Now We Know That Guy--He’s a Star

Actor William H. Macy has an uncanny ability to disappear into his characters; it’s something of a shock to scan his credits and learn that the ineptly murderous car salesman of “Fargo,” the stern vice principal of “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” the chief of staff for “ER” and the volatile college professor in David Mamet’s “Oleanna” were all brought to life by the same person.

As estimable as his chameleonic talents may be, however, Macy is beginning to find it a little harder to blend into a crowd.

“Yeah, I’m starting to get recognized,” the affably down-to-earth 46-year-old says with a smile. “That’s a new thing for me. Just in the last year people have been coming up to me and saying, ‘Hey, aren’t you Jerry the salesman? Aren’t you Dr. Morgenstern?’ And there’s even a whole bunch of kids that recognize me from ‘Down Periscope.’ It’s really nice. I’m enjoying it, though I’ll admit that, just like anybody else, there are days when I feel dorky and don’t really want to be recognized, even by close friends.”

Recognition may just be arriving, but the remarkably versatile Macy has been working hard at his craft for nearly 30 years. He entered Bethany College in West Virginia looking forward to a career as a veterinarian but got excited enough about the campus plays he was cast in to transfer to Goddard College in Vermont, where he was particularly taken with a theater professor, David Mamet.

“Sheer genius,” Macy says. “He taught me everything I know. And the fact that we still get to work together is an absolute pleasure.”

Macy spent most of the ‘70s in Chicago, where he was a founder of the St. Nicholas Theater and an originator of roles in Mamet’s “American Buffalo” and “The Water Engine.” When not on stage, Macy was often palling around with such fellow members of the Chicago theater scene as Dennis Franz and Joe Mantegna. “We used to rock ‘n’ roll back there,” Macy says with a laugh. “Acting, drinking, occasional brawling--there were great friendships and great theater. We had the rare treat of knowing at the time that ‘these are the good old days.’ ”

Macy was busy in New York throughout the ‘80s, racking up nearly 50 Broadway and off-Broadway stage credits and, since moving to L.A. six years ago (where he is engaged to his longtime girlfriend, actress Felicity Huffman), he’s been even busier. Macy has numerous TV credits and has had roles in such films as “Homicide,” “Shadows and Fog” and “Searching for Bobby Fischer.” With writing partner Steven Schacter, Macy wrote the script for the HBO movie “Above Suspicion,” starring Christopher Reeve. He’s also a director, planning a production with the Atlantic Theater Company in New York (Macy directed the controversial Los Angeles production of “Oleanna” at the Tiffany Theater).

In addition to his recurring role on “ER,” Macy appears in the Rob Reiner-directed “Ghosts of Mississippi” as a district attorney’s investigator. In it, he sports a goatee and speaks with an accent about as far removed from the one he used as Jerry Lundegaard in “Fargo” as Minnesota is from Mississippi. (Macy was on home turf with a Southern character, having been raised in Georgia.)

Macy’s ability to so fully and believably inhabit the characters he portrays has occasionally led to some rather odd appraisals of his talents. “Mamet told me that he heard someone in New York talking about ‘Fargo,’ saying: ‘Great movie. Really hilarious--and what are the odds of finding a car salesman who could act that way?’

“There was also the time I was doing scenes with these teenage extras for ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus,’ yelling at them and I think really frightening them. Afterward, some of them came up to me and asked, ‘Are you really a vice principal?’ I said no, and they asked, ‘Well, what do you do?’ It’s strange, but I guess that’s the highest compliment I could get.”

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Macy clearly takes his craft seriously, but his characterizations are not the result of any elaborate Method preparations or self-conscious acting techniques.

“I see other actors do that stuff and it seems a little silly. You either act well or you don’t act well. You don’t have to know what the character would have in his wallet or have special shoes made to get into character. I just look for great roles, and I’ve been lucky enough to get a lot of them. When an actor starts letting you know, ‘This is so difficult for me,’ they’re way off. Just act, already.”

Part of Macy’s workmanlike approach to acting is his refusal to allow his characters’ emotions to blur with his own. “I hate emotions,” he explains with a shake of the head. “I hate them in my life and I hate watching them on the screen or stage. I like strong, stoical people--people who just do it. I don’t know why actors would want to do a big crying scene--I hate watching that. I’ve got the wicked combination of a WASP-y father and a Southern belle mom. When it comes to things emotional, I head the other way.”

Macy made an exception to his non-Method approach to study for his role in a forthcoming film, “Boogie Nights,” which takes a darkly comic look at the pornography industry of the 1970s. “I decided I did need to do some research for that one,” Macy says with a laugh. “I went to an actual porn shoot. And it turned out to be just like watching a porn tape: titillating for a moment or two, then really bizarre, then, within minutes, completely boring.” He’ll also appear next summer in a Harrison Ford action thriller currently titled “AFO.”

Dedication to his work and some exceptional skills have allowed Macy to build a career that jumps from medium to medium, from acting to writing to directing and from cutting-edge experimentalism to mainstream entertainment. But Macy isn’t taking a moment of his current “recognizable” status for granted.

“I can’t help feeling lucky. I started in this acting business fresh out of high school--I’ve never done anything else--and it’s just great to be steeped in this career. I spent 20 years in theater, so I guess I paid some dues. But when I go to work now, I’m as thrilled to be doing what I do as I was when I began. I ask myself, ‘How’d I get here? How’d I get to do all this?,’ and the only thing that makes sense is that I must have hit the lottery.”