Tony Awards 2013: Courtney B. Vance glad he took a chance on ‘Lucky Guy’
Courtney B. Vance might not be the most famous actor in Lucky Guy – that would be Tom Hanks, who plays Mike McAlary. But the chance to play Hap Hairston, McAlary’s editor, was enough to draw Vance back to Broadway after a long absence. That’s especially true since he gets to work with director George C. Wolfe, who also directed Angels in America.
“He makes it fun but at the same time he’s relentless in the pursuit of his vision,” Vance said backstage to the news media, after receiving his award.
The opportunity to do a play by Nora Ephron, who died last year, was also a draw, he said. Though Vance didn’t know Ephron well, he’d admired her work and did a reading with her before the play opened.
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“Nora’s just so wonderful,” he said. “It was just a wonderful opportunity to work with someone I’d admired for such a long time.”
Vance, who is married to Angela Bassett, said it was a different experience to leave Bassett and their two daughters at home as he went to the theater every night.
“My wife is the queen. There are very few actresses like Angela Bassett,” he said. “She had to go it alone with the twins and the nanny.”
Bassett was recently in both “Green Lantern” and “Jumping the Broom.”
The experience was grueling for Vance too, though, he said.
“Broadway ain’t for sissies,” he said. “Eight shows a week, its grueling.”
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