Dylan McDermott: Dylan Unplugged

Q: What happened with your next film, the remake of Miracle on 34th Street?

A: That was the highest tested movie in Fox history, but there was a complete audience rejection of it.

Q: Your next movie was a doozy: Destiny Turns on the Radio, which costarred Quentin Tarantino. Did you take the role because you hoped it might lead to being cast in one of his films?

A: No, it was just another change-up--a totally quirky film with oddball characters.

Q: About this time you turned down the role Kyle MacLachlan inherited in Showgirls. How did you know to avoid that film?

A: I sat down with [my stepmother] Eve [Ensler]. She said, "This feels bad, you shouldn't do it." At the time I'd been lacking guidance, as you can see by the pictures I was in. Which is why I created a whole new team. I wanted to keep my identity separate from her, but this particular script, she said it wasn't right for me, and I listened.

Q: Did you learn anything from Jodie Foster when she directed you in Home for the Holiday?

A: Jodie was remarkable. She trusted me. And my costars, Robert Downey Jr. and Holly Hunter, are both brilliant actors.

Q: Robert Downey Jr. almost seemed to be playing himself, a manic, over-the-top prankster.

A: Robert's probably the most talented guy in Hollywood. His worst-day high can still be better than most people working stone-cold sober. It's remarkable how he can just be in the moment and make up stuff. He really is the king of improv. It's unfortunate he's in the situation he's in. He's a good friend of mine.

Q: Have you visited him in jail?

A: No, not yet.

Q: If he's a good friend, why haven't you?

A: Because I've been doing the TV show. And I just got back from Europe. Also, there's an element, too, that it's really sad that he's there. I've got to deal with my own feelings as well. But I plan on it.

Q: Your next effort, 'Til There Was You, was touted as the next Sleepless in Seattle.

A: Yeah, romantic comedies are the hardest movies to make. Maybe one works a year.

Q: Then comes Three to Tango, which you promoted highly before it tanked.

A: It was terrible, but I hadn't done a movie in a while and "The Practice" wasn't anything at that time--it was almost canceled. So I felt like, man, I'd better do a movie, because if this thing gets canceled, I'm fucked. My representation at the time pushed me into doing Three to Tango. But I'll take the fall for it. I'm the one who said yes.

Q: Do you regret many of your choices?

A: I believed in all of my movies at the time. But I think I've had my fair share of bad movies. My quota is now full.

Q: Your Tango costar Oliver Platt turned down the role of Bobby Donnell in "The Practice" before you were offered it--did you thank him?

A: Yup, every day. While we were filming Tango, "The Practice" started taking off.

Q: Did you ever feel as if you were lowering your standards by taking a TV series?

A: When I started the show I thought, "Oh look at me, I'm coming from the movies so this show is going to be an instant success. And then it didn't do as well as "NYPD Blue," the show that was in the time slot before it. That's when there was talk of canceling it and I felt anxious. Luckily, we were eventually moved to Monday night and crossed over with "Ally McBeal."

Q: You've said that Bobby is the greatest character you've ever played, and that if you never worked again, this would have been enough. Nice quote, but true?

A: If I never worked again? [Nervous laugh] It's certainly one of the defining moments in my career, but that would be a lot of hours watching "The Practice" over and over. I'm a little hungrier now. Who knows how many years I'm going to do it?

Q: Do you have the willpower to turn down, say, $750,000 per episode if that were ever offered to you?

A: That's hard to turn down. My theory about actors is we're all walking milk cartons. Expiration dates everywhere. It's a trap and also a gift. Sometimes the money protects you so you won't have to work in a grocery store.

Q: How did you feel when your "The Practice" costar Camryn Manheim said about you: "The man is liquid sex. He's a walking orgasm."

A: I'm certainly flattered.

Q: You're a sex symbol and a married man. How does your wife handle this?

A: She's pretty cool with it. She's not one to get overly jealous. Her being cool with it makes it easier for me. If she was always hounding me about it, it would be a lot harder than it is right now, I feel like if it helps me get to where I want to go, then I'm OK with it.

Q: And where you want to go is?

A: To make great movies like To Kill it Mockingbird. High Noon. Taxi Driver. The Conversation.

Q: Who would you consider the sex symbol of the last 10 years?

A: Tom Cruise is right there--he's kept that ring of being the biggest star and having the most sex appeal at the same time. And Julia Roberts would have the honors for the women.

Q: If you were to do a love story, who would you like to work opposite?

A: Meg Ryan.

Q: In a drama or a romantic comedy?

A: Drama. I'm good at it. Comedies are a snaggletooth.

Q: Besides Meg, what other women do you think you'd have chemistry with?

A: Heather Graham. Sandra Bullock. Julianne Moore.

Q: Are there any films that caught you about sex when you were younger?

A: Last Tango in Paris and Belmondo's Breathless.

Q: Last Tango had a lot of kinky sex. Did you buy a lot of butter after you saw it?

A: I was only about 13 then and that was so far out. But I definitely wanted a piece of what he was doing.

Q: Were there any stars you fantasized about at that time?

A: Jacqueline Bisset in The Deep, with that wet T-shirt. And Farrah Fawcett. Mia Farrow.

Q: What was it about Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Humphrey Bogart, Steve McQueen that caught your interest as a teenager?

A: There was an element where you could grow as an actor with your body of work. Nowadays you really have to pump out that blockbuster in order to have the luxury of getting a body of work, and that's sad because the work suffers. Today everything is based on money. The older actors, they inspire me.

Q: Which actor has defined what being a man is to you?

A: Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird is still the ultimate performance of someone you'd want to be. You look at that and you say, "Holy shit, this is the ideal, the ultimate of what movies arc."

Q: How much did your stepmother, Eve, motivate you to pursue acting?

A: Eve cultivated my mind at a very early age. She pushed me into being an actor, which helped me channel my energy.

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