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Actor, director, playwright, songwriter, comedian -- is there anything Alan Arkin can’t do? A veteran of classic films from the ‘60s and ‘70s like “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” and “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (for which he got Oscar nominations) and “Catch-22, ” it wasn’t until 2006’s “Little Miss Sunshine” that Arkin got his Oscar.
In the early ‘60s, Arkin and a friend wrote “The Banana Boat Song,” which went on to become a smash hit for Harry Belafonte. A few years later, he co-founded Chicago's famed Second City. This weekend he stars in “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” about a middle-aged woman who questions her past and present relationships. Arkin plays her husband, a successful New York City publisher who attempts to nurse her through her midlife crisis while suffering one of his own.
Here, he talks about getting older, winning the Oscar and telling Orson Welles to f-- off.
Do you know guys like your character in this movie?
A lot of them.
Did you go and talk to them for insight?
No, I leave that to Nick Nolte. Nick cracks me up. Love working with him, but he researches everything. He once had to play an actor. He spent two months researching, talking to actors to find out what it was like.
In the movie, you’re a lot older than your wife. What makes you feel old?
Standing up.
Really?
I feel fine. It just takes longer to stand up.
Do other people tell you you’re getting older?
There’s a great Joseph Campbell line. People said, after he retired, people said, “What does it feel like to be getting older?” He said, “I’m not old. I’m still 28 years old.” He said, “There’s just something wrong with my body!”
They pull the plug on you in the movie. Do you have a stance on euthanasia?
I think it all depends on the individual person. There are a lot of laws that I don’t believe have a right to be imposed. The Buddhists have a saying: “The man in the street lives by 64 immutable laws. But if he’s a smart man in the street, he lives by 32 immutable laws. But if he’s a wise man in the street, he lives by 16 immutable laws. When he becomes a holy man, he lives by eight immutable laws. When he becomes a great holy man, he lives by four immutable laws. When he becomes a Buddha, he lives by two immutable laws. When he becomes a Great Buddha, one. Then finally he lives by no laws at all.”
To me, that says the more love you have in your heart, the less laws you need because your love includes the needs of the people that you deal with.
Back in the '60s you made your directorial debut Off Broadway with a play that gave Dustin Hoffman his big break.
