Every Act of Life – Outfest

By starrymag | August 13, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Sam Harris – Actor, Singer

 

Q) What drew you to be a part of this project?

 

A) Terrence [McNally] is an American icon. We have four thousand mutual friends and I am completely informed and influenced and inspired by his work and his history. I think what separates Every Act of Life from a lot of other things is the personal aspect of it. He has a rich history, not only in his work and writing for Broadway, but also just in the community in what he’s seen and been through alone is worth watching.

 

Q) What is the first play you saw by him?

 

A) Oh my God! Gee, I don’t know! The great thing about Terrence is that he’s equally efficient in drama and comedy and musicals. It’s really unusual that he has that understanding because they’re completely different projects. I can’t even remember what the first thing I saw was. He’s also just such a good guy.

 

Q) Yes, I’ve actually seen the documentary and that completely shined through! He seems like the type of guy you want to sit down and have dinner with.

 

A) Totally, but you’ll never get an appointment. [Laughs] I don’t mean you in particular—he’s just so busy!

 

Q) Maybe he can pencil me in for some time in 2020.

 

A) [Laughs] Exactly!

 

 

Jeff Kaufman – Director, Writer, and Producer

 

Q) How did you initially meet Terrence and get the idea to do this project?

 

A) Marcia Ross and I have done a wide range of documentaries. We’ve done films about human rights in Iran, in Haiti championing women’s rights, about jazz in Harlem the 1930s…a lot of different things. We were doing a documentary about the three women who pioneered the marriage equality movement and so much of what came afterwards is really due to their amazing but kind of unsung work. We wanted to tell a story of a couple who came to Vermont to get married and we found out that Terrence McNally and his husband Tom came to Vermont and had a civil union there. Fortunately, I had a mutual friend who knew Terrence and we kind of made this introduction. There was a long period of going back and forth, but that’s what kind of started it all. I must say, if he was a diva or unpleasant we never would have done it. But as a person, he is as great as his work.

 

Q) I saw the documentary and was blown away by how nice and down-to-earth he seems.

 

A) He’ll also strip all these layers off and be so honest, like when he was going through a breakup with Dominic, when his lover was cheating on him. He doesn’t have a facade. He’s just raw.

 

Q) Were you a fan of his plays before you decided to do this?

 

A) Oh yeah.

 

Q) Do you remember the first play you saw?

 

A) Marcia would because she grew up outside of New York. I grew up in Seattle, so I used to trudge off and see movies every Saturday for free. Marcia would do the same thing with theatre, so from the age of like eleven on she saw every play imaginable. Love! Valour! Compassion! Obviously, The Ritz, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, Masterclass—those are amazing plays. I just saw a version of Masterclass about four months ago. It lives on. They’re the kind of plays that people just keep rediscovering. Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.

 

Q) Why do you think this documentary is so timely? Why do you think it’s so important in this day and age?

 

A) For one thing, we’re seeing rights that we thought that we’d won rolled back. Terrence has always—not in a super flag-waving way but in a passionate way—shown that the arts always sort of set the example of what we should be and that’s more important than ever.

 

Q) Do you have any advice to aspiring filmmakers?

 

A) I would say know as much as you cannot just about your art, but all the arts and the way people live their lives, not just in TV or movies but through personal experience. And work really hard because if you don’t work hard, it’s not going to happen.

 

 

Photo (L to R): Stephanie Faracy, Jeffery Richman, Rita Moreno, Swoosie Kurtz, Jeff Kaufman, Marcia Ross, Sharon Lawrence