What the experience of, you know, going from, you know, wanting to do something to suddenly being on set, do you remember that first sort of moment when you were on set and the nerves and that experience?

The nerves, yeah.

Yeah.

Even with Ruthless People, you know, you never know what's gonna happen.

And, um, uh, Dale Launer was the writer that, and I was talking to him after we had made the movie, and he said, "Do you know they almost fired you after your first day of shooting?" And I said, "No, I had no idea what was going." And they, um, it was the first day of shooting was a scene where I'm in Griffith Park in, uh, Los Angeles, supposedly looking at a car with a man and a woman inside, and I think he's killing her.

And, um, it turns out, no, in fact, they're having a very pleasant sexual thing.

But, um, I, we had gotten, um, uh, we were all set up.

[laughs]

Just introduce us to the movie and where you fit into the story.

Bill Evans was, uh, uh, somebody that I was not really aware of before I began to get, think about getting involved with the project, but, uh, have since appreciated his uniqueness.

And as a musician friend of mine said, "You know, we all thought that this guy was from another planet." You know? And, uh, clearly he had his own signature with Miles Davis and doing Kind of Blue, you know, which was this hugely important jazz album, and he was, well, played with Miles.

But then this particular story is about an aspect of his life that's centered around June 1961 when he had, uh, set up with a trio, with, uh, Paul Motian on drums, and then particularly Scott LaFaro on bass, and they had a two-week, I think I'm getting this right, but I'm, I'm just-

Sounds about right to me

... saying what I remember, but, uh, I could be way off.

But, uh, two weeks in June, and after the first week, people said, "This is really special combo, that something's happening here.

We better try to get some live recordings." And they did two albums out of there, but, mm, Sunday at the Vanguard was one, and Waltz for Debbie, I, as the other, um, one.

Bill Pullman told me earlier today about the impact of that first encounter with the RSC.

Well, it was 1974.

Okay.

I was going to college in a small upstate New York college that had some kind of flyer that was talking about international studies of British theater.

And you could go with this group and all kinds of things would be provided.

And I...

You know, I was in London most of the time, and I took voice classes in the night school.

How do you look back on that film and the impact that it had on you and the impact that you've had in that role? Because people do still quote it, they do still love watching it back.