Big Star
Tall, handsome, with a long face and piercing blue eyes, Martin Donovan established himself
in independent features, notably those of Hal Hartley. Usually cast as quintessential New
Yorkers, the light-haired actor became quickly identified for his straightforward yet
unemotional portrayals. The California native, however, had begun his career as a stage actor
while a student at The American Theatre Arts in L.A. Relocating to NYC in 1983, Donovan landed
his first screen role alongside Margaret Klenck and John Sayles in Rick King's indie "Hard
Choices" (1984). But it was his turn as Matthew Slaughter, an angry computer technician who
carries around a 40-year-old grenade in Hal Hartley's quirky comedy-drama "Trust" (1990) that
established him as a lead in independent films. He essayed similar types in other Hartley works
including "Simple Men" (1992), as one of the men who fall under the charms of Karen Sillas'
Kate, and the short "Flirt" (1993), which the director used in 1995 to anchor a triptych of
variations on the same theme. As the amnesiac Thomas in "Amateur" (1994), Donovan was the
film's catalyst linking the stories of a nun turned pornographer with that of a vengeful porno
star.
Donovan has also worked with other independent filmmakers. In 1994, he reteamed with Rick King
for the direct-to-video "Quick", playing a mild-mannered accountant caught up in mob dealings.
As usual, the actor brought wit to his performance as an Everyman coping under extraordinary
circumstances. Later that same year, he was another beleaguered type, this time the nephew of
vampire hunter Van Helsing (Peter Fonda) in Michael Almereyda's take on the Dracula legend,
"Nadja". So it was almost shocking to critics and audiences when Jane Campion cast Donovan as
the tubercular Englishman Ralph Touchette in "The Portrait of a Lady" (1996). Mustachioed and
somewhat unrecognizable, the actor brought welcome charm, warmth and tenderness to this
somewhat muddled adaptation of the Henry James novel. Donovan's scenes with Sir John Gielgud
and Nicole Kidman were among the highlights of the picture and his work earned him a citation
as Best Supporting Actor from the National Society of Film Critics (who also cited Tony
Shalhoub for his work in "Big Night"). Continuing to challenge audience expectations, Donovan
next portrayed another Englishman, a gay doctor battling his ex-wife (Joely Richardson) for
custody of their son, in the based-on-fact drama "The Hollow Reed" (1996), then segued to
playing a psychic transsexual in "Heaven" (1997).
Making occasional forays to the small screen, Donovan debut on TV in the 1987 CBS miniseries
"At Mother's Request". Perhaps his best-known work, though, was in Hal Hartley's "Surviving
Desire", 1992 presentation on PBS' "American Playhouse", in which he portrayed a depressed
college teacher who embarks on an affair with a student. Donovan has also had small roles in
two special episodes of "The Adventures of Pete and Pete" (Nickelodeon, 1992), was another
bookkeeper involved with shady dealings in "Scam" (Showtime, 1993) and co-starred with Valerie
Bertinelli, Harry Hamlin and Karen Sillas in the kidnap drama "Night Sins" (CBS, 1997).
Sony Pictures - Amateur
For his role as Thomas, MARTIN DONOVAN received the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival's Best Actor
award. Originally from Reseda, California, he studied acting at The American Theatre Arts in
Los Angeles, where he appeared in such plays as "Richard Cork's Leg" by Brendan Behan, and
Brecht's "Private Life Of The Master Race."
"Amateur" is Donovan's fifth film with Hartley. He co-starred with Adrienne Shelley in "Trust,"
played the lead in the short "Surviving Desire" and appeared in supporting roles in "Simple
Men" and Hartley's first segment of his upcoming feature, "Flirt." He moved to New York in 1983
and appeared as Josh in Rick King's film "Hard Choices." He has also appeared in the
mini-series "At Mothers Request," "Legwork," "At King's Crossings" and in Spike Lee's "Malcolm
X." More recently, he appeared in Eran Palatnick's "Rook" and Michael Almereyda's "Nadja," with
his "Amateur" co-star Elina Lowensohn. He is a member of the Cucuracha Theatre in New York.
"Hal wrote the part for me," says Donovan. "Thomas is childlike. Because he has no memory he
takes things at face value. I don't really think he is like me, but Hal channels my presence
into the script.
"During rehearsals we talked a lot about Thomas--what he used to be like and what he is like
now, and which Thomas I should be playing. He's two completely different people, but I can't
play two people at once. I just listened to Hal because I trust him.
"I was raised a Catholic so Hal and I have always talked a great deal about the concept of
baptism. 'Amateur' is about the washing away of original sin, being born again.
"Hal and I are close friends. I understand his language, his humor, his film language, what he
is trying to say. I tell actors who are new to Hal -- this is more like dance. It's not acting
naturalistically, it's carefully choreographed. Gestures are important and specific gestures
are very important."
Sony Pictures - The Opposite of Sex
Martin Donovan plays Bill Truitt, a mild-mannered school teacher who has his life turned
upside down with the arrival of Dedee, his much-younger half-sister.
Donovan recently was featured in "The Portrait of a Lady", directed by Jane Campion. His
portrayal of Ralph Touchett, Nicole Kidman's doomed cousin and admirer, earned him the National
Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor. He followed that up with another
widely praised role in Angela Pope's controversial "Hollow Reed", in which he starred opposite
Ian Hart and Joely Richardson.
Donovan recently completed production on two upcoming films: Scott Reynolds' "Heaven", with
Joanna Going and Richard Schiff, and Richard LaGravenese's "The Kiss", opposite Holly Hunter.
His other film credits include "Malcolm X", directed by Spike Lee; John Flynn's "Scam" with
Christopher Walken; and Michael Almereyda's droll vampire saga "Nadja".
Donovan has enjoyed a long association with celebrated director Hal Hartley. Most recently the
two teamed up on "Amateur", for which he received the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival's Best
Actor Award. He also co-starred with Adrienne Shell, in the award-winning "Trust"; played the
lead in the short "Surviving Desire"; appeared in a supporting role in "Simple Men" and
appeared in the first segment of "Flirt".
Originally from Reseda, California, Donovan studied acting at the American Theater of Arts in
Los Angeles where he appeared in such plays as Richard Cork's Leg by Brendan Behan and
Brecht's Private Life of the Master Race. He moved to New York in 1983, and appeared in the
mini-series "At Mother's Request", "Legwork" and "At King's Crossing".
Until 1994, he was a member of the Cucaracha Theater in New York, where he has appeared in over
half a dozen new works, most notably Richard Caliban's "Famine Plays" and "Homo Sapien Shuffle".
More or less Martin By RUTH HESSEY - The Sydney Morning Herald,
Friday 4 October, 1996
With his penchant for casting brooding male beauties, director Hal Hartley was the first to
discover Martin Donovan. Faultless performances in "Trust", "Simple Men" and "Surviving Desire"
established Donovan's unique oeuvre. "Hal changed the way I approached film," says Donovan.
"Stylistically, you have Hal and then you have everyone else. I learnt how little is required
to give characters life. You have to restrain yourself."
With "Amateur", this actor who had been admired chiefly as an exponent of Hartley-isms -
clipped speech and dead-pan delivery within a highly-choreographed frame - became something
more. Playing an amnesiac opposite the consummate French star Isabelle Huppert, Donovan managed
to break every rule in the actor's manual. Without a character history to draw on, he was
working straight from the inarticulate world of the heart.
Since then, Donovan has joined the elite of independent film stars such as Kevin Spacey and
Steve Buscemi, and other directors, including Jane Campion, have embraced his tendency to do
more with less. Fresh from Venice, where Campion's "Portrait of A Lady", which also stars
Nicole Kidman, was greeted with rapture and disdain (a combination she must be accustomed to),
the seemingly innate heaviness of spirit which characterises Donovan's persona had lifted a
little.
"Ralph Touchett was such a different character for me because he's so open-hearted," he explains,
carefully. "It was hard for me to open up in that direction, but Jane kept reminding me: the
story is not about his problems. He's a very selfless person and all his energies are directed
towards Isabel (played by Kidman)." Donovan says that Portrait is "even more courageous than
"The Piano". There is no doubt that here is a director in full command of her voice."
Until "Portrait" is released in Australia, you can savour Donovan's sombre allure in "Hollow
Reed, a gritty new film from British director Angela Pope, in which he plays a British doctor
whose estranged wife has started living with someone he thinks is beating up their son. But,
because the doctor is gay, he has a hard time convincing the authorities that the child is
safer with him.
"There is no "way' to approach playing gay or straight," says Donovan. "A queen is one extreme.
A right-wing homophobic drill sergeant is another. But this is not a preachy film. I'm proud of
it. I think we avoided the traps of social drama, and "gays are people too'."
Clearly, if there is a church of independent cinema, Martin Donovan is one of its most
intriguing saints.
Five questions with Martin Donovan: Dining with daddy By MEG RICHARDS
- The News-Times, May 9, 1997
Martin Donovan likes a hearty breakfast. At a small restaurant near his Manhattan home, he
orders a dish called the Lumberjack - two pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee.
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, is it not?" the actor queries between bites.
"Isn't that what your mother told you?"
Donovan, 39, must be doing something right. A screen veteran who has appeared in about a dozen
films, he's most often identified for his work as the leading man in Hal Hartley's quietly
quirky films such as "Trust," "Simple Men" and "Amateur."
He was critically acclaimed last year for his performance opposite Nicole Kidman in Jane
Campion's "Portrait of a Lady." His latest film is "Hollow Reed," Angela Pope's cautionary tale
of child abuse and gay parenting.
Set in peaceful Bath, England, "Hollow Reed" also stars Joely Richardson, Jason Flemyng and Ian
Hart. The movie, which is loosely based on a true story, touches on several hot-button topics
and contains some all-too-familiar elements for Americans.
The young son of a divorced couple is being abused by his mother's violent live-in boyfriend.
His father, played by Donovan, is determined to rescue him. The story grows more complicated
because Donovan's character is gay and Britain's courts, like those in the United States, don't
favor granting custody of young children to gay parents.
Born in California's San Fernando Valley, Donovan says he always knew he wanted to be an actor
- his first role was in a high school production of "Bye Bye Birdie." He later studied acting at
the American Theatre Arts in Los Angeles, where he met his wife of 13 years, actress Vivian
Lanko. They have two children.
1. What do you do when you aren't working?
Donovan: I don't really have any hobbies .... I keep telling myself I would like to buy a nice
telescope and go out in country and look at the stars with my kids. I know it changed my life
when I saw the rings of Saturn from my driveway in my suburban home in Reseda (Calif.). It made
me think deep thoughts.
2. What is the significance of the name of your recent film, "Hollow Reed?"
Donovan: You would ask that, wouldn't you? I haven't a clue! It has something to do with a quote
from Pascal... and then somebody said, no it's not Pascal, it's somebody else... `a man is just
a hollow reed...' it's some poetic reference. I don't know. I feel stupid. (According to
Bartlett's, it's poet Blaise Pascal's line: "Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is
a thinking reed.")
3. Were there any concerns about how this film would be perceived by American audiences?
Donovan: No. If you mean American audiences in terms of a mass audience, I'm not interested in a
mass American audience, or for that matter any mass audience. That's not why I'm in it. I'm
interested in trying to do intelligent stories that have some relevance to real life. I'm not
interested in playing games ... not that there's not a place for entertainment or feel good movies.
4. There were no big explosions in this movie.
Donovan: Right, and there were also no easy endings. The characters were far more complex than
the characters in your average mainstream film. Even the boyfriend is drawn in a very complex
way. There's a lot of moral ambiguity and I don't think the ending is particularly satisfying.
5. What was it like to perform your love scene with Ian Hart?
Donovan: It was the first gay love scene I've ever had. And it was difficult in so far as all
sex scenes are extremely difficult. Straight ones are just as bad. If I can get away without
feeling like I've been humiliated, then I feel I've succeeded.
6. There are so many things about this film that are outrageous on so many levels ... was it
difficult for you to do as a parent?
Donovan: I didn't let that stuff get underneath my skin. First of all, I wasn't involved with
the tougher stuff, with the abuse. I wasn't around that. All of my stuff was about nurturing the
child. I didn't have to go there, you know? I wouldn't be able to play a character who would ...
be physically abusive to a child.
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