Ever the Twain Shall Meet

Keep the clock tickin' and the calendar rippin'.

In a mere 20 years, Hal Holbrook will have been Mark Twain as long as Mark Twain was Mark Twain. And if you don't believe that two decades hence, the now-83-year-old actor could still play the American treasure who lived to 74 in a show now in its 54th year, you underestimate the stamina and talent of the Oscar-nominated star of the remarkably enduring "Mark Twain Tonight!"

We chatted up the folksy sage -- a description applicable both to the role and the gentle, genial actor -- as he brings the show that began as a college project in 1954, to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Saturday:

Question: Congrats on your recent Oscar nomination for "Into the Wild." What was it like going through the awards season?

Answer: It was (laughs) ... I never went through anything like that before. It was exciting but it turned into very hard work. Every day you have to go somewhere. It's not like I'm sitting around doing nothing.

Q: Yours was a very popular nomination. Did you know Entertainment Weekly said they'd be tempted to lodge a protest if you weren't nominated?

A: Yeah, well (laughs). It was pretty tough competition because everybody else had a very large part. It was very satisfying to do the film, because I loved working with (director) Sean (Penn). He doesn't intrude on you. He gives you this confidence. Even though he's right there quietly at your elbow all the time, he doesn't analyze everything, and you get the feeling whatever comes out is going to be OK. It was a wonderful freedom.

Q: You worked with Emile Hirsch on that film. Do younger actors seek out your advice?

A: No, they don't. When you get old like me and had a certain level of success, some other actors are too shy to cozy up, or too respectful. They don't want to intrude upon you. And I don't believe older people should go around telling younger people how to behave or do this or that. Besides, most good acting is done without a lot of conversation. It's done on instinct. You don't sit down and talk about it and analyze it. That's a lot of BS, a residual from the overstressed time when we had the Method. ... It was ridiculous. You just have to shake yourself down, get rid of all the little twitches and don't talk about it, just do it.

Q: Why does doing "Mark Twain Tonight!" still appeal to you after 54 years?

A: I get to say things that need to be said about things going on in our world, some sort of intelligent commentary on what we're doing to ourselves. I've never found anybody who could comment on these things in a more effective way than Mark Twain. You don't have to go to Harvard to understand him. You could be standing in the middle of an Iowa cornfield with a hoe in your hand and understand what he's saying because he has a way of analyzing and using idioms that are right down to the earth. But at the same time, they contain an amazing amount of wisdom. One of my favorite quotes, almost a mantra for the show, is: "When you find yourself in the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." That's loaded.

Q: Does Twain's 19th-century wisdom hold up in a 21st-century world?

A: All I do is leave out the name of a president or a corporation or a criminal or a war and my God, you'd think he was talking about something in the newspaper this morning. It never ceases to amaze me. You realize that not much changes in human nature. We try to convince ourselves it's not true, but it's a big 360-degree circle.

Q: Have you been alternating Twain material in the show?

A: I've added in "The War Prayer," from an essay he wrote, a very powerful statement about war. I took it off during the first Gulf War and I didn't want to put it on again in this war even though it became evident we'd made a big mistake and got trapped. But last fall, I could almost hear Mark Twain knocking at my head saying, "It's time, it's time."

Q: Did you imagine when you started out you'd have this kind of career longevity?

A: I'm surprised at the level of -- I hate to say this when talking about myself -- but the level of craftsmanship I've attained and the respect people have paid to me, which means a great deal. They respect my acting. I've never been like a "moooovie star," you know? I'm an actor, the thing I wanted to be since I stepped onto a stage my senior year in high school.

Q: You may not be a "moooovie star," but haven't you outlasted most of them?

A: Yes (laughs). You know, people stop me on the street or in air terminals and they compliment me on my work. That's the word they use, "I want to thank you for the work you've done." Not any specific thing. That's been in the last number of years, and that's really nice.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.