Brandon talks with actor Tim Daly about his portrayal of Dan White in the Showtime Original feature
"Execution of Justice"
The Pilgrims never dreamt of celebrating Thanksgiving weekend viewing Dan
White chowing down on a Twinkie or Sister Boom Boom skating about San
Franciscan streets making political declarations, but then they probably
never signed up for Showtime in the first place.
Yes, the cable channel's seasonal offering this year, "Execution of Justice,"
spotlights the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk. But based
upon Emily Mann's play, and not Randy Shilt's The Mayor of Castro Street, the
focus here is upon the killer and not the victims.
The project, which was filmed in Toronto, stars and was produced by Tim Daly.
Consequently a few weeks ago, PopcornQ decided to corner Tyne's brother and
the lead of the once long-running series Wings on a yacht ride sponsored by
the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival. Tim was aboard promoting his leading role
in Paul Lazarus's prize-winning comedy, Seven Girlfriends. He plays a troubled
guy in his mid-thirties who decides to check out all his past relationships
to see why they fizzled. One failed love turns out to be the now very
pregnant and very lesbian Elizabeth Pena who's in the midst of having a very
in-your-face baby shower when Tim shows up. But that's another story for a
future time.
I'm here to talk Milk, and once I sight Daly, who's unsuccessfully trying
to hide behind the brim of a baseball cap, I attack, or at least turn on my
tape recorder. After all, once you've been on People's 50 Most Beautiful
People list, what chance have you got of fading into the background, even if
it was the 1997 list.
First question: So Tim, how did you get involved in the subject that has
constantly failed to make it to the big screen even with the names of Robin
Williams and Gus Van Sant once attached to the game plan?
"Well, I sort of had a vague knowledge of the story when I was a kid," he
charmingly replies. "You know I heard about it, and then when I read maybe
like eight years ago that they were going to make a movie of it, I thought,
Oh, my God! Who better to play the part of Dan White than me? That particular
story which was Shilts's book and focused on Harvey Milk sort of came and went
several times. Finally, I said to a partner in my production company, Stephen
Burleigh, one time when it was about to be done, 'I wish I could play Dan
White.' Well, he remembered this play written by Mann that was more about
White, the trial, and how in many people's view justice was not served. So we
put it together and did it ourselves."
Dan White was sort of a tragic symbol of what some folks think is the best
about America, I noted.
"Well, that's obviously a very good way to describe him. He was a very
complicated man who did a really horrendous thing. When you do a film about
someone like White, you always take a risk of having the audience think that
you're somehow on his side, that you're condoning him. I think we did a very
good job of not condoning him in any way but presenting what happened and
trying to get under his skin. The thing that's peculiar about America is that
we seem to turn out these sort of all-American Whites box killers at an
alarmingly regular rate, and that really fascinated me.
"Oddly enough, over the 20 years since the murders happened, although I think
that Harvey Milk was a fascinating character and man, a gay person coming out
publicly is less of a hot button story now than it was back then. On the
other hand, with hate killings like the one of Matthew Shepard and
with American psychos still turning up in our society, focusing on White was
the way to go."
Recalling an interview I had with Tommy Lee Jones about playing the
homophobic and racist ball player Ty Cobb, I noted how the actor became
enraged when asked what it was like to play a bastard. Did Tim develop any
similar affections for his part? Did he learn what made Dan tick or anti-gay?
"Well, he was a very complicated guy, and certainly I have places in my own
personality that I could draw upon to try to understand what made him tick, "
Tim notes. "Hopefully I got inside of him. I don't think you can, when you're
playing a character, judge the person. But again, human beings are so
complicated. Even in the most heinous people in our society, there are usually
spots in them that are human, that are kind, and that's what makes us so
fascinating. That we have all these different facets in ourselves." Looking
around at the other actors, directors, reporters and Floridian society folk
on the yacht, Tim continued, "I think that every human being on this boat is
capable of doing something tremendously horrible if the right circumstances
would present themselves. I'm not saying they'd have to eat the right amount
of Twinkies, though. That's why we're constantly fascinated with people who do
things that are outside the bounds of socialized behavior."
Leaving knife in back pocket, I asked one final question: "Since your
company produced this film, are you trying to avoid attaching yourself to
dingbat entertainment? Your sister is also rather serious. Do you both
consider acting as something that can change society?"
Taking a breath, he replied, "I really don't know about that. I think that
any art form at its best makes people question who they are, or what society
they live in. It's not that I'm out to change society but I'm fascinated by
the questions of what make up human beings because we're so vast and various,
and we have so many flaws. If you illuminate those things, then people can
look more deeply into themselves. Whether or not they look into themselves
and say, 'Oh, I'm fine,' or they look into themselves and say, 'My God! I
never thought of it that way,' it doesn't really matter. Everyone is going to
have a different response. I don't set out to do something that has a message
that is preordained. Some material has that inherently, but I'd rather raise
questions than give answers. I think that's a good function of art."
And since the boat was coming into port, it was also a good time to disembark.
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