Raymond J. Barry, who plays the title character in the highly anticipated film "Charlie Valentine", discusses his role in this rich and gritty motion picture, reflects on his longevity in Hollywood, and shares how he feels about receiving the Gasparilla International Film Festival's Career Achievement Award.
Q1. When auditioning for the film “Charlie Valentine”, you originally tried out for the role of Becker. How did you feel about being chosen for the lead role, Charlie Valentine, instead?
A. I felt challenged and rewarded simultaneously.
Q2. Please describe what the preparation process for the role of Charlie Valentine was like for you.
A. First and foremost, I was a stickler for knowing the lines thoroughly. There was a little familiarizing with a gun that had to be done at a shooting range as well as practicing drawing a gun from a shoulder holster. Aside from that, I have been preparing my entire adult life [in that] everything I have experienced has fed itself into my work either overtly or in a subtle way. When I was in college, I played three sports, football, basketball and track and field. During that time, I learned how to intimidate people with a game face and a certain level of intensity in my demeanor. This persona of being “bad” was very useful for the character of Charlie, who essentially is intimidating and ruthless himself. It required a certain confidence in carrying myself, which I know from my experience as an athlete.
Q3. What was your favorite part of training (e.g., shaving, opera, knife fighting, etc.) for this role? Was it your idea or the director’s to invest this time into additional training for the role of Charlie Valentine?
A. Whatever practice [was needed for] using a razor was minimal, one lesson from a professional barber, in fact. The opera part I dealt with on my own with the help of a friend. Knife fighting I never trained for. It was both the director’s and my idea to devote more time to working on the role.
Q4. Of all the training you did for your role as Charlie Valentine, was there anything we did not see you incorporate on camera?
A. Yes, there are a few things left out – one scene during which I boxed on a heavy bag was cut. Also, the crying scene next to the gravesite of my ex-wife was hidden because it only showed the back of my head, so it could have been looped in after the fact. It would have been better to show my face to know for sure that this person is crying, and vulnerable. Also, there was a little dance step that I did, that was not shown. That too would have been useful to the character. Soft shadings would have been useful to the character simply because it is established so fully what a bad, hardened guy he is. Any vulnerability would have given him more humanity.
Q5. Of the many interesting and diverse scenes from “Charlie Valentine”, which in particular was your favorite to perform?
A. My favorite scene to perform was the graveyard scene located at my ex-wife’s grave. Also, the dinner scene with [Maxine Bahns] my son’s girlfriend, was fun. I was connected to her in real life so the scene was lots of fun. She’s a great actress. I also enjoyed the scene with [Valerie Dillman] Blondie, who admits she is pregnant with my baby; another great actress. I looked forward to working with both Valerie and Maxine; they are attractive and very talented.
Q6. Please describe what a typical day on the set of “Charlie Valentine” was like for you.
A. A typical day consisted of getting ready, attacking each scene with as much integrity as possible, doing each scene as well as I could, and maintaining a sense of humor at all times. [We had] a lot of good fun in between takes, particularly with [Michael Weatherly] who played my son, Danny. I enjoyed his company.
Q7. Do you typically feel drawn to playing a particular type of role, such as a gritty action character like Charlie Valentine? If so, why do you feel this is true?
A. I am particularly drawn to playing artists and poets. Jean Genet or Henri Matisse, in their later years, would interest me greatly. Men are often pigeon-holed into a false manly persona that is a lie. The male experience involves sensitivity and alertness to the beauty, as well as the sadness and joy of life. Male artists have, for the most part, developed those sensitivities and so are fully realized as males, as opposed the emptiness that comes with never having challenged society’s clichéd, tough-guy image of male behavior.
Q8. With your varied background as a painter, athlete, and playwright, what drew you to acting?
A. At the naïve age of twenty, I was approached by an English Professor at Brown University, named Jim Barnhill. He asked me to consider doing a play called “Picnic” by William Inge. A football player was being sought to play the role, because the character in the play was an ex-football player. I immediately saw, with suspicion, the possibility of it being a good thing to do, but I was reserved about making a commitment. I had no acting experience but did have an inordinate wish to do something visible to the general public, like, for example, be a professional athlete, or possibly an actor. Some need in me drew me to audiences, perhaps a need to attract attention, or something undeveloped in me that needed to do such an unnatural thing with my life. At any rate, I played the part badly, as well as many other parts badly, until I learned, little by little, more about how to do it.
Q9. When did you discover you wanted to pursue acting as a lifelong career?
A. The same professor [Jim Barnhill] helped me get into Yale Drama School after I graduated from Brown University as a philosophy major. From there I studied with Bill Hickey and Uta Hagen, Roy London and Ken McMillan in New York City. They were responsible for much of my growth during the formative years, but later, my mentor was Joseph Chaiken of the Open Theater, a company with which I performed 200 performances each year all over the world, Algeria, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Switzerland, Berlin, Munich, Israel, etc. We also performed in prisons in many countries. That’s where I learned how to act and to raise my awareness of why to do such a thing with my time here on Earth. I worked with the Open Theater for nine years in the sixties and seventies. That was the beginning of self-awareness and political awareness, the beginning of my being a man.
Q10. As someone who has worked steadily in the entertainment industry for over 35 years – which is a dream for many in Hollywood – how does it feel to be recognized for your achievements in acting at the Gasparilla International Film Festival?
A. Whenever I receive such an award, I am reminded of how difficult it was for me to become an actor. There was much uncertainty about myself in the beginning of my career, but I hung in there after numerous part-time jobs of dishwasher, bouncer at the Broome Street Bar in Manhattan, longshoreman on Pier 28 on the Hudson River, laborer renovating lofts, teacher, coach, social worker, waiter, busboy on the Borscht Circuit and the anxiety of uncertainty throughout, that was based mostly upon abstract fear. I feel proud of myself for having won out against my main opponent, namely myself and my personal demons, to the point where I actually am relaxed now and thoroughly enjoy my work. I overcame something personal that was in my way to pull off an acting career, and “lifetime achievement awards” confirm that I was brave enough to continue.
Q11. As the recipient of the Career Achievement Award, what advice would you give to up and coming actors to better their craft and maintain longevity in their career?
A. Stick to it. And don’t be a pussy about work.
