Reed Birney
In 1974, at age 19, Reed Birney dropped out of Boston University and came to New York to become an actor. “I was ambitious and I wanted to get going,” he tells BARBARA HOFFMAN. “I’ve been here ever since.” After winning a Tony for “The Humans” in 2016, this minister’s son is playing a man who’s lost his faith in off-Broadway’s “Man From Nebraska.” For the past 42 years, Birney has been the man from the Upper West Side, where he lives with his two children and his wife, Constance Shulman, aka Yoga Jones of “Orange Is the New Black.” Says the 62-year-old, proudly: “When a new season drops, she can’t go 10 feet without someone recognizing her.” Here’s where you might recognize him.
I was doing a commercial for Maalox 20 years ago and overheard the producer talking about this little [Upper West Side] gym called SlowBurn. I heard her say, “It’s a half-hour workout,” and I thought, “That’s for me!” It’s one of those 10-second-up, 10-seconddown repetition things, so in half an hour, you’ve had the most rigorous workout you can imagine. We have a pet lizard, a Uromastyx. We bought Jake 14 years ago for our son, who’s allergic to dander. Unfortunately, Jake has no personality at all, but he’s still here. He’s about 14 inches long and a vegetarian, which is appealing. We walk him in front of the building mostly — Connie got him a leash — but some Sundays we’ll take him for a walk in Central Park and let him sit in the sun for about 45 minutes. Then, we’ll take Jake home and go to French Roast, on 85th and Broadway. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a Parisian bistro, and you can get a lovely little brunch there. It’s open 24 hours. They have eggs and bacon, but they also have steak frites. I love walking from the Upper West Side to Times Square. There’s not a street between my home and there that isn’t jampacked with memories and ghosts — not a corner where some huge event didn’t happen in my life. So it’s always a sentimental journey. At the same time, I’m keenly aware of how the city is a living organism — that’s new, that’s changed, that went out of business. [That’s why] I love Old John’s Luncheonette. Even though it’s near Lincoln Center, it feels as though only New Yorkers know about it. It’s a real oldfashioned New York coffee shop, and those are becoming harder and harder to find. You can go in and get a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of chicken noodle soup and be as happy as you could possibly be.