William Sadler
By Kathy Wyman
Nov 2000
With over 30 years of stage, screen, and TV credits behind him, William Sadler is the man whose face you recognize, but can't quite find the name. However, with his current role of Sheriff Valenti, in the WB TV show Roswell, and his success in such movies as "The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, and Die Hard II," William Sadler's recognition level has definitely gone up.
efanGuide recently interviewed William (Bill) Sadler. He is witty, charming, and downright funny. Sit back and relax - you are in for a ride into the world of William Sadler!
eFG: Ready?
WS: And the 64 thousand dollar question is???
eFG: Bio Stuff!
WS: Bio Stuff!
eFG: Yeah! Bio Stuff!
WS: Okay!
eFG: What's your favorite color?
WS: My favorite color, hmmm, Blue!
eFG: Yay!
WS: Okay, I got one right. {laugh}
eFG: Yep, you got one right{laugh}
eFG: What's your favorite food?
WS: Hmmm, my favorite food? Pasta!
eFG: What's your favorite pig out food?
WS: Pig out food? Pig out food would be - Pizza!
eFG: What is your favorite kind of music?
WS: Oh my goodness! It would probably be like Ani Difranco, or somewhere in the vicinity of Ani DeFranco and Tom Waites. That would my favorites. But, my taste in music runs all over the place. There are country singers that I like and blues singers that I love.
eFG: You just kind of answered musical group and singers then, but is there a favorite group?
WS: Bare Naked Ladies - Brilliant, totally brilliant
eFG: I love the name.
WS: Yeah {laugh}
eFG: When you get time to relax, what do you most like to do?
WS: Play the guitar
eFG: If you could snap your fingers and go anywhere in the world you wanted, where would you go and why?
WS: I would go a little farm house, by a waterfall, in upstate New York, where the rest of my family is. That's where I would go, if I could snap my fingers right now.
eFG: Ok, this is just some fun stuff. Complete these sentences for me. When I am frustrated I _________.
WS: Oh, I pace. I get up and move.
eFG: I am absolutely addicted to __________, I can't get enough of it.
WS: COFFEE!!! COFFEE!!
eFG: People who ______ bore me to death.
WS: Take themselves too damn seriously.
eFG: If I had a 100 million dollars I would _____________.
WS: Oh! {laugh} If I had a 100 million dollars? If I had a 100 million dollars I think I would.set up a fund to sponsor or all my favorite unknown artists, writers, actors, playwrights, so they wouldn't have to, to...
eFG: Struggle?
WS: Struggle, quite so hard. Yeah, so they could concentrate on doing what they do. That's what I would do. I think that's what I would do.
eFG: My biggest accomplishment in life has been _______.
WS: My gosh, it might be my 22-year marriage to Marni. Its the biggest thing I have ever done. Doing movies pales by comparison. {laughing}
eFG: Oh, yes I've got 29 years in the bank this year. I know, it's hard.
WS: Do you really?
eFG: Yes and it is work.
WS: I know. {pauses - eyes twinkling} Yeah, If I had killed her the day we met, I'd be getting out about now.
eFG: {laughing - hysterically} Do you really want me to put that up on the web site?
WS: Just kidding, just kidding - honey??? {laughing}
eFG: He's only kidding!
WS: I'm Only kidding sweetie!
eFG: Oh, you better be giving her some big kisses now!
WS: Oh, she's heard that joke. I think she's heard that joke before?
eFG: Ok, on acting...
WS: {still laughing as he interrupts} There is an old English song from the music hall days. My grandfather was an Englishman from London and he had all these great recordings of English music hall stuff. He sang this song, he used to like this song.{Switches to an English accent to start singing} I shan't forget. Oh wait, {switches to an English accent and speaks} When I came home from work today, the wifey looked at me and said "it's 30 years ago today since you and I first wed." And I say, "It's been 30 years? You could have knocked me flat. Oh lovey, 30 years? Seems 3 times as long as that."
eFG: {laughing}
WS: I actually misquoted that.
eFG: When you went into acting, who was your role model?
WS: George C. Scott
eFG: If you could work with any actress, living or dead, who would it be and why? WS: Glenn Close. I would love to work with Glenn Close, I think she is one of the best actresses we have ever produced. She makes it look so effortless. She's been doing if for so long and so well for so long.
eFG: Have you ever met her?
WS: No, no I haven't. {Pause} I'd love to.
eFG: If you could work with any actor, living or dead, who would it be and why?
WS: DiNiro. Again because I think he is the best . He may be the best American actor around right now, and there are a lot of good ones. There are others I would like to work with as well, but I think he kind of sticks out in my mind right now. Doesn't matter what he does. He could read the phone book and I will watch him do it.
eFG: Is there a particular type of role you have always wanted to play and you haven't yet and why?
WS: I'd like to play the lead in a romantic comedy and I've not gotten the chance to do that yet. I have on stage, but that was years ago for tiny audiences and no money. It would just be fun. I think it would be great. I have such a good time the little moments I have with Amy Deluca in the show. They are my favorite moments in the show and they are too far and few between.
eFG: They are!
WS: I would love to do a whole show that was about falling in love and it not working. You know, all of that stuff, boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl. I think that would be great and be funny. I would want it to be a comedy.
eFG: I think you could do that really well. You'd be great at it!
WS: {laughs}
eFG: What's the most bizarre role you've ever had, what you would consider your most bizarre role?
WS: Let's see. I played a Rock musician in a play once called "Cracked" back in New York and the play was nuts. At one point another actor is chasing me around the stage and he was crazy. I have a towel on and a cast on my, um, on my ah.. my ah..
eFG: Leg?
WS: Um, euphemism!{big grin}
eFG: OH! {hysterical laughter}
eFG: That just popped into my head. He's got a hatchet and he is going to help me get the plaster off of it. Somebody was trying to make a plaster cast of it, in the play - not in real life, and so for 8 shows a week, I had to run around the stage in a towel and this {thing} in a cast.
eFG: That would definitely qualify in my book!
WS: Wow. I've picked some strange ones in my long and checkered career. I wonder if there were any others that were just totally bizarre.{pause}. I had a small role in a move called "Rush." I played a drug dealer named Monroe an he was pretty bizarre. Although he was like other people I have played, except that particular character was taken a little further. He was covered with tattoos, sort of prison art tattoos, wearing bib overalls open down the sides, and nothing else. That was bizarre. That was strange and fun.
eFG: I bet that was fun in makeup every day with all those tattoos?
WS: Yeah, it was.
eFG: In your 30-year career, if you had to point to a defining career moment, what would it be and why?
WS: I was called in to audition for the very fist episode of "Tales from the Crypt" and they wanted to see me for the cop, who arrests the lead character at the end of the show. He's got 2 lines, he says "Mr. Talbot, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent." And that's it, he's gone. I did the audition and I asked Karen Ray, who is the casting director, "what's up with that role? The lead?" And she says " oh, they are gong to get Malkovitch or their going to get somebody with a big name." She rattled off 3 or 4 names they were approaching and I say "ok" and I left.
I am walking across the parking lot at Fox and Karen stuck her head out the window of the office and yells "Bill!" I went back . She says "I tell you what - put some grease in your hair and black out some teeth. Come in on Monday and do that monologue, the lead guy's monologue, Niles Talbot the executioner and I will show it to the director and see what happens. "
I came back in on Monday and I put myself on tape. Karen showed it to the Walter Hill and Walter hill flipped. They made the offer, so, I did the first episode of "Tales from the Crypt." Nominated for the ACE Award (the cable awards), Walter was nominated, the show was nominated, and I was nominated.
One of the producers was Joel Silver and the next project he was doing was "Die Hard II." They called up and said "will you come in an meet with Bruce Willis on "Die hard II." I stepped into that one. Walter Hill, a year or so later, was doing "Trespass" and called me in. I stepped into that one. And so on. It was just like that one moment, Karen Ray sticking her head out the window and saying "you know what I'll give it a try - what the hell you know, I will show it to him. What can he say?" That one, tiny little moment - had it not occurred, I don't know what kind of career I might have had.
On the set of that "Tales from the Crypt," I met Frank Darabont, who later came up to me and handed me a book and said "I am going to do this movie, The Shawshank Redemption," and then subsequently "The Green Mile." So its like the things that sprouted out of that one little moment. I mean there really was...there was a moment.
eFG: You asked a question that started her mind turning..
WS: Yeah. You can regret decisions that you made, like I turned down this role and it became or that and it launched this career. But, that was one little door that got opened and then opened this one, and that one, and that one, and that one, and so on. And it was just a great. Well, it was great moment.
eFG: If you had taken a different path and not gone into acting, what kind of career do you think you would have right now?
WS: If I had not gone into acting....I think I would probably be a teacher. Or a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist. I enjoy teaching. I have a degree (Speech teacher) from Geneseo in New York. My dad wanted me to have something to fall back on. I got a chance to do it a little bit (teach) as I was starting out as an actor. It was almost as much fun to see lights go on in their faces, where the task is to keep all this stuff interesting; to make it somehow relevant to them or important or worth listening too. It's a challenge every single time you step in front of the classroom, catch the audience, hold the audience, and see if you can ignite something in their imagination. It's a great, great career. And there have been people, along the way in my life, one or two in my life that did that that. Had that sort of passion and gift for it and again, changed the course of my life. So, I think that would be a wonderful thing to do, I think I would enjoy it.
It's the best thing in the world to watch the light go on in some kids eyes or they will say something to you a year later that something you actually said - stuck. That's acting as well, might as well be acting.
eFG: I saved the Roswell questions for last..
WS: Oh, Ok.
eFG: On Roswell, much as been made of the new season of Roswell turning more SCI Fi with the addition of Ron Moore (Star Trek) to the writing staff. What is your take on it and do you see any danger in too much SCI Fi?
WS: No. {laughs}
eFG: No?
WS: No. I think there's no danger in the SCI FI. I think the shift towards science fiction with Roswell is a good thing. I think it will only make it more interesting and more exciting and you can raise issues that you can't raise in the real world. If you can take us off into the world of science fiction, you can talk about anything and we will all go with you because it's science fiction. I don't think there is really any danger of us loosing the relationships we all have come to know and love, like the Max / Liz stuff and so on.
eFG: Hey, we're still pulling for the Valenti / Amy DeLuca pairing.
WS: {Laugh} Yeah, the Valenti / Deluca pairing. In the scripts that I have seen so far, down this more science fiction road, I have not seen a lessening of the relationships. If anything those relationships get a little more intense because they've turned the fire up on the other stuff, there's more jeopardy, there's more at stake - in a way. The game keeps shifting and they have to hold on to each other tighter because the ground is moving underneath them, you know what I mean? This world of theirs is flipping over.
eFG: Now you have me chomping at the bit - I can't wait!
WS: I think they are very good episodes. I like the new shows.
eFG: Your character, Sheriff Valenti, took a long road to discovery in the last season. If you were writing the show right now, where would you take him this season?
WS: My goodness. I love the great arc of Valenti's character last year from not knowing anything and being the hard ass sheriff to all the way around the corner to "I'm on your side, whatever you need, I'm here to protect you." I'm not exactly sure where they go from there. Like I say they've sort of upped the jeopardy and I can't really elaborate without giving away things that I have read already. But, his role as protector I think also has a journey within it. Sort of a whole new set of challenges to face because this is a whole new world. I mean, I don't know if you have ever actually tried to imagine what it would feel like. Like if you met somebody and they said they were from another planet, first you'd laugh in their face and if they insisted, you'd send for the men in the white coats. Then if you found out it was actually true, your world would flip upside down.
eFG: That's where the peril is.
WS: Your world would not ever be the same. It would be the most important piece of information, the most important event in that ever occurred in the world. More astonishing than the Revolutionary War, or D-Day, or walking on the moon, would be that there is someone among us who is not from here. It's almost impossible to get your mind around it. That's why I keep asking myself, "what would you do? What would you do?" You know?
eFG: And that is what you are drawing on when you play Valenti?
WS: Yeah. I mean, I just can't get over it, I can't comprehend how that would shift the universe for somebody. To know that, I mean I don't know how life can be the same after you know that.
eFG: I think that's the draw for the whole show. These people have all learned, discovered something that no one else knows and it's "Where do we go from here? What do we do?"
WS: Right, right.
eFG: "How do we handle it?"
WS: Yeah, exactly, exactly. And, then to throw people against them like the FBI and the Special Unit, or other aliens or whatever. I don't know, it's like the second coming or something. I mean it's just vast. And, you're responsible for it because you've been let in on the secret. You have to take a side, you have to protect them, guide them, help them, but Valenti has no idea where this is going and neither do I. I don't think the kids know. I don't think Max knows where this is all heading or Michael. That's part of the fun is that we all get to discover it as it unfolds and we all get to go "oh my god! Oh noooo! That can't happen." You know?
eFG: On your official web site..
WS: Yes {low, sexy voice,twinkling eyes and laughing}
eFG: www.williamsadler.com, you drop little tidbits about the behind-the-scenes antics and pranks while filming such as throwing grapes at Jason..
WS: Oh, just to keep him awake while I'm talking - right.
eFG: With the first episode completed, I guess I am making an assumption here, is the first episode completed and in the can, is that the phrase?
WS: Yes, in the can. It's in the can alright..{laugh}
eFG: Do you have a funny story about it you can relate to us now?
WS: Ummmm
eFG: {laugh} Wow - look at that face!
WS: Wow! I should have known you'd ask for a funny story! Oh gosh, oh golly!
eFG: Oh boy I put you on the spot! {laugh}
WS: Let's see.. the new season is sort of like coming back from summer school you know and you meet all your old friends and now your in twelfth grade and you've all been away for all this time. And, everybody's hair has changed and that's probably the best thing about the first week was getting used to everybody's hair, mine included. You know, watching Brendan fuss with his hair and the meetings up at the network about Brendan's hair. Um, I'm trying to get one specific, one specific funny thing that occurredand I can't!
eFG: Well if it pops into your head later, you can tell us.
WS: Well maybe just coming back and dealing with everybody's hair. {laugh} There were meetings and meetings and memos and phone calls about his (Brendan's) hair and "what are we going to do about his hair? What are we going to do about his hair?"
WS: It's no small thing. I think he looks good with that sort of "That Girl's" kind of hair cut myself. That sort of Marlo Thomas thing going. I think it's good.
eFG: Can you drop any spoilers?
WS: Oh, my. {sits forward}
eFG: Just little ones?
WS: Remember those little gizmos at the end of the last episode?
eFG: Yes, the communicators.
WS: The little communicators that went off all over the world? They're still going off. {big grin}.
eFG: Oh {laugh}
WS: Can I give you spoilers? What do you want me to spoil for you?
eFG: Tease the fans. Just little teasers..
WS: Ohhhhh..
eFG: If you don't want to, that's ok.
WS: Just tease them? Well ok, here's a hint. "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" OK?
eFG: Navajo?
WS: Some people will recognize it.
eFG: Ohhhh...?
WS: "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo"
eFG: Buddhist chant?
WS: I ain't saying anything else! {laughing}
eFG: Okay - {laughing}
WS: I ain't saying anything else and you ain't gonna get it
out of me! {laughing}