He’s the jerk, the wild and crazy guy, the
arrow-through-the-head jokester, the sadistic singing dentist and
one of the three pelvic-thrusting amigos. As a comic, Steve Martin
is unmistakable.
Also the creator of such screenplays as “L.A. Story”
and “Roxanne,” few know Martin as the sophisticated
writer and playwright he has become, contributing to the New Yorker
and having written the acclaimed play “Picasso at the Lapin
Agile.”
Some may still see him as the funny-guy actor even though his
professional life has currently been immersed in his writing. But
does Martin now see himself more as a writer than an actor?
“In my own head, yes, but I don’t know if I want
that out because I’ve put a lot of investment in my acting to
call it a career,” he said.
His renown as a playwright has been growing since the 1993
staging of “Picasso” at Chicago’s Steppenwolf
Theater. Since then, theater companies all over have been putting
on his plays.
Starting tonight and running through Nov. 23, three of his
shorter plays will be produced by the loud*R*Mouth Theater Company
in Toluca Lake. Each of the plays, “The Zig-Zag Woman,”
“Patter for the Floating Lady” and “WASP,”
are steeped in surrealism and take an absurdist journey into the
female psyche.
Martin partially attributes his sense of the absurd from his
studies in philosophy at Cal State Long Beach and UCLA before he
quit school to pursue a career in show business.
Though his plays have been, for the most part, well-received,
Martin is no stranger to rapier-sharp criticism. As a playwright,
critics love to lambaste the actor riding on the coat-tails of his
fame, but Martin takes that in stride.
“One of those L.A. Weekly-type papers wrote a bad review
of (“Picasso”) and said “˜this is the kind of play
that’s only produced because it has a celebrity’s name
attached, and it keeps people from seeing good plays,'”
Martin said. “And I thought, “˜Now wait, let’s
see, I wrote a play, and he wrote a review, and that’s the
difference between us.'”
When asked what the difference between working in the medium of
theater versus film, Martin says that his playwriting is more of a
precise art form.
“I’ve found that in all my plays, if an actor had a
question about a line, I could answer it,” he said.
“Sometimes in movies, I don’t have an answer.
I’ll think, “˜It doesn’t matter,’ but in my
plays every line has to be that way. It has a rhythm.”
And that rhythm of writing is what brings Martin joy. According
to him, the fact that he can write without having to worry about
making a living is a luxury that most writers don’t have.
“I never write to deadline,” Martin said. “I
never start writing until that idea is nine months pregnant, and it
just starts to come. It’s like you’re running to the
toilet, only you start typing.”
Now after 40 years in the business, Martin feels comfortable
with where he is and who he has become as an actor and as a
writer.
“There’s a certain time when you kind of accept that
you are no longer new, you’re no longer iconoclastic or would
look silly being iconoclastic,” Martin said. “But
there’s also a certain time when you don’t need it
anymore, you’re just in a different place in your
life.”
And Martin is in a different place in his life than when he was
that wild and crazy guy. While some artists stay in the comfort
zone of their artistic niche, Martin has proven the diversity of
his skill while staying as prolific as ever.
“I’m still going very strong,” he said.
“My mind is throwing out things, and I like that.”
What’s up for Martin next? Well, he’ll be starring
in the film “Bringing Down the House” with Queen
Latifah and is currently making his hit novella
“Shopgirl” into a movie starring Claire Danes and Jimmy
Fallon. And as for writing, he has just finished a new novel and
constantly has ideas for more.
“I have a title in my head and a first paragraph, but
I’ve never been able to finish it. The title is “˜Steve
Martin, Nude Photographer’ and the first sentence is,
“˜First, I’ll need a camera.’ I don’t really
know where to go after that.”