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David Patrick Kelly, a Character Actor Vibrating on His Own Plane David Patrick Kelly, a Character Actor Vibrating on His Own Plane
(5 days later)
David Patrick Kelly is nothing if not colorful.David Patrick Kelly is nothing if not colorful.
He has two black belts in karate, a pursuit he started about 30 years ago after he took a licking “defending a young lady’s honor in the streets.” He studied mime in Paris with Marcel Marceau. He introduced Bob Marley, Charles Mingus and Bruce Springsteen from the stage at Max’s Kansas City, the Lower East Side punk club. He has two black belts in karate, a pursuit he started about 30 years ago after he took a licking “defending a young lady’s honor in the streets.” He studied mime in Paris with Marcel Marceau. He introduced Bob Marley, Charles Mingus and Bruce Springsteen from the stage at the punk club Max’s Kansas City.
Arnold Schwarzenegger held him by an ankle and dropped him off a cliff in the film “Commando.” David Lynch took care to bring his (now) drug-addled character back to “Twin Peaks: The Return.” He has been quoted, in song, by the Wu-Tang Clan.Arnold Schwarzenegger held him by an ankle and dropped him off a cliff in the film “Commando.” David Lynch took care to bring his (now) drug-addled character back to “Twin Peaks: The Return.” He has been quoted, in song, by the Wu-Tang Clan.
Mr. Kelly, 66, also has a nearly five-decade résumé as a stage actor that has carried him from the grungy beginnings of New York’s downtown arts scene to work with some of the most adventurous playwrights of the moment.Mr. Kelly, 66, also has a nearly five-decade résumé as a stage actor that has carried him from the grungy beginnings of New York’s downtown arts scene to work with some of the most adventurous playwrights of the moment.
Earlier this year he appeared in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s “Everybody,” in which five of the roles were determined by a cast lottery each night. Through Oct. 29, he is in “I’ll Get You Back Again,” a play written by Sarah Gancher and directed by Rachel Chavkin (“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”), at the Round House Theater in Bethesda, Md.Earlier this year he appeared in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s “Everybody,” in which five of the roles were determined by a cast lottery each night. Through Oct. 29, he is in “I’ll Get You Back Again,” a play written by Sarah Gancher and directed by Rachel Chavkin (“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”), at the Round House Theater in Bethesda, Md.
His role — a famous, aging rocker whose niece returns home to take stock of her life — gives Mr. Kelly the chance to flex his guitar chops; he recently released an album that included material first recorded at CBGB in 1975.His role — a famous, aging rocker whose niece returns home to take stock of her life — gives Mr. Kelly the chance to flex his guitar chops; he recently released an album that included material first recorded at CBGB in 1975.
“The depth of [his] knowledge of this world of rock ‘n’ roll, experimental thought, anti-consumerism and political possibility is wild — it’s like the role was built for him,” Ms. Chavkin said by email. “He’ll just pause things for a moment to tell a story about this singer or that band, and it’s (happily) completely in line with this play. And the younger cast members, who are early-to-mid 20s, as well as myself and Sarah, just eat it up.”“The depth of [his] knowledge of this world of rock ‘n’ roll, experimental thought, anti-consumerism and political possibility is wild — it’s like the role was built for him,” Ms. Chavkin said by email. “He’ll just pause things for a moment to tell a story about this singer or that band, and it’s (happily) completely in line with this play. And the younger cast members, who are early-to-mid 20s, as well as myself and Sarah, just eat it up.”
Decades of karate and “knuckle push-ups” have kept Mr. Kelly compact and lean, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. When I saw him this spring in “Everybody,” he popped out of a seat a few rows behind me with a beard that made him look like an elfin Santa Claus. A few months later, clean-shaven and in an electric-blue suit, he was still a ball of energy. (A smaller beard is back.)Decades of karate and “knuckle push-ups” have kept Mr. Kelly compact and lean, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. When I saw him this spring in “Everybody,” he popped out of a seat a few rows behind me with a beard that made him look like an elfin Santa Claus. A few months later, clean-shaven and in an electric-blue suit, he was still a ball of energy. (A smaller beard is back.)
And his multifaceted intellectual interests were apparent in the first 15 minutes of an interview: He referenced Godard, Eisenstein and Artaud, the Polish experimentalist Jerzy Grotowski and the Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng, with whom he studied Asian theater techniques.And his multifaceted intellectual interests were apparent in the first 15 minutes of an interview: He referenced Godard, Eisenstein and Artaud, the Polish experimentalist Jerzy Grotowski and the Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng, with whom he studied Asian theater techniques.
It’s this voracious appetite that has kept him grounded, so to speak, in New York, rather than trying to parlay his Hollywood connections into a larger film career. He’d rather spend his time mastering karate in preparation for the Shakespearean generals he still hopes to play, or practicing mandolin with his 8-year-old daughter, a budding actress and violinist.It’s this voracious appetite that has kept him grounded, so to speak, in New York, rather than trying to parlay his Hollywood connections into a larger film career. He’d rather spend his time mastering karate in preparation for the Shakespearean generals he still hopes to play, or practicing mandolin with his 8-year-old daughter, a budding actress and violinist.
Mr. Kelly is a Detroit native; as a freshman at Wayne State University in 1969, one of his first drama instructors was a graduate student named Jeffrey Tambor. After graduating from the University of Detroit, he followed a friend to New York, taking a $25-a-night job at Max’s Kansas City, what he calls “the epicenter of everything.”Mr. Kelly is a Detroit native; as a freshman at Wayne State University in 1969, one of his first drama instructors was a graduate student named Jeffrey Tambor. After graduating from the University of Detroit, he followed a friend to New York, taking a $25-a-night job at Max’s Kansas City, what he calls “the epicenter of everything.”
He soaked in the budding Manhattan art world, wrote his own plays and jammed with his band in a bedroom that is now the rehearsal room of New York Theater Workshop.He soaked in the budding Manhattan art world, wrote his own plays and jammed with his band in a bedroom that is now the rehearsal room of New York Theater Workshop.
“My generation — late ‘60s, early ’70s — was very influenced by rock ‘n’ roll and circus techniques and bizarre theatrical things, because everything was getting more theatrical,” he said. “I think punk was a reaction to that.”“My generation — late ‘60s, early ’70s — was very influenced by rock ‘n’ roll and circus techniques and bizarre theatrical things, because everything was getting more theatrical,” he said. “I think punk was a reaction to that.”
He continues to challenge limits, getting the chance to play mandolin in the Dublin-set musical “Once,” which had a long, acclaimed Broadway run.He continues to challenge limits, getting the chance to play mandolin in the Dublin-set musical “Once,” which had a long, acclaimed Broadway run.
After all, he pointed out, “Shakespeare’s actors could do everything: They played instruments, they fenced, they danced, and they said those words.”After all, he pointed out, “Shakespeare’s actors could do everything: They played instruments, they fenced, they danced, and they said those words.”
The director Walter Hill cast Mr. Kelly in his first screen role, as the villain Luther in “The Warriors,” the cult classic that imagines a New York City divided among rival gangs. Mr. Kelly, at the film’s climax, improvised its most famous line, the one quoted by Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 debut album: “Warriors! Come out to play!” (“I think he’s dissonant in there,” he said of the rapper’s intonation.)The director Walter Hill cast Mr. Kelly in his first screen role, as the villain Luther in “The Warriors,” the cult classic that imagines a New York City divided among rival gangs. Mr. Kelly, at the film’s climax, improvised its most famous line, the one quoted by Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 debut album: “Warriors! Come out to play!” (“I think he’s dissonant in there,” he said of the rapper’s intonation.)
From there, he supplemented a steady stream of film and TV gigs — “48 HRS,” “Miami Vice,” “Moonlighting” — with headier stage commitments: “Woyzeck,” “Twelfth Night,” “Tartuffe.”From there, he supplemented a steady stream of film and TV gigs — “48 HRS,” “Miami Vice,” “Moonlighting” — with headier stage commitments: “Woyzeck,” “Twelfth Night,” “Tartuffe.”
“I’ve always appreciated kind of genre cinema — action films, things like that,” he said of his appreciation for “one-scene wonders” like the actors Eli Wallach or Bruce Dern. “Because you can kind of sneak in poetics and comments on the world.”“I’ve always appreciated kind of genre cinema — action films, things like that,” he said of his appreciation for “one-scene wonders” like the actors Eli Wallach or Bruce Dern. “Because you can kind of sneak in poetics and comments on the world.”
Poetics and “Commando”? Mr. Kelly’s ease moving between high- and lowbrow creative worlds has given him a certain respect for all the roles he is given. There is no reason, in his mind, not to imbue a smaller TV role with the same motivations used for a Greek classic onstage.Poetics and “Commando”? Mr. Kelly’s ease moving between high- and lowbrow creative worlds has given him a certain respect for all the roles he is given. There is no reason, in his mind, not to imbue a smaller TV role with the same motivations used for a Greek classic onstage.
“What’s the greatest idea? Why are we doing these things? Why are we doing this play?” Mr. Kelly said. “Forgive me if it sounds pretentious, but it’s Martin Heidegger: Language is being. ‘Language is the house of being, and we are the caretakers of being.’ If it’s cinematic language, or it’s literal poetry, that’s what gets me going.”“What’s the greatest idea? Why are we doing these things? Why are we doing this play?” Mr. Kelly said. “Forgive me if it sounds pretentious, but it’s Martin Heidegger: Language is being. ‘Language is the house of being, and we are the caretakers of being.’ If it’s cinematic language, or it’s literal poetry, that’s what gets me going.”
Mr. Kelly’s love for that cinematic language put him in David Lynch’s orbit when he was cast in the director’s 1990 film “Wild at Heart.” That role led to another in a TV series Mr. Lynch was planning: “Twin Peaks.”Mr. Kelly’s love for that cinematic language put him in David Lynch’s orbit when he was cast in the director’s 1990 film “Wild at Heart.” That role led to another in a TV series Mr. Lynch was planning: “Twin Peaks.”
“I was an actor who didn’t want to do television,” Mr. Kelly said. “Laura Dern and Nic Cage convinced me, they were the ones that said, ‘You should do this, it’s going to be something very special.’ ”“I was an actor who didn’t want to do television,” Mr. Kelly said. “Laura Dern and Nic Cage convinced me, they were the ones that said, ‘You should do this, it’s going to be something very special.’ ”
Mr. Lynch wrote Mr. Kelly into the story as the cheese-obsessed, sociopathic entrepreneur Jerry Horne. It was a small role, but the actor found a way to make it culturally significant.Mr. Lynch wrote Mr. Kelly into the story as the cheese-obsessed, sociopathic entrepreneur Jerry Horne. It was a small role, but the actor found a way to make it culturally significant.
“I based Jerry Horne on Ayn Rand, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ — this idea of the virtue of selfishness — and the National Enquirer version of the Kennedy brothers,” Mr. Kelly said. “If you read that and believed every bad thing about the Kennedy brothers that was in there, that’s what I tried to do.”“I based Jerry Horne on Ayn Rand, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ — this idea of the virtue of selfishness — and the National Enquirer version of the Kennedy brothers,” Mr. Kelly said. “If you read that and believed every bad thing about the Kennedy brothers that was in there, that’s what I tried to do.”
The show took off in 1990, but Mr. Kelly didn’t wait around for his Hollywood break: He had a Greek drama to do in Boston.The show took off in 1990, but Mr. Kelly didn’t wait around for his Hollywood break: He had a Greek drama to do in Boston.
“My agent said, ‘Are you nuts? This is the hottest thing on television!’” Mr. Kelly recalled, laughing. “I didn’t have a television, so I had to go to the sports bars in Boston and ask them, whenever it was on, I can’t remember when it was on, Thursday night, I think, if they could switch to ‘Twin Peaks.’”“My agent said, ‘Are you nuts? This is the hottest thing on television!’” Mr. Kelly recalled, laughing. “I didn’t have a television, so I had to go to the sports bars in Boston and ask them, whenever it was on, I can’t remember when it was on, Thursday night, I think, if they could switch to ‘Twin Peaks.’”
In Showtime’s recent 18-hour “Twin Peaks” return, his moments as Jerry Horne, now an edible-marijuana magnate too high on his own supply, were part of the absurdist glue that held the plot together.In Showtime’s recent 18-hour “Twin Peaks” return, his moments as Jerry Horne, now an edible-marijuana magnate too high on his own supply, were part of the absurdist glue that held the plot together.
Mr. Kelly’s countless bit parts have taught him, in Ms. Chavkin’s words, “to vibrate on his own plane.”Mr. Kelly’s countless bit parts have taught him, in Ms. Chavkin’s words, “to vibrate on his own plane.”
“We get taught there’s a way a ‘hero’ looks,’’ she explained. “Then there’s the ‘side story’ of the strange guy, which I think tends to be much more interesting.”“We get taught there’s a way a ‘hero’ looks,’’ she explained. “Then there’s the ‘side story’ of the strange guy, which I think tends to be much more interesting.”