A conversation with Mandy Patinkin
By Donovan Atkinson
Thursday, April 7th, 2005
Mandy Patinkn, who attended the University from 1970 to 1972, will come back to campus this Saturday, April 9, for a one-night event, “A Conversation with Mandy Patinkin.” Moderated by Jack Wright, professor of theater and film, the event is a benefit to raise funds for the purchase of new equipment to help patrons with hearing challenges in Murphy Hall's Crafton-Preyer Theatre and for a scholarship fund for undergraduate film students.
Patinkin agreed to talk with Donovan Atkinson, Jayplay writer and managing editor of Kansan.com, about his time at the University, his work with the Creede Repertory Theatre and how his beliefs influence his work.
The show starts at 8 p.m. Reserved-seat tickets for “A Conversation with Mandy Patinkin” are on sale in the University Theatre ticket office, (785) 864-3982, and online at kutheatre.com. Public tickets are $40; student tickets are $20.
Donovan Atkinson: Something that I’ve been wondering, and that a couple of other people here in the newsroom have been wondering, is how many times a week does someone ask you to do the line from The Princess Bride?
Mandy Patinkin: At least once a week.
Does it ever get old?
You know what, I’m very grateful that I got to be in it and that’s it there forever. And I’m always happy to oblige.
My roommate, he’s an acting major, he kind of felt sorry for you because he thought that you were plagued by people constantly coming up to you asking you to do the line.
No, it’s fine, I feel very grateful that there’s something out there that people like.
Why did you decide to come to KU?
I was chasing a girl and I heard that they had a good theatre department
Did you get the girl?
Nope, somebody else got her. But we’re good friends for the rest of our lives. But I never even got a kiss.
Oh that’s too bad.
That’s ok. At least we’re good friends. If I had gotten a kiss we wouldn’t have been good friends.
So why did you decide to leave?
I had two years there, and then all my professors suggested I go to a professional school. They thought that I should concentrate a 100 percent on the arts and I also wasn’t taking any regular classes. Which seemed not to make the chancellor of the University happy. He called me in his office one day and said ‘Listen, you know, we love the work you’re doing in the theater and everyone’s happy with that, but you have to take some courses. So it was kind of a joke and everybody said that I should try out for a professional school and I tried out for couple of them, got in one and went.
Was that a difficult process?
No, it wasn’t difficult because I didn’t think I had a chance of getting in. And so I just did the audition and I was shocked that I got in. I planned, actually, on staying at KU and towing the line and starting to take more classes. But I loved the theatre and I was just doing theatre 24/7 and kept dropping courses because I didn’t have the time and the chancellor thought that wasn’t a good idea after awhile.
What was it like going to Julliard after going to KU? Was there a culture shock?
It was a completely other world. I wouldn’t say it was a culture shock. There were also liberal arts courses that we took there. But it was extremely intense in terms of the arts and I really loved it. I had some extraordinary teachers that actually gave me tools that I’ve used for the rest of my life. When I’m going to come to KU I’m going to have a workshop I hope with some kids on Saturday early in the day and hopefully I’ll pass on to them what people taught me years ago and some of those teachers are still some of my closest friends and some of the actors in the class are still close to me and I’m close with them and it’s just a great experience. It really gave me everything that I have in my craft. Not everything, but certainly a lot.
Did your experience at KU prepare you well for going to Julliard or was it a completely different program?
It did prepare me, it prepared me in many ways. I wanted to go to a liberal arts college, I wanted to have that experience. I also wanted to get away from home for the first time. There were some social aspects to it that I liked. So it was that initial period when you go away from home and all those adjustments. I was in school and working in the theatre there and so it broke the ice in a lot of ways. Going to New York City by myself, I’d never been there. It was a lot to deal with. So it was very helpful. And I’ve always loved KU. I have a whole relationship. Because of KU I went to the Creede Repertory theatre in Creede, Colo., that was started by 12 people from KU. So I worked at the Creede Repertory theatre for two years and a lot of those people became lifelong friends. I even still have a home in Creede. Without KU, that part of my life would never have been.
Could you tell me more about the Creede Theatre experience?
It was the greatest. It was repertory theater. We did eight shows over the summer. We did a different show every night. We’d open a show, and then two weeks later we’d open the next show. And two weeks later we’d open the third show until we had all eight running. And it was just one of the richest experiences I’d ever had in my theatrical life. We did all the lights and sound, built all the sets. After every show we tore down the sets. The actors did it all. We were the scenery, the shop people, the lighting people, the sound people, and the actors and the directors. And you don’t get to do that that often in life. This year is Creede’s 40th anniversary and it was one of the best places that formed me as a human being and as an actor. It gave me lifelong friends.
And you’re still active with them?
I’m on their board. I see their shows often and I live there part of the year and I’m very much a part of it. It’s a real family. We all just sit around the table and talk about what we want, what we think would be best for the future, for Creede and for the theater and it’s just a love fest.
Something that I kept coming across when I was doing my research was that you were in a 7-Up commercial right after high school?
Yes, I did the first one as a senior in high school and the second during my freshman year at KU.
I was talking to a former cast mate from Man of La Mancha and she said it was big deal that you came here and you were in those commercials. What was it like being the 7-Up guy on campus?
Oh, nothing at all. They could have cared less. I don’t think anybody know about it. My memories were of just being in Murphy Hall and having fun. Being in college, doing plays and having a good time.
When I was talking to Christy [Brandt, a friend of Patinkin’s from his time at Creede], she mentioned that you are very active politically and with different causes. Were you always active politically, even on campus?
When I met my wife, Kathryn Grody, she was really my political teacher. I didn’t really know that much about politics. A good friend of ours, Martin Sheen, said one day to me when I said to him I didn’t think I was very political, he said, “Do you breathe?” I said, “Yes, I breathe.” He said, ‘Well, the air you breathe is political.” And I said, okay, I get it. And my wife was very political and my wife brought my two sons, Isaac and Gideon, and myself up to be very aware, caring, conscientious human beings who try to fight for the little guy and the underprivileged guy as often as we can. We work for other causes, too. I’m active in PAX, which is a gun awareness organization. We treat gun safety as a public health issue. I’m active in the Prostate Cancer Foundation that Michael Milken started. I’m a prostate cancer survivor and I try to heighten prostate cancer awareness and tell people to get their PSA checked every year when they’re 40 years old and over. Forty years old and over if they had a family member and 50 years and over if they hadn’t. And get a DRE, which is a digital rectal exam, every year to make sure that you’ll have a good long life. And I work for many, many other organizations. It’s one of the best parts of my life getting to do that kind of work. I’m on the board of directors for Peace Now, which works tirelessly between the Palestinians and the Israelis to create peace in the Middle East and we’ve never been closer. And I believe it’s going to happen. Matter of fact in May, I’m going with my son Isaac for a 254-mile bike ride from Jerusalem to Elat for peace and the environment.
We like to ask people that we interview fun questions for our campus magazine, just to be a little offbeat. And I know that you were in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. One of our local communes asks applicants on their application which Muppet they would like to have sex with. I was wondering if you thought that was a funny question or just plain wrong?
I’ve actually been to Avenue Q and I’ve seen Muppets have sex, so I think it’s a perfectly natural question.
So which Muppet would you like to have sex with?
I’d have sex with a number of the Muppets. I just don’t talk about it publicly. It’s private. Although a hint is, that there was a character in Elmo in Grouchland who was called “My Lady” and that’s all I’ll say.
I know from Dead Like Me that you approached that role from a philosophical standpoint. I was wondering how your philosophy, religion and heritage influence your work?
I’m a spiritual person, I’m an America, I’m a Jew, and all of those things influence every breath I take, everywhere I go. Everything I experience influences everything I do. They’re not separable, there’s no chicken or egg, it’s all one. It is who I am. It’s all made me what I am. And all of those things: my religion, my politics, my family, my friends, the books I read, everywhere I travel—that influences everything I do. It absolutely guides it and informs it. Without it, I’d be a vacuum. As corny as that sounds…An actor’s life particularly is what they lived and how they’ve osmosized what they’ve lived into the work and tried to say something. I try to say something about the human condition whenever I can when I’m lucky. I try to get that across in the work, to try to, if I’m lucky, to make this world a little bit better for all of us before I check out. And that’s if I’m lucky, I don’t always get to have that privilege but I try always.
Some critics have said that your film and television work have not really taken full advantage of your talents. How do you respond to that?
Well, I’m not a critic, I’m just a worker. So, I’m always grateful for anything the critics say—good or bad. Because if they stop saying things it just means I’m not working. [Laughs] So, I don’t respond to those things really. I don’t pay attention to those kind of comments. I just get out there, work every day. I love my work, I love the people I work with, I do the best I can. I’ve been very blessed in my personal life and in my career and I have never been ungrateful for what I have. And I couldn’t be happier. So I guess that’s how I’d respond to that.
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