The Basics
Age and occupation. How long have you lived here, where did you come from, and where do you live now?
39 (so, I'm thinking this may stretch the Young Manhattanite Moniker, but what the hell), and Actor. Came from Denver and have been here for around 20 years now. (I guess 18, to be exact).
Three Questions from Chris Gage
1. How often do fans come up to you and start reciting some of your incredibly memorable lines (which I imagine you adlib right there on the spot, flaunting your mastery of the English language's wit, nuances, and vocabulary) e.g., "Well I'm not using 'prig' pejoratively"; or "And sometimes in Latin"?
It happens occasionally, and it's always flattering, (unless it goes on too long, if you're going to quote the whole damn movie - the experience is going to go south). By far the best - there's a scene in Kicking And Screaming where a glass breaks on the floor, and instead of cleaning it up, I put a piece of paper on the shards that says "broken glass", and twice now people have come up to where I'm eating and laid a napkin with "broken glass" written on it and just kept on walking. Pretty elegant.
But no. I can take no credit for making up any of the funny lines on the spot - they were all written well, and I just didn't fuck em up when I had to put them over.
2. In the majority of your work, you've played a New Yorker. Even when it wasn't clearly stated that you were playing a New Yorker, you still were obviously playing one. Since DeNiro, Pacino, et al. are getting mighty long in the tooth, have you begun formulating an official war plan for making yourself the living, acting, physical embodiment of New York City? Perhaps opening a restaurant or sponsoring a little league team?
After a lot of thought I do think I have a war plan. In order to bring Times Square back to some of its former 1970's glory, to make it less "Family Friendly" and scruff it up a bit, I would like to sponsor up to five 3 Card Monte crews that would work the square. They were national treasures that have been unceremoniously tossed away. And if we are going to have to put up with this sea of shiny happy touristy faces on 42nd street, I would like to do whatever I can to take the occasional $20 out of their pockets.
3. Have you ever gone for, say, coffee with a totally unthreatening and on-the-wimpier-side (if the truth must be told) fan? It would be my treat. Heck, I'll even buy your bodyguard a croissant if that's what it takes. You in?
I've been struggling with these damn questions for more than a week - you owe me more than a coffee. A big bottle of something, I'm thinking. (The croissant will still be good for the bodyguard).
Proust-Krucoff Questionnaire
Please share a personal (and hopefully interesting) NYC taxi story.
I took a cabbie to taxi court once. Years ago, this guy didn't want to take me to Bklyn. Just refused. I explained that I would absolutely take him to Taxi Court because, see, I'm an actor and have pretty much nothing but free time. He still refused. So three weeks later we found ourselves sitting across from each other at a long table with a lawyer doing pro bono work as a Taxi Court Judge sitting at the head . I told my side - "He just refused." He told his side "I had a flat tire, this guy (me) jumped in my cab and demanded to go to Bklyn, I explained I had a flat tire and this guy (still me) jumped into the front of my cab, started yelling and tried to push me out of the cab (really - this was the best story he could come up with. And I have to say, it was amazing to sit there and watch this guy try and sell this thing). The Taxi Court Judge said "I think you're lying" to the cabbie, fined him $200, and said we were all done. So now Furious Cabbie and I had to walk down a long hall and out to the reception room together. That walk was sort of the dark side of the whole Cabbie Court experience. He was really, really mad.
What was your best dining experience in NYC?
After my first movie was released, my wife and I went Bouley. A fantastic meal. The whole thing, getting dressed up, acting very adult-y, a lot of fun. Half way through the meal I start noticing that other diners are sort of stealing looks at me, and I have to say, it was thrilling. My wife saw that people were looking over, noticed this sort of rush of glee in my face, and quietly explained "Sidney Poitier is at the table behind us. You're an idiot". We laughed a lot, but dessert didn't taste quite as good.
Best celebrity sighting in New York, or personal experience with one if you're that type.
See above.
The End of The World is finally happening. Be it the Rapture, War of Armageddon, reversal of the Sun's magnetic field, or the Red Sox win the World Series. What are you going to do with your last 24 hours in NYC?
Really? Nothing I can do about it? Okay. Probably sit by the East River with my wife and dog, maybe under the Pepsi sign in LIC, dangle our feet in the water, and blissfully, even gratefully, start smoking again. Maybe try those American Spirits, I quit before they came out, and I feel I've missed something.
