When TV lovers meet Charlie Robinson, they will probably first think of Mac, the lovable “Night Court” clerk Robinson played for eight seasons. But West Coast theatre-goers may well think of Troy Maxson, the fierce, flawed patriarch in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences.
Robinson has played Troy twice — winning an Ovation Award for his 2006 performance at the Odyssey Theatre and rave reviews for his performance last year at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Now he’s tackling him for a third time – at SCR.
The actor took a break from rehearsal last week to talk about why he wanted to return to a role he’s already done so well, what else he has in store for fans in 2010 and which “Night Court” star was forever trying to kiss him.
Why did you want to star in another version of Fences? It’s so deep. There’s so much going on with August’s writing that you can always find something new. It’s like doing Othello or King Lear. You can do these roles for years because you can keep growing from them.
I’m 64. If I’m still in pretty good shape 10 years from now, I’d like to do it again.
This show re-teams you with Seret Scott, who directed you in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at SCR 11 years ago… I’m learning so much working with Seret. She has such a great feeling for nuance, and what I’m learning about this character this time are things I didn’t have a clue about before.
Like what? Well, I don’t want to give away too much. But, for example, when I learn that a character has died. I’d been playing that a certain way — there’s kind of a stock way actors react to the news that someone is dead. But Seret makes you really go back inside yourself and think about what really happens to you when someone close to you dies.
What drew you to this role? There is a parity between my life and Troy’s. Troy was a great baseball player, but there was only so far he could go because of the way things were happening at the time. And in my career, I’ve been very blessed, but there were times when I didn’t get the chance to prove what I could do. If you work really hard at something and you are good at it, and you are not able to express it, it’s incredibly frustrating.
Did you ever get the chance to work with August Wilson? No. I would have loved to. But I’ve read a lot about him. Troy was actually based on his stepdad. His stepdad had been in prison and he’d actually played football, and when he got out of prison he married August’s mother.
Fences was Wilson’s first play that had a really strong central character like Troy. His earlier work had been mostly ensemble pieces, and some people thought he couldn’t write a play like this. He wrote it to show them he could.
This play, I feel – it’s the most universal of all his plays. He also said that this was one of his least-favorite plays. And I still don’t understand that, because everybody loves this play.
Is it true you’re joining the cast of ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of an American Teenager”? I’ll be a recurring character. I play Molly Ringwald’s mother’s new husband, and she’s having a fit about it because she thinks I’m somebody who’s there to rip off the family.
Do you have any other projects coming out in 2010 that you’re excited about? I did a movie called Jackson about two homeless guys in downtown L.A. I play one of those guys. The movie is filled with operatic arias. It’s a really lovely film. And it has won awards at a number of film festivals throughout the country — and overseas. I’m looking forward to that coming out.
Tell us something about you most of your fans wouldn’t know. Hmmmm. Well, I’m a workout fanatic. I work out about two-and-a-half hours a day, five or six days a week. I do a lot of running, too.
Any funny stories from your “Night Court” days you’d like to share? I never understood Harry [Anderson]. He would constantly run me around the stage — this happened like every other day — trying to kiss me. And it never stopped. We did that for eight-and-a-half years. I never understood why, but I kept running. I never gave him the chance.
What do you think of the news that Denzel Washington is going to play Troy in the Broadway revival later this year? I’m happy for Denzel. He’s a great guy — he directed me in Antwone Fisher. It would have been nice to have gotten the chance to do it…but I’m glad they’re doing it on Broadway. [Laughs.] Now, whether or not it’s going to be as good as ours, I don’t know.
