PASADENA, Calif. _ Hopefuls often suffer trials and tribulations to become actors. But Philip Glenister had to slay a dragon. The British actor, best known here for "Kingdom of Heaven," "Life on Mars" and the series "Outcast," was 7 years old when he was cast in his first play.
"At primary school ... they let me play King George from 'King George and the Dragon.' I remember I had this little wooden sword, the red cross, and a sort of chain mail. And I had to slay the dragon," he says.
"And I remember all the girls were cheering me on, and I remember thinking, 'Oh, this feels GOOD! I'm liking this!' It's adoration. It was a natural kind of crazy thing, and it never quite goes away."
Although Glenister attempted several different ventures, that "crazy thing" never did leave him. It may be part of his DNA. His father is a director and his brother, Robert, is an actor. But Philip was slow to warm to the idea.
"I wasn't sure about acting, so I thought I'd go behind the scenes," he says. "So I went to a school where we had a headmaster who was only interested in Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, which as a 14-year- old wasn't really my gig."
Still he was cast in one of the musicals in a brief walk-on as a stagehand. "I had to come on stage in full costume, in this terrible white wig thing, and check that the set was all in place. So I had this big scroll and had to put it down and check that everything was there, then pick it up and walk off. So I come on, and the thing flips out of my hand by accident, and I have a panic. But it was a huge laugh, so I thought, 'Well, I'd better do this as a living.'"
At first he thought that he'd toil behind the camera. 'I used to work for an impresario called Robert Stigwood, who gave us the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton. I worked as a runner for them for a few years. Then I joined a publicity company called Dennis Davidson for a few years. By the time I went to drama school, I was about 20, which is a bit later than other people. Having had a brother who was an actor and a father who was in the business, I was kind of aware it wasn't going to be easy."
It hasn't been easy. Glenister, 56, has played everything from a Nazi commandant to a hapless Brit who transplants his Yorkshire family to a trailer park in Florida in "Living the Dream," premiering on Britbox May 14.
He has crossed the pond several times for both work and pleasure. "I think the first time I ever came to the states I was in drama school and had an American girlfriend at the time," says Glenister.
"And she had a holiday home _ I picked well _ she had a holiday home in Martha's Vineyard, so I went to Martha's Vineyard for the summer in 1988," he recalls.
"And I just loved Martha's Vineyard. I think it was the outgoing, the gregariousness of the Americans where everybody was so friendly _ even in restaurants _ and everybody couldn't do enough. It was this culture of pleasing.
"And if you did well at something there wasn't jealousy or envy. I still think that exists today. I think the Americans are not frightened if you make money or you do well, and they acknowledge that and are pleased for you. Whereas if you do it in England, certain governments want to tax the hell out of you. That really struck me. We do speak the same language, but we don't necessarily come off the same page."
Married to actress Beth Goddard _ with whom he has two daughters, 14 and 17 _ Glenister says she changed his life. They met at a party held by a mutual friend. "I knew of her professionally. I remember we chatted nonstop because we didn't know anybody else," he recalls.
"And I remember taking her to meet my mum and dad for the first time. We went to this steak restaurant and Beth went to the loo. And my mother said to me, 'She's bloody gorgeous!' As if to say, 'How did YOU manage that?'" he laughs.
In spite of the erratic nature of acting, Glenister manages to keep his cool. "I see it as fundamentally a job," he shrugs. "It's a job I try to do to the best of my abilities. I don't take myself or it too seriously. So, in that respect, I'm just grateful to keep working.
"I think you need three things: You need talent, technique and luck. And out of the three of them I guess what luck is is being at the right place at the right time."
ALBA RETURNS AS ONE OF THE 'FINEST'
After a four-year hiatus Jessica Alba is returning to series television with "L.A.'s Finest," premiering on Spectrum on Demand next Monday with its first three episodes. Alba costars with Gabrielle Union in this spinoff of the "Bad Boys" film series. Alba says she needed a respite from her heavy work schedule. "It was a combination of things, but I was really just waiting for the right thing," she says.
"And I've been acting since I was 12, and I just took a break when I had my first daughter. And after I had my third kid and a business that I had been working on for seven years, I get a call from Gabrielle Union, this beautiful actress that I respected for a long time, that I thought was super cool. And she really courted me.
"It's hard to say no to her ... She just said all the right things, and it felt really modern to tell this story of this friendship and this partnership of two women in a modern time, in a modern world," she says.
"You don't have to call out that we're women all the time; we're just people in the world that you want to hang out with. And we're going through it. And I think it's different for a show like ours to tackle more of the personal relationships and less of a procedural. And you really get to go on that journey with us."
Subsequent episodes of the 13-part series will air on Mondays.
RIBISI 'SNEAKS' BACK FOR SEASON 3
Giovanni Ribisi is back for Season 3 of the thriller "Sneaky Pete," on Amazon Prime beginning Friday. Ribisi plays the con-man who assumes the identity of another guy to escape a brutal gangster who's pursuing him.
Ribisi has found his wings in "Pete," but he has costarred in several memorable roles like those in "Avatar," "Boiler Room" and "Saving Private Ryan." About that pivotal part, Ribisi says, "I was the last person cast. I guess he (Steven Spielberg) was having a hard time finding somebody to play Wade ... I went over to his house and he was in the middle of editing 'Amistad.'
"It was me and this other actor we were kind of waiting _ we were going to talk to him separately _ but he said, 'Oh, great, we can do this together. OK?' So he had both of us talk to him. I felt awkward. It was really a relaxed meeting, was just kind of hanging out and talking in his office."
Once Ribisi was cast in the role of Wade, he had to die on camera. "It took a whole day to do the death scene," he recalls. "That was quite a remarkable experience in itself. I had this glucose fake blood and a layer of prosthetic makeup so blood could come out of the holes. And all these wasps started flying around. At the same time (I was) trying to concentrate, being stung all over the place, and trying to concentrate on the fact of losing my existence."
SINGLETON A MAN OF HONOR
It was heartbreaking to hear of director John Singleton's death last Monday. He was only 51. I remember him as a man of principle and honor who never played the "victim" card, though he grew up a latch-key kid.
He graduated from film school at the University of Southern California, which he attended through loans. The last time we talked, he told me, "I was in debt when I got out of SC. But right after I got out of SC, I paid off all my loans."
Then Singleton convinced Columbia Pictures to let him make his film "Boyz 'n the Hood." "Columbia gave me $6 million to make the movie," he said. "You've got to remember, I'm the first black kid to come out and become a film brat. I went to school with the express notion of graduating from film school and coming out a like a first-round draft pick in the NFL, but in the film business. I was going to get out of school and I was going to make a movie. And I did."
