Saturday matinees inspired Elliott
First there’s the voice, that distinctive sonorous baritone. Then the thick silver hair and the handlebar mustache that would fit in perfectly in a saloon in the Old West.
Sam Elliott is instantly recognizable. It’s part of the reason he’s been working in Hollywood for nearly five decades in almost 100 roles. He’s been on countless TV series, including the original “Mission: Impossible,” “Justified” and his current part in the Netflix series “The Ranch,” which has been renewed for a second season (the second part of Season 1 is streaming). His movies includes such films as “Lifeguard,” “Mask” and of course the cult classic “The Big Lebowski.” He’s been married to actress Katharine Ross (“The Graduate”) for 32 years.
Elliott discussed his long career over lunch in BelAir, Calif. And yes, he is as charming as you would hope. This is an edited transcript.
“I’ve wanted to do this since when I was a little kid.”
Q: Was there a certain movie or actor that inspired you to become an actor?
A: I’ve wanted to do this since when I was a little kid. There were lots (of inspirations). I used to go to the Saturday matinee every Saturday.
Q: I would imagine you were a John Wayne fan.
A: Yes. “The Searchers,” films like that … “The Quiet Man.” I was going to the (movie) theater and having that experience and thinking, “Wow, that’s incredible.” Then, later on in high school, I was always in plays. I was always in the choir, always in vocal ensembles. My mom dragged me to sing in the church choir — the Congregational church — when I was like 5 years old. That’s where it began.
Q: Speaking of John Wayne, did you ever meet him when you began working in the late 1960s?
A: I went and got John Wayne’s autograph. He was doing “The Shootist,” his last film. I had this collection of water-colored prints called a John Ford Collection — beautiful paintings done by 14 of his favorite 20 actors he ever worked with. Wayne was among them . ... I went in and talked with him for a few minutes. He didn’t know me from Adam, but he knew I was an aspiring actor.
Q: You recently finished indie feature film “The Hero,” directed and co-written by Brett Haley of “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” in which you play the lead.
A: I’m on every single page in this script. Brett Haley and I traveled a lot for press junkets for “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” Got very close. Became fast friends. We were trekking around the country, and I talked about a lot of stuff. We got to know each other, and he wrote this script based on all that conversation. He put together a brilliant presentation. But it was so personal in so many ways that I was like, “Wow, are we really going to do this?”
Q: Your wife, Katharine, is in it too.
A: Katharine plays (my character’s) ex-wife. Something else that was great about this was seeing Katharine work again. Susan King is a freelancer.