RIDE ’EM COWBOY
Sam Elliott dishes on his famous mustache, successful marriage and fax machine
YOU know Sam Elliott. Either by face — specifically, facial hair — or by voice. If Morgan Freeman’s is the “voice of God,” Elliott’s gravelly cowboy baritone might just be the voice of America. In “The Hero,” out Friday, he plays Lee Hayden, who’s similarly a Western icon, but who, unlike Elliott, is struggling to keep his life together.
The 72-year-old actor chatted with The Post about his new film, staying happily married and maintaining that famous ’stache. He began by thanking us for calling him “cinematic Zen” in our Sundance Film Festival review of the film.
You’re welcome! Do you think of yourself as a Zen guy?
Oh, gosh, I don’t know. I think I feel some kind of Zen, although I probably haven’t even got a clue what that means. I think my laconic way of being kind of lends itself to that. I’m a little bit on the easygoing side.
It’s not a very laconic time in our culture, is it?
It’s insane. I’ve stopped watching [the news], I can’t stand it anymore. The noise factor. Nobody will shut up and listen. I never — well, rarely — go online. I’ve got a cellphone. That’s as far in as I can go. I don’t do Facebook, I don’t Twitter. I don’t have an e-mail address. Sounds good to me. A lot of people tell me that, although I get pressure from my business associates: “This would be a lot easier if you’d get an e-mail instead of having it faxed.” I have a stateof-the-art fax machine. It’s a beautiful thing.
How much of your experience as a veteran actor is in “The Hero”?
Brett [Haley, the director] and his writing partner decided to write a script for me. A lot of things in it came from having a dialogue with them. That said, I don’t have cancer, I love my wife and daughter dearly, I don’t smoke pot, and I don’t drink much. So there’s that. But there is this thing where I’ve been pigeonholed as this Western actor. The difference is that I didn’t screw it up. Lee Hayden screwed it up.
You got to work with Nick Offerman again, whose Eagleton counterpart, Ron Dunn, you memorably played on “Parks and Recreation.”
The nice thing about this movie was we didn’t go shaking the bushes for actors. We thought of who we wanted and those people said yes. Offerman is such a sweet guy. He and I kind of have similar mannerisms about us. But he happens to be a genius on many levels, and nobody’s ever gonna accuse me of that.
And you got to work with your wife, Katharine Ross. You both have enduring careers and a Hollywood marriage of over 30 years. What’s your secret?
Some people want to be married. I happen to be one of them. I love coming home to a domestic life. I love having responsibilities. I love to be able to share all of this with Katharine and [our daughter,] Cleo.
Do you have a treatment regimen for your mustache? Nope, it’s just there. I keep it clean. That’s my only regimen. I’ve got a lot of hair on my head. I keep it clean and, you know, well-oiled or well-whatever. It’s a real blessing; it allows me to change my look. I’ve had beards, long mustaches, short mustaches, no hair.
Do you ever worry when you shave your head for a role that it won’t come back?
Nope. I don’t think it’s ever gonna not come back.