Critic’s choice and SAG-nominated actor Bill Pullman has starred in raucous laugh fests like Spaceballs, and crowd pleasing romantic comedies including Sleepless in Seattle and While You Were Sleeping. Recently, he’s received acclaim for his roles in darker projects: USA network anthology series The Sinner and the Lifetime miniseries Murdaugh Murders, based on the story of convicted killer Alex Murdaugh.
More: Pullman Two-Hander (Theatre Talk, 2009)
For his Treat, Pullman shares that whenever he wants to see a subtle performance from a character trying to keep things under control, he returns to the 1978 psychological horror film, Magic. The film is directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Oscar winning actor Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, and Burgess Meredith.
This segment has been edited and condensed for clarity.
I'm gonna tell you about a piece of film that is something I continually go back to for a lot of different levels. [I think a lot] about a particular scene in this movie called Magic, which [stars] Anthony Hopkins. [It's based on a] William Goldman novel — Richard Attenborough directed it — and Burgess Meredith plays the agent to a ventriloquist, who's played by Anthony Hopkins.
Anthony Hopkins has been somewhat challenged by his dummy, who is capable of saying things that he himself really doesn't feel responsible for and so Hopkins, his character, is shaken by it.
So he goes to the Catskills and he's in a cabin that's on a lake and it's very quiet, peaceful. And then Burgess says, "Is it alright if I come up and see you?" And then he comes up and says, "How's it going?" Hopkins is so friggin’ brilliant [here].
That was a real awakening to me about how subtle film could be. [I was] doing a lot of theater, and just watching the nuances of his version of "I'm under control. I got things handled. It'll never happen again." [Really?] And Burgess Meredith is perfect casting [for his role] … and there are these close-ups on Anthony Hopkins's forehead [with] the strips of sweat.
I always went to movies growing up. Matinees, John Wayne, WWII stories, and everything. [When I went to] college, I started to see other kinds of movies. [‘Magic’] cracked the sky open for me about what it is to be concealing something underneath, that you're feeling… And how long it can take before [there’s] an eruption and you can't keep it concealed anymore.