EP 284: Bob Balaban Puts the "Character" in Character Actor

Bob Balaban has been a delightful part of many of the best movies and TV shows of the past 50 years including Moonrise Kingdom, A Mighty Wind, Gosford Park, Capote, and Seinfeld. This Oscar and Emmy-nominated actor, director, and producer shares how a character actor can have a much longer career than a movie star, why he sometimes enjoys auditioning for a role more than actually getting it, and why he likes to study the famous directors with whom he works from Stephen Spielberg to Wes Anderson. He recalls his family’s early roots in the golden age of Hollywood, his first break playing Linus in the original production of You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, and how he ended up playing Francois Truffaut’s translator (both on and off screen) in Close Encounters. Bob Balaban discusses reuniting with his old friend William Hurt for the miniseries Condor, getting to play his first role as a "bad guy" in ages, and what this remake of Three Days of the Condor says about America’s growing paranoia over the so-called “deep state.” Plus we talk about Bob’s career as "six degrees of Warren Littlefield," why strangers still come up to him pitching ideas for television, and how to shoot a film about the richest woman in the world on a shoestring budget.

Condor airs Wednesdays at 10PM ET/PT on ATT Audience Network and Direct TV. To learn more, visit http://start.att.net/exclusive/audience/condor. Follow Bob on Twitter at @BobBalaban. Today’s podcast was sponsored by Legal Shield, Grasshopper, and Travel Guard.