James Woods Doesn't Seem Like a Particularly Shy Man

I love James Woods. Just adore him. Even though he's an unapologetic Republican and therefore a man with certain judgment issues. What I am most in awe of with this guy is his child-in-desperate-need-of-Ritalin level of hyperactivity. He displayed this uncanny penchant for wall-bouncing energy Saturday morning at the TCA press tour event in Pasadena, where he was promoting his forthcoming CBS fall legal drama "Shark." He didn't just control the room. It was a case of channeling the room's essence and attaching it to his very DNA. At the same time, he's no garden variety loudmouth. He's brash and self-deprecating and keenly intelligent -- and he effortlessly slays any audience (as he did this one) with his razor-sharp wit.

All you really need to do is ask the right question of Woods and it's off to the races very much like a runaway freight train. Like this one:

Critic: "Mr. Woods, over here on your left. (CBS Entertainment President) Nina Tassler told us this morning that all sorts of agents are coming up to her saying all sorts of big movie stars want to do TV. Is that the case? And why is that the case?"

Woods: "I can tell you exactly why in my case. I
actually had always said I didn't want to do a series --
and not because I was a snob about television. As you
know, television has been, I think, probably as important
in my career as feature films.

"Can you guys hear me okay with this mic? Yes or no? Oh,
it dropped. That's why. Sorry about that. I thought I
wasn't being heard. How about that? Hard to believe
I've done 120 movies, isn't it? Can you guys hear me with this microphone?" (Motioning that the mic had been on the floor.)

"I just didn't want to play, really, the same character
again and again and again because I thought it would be
hard to imagine how he could evolve. But because of the
very, very important second -- and I don't mean
secondary, but second story in 'Shark' -- which is my
relationship with Danielle Panabaker, who plays my
16-year-old daughter who chooses to have custody with me,
which is a surprise to all of us in the storyline -- this
character will really evolve a lot, and also because of
the changing face of justice. This show works on a very
visceral level, which I like.

"I don't think there's a person in this room or anywhere in this
country, whatever his or her opinion may have been or
may still be, who didn't get a kick in the gut by the O.J. verdict. You know what I'm saying? Or by the Michael Jackson verdict or the Robert Blake verdict. So these big Dream Team cases have a very visceral effect.

"As far as movies versus TV, every week it seems Patrick
Goldstein or somebody in the L.A. Times or wherever is
wondering why movies are going backwards somehow in terms
of box office. And I'm sitting next to one of the
greatest movie producers in the history of the business.
And I'm not saying that because we are all friends and
because we work together. And we've talked about this
issue. And I think one of the reasons is that you are
getting more and more corporate thinking in making
movies, and also you are getting more parochial thinking.

"And just about the time when I was offered 'Shark,' it
was at a time when I was having another business venture
go very, very well, so I didn't have to do it for the
money. And I'm always offered stuff to do, but I don't
want to play the middle-aged guy in a suit who is the
head of the evil corporation. You know, it's not very
fulfilling as an actor.

"And I looked at the Oscar movies this year, and I thought
they were very parochial. I mean, you have you
'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Transamerica' and 'Capote' and
so on, and they were very specific movies, all with sort
of the same tenor and tone. And I thought, there seems
not to be as much breadth to the imagination in the
movies these days. They are very careful. Movies seem
to be scared, whereas television seems to be like a
teenager feeling his or her oats. You know, let's take
this on and that. You look across the board at
television now and you look at shows like 'Arrested
Development,' just as an example, very off-beat strange
show.

"When I did 'Family Guy' this year, I thought Seth
MacFarlane-- it's a completely different network -- not
different network, but a different show from ours and so
on, but I thought, this guy is like a genius. This stuff
is as funny as anything I've ever seen in a movie in my
life, and it's an animated series.

"I mean, the stuff that we are going to deal with on our
show, I can tell you, is not only ripped from the
headlines, but big moral issues. One of the things we're
developing is sort of like the Anthony Pellicano stuff
that's going on. And, you know, the more you read about
it, it's like Lewis Carroll, it gets curiouser and
curiouser. And, I mean, television is more
sophisticated, more dynamic, more gut-wrenching to me
today than the movies. If I had a choice, and I did,
because I'm sort of independently wealthy now from this
other venture...

"Serously. I mean, I chose this job for no other reason
other than it was the best thing I've read in 10 years,
period. So I said, well, this is where the action is;
this is where I want to be. And you look around at
television now, and it's just hands down, time after
time, event after event, moment after moment, it's just
better than the movies."

One day, hopefully soon, poor James will emerge from the confining shell that keeps him so bottled up.

Comments

[UrBestGirl]

You adore James Woods, eh? Just like he adores borderline-assaulting just-out-of-highschool-age girls? Gross. His latest conquest is aspiring actress Ashley Madison (she's 20, people!!!)...gotta love this deep conversation she got into with Ann Oldenberg from USA Today at TCA this week. I would say Woodsy is aptly named "Shark." Good luck w/the show, Jimmy...you're a fine actor and all, but seriously. That's just wrong. Ew.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-07-16-sheen_x.htm

[Bill L.]

Woods is a cocksucking, lying, brain-damaged smoker. On the Tonight Show, several years ago, he promised NEVER to smoke in another film. That "promise" lasted about as long as it took him to spout that lie! What a pathetic creep he is, with his cock (cigar) in his mouth!