A Day with Danny DeVito

For those of you young creative 'uns out there: If you haven't heard of Theatre Royal Haymarket's Masterclasses then listen up. These are free (for under 30's and there's a membership scheme for those over that age) talks, Q&A's and other forms of discussion each hosted by a different professional, experienced and often well-known actor, director or playwright. Sometimes other creative disciplines are profiled - one memorable experience at Masterclass was having the multimedia theatre company Forkbeard Fantasy show us examples of their work and explain how they created it. Sometimes 

the class is an opportunity to ask questions about an actor's career, other times a few lucky audience members become participants and get the chance to work on a song or monologue with a prolific mentor. Often sessions become a chance for participants simply to ask the questions they never thought they'd get to ask to someone they never thought they'd get to meet. I've been to lots of these classes sporadically over the last few years with hosts including Patricia Hodge, Bill Nighy, Clarke Peters, Patrick Stuart, Sienna Miller & Sheridan Smith. Yesterday I was lucky enough to nab one of the extremely quickly disappearing tickets to see Thea Sharrock and Danny DeVito in conversation. It was such good fun I thought I'd share a little of it here with you: 

When Thea Sharrock and Danny DeVito entered the stage together they looked such a mismatched couple. Tall and slender, Sharrock strolled quickly across the stage and folded herself gracefully into her chair. DeVito, on the other hand, short and rotund and wearing crocs, padded comically to his chair, his crazy upstanding hair and wisecracks immediately eliciting amusement from the audience. It went from good to better as they both let the audience know they were fine with photos and would take questions at any point since, as Sharrock pointed out, while she was meant to be holding a conversation with him about his career, in reality DeVito would tell the stories he wanted to regardless of the questions she actually asked. 

The relationship between the two was really playful and it seemed they'd obviously enjoyed the process of working together. It was a big surprise to hear that the current production of The Sunshine Boys in the West End is the first time DeVito has been on the stage in 30 years! They discussed the differences in the rehearsal process for theatre and film, and despite DeVito berating Sharrock "You make it sound like we just mess around on the set of It's Always Funny in Philadelphia. We do have writers you know!" he admitted that TV was an opportunity to use the script as a launchpad for further development through improvisation rather than having the discipline of being true to every word, pause and punctuation mark in the script as one does in a theatre setting. 

On how the team on Sunshine Boys worked together, DeVito had nothing but praise for Thea Sharrock and his co-star Richard Griffiths. He  said he thought that peoples' preconceptions of him might be that of an asshole Hollywood diva and noticed that the producer, Sonia Friedman, was very much walking on eggshells around him during the first week of rehearsal. He laughed as he told the story of how he broke the ice when, after noticing her creeping around outside the rehearsal room, he suddenly started throwing furniture around the rehearsal room and screaming and swearing until he was certain she had just imagined all her money and reputation flying straight out of the window. Grinning he said, "We let her in on the secret though didn't we?". "Yeah," replied Sharrock. "After we wiped away her tears". 

At times DeVito seems really a normal guy (kicking his shoes off, scratching his legs "What!? It's hot up here!" and blowing raspberries at the audiences) and at other times it hits you what a massive Hollywood legend he is as stories about David Mamet, Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen, Tim Burton and more abound. DeVito is a real storyteller, a joker and, clearly, an entertainer. We heard how, during a screening of Hoffa at 20th Century Fox, DeVito held a garbage can for a desperate Jack Nicholson to pee into while they both continued watching the film. His first telephone conversation with Woody Allen is rehashed as "Hey Danny. Nice to speak to you...blah blah blah...Really enjoy your work....blah blah blah...Big fan...blah blah blah" and he explains about how he had to do a heart attack/falling down the stairs scene where Woody Allen entered and had one line. "I had to fall down those stairs nine times" said DeVito. "Finally Woody managed to get his line right". On his first conversation with Sharrock: "I got a message telling me he was waiting for my call," she said. "So I called. And what was the very first thing you ever said to me?" "I said," remembers DeVito. "I said 'Look I gotta bone to pick with you! You never offered me the role of the kid in Equus!" "Our first conversation," said Sharrock dryly. 

DeVito has a story about everyone. As an audience member asks a question about Woody Allen, DeVito quickly pipes up with "Now here's an interesting story bout Woody Allen" and goes off in another conversational direction and Sharrock, vindicated, quips "Welcome to my world". Some actors get a bit panicky about holding a Masterclass, DeVito seemed right at home. 

While the whole session was entertaining, it wasn't all fun and games. Obviously a hard worker, DeVito had a lot of useful advice to share. He talked about developing a character and how it isn't always necessary to share everything you're thinking about or creating with the rest of the cast and/or the director. He said that on One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest he looked into Martini's backstory. He knew that, in the past, Martini had been a gunner in the war and had nearly drowned. He used this in his development of the character, having Martini constantly sit on his feet in response to still being aware of  the memory of the water on them. He said that no one needed to know why he was doing that but it helped him to find that character, it's physicalities and emotions. He also spent the day in a psychiatric day room, not interacting but just observing, and trying to see where Martini's mental state would fit in. He complimented Sharrock on her feedback, commenting on how important it was for the director to have a clear point of view of the piece and its characters. 

His main aim, he says, is always being 'in the now', always being focused on the current project or opportunity rather than worrying about "Well, what will I be doing in five years". He didn't go into the profession with a set game plan other than knowing that, ultimately, he wanted to be involved in movies in LA. His past body of work might be impressive but also includes Theatre in Education, short films and summer stock. Taking opportunities where and when they come is essential. He said, "Stay right in the moment. Keep your eyes open and keep working". 

http://www.masterclass.org.uk/