from "Detour Magazine, 1991" ----------------------------- Detour Magazine, January-February 1991 The Eyes of Texas, Lenny Von Dohlen by Kristi Day Trying to pinpoint the perfect description of actor Lenny Von Dohlen is like trying to catch a falling star or finding the end of a rainbow. Starring as himself, he's beyond characterization. He speaks in tongues of angels and may actually be a modern day messiah, complete with anecdotes and philosophical phrases that could teach us all a thing or two. And if you hunt for personality clues in the labyrinth of roles he loses himself in on-stage, in the movies, or on television, you're quickly approaching a brick wall, head-first. There's a soothing, hypnotic quality which hangs over his words like a drug as he describes, in a voice which still retains traces of a familiar accent, his love for Texas: "I miss everything about Texas pretty much. I manage to probably romanticize a little bit about it. When I grew up there, I couldn't wait to leave. But now I'm always dying to get back. The stars about two in the morning are reverential every time. Laying' on your back in the swimming pool at two in the morning floating around on floaties, lookin' up at the stars in Texas is about as close to heaven as I know. Growing up where I did in Southwest Texas, which is very pastoral and beautiful, I learned about honesty and I learned about a sundry of personalities and characters. They were all there. There's something about Texas... I don't know...maybe it's the water. I don't know, but it inspires you to aspire." Until he literally outgrew his childhood dream, Von Dohlen wanted nothing more than to be a jockey. "I think people from our state have a certain amount of confidence if you have your mind set on something. Wanting to be jockey was an obsession the likes of which I think very few people come in contract with. I ate, slept and drank it, and I grew to be six feet tall and realized it was folly. So my obsession switched" - from horse racing to acting. Although the two field appear on the surface to have no common denominator, Von Dohlen draws a problem-free parallel. "I've been thinking a lot about the analogy between wanting to be a jockey and doing what I do now. Of course, it's a topsy-turvy profession and can be fickle and demand great discipline and there's great sense of comradery. I remember if a jockey got hurt, the other jockeys would go up in the grandstand with their helmets and take a collection for him and his family, I was impressed by that. I think there is the same kind of feeling in the theater, now, not so much in the movies. There's a great sense of community. People in the theater are some of the most caring people I know - selfless and generous." No wonder Von Dohlen prefers theater over any other type of acting. "Doing theater I always felt was where an actor was able to exercise his craft because it's his medium. That's where he's the king. And in movies, dogs and children can be stars, for God's sake. It separates the men from the boys when you work on the stage. I've been lucky and been able to play a lot of different kind of parts and that's what I want to keep doing." Von Dohlen has certainly stuck firmly to his goal of surprising himself and others by the roles he attacks wholeheartedly. His film career kicked off in 1983 with his portrayal of a young country and western musician in Tender Mercies - a well-tailored part, some would say, for a good ol' boy from Texas such as Von Dohlen. Little did the director know that Von Dohlen was not a fan of that genre of music fact the opposite was true: "I would turn it off or I would run in the opposite direction. But I learned an appreciation for it." "When we were doing the movie, the rushes were coming back and the producer and director were, I guess, very pleased with what they saw. We were staying outside of Dallas in Waxahatchie. I guess there's only one big hotel/motel to stay in there. We were out around that pool one day and the director was saying how great they thought everything was, and they wanted to give me a solo. So he wanted me, at the particular moment in time, to jump into some song, a cappella. So I'd been listening to Hank Williams and Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard from the time I got up till I went to bed. I thought, well there's nothing to do but just jump the breach and brave it. So I launched into a rendition of 'Over the Rainbow.' I think it was still in my head. I'd just heard Willie Nelson sing it. And he listened, and I finished. And there was a pause. And he looked at me and patted me on the back and said, 'Keep up the good work.' And there was never any more talk of a solo." Following his screen debut in the Oscar-nominated Tender Mercies, Von Dohlen has continued to blaze an acting trail with his portrayal of quirky characters, each unique in its own off-center way. His film credits include the portrayal of a young architect/computer nerd, oppositee Virginia Madsen, in the film Electric Dreams, which was shot "before most people even had 'yuppie' in their vernacular. I was very grateful to have (that role). It came right on the heels of Tender Mercies, and I could have been playing cowboys out the wazoo for the rest of my life," assured Von Dohlen, contrary to interpretations that could have been made after reading an interview in which Von Dohlen claimed he "got the idea wearing bow tie and glasses from watching a Cary Grant movie. All that was part of building a character but I was aware that it was also me hiding. Because subconsciously I knew it wasn't War and Peace, and it was fluff. I was getting paid a lot of money, and I was going to do it with much charm and finesse as possible. But at the same time, maybe I could hide behind these glasses while I did it." Von Dohlen attributes this attitude to the phase he was in during that point in his life and in his career. "I think at that point in my life I was very serious - not to say that I'm not serious anymore. I think the fact that it wasn't War and Peace ... I knew what it was...It was harmless and fun and well-done and so, no, I don't think badly of it at all." Von Dohlen cites cynicism as the problem a lot of movies such as Electric Dreams come up against when trying to "make it" in the U.S. "Cynicism and apathy are the two greatest things that frighten me in the world in which we live - not only as an artist when I come in contact with it, but just in general. You go to England, where I've spent a lot of time, people who are my age, or even much younger, late teens, high school age, are very politically informed - very, very much more passionate about platforms and issues and by and large more sophisticated in the ways of the world. I don't know why that is. "One of my close friends is an English actor, and the film (Electric Dreams) did quite well over there as a matter of fact - much better than here because MGM screwed it with this inane marketing campaign. They didn't promote it right. Over there they did it better. It was promoted right, and there's a certain European sensibility to it. It is a fairy tale and a bit of a fantasy. This English friend of mine thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. All around the world people come up to me and say how much they loved that movie and it affected them and they watch it all the time. If it affects someone's life positively, then it's something to be proud of." Another project Von Dohlen is proud to have taken part in is a film that was featured as an after school special entitled Don't Touch. It was directed by Beau Bridges and starred Von Dohlen (as child molester) and Blair Brown. "There was a quality that he (Beau Bridges) liked about me, that was not someone you would suspect, which is exactly the case for most people who do that kind of horrific thing. I mean, I was sick to my stomach the whole time we did that movie. I felt that it could educate and indeed it did. "Although he couldn't recall the exact incident, Von Dohlen said after watching the movie on television, a young girl in a similar situation spoke out and said, "This is happening to me." "It served its purpose, and I'm sure there were more cases of that than we know of." Under the Biltmore Clock and Billy Galvin are both American Playhouse Presentations which starred Von Dohlen, consecutively, as a man "smart as a whip and shy...sweetly shy" and the son of a construction worker who was "emotionally constipated." Under the Biltmore Clock was an F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation, and one which Von Dohlen earnestly accepted. "I always loved Fitzgerald. I have a penchant for doing lots of research before a job - do my homework, so to speak. I was very familiar with Fitzgerald's work, so it was nice to go back and flesh it out and make it real. The story was a bit like a champagne hangover. You know, you wake up and you can't believe what you've just dreamed. It was a bit fantastic, but it was great fun, too." What Von Dohlen describes as the richest film role he's attempted to date, is that of the title character in Billy Galvin, a story revolving around the relationship between a father and son and based on the relationship between the writer's own father and brother. "We were all privy to that. I think it made the input in the movie more substantial because you want to do it justice. And the writing was so wonderful and the characters so well-drawn. And of course I met the inspiration for this part, the real-life Billy Galvin. Everybody who's ever had a father can relate to this story. "I've heard directors say that their movies are like their children. I love doing different kinds of roles, but that one had so much for me to explore that I hadn't done before. So it was an adventure. I still harken back to that." And the roles keep coming. If you've kept up with ABC-TV's Twin Peaks, you most certainly have taken note of the blue-eyed agoraphobic hybrid-orchid grower. That was Von Dohlen in his latest television adventure. Not being an avid TV fan, Von Dohlen was not familiar with the innovative series before he accepted the role. "The last time I checked in with TV, this type of thing was not going on. It was breaking down some barriers and trying new things and making fun of cliches and going out there. That was important." Coming from New York, there's that sort of front stoop existence where you don't know everybody, but you're a part of their lives. You pass 'em by on the street and you sense what's happening. You hear conversations, you overhear people making love or fighting. There's just this great sense of being a part of other people's lives either directly or indirectly. "Here (L.A.), you're in your car, youu're in your home, you go to work, you come home. You're isolated here. It was ironic that I'd been musing over that takes isolation to the Nth degree. He, I felt, could have been a metaphor or a microcosm of what's happening in life and what should be done about it." Like any great philosopher, Von Dohlen has his own theories about the game of life - and the more controversial game of war. Even as a child who wasn't of draft age during the Vietnam War, Von Dohlen recalls his line of thinking when it came to the issue of war: "Growing up in Texas, I thought if this war is still going on by the time I'm eighteen, Canada is too far away, so I'll go to South America. "War seems the height of ignorance to me, and in this case (Gulf Crisis) it does, too. I don't know what we're doing there. I'm frightened of it. But then again, I heard recently that there are anti-war demonstrations going on across the country, which didn't happen until the Vietnam War was fully in process. So maybe, if he's listening ...I mean it's okay to change your mind. You know, 'I made a mistake. Let's send everybody home.' I'd like that once to be said." Recently in the down-and-dirty election for Governor of Texas, Von Dohlen voiced his opinion via the voting booth. Although he had been registered in New York, he re-registered in Texas "just so I could vote for Ms. Richards. I was delighted with the results. In fact, if I could've gone to North Carolina and vote against Mr. Helmes, I would've." A recollection that pops suddenly into Von Dohlen's mind is of sitting next to a woman in the theater who was on some arts council. Von Dohlen asked her, "How is it out there?" Her reply was "There's a lot of hate out there." Von Dohlen fervently expands on this: "A lot of ignorance, I would add to that, probably in any place that can elect the likes of Jesse Helms, who is a fascist and represents the worst kind of backward thinking." Von Dohlen grew up in Goliad, Texas, in a family which consisted of "six in all and assorted dogs and things and a very big extended family. It's quite a clan. I'm really close to all my family in different ways. It's one of those families where you can't quite believe we're all from the same egg and sperm, you know, 'cause we're all so different personality-wise, but I think that's interesting - family dynamicism." Looking back on his childhood, Von Dohlen sees himself as an outlaw, sneaking over the border to Mexico and unlimited alcohol, and smoking since the age of ten. In fact, this interview was conducted with a disclaimer attached: "I should preface this whole thing by saying this could be not the best interview you've ever had the pleasure of. I quit smoking three days ago. I don't know that I've ever given an interview sans a cigarette. I've been at it since I was ten years old. But now, since I've crossed over, out of the twenties, and I'm in spitting distance of the age of that Christ was crucified - a dreaded phobia of any Catholic boy, I say that in quotes - I figure I better look toward salvation and clean up my act a little bit. So I don't promise any kind of profound, articulate thought. That's what happens when you don't have some smoke to drag into your lungs. I can't concentrate." So obviously, a short term goal of Von Dohlen is to keep kicking the habit while he strives toward his long term goal - to keep evolving. And meanwhile, you can catch him in an upcoming film entitled Blind Vision. This time he portrays "a very complicated, disturbed individual longing for something, not unlike most people who draw breath. In this case, it was a woman that he obsessed over. I guess you could say he was a voyer. He created his fantasy life in his head that he had a relationship with this woman. He came home from work at the same time she did, and they would have drink together. They would have supper together or go to sleep at the same time. But he was across the street from her. He was a birdwatcher too, so he had this hi-tech camera equipment where he could watch her." Von Dohlen is also working on an ongoing one-man show based on the life and works of Russian poet Mayakovsky. "It's a little further along than the beginning stages. It's something I've never done. It's great to have people out there that you can connect with on-stage with you or in front of a camera. To be by yourself and to have all these words to do...I imagine that it's fairly daunting. I'll tell you when I get in front of an audience." ----------------------------- BACK