was his main one. It got all these Emmys. A lot of up-and-coming New York actors started off on that show: Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman had small parts when they were young. I met Robert Redford once at the Sundance Labs and said to him, “My mom told me that you worked on; that was my grandfather,” and he couldn’t believe it. He was like, “Oh my god, that was one of my first jobs out of theater. It changed my life.” It was kind of cool.
SHAWKAT: It feels fucking great. With all the attention that comes from being an actor—on set and when doing press—you have to maintain a certain kind of energy and be open and snappy and interactive. When I’m painting or singing, I get to experience a different side of that. With singing, I don’t necessarily have to share my own personality, but I get to be emotional. With jazz, I get to play a different character. I can have a couple of drinks before.
PLAZA: I honestly can say I’ve never felt happier than when I was in that costume, just walking around having a cup of tea with you and shooting the breeze.PLAZA: We’ll get dinner wearing three-cornered hats and really tall socks. Your dad used to run a strip club, right?PLAZA: When you were growing up, did you and your brothers know what he did?