional theatres than on broadway.

i wonder though why they replaced fraser with jason? scheduling conflict?

nothing like a good old festivus airing of the grievances, eh?

[robyn525600]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 10:55am

What did he say, exactly?!

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:07am

Papa!

Ain't it the truth!? I, myself, would not necessarily make Mr. Beatty's choice to comment on his co-stars performances in the middle of the run, but that's just me!

HOWEVER, all this hand-wringing is KILLING me because not only have many people stated (and in a much more vicious tone) the same feelings about Mr. Patric and Ms. Judd, but they also have bemoaned the fact that unqualified screen actors are taking jobs away from wonderful stage actors. I mean...isn't that what this article is all about??? He's saying in a very public way what all of us (and most everyone else in this business) have been saying over the past few years!
THE ARTICLE

Updated On: 11/25/03 at 11:07 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:16am

Director Page's words are pretty tacky, too. All this "truth-speaking" is the low road. Everyone gets bad reviews except Beatty and Martindale, and the director basically says "it's not my fault. I had to leave. Wish we'd rehearsed more." Gee, what a guy. Reading it today, I think Beatty's just a big grump. Mad he can't have his angel hair pasta. He should eat his carbos (he's on the Atkins while doing Big Daddy?!) and head back to his new house in the desert. Mr.William's work will survive this debacle, and so will Patric and Judd--who will head off to make commercial movies like "Superman," which co-starred ... that regional theater ar-TEEST, par excellance, Mr. Ned Beatty.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:36am

another view of this is that it's an attmept by beatty to light a fire under his co-stars. i mean can they fail to rise to this kind of challenge? if nothing else it will change the dynamics of the performances, because i doubt that anybody over there is "professional" enough to pretend it didn't happen...ok, maybe margo.

beatty may not be a regular on the broadway stage, but he cannot fail to appreciate the effect that such comments made in the ny times will have. it'd be one thing if the post reported it, then you'd see troops of people just dismissing it, but the times?

i'm sure many people will and do disagree with him for doing it, but then, we're not onstage 8 times a week with them either. if his little stunt gets some sparks going the production might benefit. either way, he's given us all something to talk about and for that i salute you ned!

and auggie, "that regional theatre ar-teest" as you call him was one of the only things that was uniformly praised in this production.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:55am

"Yes, Brian really inspired me. Had that TIMES interview not come out, why, I would have never thought to come in early to put that itching powder in his undershirt. He's truly motivated me as an actor. I knew that it would be an excellent and creative way for my character to truly express the loathing he feels for Big Daddy!"

Updated On: 11/25/03 at 11:55 AM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 12:06pm

hehehehe...wake up, animal, betty grable's on the phone...

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 12:12pm

"...that regional theatre ar-teest" as you call him was one of the only things that was uniformly praised in this production."

Which Beatty is palpably aware of in shamelessly comparing his work to the people he must appear with another two months.

Sorry, from my experience, collaboration in art is rarely achieved through such provocation. Surely you don't "light a fire" under coworkers by denouncing their talent in public. He didn't claim they weren't working hard enough; he says they don't have the chops. Can pissing people off make them better actors? If so, I have a fair number of angry friends who should all have Tonys and Oscars.

Oh, but you're right, Papa. I'm just enjoying the chance to foment in writing. Look at how much he's got us venting. He's upstaged Rosie, Donna, and even Butz. I doff my whatever.

Updated On: 11/25/03 at 12:12 PM

[KB]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 12:46pm

Did anyone see the show to see how the cast and audience reacted to Ned Beatty? I can recall this being done after the fact, but very rarely in middle of a run. Except of course anonymously on a message board.