Sam Waterston talks Great Gatsby, wealth disparity, and other favorite topics

Boston Globe

6 hours ago

'I've been asking myself, 'Why are you saying yes to all these things?' And I think the real motive is: it's an opportunity to say thank you,' the 84-year-old said. 'You get to the end of the play, you bow and the audience applauds. I get to thank the audience for applauding.'
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Born in Cambridge and reared in North Andover, Waterston spent some childhood summers in Rhode Island, and has a home near Buzzards Bay.
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Sam Waterston attends Oceana's 2022 New York Gala at The Rainbow Room on September 13, 2022, in New York City.
Santiago Felipe/Getty
With his characteristic avuncular manner, Waterston talked by phone from a home in Connecticut about F. Scott Fitzgerald, climate change — he's a
What first drew you to acting?
The first play I was in was directed by my father at the school where he taught. It hooked me.
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I know your first love was Shakespeare. You eventually landed TV and film roles. It must've been huge to get 'Gatsby.'
Oh, I
wanted
it. My
teeth hurt.
It
shows
when you want the part badly. I'm convinced that's among the most important factors. If your eyes are bleeding and you're still able to play the part, it's persuasive to the director.
What drew you to Nick instead of Gatsby?
Oh, everything. Plus, the part was already cast — Robert Redford had it.
But Nick is such an interesting character. 'Gatsby' is one of those books I need to read every year, because I get something new from it every time. It's so full of humor and irony.
Have you seen other versions of the movie?
I haven't. The one I really want to see is the 1949 version, [starring
Is there anything specific you're looking to discuss in Newport?
We are now 100 years away from the world Fitzgerald was describing, and the fundamental question— How much wealth is
too much
? — is still alive and well in this country.
You work with
,
Earth's oceans. You were at
.
You know, the world's enthusiasm for saving itself ebbs and flows. Oceana has been steadily making a difference for 25 years. I don't know whether anybody will ever say thank you.
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I was in France making a movie once. We were at the beach. There was an undertow. You could feel the tug. Further out than I was a little kid crying for help. I went out and grabbed him. In a dip between waves, I
threw
him towards the beach as hard as I could. He ran onto the beach and never looked back.
I think if we get out from under this climate thing, we will never look back. We will just have been so frightened.
You still have a house in Buzzards Bay. How long have you lived there?
My great-grandfather at the end of the Civil War, when you could buy houses down there for 10 cents in the dollar because the whaling business had collapsed — cities were getting sooty, people were trying to figure out how to get their kids out of the city for the summer. He was one of those people.
My mother's family has been here for a
long,
long time. My Uncle
When you got 'Law & Order,' you must've had no idea what it was going to become.
No. And I didn't think I'd stay long. Career planning is not my strong-suit.
How do you decide what work to take at this point?
I'm not looking as obsessively as I used to, which is probably not such a great thing for career advancement, but it's awfully nice for life.
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What do you do for fun?
Well, I write to myself.
For a book?
One day, maybe it'll get organized into something. But so far it hasn't really shown any signs of that. I sit in my tower, and I pretend I'm Montaigne. And that might be plenty.