Michael Nouri On Flashdance Fame And A Life In Theater

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Welcome to the Heart of Show Business.
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I am your host, Alexia Melocchi.
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I believe in great storytelling and that every successful artist has a deep desire to express something from the heart to create a ripple effect in our society.
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Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together.
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My guests and I want to give you insider access to how the film, television, and music industry works.
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We will cover Dreams Come True, The Road Light's Travel, Journey Beginnings, and a lot of insight and inspiration in between.
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I am a successful film and television entrepreneur who came to America as a teenager to pursue my show business dreams.
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Are you ready for some unfiltered real talk with entertainment visionaries from all over the world?
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Then let's throw sound and action.
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Well, hello to everyone here at The Heart of Show Business.
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We're entering a new season.
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I thought I was gonna go on hiatus, but just like in The Godfather, when you're trying to get out, they pull you right back in.
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And why?
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Because I have some amazing new guests this season.
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And the my first guest this season is not just an incredibly insanely talented actor, but he's also a dear friend.
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And little backstory on this, and now you're gonna guess who he is.
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Um, there's two people that I dreamt about meeting when I moved to America, and maybe because the movies that I watched them in represented something about my dreams of you know being a Hollywood producer and working in Hollywood.
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One of them was Don Most from Happy Days, and because I grew up watching Happy Days, and lo and behold, life comes full circle, and he comes on my podcast, and I was like so starstruck.
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And then another one is this gentleman I grew up watching this movie, Flash Dance.
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Hello, Hottie Man that every woman was swooning about because everybody wanted to be taken on a date on I think it was a Porsche, he'll tell me about it and bring flowers and bring the dog and just support our careers.
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I mean, who wouldn't fall in love with this hottie, right?
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And this Hartie happens to be on my podcast.
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Fast forward, we're not gonna say how many decades, maybe 20, we'll just stick at 20.
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But here I am with this incredible actor, Michael Nori.
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His career spans decades, genres, reinvention.
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You know him from so many iconic films, like obviously Flashdance, but also so many movies with so many Alice directors, and even most recently, his uh work on Yellowstone for quite a few years.
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And he just announced a new project, which he will tell me about.
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Uh, what makes him so still hot as an actor is his longevity, but also his evolution.
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I've noticed him.
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He's an artist who navigated Hollywood through so many industry shifts, as we have all, personal reckonings and moments that just require also a lot of truth.
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So, this conversation we're gonna have is gonna be so juicy and so great.
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So, Michael Nuri, welcome to my show.
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Yashu Morey.
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See?
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Okay, so origin story.
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Origin story.
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Michael and I met because we were gonna do a movie set in Greece, and that's why.
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And we met at the peninsula because that's where all meetings happen, and he came in this impeccable suit wearing the role because he's supposed to play an Aristotle Anassis character.
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So there you go, and here we are.
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I finally convinced him on my show.
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Thank you for the Greek welcome.
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I want to get right into it, Michael, and I want to talk about how you got into acting and when did you realize that this was a path that you wanted to not just get on, not just make money off of it, but also commit to it on a soul level.
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Yeah.
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Well, first of all, thank you very much for inviting me to be with you on your show.
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And um, hello to all of your viewers and your fans.
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Um, I'm really happy to be with you.
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Um, we've known each other for quite a few years.
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Um, you've known my dog Charlie since he was a baby.
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He's now 12.
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Wow.
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Um my goodness.
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The um journey back to the beginning of my uh acting was in high school.
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I was at a boys' boarding school in Connecticut, and I was in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury, which is a musical, and that's when I discovered how much I loved singing and acting and making people laugh.
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So uh that was in my sophomore junior year of high school.
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Uh then I went to college and I majored in theater, and um I just loved theater.
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Um, the rest of the curriculum made no sense to me at all.
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I I I um I I anyway, I I I had a wonderful time uh doing theater in in school.
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Um and then when I got out of college, um I enlisted in the army because it was during Vietnam.
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Uh 1967, 68, 69.
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Uh and I was in the Army for maybe only a year.
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Uh I got an honorable discharge.
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So uh that was wonderful.
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I was very blessed and grateful that I didn't have to go to Vietnam.
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Um I got a job waiting tables in New York in a bar.
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Uh my dad used to come in.
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He thought I was crazy.
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He wanted me to move in to take over his or work with him and eventually take over his life insurance agency.
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Well, life insurance, yeah, no, I don't think so.
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Um God bless him.
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He did very well.
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He was able to put me and my brother and my sister through the finest schools.
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Um, but he thought I was really um misguided in wanting to pursue a career in theater or movies or show business.
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He encouraged me to do, you know, do community theater, Michael, but you know, you have to have something that's stable and reliable.
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And um those words fell on deaf ears.
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Uh, what is stability and reliability when you're 20 years old?
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That's the age when you're going for broke.
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You're you're putting all your chips on one color.
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Um so I committed myself to uh to theater and to acting.
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And I auditioned for uh no, I did not audition.
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I was in California uh on a chance meeting at Paramount Studios with a director named Larry Pierce, who was directing a movie called Goodbye Columbus, starring her first movie, Allie McGraw and Richard Benjamin.
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And I was playing Allie's boyfriend, and I had one line to say in the movie.
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That was all.
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I was 22 years old, 1969.
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Um, and the line was, may I have this dance?
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I walk up to Allie McGraw.
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All I have to do is say, May I have this dance?
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Well, I was so nervous that I walked up to her.
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Larry said, Action.
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I walked up to her and I said, May I have this dance?
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And Larry said, Jesus Christ.
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All right, let's do it again.
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Come on, take in another take.
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Go ahead, Michael.
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So I somehow I mustered through it.
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I was able to say, but in a much higher register, may I have may I have this dance?
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That was my introduction to being on on camera and being on film.
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After that, I I was terrified.
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I was terrified about being on on camera.
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I was so self-conscious.
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I had no training.
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Uh all I had done was acting at school and playing parts, but I had I had no training.
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Um but I I as I said, I went back and was working on this in this bar.
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My dad would come in, order a hamburger, and leave me a$50 tip, which was a big deal back in 1970.
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50 bucks?
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Whoa.
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Um I auditioned for a play called 40 Carats, as in Diamonds, starring Julie Harris, who was the queen, the grand dame of American theater for many, many years.
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Uh an exceptional human being and actress.
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And I was cast uh in a supporting role in the understudy for the lead, and the lover of a fabulous actress who you may know of.
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Her name is Nancy Marshawn.
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She became very famous in uh um um the James Gandalfini series.
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Um Help Me Out.
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Sopranos.
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What Sopranos Sopranos.
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She played Tony Soprano's mom.
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Yeah.
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So I took over the lead opposite Julie Harris, and I did that for um a year.
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Uh it was directed by um Abe Burroughs, who wrote Guys and Dolls uh and many other amazing projects.
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The stage manager was James Burrows, uh, who went on to become very famous and creative.
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Yeah.
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Um and so that was my introduction to theater.
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And um then I did a couple of soap operas in New York and flew out to Los Angeles for the first time.
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Uh that's when I met Larry Pierce, and I also met the legendary George Cooker, who directed all of Audrey, I mean Catherine Hepburn's movies and Cary Grant's movies.
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And um he offered me a role in a movie, which was come on.
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And he died, unfortunately, before he got to make the movie.
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But that was a very short visit to Los Angeles.
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That's when I got the Larry Pierce movie, uh Goodbye Columbus.
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And I came back to New York, worked on um worked on a couple of soap operas, uh, and then I had a contract with um Universal Studios.
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That was in the day when you could have contracts with a studio, and I had a like a three-year contract with Universal Studios, which was great, during which I played Lucky Luciano in a wonderful series called The Gangster Chronicles.
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Um I loved that.
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Um had a wonderful time doing that, and um moved to Los Angeles.
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That's when I moved to Los Angeles uh for the first time.
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Uh, the second time would be in 1982, when I came out to California to meet the legendary Sam Peckinpaw for a movie that he was doing.
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And I met him, and he I think by now I have probably over-commented on your question.
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He's writing a book, people.
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I'm here's you didn't ask for my my my more my memoir, but here it is.
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I'm just I'm sorry if I'm just going on and on.
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I love I love listening to you.
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No, no, I think it's great.
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No, I love what you because it it's important for people to know.
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You don't have to have, you know, uh the technique or the the you can just do theater, and theater is the best practice of which I love.
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And even like the story that you talked to me about your dad, I think it's so fabulous because you know, my dad has been kind of like your dad when he always said, Oh, you're always up in the clouds, but why don't you go into the smaller clouds so that when you fall, you're not gonna hurt yourself.
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But then the difference is your dad, he kind of said, Yeah, I don't know if that's gonna work out, but here he comes and gives you a$50 tip, you know, when you're working at the bar, which I think is so moving and so touching and so supporting.
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But what I do want to know, fast-forwarding a little bit, is how did you get the movie Flashdance?
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Because of course, everybody and their mother, who's you know, I was born in well, let's put it like nearly 1970.
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And so everybody and their mother who's in my age group, but even people in their 30s, you know, and they love that film.
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So, how did you get cast to be this brooding, handsome, you know, irresistible, irresistible irrewardly, of course, because you got like the whole Middle Eastern European thing like me.
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How did that happen?
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Did they just say he's gorgeous, we're gonna cast him, or did you have to go through the audition?
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No, no, no, no.
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Well, I to pick up where I left off, um, I I was in New York doing an off-Broadway play uh when I got a call from my agent saying uh Sam Peckinpaw would like to meet you for a movie that he's doing.
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Now, I don't know if you or your audience remember who Sam Peckinpaw was, but he's a legend.
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Uh, he was um very famous for being difficult and for being incredibly artistic and uh a real iconoclast.
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And I I he was a hero of mine, so I I they said you're gonna have to fly yourself out to meet him to California.
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And he was a 20th century fox on the lot, and uh so I went to meet him, and he was smoking Lucky Strike cigarettes, and he had a red bandana on.
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And he had a very gravelly voice.
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And uh I was really kind of starstruck meeting him.
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Um and he said, Um, I don't know how he knew my work, it was probably from the Gangster Chronicles, uh playing Lucky Luciano.
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But he said, um, I'm doing this movie, he told me about the character, about the movie, and he said, I'd love you to play this part.
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He said, You don't have to audition.
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I know I think you're a wonderful actor, and I would love you to play this part.
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I was over the moon.
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I couldn't believe it.
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Uh, I was on Cloud Nine when I left Fox Studios that afternoon.
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That was on a Thursday afternoon.
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That very afternoon, my agent sent me a script with a very weird title across the title page saying Flashdance.
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I looked at that and said, what the heck could this be about?
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Well, I read it and it was wonderful.
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And I liked it much better than the Peckinpaw movie, God help me.
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How do you say no to Sam Peckinpaw?
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You don't say no to Sam Peckinpah, especially with this um unknown director, Adrian Lyne, who at that time was was not known, who has gone on to become a legend.
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Um, but I really liked the story, and I liked it much better than Sam Peckinpah's story.
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And I had to make a decision, I had to make a choice.
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First of all, they said you're gonna have a meeting with Adrian Lyne at Paramount Studios on Friday afternoon.
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Uh before you before we accept the Peckin Paw movie, we want you to meet with Adrian Lyne about Flashdance.
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I went in.
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Um the other actors who were up for the role in Flashdance, Kevin Costner, Mickey Rourke, those two that I know of.
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Um, I made some choices.
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I went in.
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I didn't even have to read for Adrian.
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Um and he was trying to get hold of Jennifer Beals, who was 17 at the time, to get the two of us in the room together to see if we were visually compatible, chemically compatible, and so on.
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They couldn't reach her.
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Um so I was in the catbird seat.
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I was in this enviable position of having two offers.
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Uh so my agent was able to say to Paramount once I said to my agent, it's very difficult to say no to Peck and Paw, but I would really rather do flashdance.
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So they went back to Paramount, who were kind of not committed yet.
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And my agent was able to play this because we were in a leveraged position.
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It said, Well, we've got this offer from 20th Century Fox and Peck and Paw, and Michael's gonna go to work in two weeks.
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So, you know, uh, or get off the pot.
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And uh so they made the offer.
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We closed the deal that Friday night to do flash dance.
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We called Sam Peckinpaw, thanked him profusely for his interest in me.
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Uh, as a side note, Sam Peckinpah's movie, God bless him, was out for maybe one week.
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And never happened.
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And then he died.
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Um and the rest was history with flashdance.
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It went from being unknown.
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I mean, I was known in in television.
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I I'd been in the business at that time for 15 years.
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Uh, I was principally known for for television and for Lucky Luciano.
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Um so here I was going into this major movie with an unknown actress, and um we had no idea.
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Everybody, everybody asked the question.
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Did you have any idea that flash dance was going to uh become flash dance?
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No, nobody knew.
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Until it was in the theater, and I went to a theater in Los Angeles, and I sat in the audience, and the credits came up at the end of the movie.
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And I have never seen a movie get a standing ovation.
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The audience were on their feet cheering, clapping.
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It was fabulous.
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And then they went from the movie theater to Tower Records, which exists no longer, to buy the album.
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Yeah.
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So Adrian and Jerry Bruckheimer uh were sitting outside the theater watching this like a trail of ants going from the movie theater to Tower Records, and they were just like ka ching, k-ching, kit-ing, ka-ching.
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My gosh.
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It it changed the trajectory of several lives, including mine.
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Um so that's the that's how I got Flash Dance.
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Uh it was it was about being in the right place at the right time.
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And that recurred about a decade or so later, when I got Victor Victoria with Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews on Broadway.
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Yes.
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It was also one of those synchronistic uh events that I can talk about if you're interested in hearing about that.
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I have to say, oh my gosh, I should have you for multiple episodes here.
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This is amazing.
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No, I have to say though, uh we know Adrian Lyne too, of course, as well.
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You know, we've met with him several times, and uh and obviously Chair Buckenheimer.
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I don't think there's anything that he touches that doesn't succeed, I guess, even from the early days.
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But he really what you said reminds me, I love hearing this backstory on flashbending.
00:21:53.039 --> 00:22:08.160
It reminds me of a similar situation with a little movie called Dirty Dancing, which when we were distributors back in The day there was a gentleman called Mark Damon, who you know very well, who was selling this movie, and everybody was unknown too.
00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:11.920
I mean, there wasn't like anybody's like, wow, the biggest name in the thing.
00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:14.960
And buyers would just not want to sign up.
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:20.400
I mean, Mark had to literally like lock them in in the booth to try to sell them on the film.
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:24.799
And I remember our German distributor ended up buying the film.
00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:28.079
And because we told him, I said, listen, there's something here.
00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:39.359
And then once he bought it and it became overnight box office in Germany, he really could not believe it when he started getting the you know the royalty reports.
00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:47.759
Unfortunately, he had a heart attack a week later, which is we're going, oh my God, just in this moment in the of success, you know, this happens.
00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:50.160
But again, it's something completely unexpected.
00:22:50.240 --> 00:23:00.799
This little movie called Dirty Dancing, same thing, you know, same thing with the soundtrack and flash dance with a soundtrack, which I absolutely love.
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:08.720
I taking you into Victor Victoria, and there's a seek to this, and I think you can put us into the Victor Victoria space.
00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:17.519
Um is there every actor has a director that where they truly shift their internal compass.
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:27.680
And so is there a director that you deeply admire or someone that you feel has permanently elevated your work?
00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:30.079
Would that be Victor Victoria?
00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:31.279
For sure.
00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:32.960
Blake Edwards.
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:33.359
Yeah.
00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.519
Blake Edwards, Adrian Lyne, Gus Van Zamp.
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:45.200
Uh, these are the actors who have really um influenced my life.
00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:49.440
But uh of the three, and there are there are others.
00:23:50.799 --> 00:24:00.960
Of the three, Blake Edwards is the singular most influential on my career and on my life.
00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:06.640
Uh we became dear friends.
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:11.440
Uh and I'm happy to tell you the story about how I got Victor Victoria.
00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.960
It's one of my favorite stories.
00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.559
Yes, please.
00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:24.079
I was doing in 1993, I was doing a production of South Pacific with Sandy Duncan here in Los Angeles.
00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:27.440
It was a matinee day Wednesday.
00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:37.200
Uh I was going to the Matinee down in Long Beach, and I wanted to pick up some lunch on my way to the theater.
00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:42.799
So I stopped at my favorite Italian restaurant and ordered an eggplant parmesan sandwich.
00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:51.839
While I'm waiting for my sandwich, I'm approached by a gentleman, very well dressed, introduced himself, asked me, Have you ever met Blake Edwards?
00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:53.359
I said, No.
00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:55.200
Uh, why do you ask?
00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:57.680
And he said, Well, he's uh, would you like to meet him?
00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:59.440
And I said, I'd be honored to meet him.
00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:00.720
He would like to meet you.
00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:01.440
Follow me.
00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.359
I went across the room.
00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:06.079
There was Blake sitting at a table.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:09.279
Uh, and he said, Do you sing?
00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.000
And I said, Does your dog bite?
00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:15.759
Imitating Clouzeau in the Pink Panther.
00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:16.480
Yes.
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:17.920
He cracked up.
00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:19.759
That broke the ice.
00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:22.880
He said, Look, have you ever seen my movie Victor Victoria?
00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:24.000
And I said, Yeah.
00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:29.039
Uh, I've also seen the Pink Panthers, which are my favorite movies ever.
00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.799
And Breakfast at Tiffany's wasn't bad either.
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:37.839
Um, he said, Um, we're gonna take Victor Victoria to Broadway.
00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.720
Would you be willing to sing for me?
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:42.000
Do you sing?
00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:53.279
Uh and I said, Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am doing a uh production of uh South Pacific, um, one hour from here in Long Beach.
00:25:53.839 --> 00:26:03.359
Um, and I would really love to invite you to see me in it, rather than being in a rehearsal hall with an upright piano doing an audition in which I would be nervous.
00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:07.200
And here you have an opportunity to see me doing my thing.
00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:10.000
Um he said, I'll get back to you.
00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:11.039
I said, Fine.
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:17.680
I got my sandwich, I go to the matinee, I tell Sandy Duncan, I just met one of my heroes, Blake Edwards.
00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:20.160
I invited him to the pull to the play.
00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:23.599
She said, Oh, that would be unbelievable if he would if he would come.
00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:26.000
Do you think that his wife, Julie Andrews, might come?
00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:27.039
I said, I don't know.
00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:28.079
I have no idea.
00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:30.559
Okay, that was Wednesday.
00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.319
Thursday morning, my phone rings.
00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:34.079
Michael, yes, this is so so.
00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:36.640
I'm Blake Edwards' um assistant.
00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:41.920
He wanted me to tell you that he and his wife were going to be attending the performance tonight, Thursday night.
00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:43.200
I said, really?
00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:44.400
Yep.
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.240
Um, I said, can I arrange for transportation, a car, a limo for this?
00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:49.359
No, they're fine.
00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:52.559
They they they have a driver, they're okay.
00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:57.200
Uh they will be there and they would uh they're looking forward to seeing you.
00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:57.680
Okay.
00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:00.720
I thought, no, I'm over the moon.
00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:05.599
Um, and I'm thinking, okay, don't get too carried away.
00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:12.640
They may stay for till intermission and then leave, and then they'll give me a call maybe tomorrow.
00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:21.279
Well, no, as fate would have it, they um came backstage.
00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:27.279
There was Dame Julie Andrews, there was the legend Blake Edwards.
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:34.720
Of course, the cast was just all everybody was so excited and thrilled to see Julie Andrews.
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:43.839
Oh my god, can you imagine Julie Andrews backstage saying hello, so gracious, saying hello to everybody.
00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:48.880
Blake walked over to me, extended his hand, and he said, Let's go to Broadway, kid.
00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:53.920
And that's how I got Victor Victoria.
00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:59.599
Julie came over, gave me a hug, and she says, Darling, I'm so excited that you're going to be joining us.
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:05.519
Well, needless to say, I have no recollection of how I got home that night.
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:07.519
I I really don't.
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:09.599
I have I have no memory of it.
00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:16.480
All I remember is Blake Edwards shaking my hand, giving me a hug, and saying, Let's go to Broadway, kid.
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:17.920
Wow.
00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:19.599
I got home.
00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:24.640
I probably didn't sleep that night, or I called everybody in the world that I know.
00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:29.359
Friday morning, phone rings, Michael.
00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:30.400
Yeah.
00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:32.400
This is Blake.
00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:34.480
I this is uh Henry Mancini.
00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:39.920
And I said, um, really?
00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:42.799
And he said, yeah, this is Hank.
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:45.200
No, he said, this is Hank Mancini.
00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:47.279
This is Hank Mancini.
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:51.039
And I said, You mean as in Henry Mancini?
00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:52.319
And he said, Yeah.
00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:55.759
And he said, I understand you're going to be joining us on Broadway.
00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:57.119
And I said, Yeah.
00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:02.000
Um, he said, Blake and Julie saw you last night and they're thrilled that you're going to be joining us.
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.480
Um, I have a couple of questions to ask you.
00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.400
I said, Go ahead.
00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:10.240
He said, Um how long have you been singing?
00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:12.079
And I said, my whole life.
00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:13.359
And he said, Okay.
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.799
Are you a tenor or are you a baritone?
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:19.759
Um, I don't know.
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.599
He says, What do you mean you don't know?
00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:22.480
You're a singer.
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:24.640
You have to know if you're a baritone or a tenor.
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:26.640
I said, I'm I'm sorry, I apologize.
00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:27.440
I don't I don't know.
00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:28.880
I just I just sing.
00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:31.519
He said, Do you read read music?
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:33.759
And I said, No.
00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:39.119
And he said, How the F did you get this job?
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.759
And I said, You wanna you want to know how the F I got this job?
00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.599
I stopped off to get an eggplant Parmesan sandwich.
00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:52.880
Love that story.
00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:59.039
Again, all the synchronicities, like it's like everything was leading you to your destiny.
00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:03.119
Those are such great examples of all that happening.
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:13.759
And of course, of course, going into every person's life, we all have a lot of victories, but we also have challenges in our lives, right?
00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:25.440
So, and we call them the dark night of the soul, and usually that's something that triggers our research for our spirituality, our inner life, connecting with our inner life.
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:40.720
Have you ever had any moments that you like to mention without going always into personal details about where you felt the need for recalibration, where you felt the need to connect with yourself, where things seemed to fall apart.
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:47.359
And did you have a spiritual practice or or any inner work process that helped you get through that?
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:50.559
The answer is yes.
00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:58.480
Um I, like every other human being on the planet, has had challenges.
00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:02.480
Um I've experienced depression.
00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:07.359
Um I have had to negotiate that.
00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:21.680
Um I have um been very grateful to have had um therapy and to have had good um good people in my life, a good support system.
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:28.240
Um I have great empathy for people who experience depression.
00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:37.599
Um and let's see, yes, I mean there's been loss, loss of loved ones.
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.440
I lost my brother last year, my younger brother.
00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:54.319
Um which um really does uh call for a recalibration, as you as you said.
00:31:55.279 --> 00:32:11.920
The upside to loss of a family member is that it really solidifies and amplifies the importance and preciousness of the existing family.
00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:35.359
So the result of my brother's death uh has been a profound strengthening of my relationship with my sister and her kids and her grandkids and with my daughters and my grandsons.
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:39.039
I have three grandsons, I have two amazing daughters.
00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:51.759
So, as you know, I'm assuming without even knowing you well, that you can relate to what I'm talking about and that you have experienced loss.
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:59.599
And it indeed shapes us, it reshapes us, it forms who we are.
00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:02.880
I have just turned 80 last month.
00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:04.160
God bless you.
00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:04.960
Thank you.
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:06.960
And it's a big number.
00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:15.039
Uh I mean, chronologically 80 is depending on how you look at it.
00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:21.359
Um you don't want to get morose or morbid about it or negative about it.
00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:25.359
But um I'm at the end of the trail.
00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:28.880
Uh it's been an incredible journey.
00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:30.720
I don't think of it that way.
00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.759
I don't think that I am at the end of my journey.
00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:37.519
If I did, I'd it would depress me.
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:41.200
I'm living with the same thought patterns.
00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:42.480
Well, no, that's not true.
00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:43.839
That's an exaggeration.
00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:50.319
But I'm living my life as if I am 30, 40.
00:33:50.880 --> 00:34:04.400
I'm not looking at the chronologically, I've got maybe 10, 15 years, because we know this time is gone in a nanosecond.
00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:08.159
It is going so fast, and I don't think it's imaginary.
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:12.320
I really believe that there is an acceleration in time.
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:16.079
Somehow I can't explain it, describe it, account for it.
00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:19.440
But the older I get, the faster time goes.
00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:24.719
I can't believe my daughters are 50 and 51.
00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:27.920
I can't believe my sister is 76.
00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:32.320
I can't believe that in 10 years, God willing, I'll be 90.
00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:35.760
I am thankful for good health.
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:38.400
I'm unspeakably grateful for great health.
00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:42.559
I mean, that is my my wish for everybody that I meet.
00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:51.360
My wishes for people, my my top priorities are peace of mind and good health and love.
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:54.000
Oh that's it.
00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:55.440
That's the package.
00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:58.400
If we have that, we're good to go.
00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:03.199
I mean, good to go, literally, and good to good to go from the planet.
00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:08.719
I absolutely loved how vulnerable you you shared in this moment.
00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:19.679
I had uh Didi Pfeiffer on my show a few seasons back, and she was talking to me about obviously overcoming and becoming sober over, you know, and overcoming addiction.
00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:26.880
And it was a beautiful, beautiful um, you know, testament of the will of the human spirit.
00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:28.480
And and yes, I do relate to you.
00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:37.760
I lost my dad this year, um, and it made me go closer with my cousins in Italy and with some family members, and there were like some stupid family dynamics.
00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:40.559
And then I'm like, does it all really matter at the end?
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:44.880
You know, it doesn't really matter who called who and why we had a fight at the table.
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:47.199
It's like you said, life is so precious.
00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:52.000
And the good news is today with technology, you know, people can live to 100.
00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:55.679
I mean, 90 for sure, and even to 100, 105.
00:35:56.159 --> 00:36:01.039
Um, you know, look at Lorman Lear, you know, he passed away at 101.
00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:02.400
So Dick Van Dyke.
00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:04.239
Yeah, Dick Van Dyke, exactly.
00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:07.119
Betty White, she lived up to 99 and plus.
00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:13.920
So I think, like you said, if we have peace of mind, good health, and love, you know, we stand a pretty good chance.
00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:15.679
And yes, time does move fast.
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:19.599
I've noticed it myself, and I'm in my 50s, and I noticed it, you know.
00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:25.679
And but you have a dog that loves you, and and and you are working on yourself.
00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:30.000
I love what you say in your signature and your email, which is cherished, treasure every moment.
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:30.880
It is true.
00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:48.639
We do have to treasure every moment, and we all have our challenges, and you know, so thank you for being open because people think that we in Hollywood are all these perfect people, like getting into the red carpets and going on set and making movies, and everything is just handed to us.
00:36:48.800 --> 00:37:19.760
And yes, there is synchronicities like Eggblund Parmigan and and Blake Edwards coming on your show, but there is also a lot of struggle, and and you know, I wanted to with this one, I actually wanted to ask you because of course, direct, I mean actors today are having it harder than I feel, you know, in your time or in my time, in my early days, you know, there's so much competition and there's so much less avenues of getting work.
00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:25.280
You were very happy because you got very lucky too, again, with Yellowstone, I feel.
00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:33.360
Um is what excites you uh about today's television landscape?
00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:35.920
Because we don't have movies a whole lot, do we?
00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:45.280
You know, and how do you choose your roles as an actor right now compared to the earlier chapters um of your career?
00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:50.559
Well, it's much easier to choose now because there are far fewer choices.
00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:56.239
So um you say yes to everything that comes your way.
00:37:56.400 --> 00:37:56.960
Pretty much.
00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:58.079
No, I'm just kidding.
00:37:58.320 --> 00:37:59.840
I've been very fortunate.
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:11.440
Um, most recently, um I was invited by my dear friend Noah Wiley to be a guest star on The Pit.
00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:12.159
Yeah.
00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:21.199
Um and I am very excited, and it's going to air this Thursday, the 22nd, and then the following Thursday, the 29th.
00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:30.559
And I get to play this wonderful madcap character in an otherwise very graphic intense show.
00:38:30.800 --> 00:38:38.000
Uh and uh God bless Noah Wiley, who is one of the dearest people uh I know.
00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:46.480
Uh I there is nobody more gracious, more self-effacing, uh, more creative, more loving, more generous.
00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:51.840
Uh, but there are not enough uh adjectives to describe this wonderful person.
00:38:52.239 --> 00:38:56.800
Um and um I had a great time.
00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:58.719
I'm playing a character.
00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:04.320
I'm playing a character who cannot sit down because he broke his tailbone.
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:06.480
So he's waiting for treatment.
00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:17.679
And as he's waiting for treatment, he's in a hospital gown, cruising the ER, flirting with all the nurses, and his hospital gown is open in the back.
00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:19.840
That sounds like you.
00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:23.920
So the world is gonna get a chance to see Nuri's Derrier.
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:28.639
Um some people have said it's my best angle.
00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:30.000
There you go.
00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:30.639
There you go.
00:39:31.760 --> 00:39:35.039
So grateful for that.
00:39:35.280 --> 00:39:47.760
Um I have in the last couple of years um worked with Ryan Murphy on his shows, uh, most recently in one called All's Fair.
00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:51.280
And before that, um The Watcher.
00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:59.760
Um and then I had a wonderful time with Glenn Close playing her husband on damages.
00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:02.960
Uh, that's about oh my god, that's 20 years ago.
00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:05.280
See what I mean about time flying?
00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:08.000
Yeah, it's a time where 20 years ago.
00:40:08.239 --> 00:40:10.480
Flash Dance is 40 years ago.
00:40:10.800 --> 00:40:11.280
Wow.
00:40:11.599 --> 00:40:12.320
Come on.
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:12.880
Wow.
00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:16.559
That's really what am I gonna do with the rest of my life?
00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:17.440
That's the question.
00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:25.679
Answer to that is because as we know, it's very important to have a sense of purpose.
00:40:25.920 --> 00:40:34.159
Now, at my age, uh a major source of depression f as we get older is feeling irrelevant.
00:40:34.960 --> 00:40:42.480
And I think, especially for a man, uh a man has to feel relevant.
00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:45.039
You don't want to feel like a has been.
00:40:45.920 --> 00:40:48.880
It's very easy to do that in this business, especially.
00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:52.159
I mean, most guys my age are retired.
00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:53.760
They're golfing.
00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:54.960
I don't golf.
00:40:55.840 --> 00:41:02.159
Um, so I talked to my sister about this, having a sense of purpose.
00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:15.199
And I took a stab, I started to write a memoir, and she said, Why don't you let your memoir be your purpose and really get into it and totally uh commit yourself to it?
00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:17.199
So that's what I'm doing.
00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:38.400
I belong to a group of extraordinary individuals, men, including Brian Cranston, Lawrence Fishburn, Rob Morrow, Spencer Garrett, um Jason Alexander, Kevin Pollack.
00:41:39.039 --> 00:41:45.599
Um there are twelve of us, LeVar Burton.
00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:51.039
And we get together at least every other month.
00:41:51.599 --> 00:42:00.159
And at one of our gatherings, we just looked around the table and we said, the stories at this table.
00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:08.800
Come on, the stories that each each one of us had stories that could last the evening.
00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:20.320
Among the twelve of us, we should write a book and sell the book and have the proceeds go to our favorite charities.
00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:43.199
So Brian Cranston, who is a published author because he did his autobiography called My Life in Parts, um went to his publisher, pitched the idea, and came back to us and gave each one of us an assignment to write a memoir, which will be in a book in book form.
00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:52.639
So we have all done that, and the book is going to come out um December of this year.
00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:54.000
Wow.
00:42:54.320 --> 00:43:00.480
See, there was a reason, Michael, you and I had to be on this podcast show in this very moment in time.
00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:06.000
I told you at the beginning of our conversation, just as if I knew it, I said, your story should be a book.
00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:08.000
And it's like I almost pictured it.
00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:15.360
And it's interesting enough, I don't know about this latest news for anyone who hasn't been following my social media, but we've opened a publishing company.
00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:18.000
It's called Little Studio Films Publishing.
00:43:18.320 --> 00:43:21.840
And my book is two of my books are bestsellers.
00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:29.679
Well, the second one is interviews, some of my best guests on the Heart of Show business, and there will be an expanded edition.
00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:38.480
And you're certainly going to be in that one because, you know, in this one, I've had Blair Underwood and I have Didi and some people, but I couldn't fit all my 100 plus guests.
00:43:38.559 --> 00:43:41.280
So, you know, I am doing also a book version of that.
00:43:41.440 --> 00:43:50.719
But my mother, who you know and love, she also just wrote a book, which is a bestseller and it's being published through our company, not a memoir.
00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:59.760
It's called Machiavelli Princess, because you love Italy, and it's about the lover of Niccolò Machiavelli, and it's a thriller set in Renaissance, Italy.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:10.320
And so my mother also having the same dilemma, not dilemmas, but the same tool about having leaving a legacy that is not just movies and having a sense of purpose.
00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:20.800
She wrote the story, which was a movie script, by the way, back then and converted it into a book, which I'm gonna send you, by the way, so that you know she would love for you to have it.
00:44:20.960 --> 00:44:22.639
But she just did the same way.
00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:29.760
And I feel that you, not the older people, you the people who have had a rich life, let's define it.
00:44:29.840 --> 00:44:53.519
Because I'm I'm in my 50s, so I could be considered a senior in my way, but all of us who have had a rich and diverse life full of experiences, full of wonderful synchronicities and worldliness, we ought to leave a stamp or like a footprint in the world for the future generation with such stories.
00:44:53.679 --> 00:45:00.159
We live in this era where people feel they're creating stories by doing freaking social media content.
00:45:00.320 --> 00:45:16.559
Those are not stories, those are not experiences like the ones that you have had in your life, like working with Blake Edwards and Adrian Lyne, working through your depression and finding purpose and having this incredible men's group.
00:45:16.719 --> 00:45:21.519
So, yeah, I'm getting off my soapbox now, but this is this is so timely.
00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:23.360
And and I can't wait to see your book.
00:45:23.440 --> 00:45:29.840
You're gonna have to send us all the links because of course we will republish the episode when it's um when it's time.
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:30.719
God bless you.
00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:31.519
Thank you.
00:45:31.840 --> 00:45:34.159
And I love it, I absolutely love it.
00:45:34.320 --> 00:46:03.280
And I have to say that you know, in closing, we are in an industry that is so obsessed with youth, speed, visibility, and your your path as a human and as an actor reminds me that death still matters, and um you the soul of an artist is not something that you age out of, it's something that you grow into.
00:46:03.760 --> 00:46:17.360
And I I thank you for reminding us that the heart of show business has very little to do with show and everything to do with heart, and you, Michael, my friend, yeah, you really, really embody that.
00:46:17.519 --> 00:46:19.519
So it's a perfect time.
00:46:19.679 --> 00:46:23.599
Everything happens at the perfect time, even you coming on my show right now.
00:46:23.920 --> 00:46:29.599
Um, in closing, how would you define Michael Nuri in three words?
00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:32.800
Just improvise it, actor studio style.
00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:37.519
Kindness and do it in one word.
00:46:38.239 --> 00:46:39.199
I think that's it.
00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:43.519
Kindness, it all comes down to being kind.
00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:45.039
That's it.
00:46:45.199 --> 00:46:48.800
If I had a religion, my religion is kindness.
00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:58.400
Yeah, if I can if I can live every day at the end of the day saying, uh, what opportunities did I have today to be kind?
00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:02.400
Yeah, and to be kind to ourselves as well.
00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:03.920
Amen.
00:47:04.719 --> 00:47:09.840
Thank you for yes, yeah, putting a fine point on it.
00:47:10.239 --> 00:47:11.199
I love that.
00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:14.960
Well, it's been so wonderful having you on my show.
00:47:15.199 --> 00:47:22.239
Um, anybody who loved this episode, please subscribe, rate, review, share it, share it with your friends.
00:47:22.559 --> 00:47:35.840
Michael, I'm truly blessed and honored to know you, but also I'm blessed and honored that you came into this new season eight of my podcast that I keep saying I'm gonna quit, but people like you show up and then I'm like, I can't quit.
00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:37.440
So there you go.
00:47:37.599 --> 00:47:38.880
Thank you for coming.
00:47:39.199 --> 00:47:43.760
It's been my pleasure and an honor to be with you uh and to visit you.
00:47:43.920 --> 00:47:46.559
And I want you to give mom a big hug for me.
00:47:46.880 --> 00:47:47.440
I will.
00:47:47.679 --> 00:47:51.280
And congratulations on all of your successes on your two books.
00:47:51.440 --> 00:47:52.960
That is really admirable.
00:47:53.119 --> 00:47:54.480
I I respect that.
00:47:54.559 --> 00:47:57.920
Um, and I I've really enjoyed our time together today.
00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:00.320
Thank you so much for having me as your guest.
00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:02.239
Oh, thank you, Michael.
00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:05.280
And this is the heart of show business for everyone.
00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:06.239
Over and out.
00:48:06.400 --> 00:48:08.719
Are we gonna say yasu or ciao?
00:48:09.440 --> 00:48:11.920
Say yasu, kala kristuyana.
00:48:12.559 --> 00:48:14.000
Well, that's Merry Christmas.
00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:16.320
We're not gonna that's all the Greek I know.
00:48:16.559 --> 00:48:17.599
Sagapol More.
00:48:17.840 --> 00:48:19.039
Okay, it's still Christmas.
00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:20.320
It's Christmas every day.
00:48:20.400 --> 00:48:23.519
So, yes, ciao to everyone in the heart of show business.
00:48:23.599 --> 00:48:25.599
Thank you so much for listening.
00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:33.280
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of The Heart of Show Business.
00:48:33.440 --> 00:48:36.320
If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend.
00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:41.920
You can also subscribe, rate, and review the show on your favorite podcast player.
00:48:42.159 --> 00:48:50.559
If you have any questions or comments or feedback for us, you can reach me directly at theheartofshowbusiness.com.