Charlie Rose

Saultxyca  04/26/2012 11:07 PM Report

Mr. Langella likes to keep the audience watching on eggshells.

adgielou  04/26/2012 10:50 AM Report

I loved this interview. Frank is now on my list of mentors and I look forward to reading his book. I was hooked from the moment he talked about his age and that it wasn't over. I'm in my early 50s and just started studying acting and Meisner technique. I can't get enough of it. But I'm dumbfounded because I feel so old and I have no expectation, I just want to learn and get better. And at the end of the interview I was like YES, YES... I just want to learn it all, every little detail... not sure why, I just do... I love the theater more than anything... no matter what, who, where or when... whether it's a kids performance or a professional theater, I've noticed over the years that when I'm in the theater to see a show, I feel like Baryshnikov inside... so excited like a little kid to be there and to watch the show and to see the acting, singing, dancing, sets, costumes, etc. and to find the grain of truth and authenticity... I so support those who do this work and love every minute of their discovery and now I'm getting to explore my own... what a blessing... I totally get it that it is the process and the vulnerability... and fame, well, I get that too... I have been lifelong friends with a relative of a famous actress and it has taught me much and, although they have not been burned by the flame of fame in many of the destructive ways that many encounter, it has made me consider fame from a reality point of view for many years... like you Frank, I have been in the presence and seen a more realistic view of the life, albeit my view is very small compared to yours, I have learned a great deal from it as a result and best of all I have an amazing lifelong friend whom I love with all my heart... Thank you so much for this interview!!!!!!

noopysma  04/26/2012 08:16 AM Report

I thoroughly enjoyed this interview. I found Mr. Langella to be a guest who not only shared some of the stories in his book but also how he has grown as a person through examining himself in his "august" age. Thank you for having him as a guest.

Smith  04/25/2012 09:59 PM Report

The Frank Langella April 2012 interview was simply outstanding! My compliments to Charlie on a masterful job. While Langella's recollections were engaging his words and insights about life were moving, revealing, and motivational.

I found myself furiously copying quotes of Langella's remarks, not about the famous people he wrote about, but about his life passages and self-discovery.

Mola  04/25/2012 09:22 PM Report

What an alert and affecting conversation. Thank you.

tabs  04/25/2012 01:23 PM Report

Now Comes Part Two:

The following was psoted to the old Charlie Rose Comment Board after an Alan Alda visit on or aout 10/18/08.

A Life Examined

It usually is the realm of old men to examine their life's events to make some sense of it all. To ponder their successes and their failures, all to see how they arrived at the place they are at.

Now what happens if one does it at 20 years old. Not only does one examine the past but events as they unfold along the path of life. Making sense and reason from each event. It soon becomes a self perpetuating endeavor that propels one into the future. Till one reaches a point of awareness of ones self and environment where nothing can hide. It is all right there as plain as day.

The ultimate reality test is that one day our lights are going to go out. The truth of the matter is that for the most part, that drawing another breath is going to become so unbearable that letting go is going to be a relief for us. So what in the scheme of things becomes important in this life? But the capacity of one to love. To show kindness to another person or creature in this life. That is the only thing that makes any sense or has any enduring quality

tabs  04/25/2012 01:13 PM Report

To sum up the imperious Langella, he has been "shedding" his penchant to control the things in his life to get back to who he really is. One learned decades ago that we only have the illusion of control, that everything is basically in flux.

REMant  04/25/2012 11:39 AM Report

I agreed with the things said about actors' motivations, and, as I know one particular person like that, think I can relate to it. I had an opportunity to do some acting, but felt uncomfortable with it, and resisted the idea of trying to be someone else. I can never say the same thing the same way twice, regardless. (Dr Gazzaniga may perhaps offer an explanation, tho only, I think, with considerable difficulty.) But she had all those dreams of which Langella spoke. I was looking for someone to share my life, and she was looking for someone to make them possible. She took up with a married man twice our age, in the business, and moved to Tinseltown. I was both shocked and saddened, angry when she gloated about it, which had turned me off before - fishing for compliments, one-upmanship, etc - yet failed to appreciate the full significance of amidst all her bravado. We have led quite opposite lives, but tho she has been very successful by normal standards, I think she has always underestimated herself.

But with respect to Charlie's employment, at first the morning stint was clearly deleterious, but three or four weeks ago - I can point to the exact show - his interviewing took a noticeable leap in perspicuity, which I would guess is because it helped him break out of what had become a pretty tiresome mold.