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August 13, 2004
Joshua Malina Interview
by Scott Juba
The Trades
For most actors, it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to appear in one Aaron Sorkin production. Joshua Malina has the elite distinction of having appeared in every Aaron Sorkin production. When I ask him what allows him and Sorkin to share such a great working relationship, he responds, “From my point of view, it’s very easy. The material is great, and anytime the phone rings and it’s Aaron on the other end, the answer from me is going to be yes.” He continues, “It’s sort of embarrassing for me to come up with what’s so great about me from Aaron’s point of view. I think, though, I really get his material. He writes in a way (where) he hears it in his head, and I think I deliver the dialogue the way he hears it.”
Now currently starring on Sorkin’s popular political drama, “The West Wing”, Malina joined the cast to fill the spot vacated by Rob Lowe. Yet, even with such big shoes to fill, Malina always felt confident that he could meet the challenge. “I felt no pressure whatsoever,” he tells me, “and I don’t know if that’s because I’m oblivious or confident. It never even crossed my mind. When you’re an actor, and somebody asks you to be on their hit show, it’s great. (The West Wing has) an amazing acting ensemble. Nobody was asking me to be the next Rob Lowe. If you look at us next to each other, there’s no confusing us [laughs]. I didn’t feel any pressure to fill his shoes or be like him. It was just a new, incredibly great Aaron Sorkin character.”
His lack of intimidation when joining such a talented cast is understandable. Malina has worked with some of the most celebrated actors in Hollywood, including Warren Beatty and Clint Eastwood, both of whom he has high praise for. “I learned a lot from Warren Beatty working on Bullworth, because there was an amazing openness to the way he worked,” Malina explains. “Here’s a guy who is incredibly smart and has a million ideas, but he still wants to begin by hearing your ideas.”
Malina credits working with Clint Eastwood as a terrific learning experience as well. “Working with Clint and observing him was a really good lesson in film acting, because he is so understated,” Malina comments.
Besides his role on “The West Wing” and the time he’s spent working in high profile film roles, Malina is also an executive producer on Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown”. “My friend Andy (Hill Newman) and I came up with the idea for it,” he tells me. “Andy and I are long time poker players and poker buddies, and we’ve been playing cards in Hank Azaria’s home game for about fifteen years. During a break in a poker tournament, we came up with the idea and the thing just sort of snowballed. It all happened at the right time with poker exploding on TV and everywhere. It’s been a complete joy.”
According to The Internet Movie Database, Malina used to play poker to pay his rent when he was a struggling actor. “That is perhaps a slight overstatement,” Malina responds to the report. “I was not a professional poker player, but there certainly were lean times when I wasn’t working much as an actor, and the fact that I made a regular profit playing poker definitely helped pay the rent.”
Although acting is one of the most difficult professions for someone to achieve success in, Malina makes his success look easy. Given the political nature of “The West Wing”, I ask Malina if he believes it takes the same qualities to excel in acting as it does to succeed in politics. “That’s a pretty astute observation,” he remarks. “I think it does, because I think there’s a tremendous amount of rejection in both. You need to keep coming back. You need to keep getting up off the canvas in order to succeed in most cases in both politics and acting. I’d say a thick skin and serious commitment are necessary in both.”
With an impressive list of acting roles already on his resume and the talent to assure more quality roles in the future, Malina is an actor whose career continues to flourish. He earns my vote as one of television’s most skilled and talented supporting actors. I have no doubt that he will continue to make his presence known on film and on television for years to come.
Posted by Jo at August 13, 2004 09:23 AM