ACADEMY AWARD WINNER F. MURRAY ABRAHAM INTERVIEW AND TEACHING ACTING 1985

so when they selected me it was a big shock not only for me but for the industry as well friends were ecstatic not just for me but that this kind of thing can happen because it keeps alive the dream you know this is a dream business because it's just and these days when he's not acting he's helping to keep the dream Alive by teaching and lecturing at Brooklyn College what is all this work on my body and my voice and my training my superb conditioning what is it for to sell underwear you know it's possible maybe so I don't think so but uh maybe it's to become president I identify very strongly with Brooklyn I've had good times here I've raised my family here uh I've been here for about 12 or 13 or 14 years now Brooklyn is my home and it will remain my home I owe Brooklyn something I feel Brooklyn College is a good school and when I was invited to come to the Department of drama I left at it his generosity with his talent and time is respected by such great actresses as Geraldine Paige was attending one of his lectures I was working with a a repor company called the M theater and right after he got the Au he called up and said he wanted to work with our company and since we are Offroad away you know nonprofit thing we didn't believe it thought somebody was playing joke and he really me he came in he work that's right he has learned to say no to big money and he talks about these difficult choices with his students I don't know if you do have to capitulate maybe it's possible you can do without fancy clothes but whatever you do you know when you commit yourself to it you've got to do it all wholeheartedly that's all there are certain things you must not do though the things that you you your heart tells you you cannot do don't do it I understand you were uh the Fruit of the Loom grapes for a while oh I was many things many things oh I sold a lot of stuff uhhuh really you know and I was it's another technique that you learn I did uh I won awards oh yeah they're very serious about that in the commercial world yes I made a lot of money I know um but then at one point I realized or at least I thought that I was becoming identified with the commercial world and whether or not it was true I decided that in order to become the actor I knew I was I know I am I had to stop this reputation because it's a small world our world everyone knows what everyone else is doing and if you get categorized that way you're finished that's what I believed so I said no more commercials and instantly my income dropped from considerable to practically nothing what are the obvious trappings of money and success well that was the hardest thing about giving up at the commercials because for a day's work I could make $225,000 it's difficult to give that up because it's easier because there's no risk once you get a technique for something you can conceivably rely upon that same technique for a whole career and there's no gamble you don't have to audition people know what you're going to do before you do it and you're not risking anything and it's easier you know it hurts to fail if you have that commercial technique and keep repeating it you never risk failure and you can make an extraordinary living but what do you gain what do you profit when you have just a bank account well that's where I was headed and I said not a chance F Murray is as committed and passionate in the classroom as he is on stage Tony mcgath of The Off Center Theater Company assists with classes there are experiences I've had which I'd like to share with these people because they may as well not repeat my mistake move your lips a lot let me interrupt just for a second what you're doing though don't don't let me break your pose what you're doing is working on Precision also so when you move the eyes keep the eyebrows still move the eyes definitely right left up down there are things I can tell them about their work which will help them to be better actors there are techniques that can be taught but the essence of acting has got to come from the himself or herself and I think since the truth is in each of us you know it's subjective and since we all have a piece of the truth in each of us we have to search for it here and once you touch the truth everyone will recognize it