{"id":5158,"date":"2009-10-23T05:29:03","date_gmt":"2009-10-23T09:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=5158"},"modified":"2009-11-03T10:12:01","modified_gmt":"2009-11-03T14:12:01","slug":"bruce-mcgill-law-abiding-citizen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=5158","title":{"rendered":"Bruce McGill & Law Abiding Citizen"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a character actor, Bruce McGill<\/a> never looks a gift horse in the mouth.<\/p>\n

So, when he was about to sign a contract to trade an acting gig for a free vacation, he was ready to sign on the dotted line. Then things changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was set to go on a cruise and swap doing a show for the vacation,\u201d says the 59-year-old performer.\u00a0 \u201cIt was a half hour from when the contracts came in the mail, when I got a call to be in Law Abiding Citizen. I looked at my wife and she looked at me in the eye and said, \u2018What have you been working all your life for?\u2019\u00a0 So I knew I had to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"McGill<\/dt>\n
McGill with Leslie Bibb and Jamie Foxx<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

McGill originally agreed to play the part of the mayor of Philadelphia, a city under siege courtesy of Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler<\/a>), an inmate waging a one-man war on Assistant D.A. Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx<\/a>) and his associates. It seems that years before, Rice allowed one of the killers of Shelton\u2019s wife and daughter to walk on a plea bargain, and the since-incarcerated Shelton is now orchestrating the destruction of all involved\u2014from his cell.<\/div>\n

The role of mayor would have called for a brief stint at the Philly location. \u201cThen after I agreed to two weeks work, they asked if I could do nine-and-a-half weeks instead,\u201d says McGill. It seems that the role of Assistant D.A. Jonas Cantrell, originally slated for Sir Michael Gambon<\/a>, needed to be recast. \u201cI usually sit around to hear if Gene Hackman sprained his ankle (so I can audition for a role). And that\u2019s what happened this time with Michael Gambon, who had some permit issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gambon\u2019s loss was McGill\u2019s gain, as the San Antonio native nabbed one of his biggest supporting roles to date in F. Gary Gray<\/a>\u2019s urban potboiler. Meanwhile, Oscar-nominated Viola Davis<\/a> (Doubt) got the smaller part as the mayor of the City of Brotherly Love.<\/p>\n

Since his attention-getting early screen role as \u201cD-Day,\u201d the gonzo frat boy who can play the William Tell Overture by tapping on his throat in National Lampoon\u2019s Animal House, McGill has been in scores of movies and TV series as a supporting actor. Among his credits are Silkwood, The Last Boy Scout, My Cousin Vinny, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Cinderella Man, W. and the recent Beyonce Knowles thriller Obsessed, and roles in three movies by Michael Mann (The Insider, Ali and Collateral), a director he calls \u201ctough but brilliant.\u201d McGill\u2019s television includes a starring part in the Animal House spin-off Delta House and the short-lived Semi-Tough, as well as stints on MacGyver, Star Trek: Voyager, and Numbers.<\/p>\n

McGill, at home in serious and silly efforts, thinks Gerard Butler is smart taking on roles that showcase his range. He credits the Scottish actor\u2019s work as Clyde Shelton, a nice guy inventor turned vigilante in Law Abiding Citizen, \u201ca real breakthrough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is designing his career very interestingly,\u201d says McGill. \u201cHe made the underwear movie which I call 300.\u00a0 And now he shows a side of him comfortable with high tragedy–and what Gerard Butler takes from it, it is high tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With thirty-plus years of experience working with the likes of Robert Redford, Ron Howard, Ridley Scott, Mike Nichols, Jonathan Demme, and Oliver Stone, one wonders if McGill would consider a shot at directing a film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in a lot of movies with a lot of good, thorough directors,\u201d says the goateed actor. \u201cIt is a monumental job, just in terms of workload. My job is fantastic\u2014I get a part, whether I earn it in an audition or they call and give it to me.\u00a0 I come and get a haircut and have a wardrobe fitting. I show up on the first day of shooting and given a nice little box I can sit in with a bathroom and where I can put my stuff. I got out and do my song and dance and on the last day I am needed, I\u2019m done, I\u2019m done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe director has to sell the project, get the gig, make sure the script is as good as they can possibly get it, cast it, hire the crew and make all the decisions before they shoot the thing. The set of skills needed to shoot the film is one thing, but the people skills are another thing all together and keep things from flying apart. It\u2019s really a lot pressure and nobody\u2019s getting enough sleep, if you\u2019re working everyday. And People say, \u2018Gee, what a great life!\u2019<\/p>\n

McGill says that Gray, director of Law Abiding Citizen, whose past credits include Friday, The Negotiator, Set It Off and The Italian Job, has what it takes to become a first-class filmmaker. \u201cHe has the passion to do it, and unwillingness to let himself be tired, and he\u2019s constantly attempting to get it better as he envisions it.\u00a0 Gary and (producer) Lucas Foster worked in lockstep, which is unusual. These guys would sit there and look at it, and Gary is secure enough to appreciate Lucas being there. Gary loves doing it, and all of the good ones do. The others start to direct and say \u2018Why do I do this? I\u2019m too tired.\u2019 I think of Robert Redford, who I did The Legend of Bagger Vance for. He was wrung out after the film, and he said, \u2018I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll do this again.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut of course he did, because he loves it.\u00a0 Gary has a major love for the process and he\u2019s still a young guy. He\u2019s done a lot, but he knows how to ride the bicycle now, and he\u2019s gonna take flight. I feel that this is a breakthrough film for him, too. The movie deals with moral and political issues, but even with those aside, it gives you a great ride.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a character actor, Bruce McGill never looks a gift horse in the mouth. So, when he was about to sign a contract to trade an acting gig for a free vacation, he was ready to sign on the dotted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":5159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-staff-notes"],"yoast_head":"\nCharacter Actor Bruce McGill Talks About His Acting Career<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Character actor Bruce McGill talks about his acting career and his new movie Law Abiding Citizen.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=5158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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