Billy Dee Williams: The 225 interview

In theaters this Friday: Biutiful [limited], The Mechanic, The Rite

New on DVD/Blu-ray: Nowhere Boy, RED, Saw 3D, Secretariat

In advance of his appearance at the New Orleans Comic Con this weekend—where he will join Julie Benz, Adam West and other fan favorites—critically-acclaimed actor and Star Wars legend Billy Dee Williams spoke with 225 about his youth on Broadway, his love for painting and his admiration for the real Yoda. For Comic Con tickets and a complete schedule of events and guests visit wizardworld.com/home-neworleans.

Mr. Williams, first of all I’m looking forward to meeting you in person at Comic Con. That’s going to be a real thrill for this Star Wars geek.

Thanks, I’m looking forward to that and to seeing everyone in New Orleans.

Have you ever filmed anything in Louisiana?

I’ve shown paintings in some galleries in New Orleans, but never done a film there. It’s too hot down there! (laughing)

I’ve seen your artwork online. I was expecting something completely abstract, but was surprised to find this vivid expressionist style.

Thank you. At school I was really a painter first then an actor second. At first, the acting was just to pay for paint and canvases.

As a kid you worked on Broadway, though, right, and you did that for years and years before you broke into television and movies. Do you subscribe to the “gradually, then suddenly” method of success?

Well, I think for anyone interested in acting, the stage is a valuable place to learn. I learned so much about controlling my own voice and body, and about direct communication between myself and the audience. I don’t think it is essential for every movie actor to do Broadway, but for actors who take acting seriously, I think it is. For me it was a great experience, and I’ve returned to a lot of stage work over the years.

You’re probably too busy to go on IMDB.com, but on there you have the best intro of any Actor Bio I’ve ever seen. The first words are, “Very good looking African American actor…” Have you seen that?

[Laughing] No, I haven’t seen that. But hey, I’ll take it! It’s nice to be thought of as handsome, but at the same time I’ve always been more concerned with the quality of the overall work than how I look in the movie. The quality of the performance and the film is the thing I want recognition for.

Sure, but at the same time you have this natural charisma about you, and I think someone like George Clooney is in the same position now, where whatever the role is, a certain recognizable charisma comes through. Have you ever lost out on a role because a director didn’t think you could dial down the charm?

It’s hard to say, but I did always want to play Duke Ellington. I thought I could be the one to really play him the right way, but it never happened. I’m also doing a character right now on a series called Diary of a Single Mom, and he has no real charisma about him.

Speaking of charisma, everyone knows you as rogue-turned-hero Lando Calrissian from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Empire director Irvin Kershner recently passed away.

Yes. I went to the memorial, and it was moving. I visited him not long before he passed. He was a mountain of a man, a consummate artist. I really feel privileged to have worked with a wonderful director like Kersh. He was Yoda! He really was.

Reading J.W. Rinzler’s new book, The Making of Empire Strikes Back, I get a strong sense that Kershner took extra time to look at all angles of a scene and each and every character’s motivation and how those motivations not only relate to the story and the theme, but how those different motivations relate to each other moment by moment. The book goes into great detail about the complexities of the carbon freezing chamber scene where Han Solo is marched in and frozen.

Kersh was an actor’s director. The primary thing about him was that he cared about and respected the actors in that movie. If that care is there, then everything else flows from that. There were some tough situations on The Empire Strikes Back, and that was a crucial scene. But as with any movie, the great directors are able to turn bad situations in something positive. Kersh did that many times.

You’ve done voice-over work as Lando and other characters for Cartoon Network’s Robot Chicken and Titan Maximum, which are basically spoofs of Star Wars and sci-fi in general. That must be a fun to do.

I love doing that stuff with [show creator and actor] Seth Green. He’s great, and I enjoy the comedy quite a bit, yeah.

Everyone thinks of Harrison Ford in a certain way, and typically their impression is based on one his iconic characters, but what is he like as a collaborator and as a guy?

Working with Harrison, he’s creative and he’s a very kind man. He has a lot of dignity in everything he does. Behind the scenes, I think you can always tell a lot about someone from the way they treat their children, and Harrison absolutely loves his boys. As a father myself, that tells me so much about Harrison as a man.

Are your children involved in the arts or show business like their dad?

My son plays music and has a band, though he works as a nutritionist. My daughter is a painter, but none in the movies, no.

What other projects do you have coming up?

I was just in an indie comedy with lots of great people called Barry Munday, and that is out now. I’m always working. My episode of White Collar should be airing soon. I play a conman in that.

You paint often, but have you ever played an artist on screen?

A few years ago I did in a drama called Constellation, and we used my own paintings for the movie.

That must have been fulfilling to merge your two passions into one project finally.

It was. I felt like I was playing me!

Well, it looks like our time is up. Thank you for talking to 225. I look forward to seeing you in New Orleans.

Definitely, that’ll be great. I’m looking forward to that, too. Thank you.