Arthur Miller was "tall", "gruff", and didn't say much unless required, according to a star Adelaide-born actor who is about to play one of the playwright's most celebrated characters on a hometown stage.
uncertain
who → say → stage
Anthony LaPaglia is portraying Willy Logan in the American's Pulitzer Award-winning play, Death of a Salesman, for an Australian production that has been revived twice since it premiered in 2023.
asserted
it → portray → 2023
LaPaglia recounts how he met the famed American playwright while performing a later work of his, A View From The Bridge, on Broadway during 1997.
asserted
he → recount → 1997
Gruff, but only spoke when he had to,"he said.
asserted
he → speak → ?
"Basically, he just laid it out one day.
asserted
he → lay → it
"He said: 'Listen, I write my stuff very lean.
asserted
I → say → stuff
The faster you get through it, and don't think about what you're saying, the more it will come to life.'
asserted
it → get → life
"
LaPaglia had secured the part of Eddie Carbone in A View From The Bridge despite Miller initially believing he was too young for the role because he wanted an actor who was about 50 years old.
asserted
who → secure → actor
LaPaglia had pushed his agent to convince Miller to let him do a reading anyway, believing the character could be played younger and be more of a "sexual threat than an older guy".
uncertain
character → push → guy
"After the reading, he [Miller] was like, 'Absolutely, go do it', and he came to many rehearsals," LaPaglia said.
asserted
LaPaglia → go → rehearsals
"It was a really amazing experience to have the guy who wrote the play, and won a Pulitzer Prize [for Death of a Salesman] standing there, so that you could ask, 'Well, Arthur, when you wrote this, what did you mean?'
uncertain
you → have → what
LaPaglia listened to Miller's advice about performing his lines and found that, when he started "trusting the process", it was true.
asserted
it → listen → process
"The more you kind of divorce what you're thinking about them and just invest in them, and do them as committed and as quickly as possible, it brings a whole new life to it."
asserted
it → divorce → it
Miller died aged 89 in 2005.
asserted
Miller → die → 2005
Directed by Neil Armfield, the Australian production of Death of a Salesman premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne during 2023.
asserted
production → direct → 2023
It was revived at Theatre Royal Sydney in 2024 and, after returning to Melbourne this year before a season in Brisbane, is finishing with an Adelaide season.
asserted
It → revive → season
Opening in Adelaide's Festival Theatre on Saturday, it will be LaPaglia's stage debut in Adelaide after leaving town aged 19.
asserted
it → open → town
Since then he has achieved a successful acting career that first took off in the United States, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Eddie Carbone in 1997.
asserted
that → achieve → 1997
Among other accolades, he has also won three AACTA awards for his work in the films Lantana (2001), Balibo (2009), and Nitram (2021), and a Golden Globe for Without a Trace.
asserted
he → win → Trace
Co-star Alison Whyte has been playing Linda Logan since 2023 and said her portrayal of Willy Logan's wife had become "deeper" as a result.
"It's such a joy to play …
asserted
It → play → result
I just love the relationship between Willy and Linda,"she said.
asserted
I → love → Willy
She said that while the characters had no semblance to her own upbringing, she often thought about her parents' relationship in the context of the play.
asserted
she → say → play
"Not that it's anything like Willy and Linda's, but it's just the love and the devotion and the care," Whyte said.
asserted
Whyte → say → Willy
Originally from Tasmania (where she recalls seeing a production of Death of a Salesman as a teenager), Whyte is a regular presence on Australian screens in such crime dramas as Scrublands, Jack Irish and earlier favourites like Frontline, Blue Heelers and the 2015 film, The Dressmaker.
asserted
Whyte → recall → Frontline
Whyte, who has performed a number of classics for Melbourne Theatre Company — including The Glass Menagerie earlier this year — has also played a Miller character before, starring as Abigail Williams in the company's 1991 production of The Crucible.
asserted
who → perform → Crucible
She said the skill sets required for the screen and stage were very different.
asserted
sets → say → screen
"Essentially you've got to find some truth in what you're saying, but they are very, very different skills," Whyte said.
asserted
Whyte → get → what
"There's a muscle that's required up there, on stage, that looks ridiculous when you're using it on a small screen."
asserted
you → be → screen
LaPaglia also said his understanding of Willy Logan had increased with each season.
asserted
understanding → say → season
A tired, broke and increasingly deluded salesman who spent a lifetime pursuing a mythology in the Great American Dream, Willy is intent on seeing it achieved by his two sons, Biff and Happy, played by Josh Helman and Ben O'Toole.
asserted
it → spend → Helman
"Every time we come back, there's another layer to it that I hadn't seen before," LaPaglia said.
"It does get a tad more clear."
asserted
It → come → that
Adding more depth to LaPaglia's portrayal of Willy is the fact his own father, who was a mechanic by trade, also sold cars.
asserted
who → add → cars
"He was also wildly erratic and wildly ambitious, and for his kids as well," he said.
asserted
he → say → kids
"It's not a big stretch to find my dad in there at all, and if he's there, why not use him?
asserted
he → find → him
Death of a Salesman opens on Saturday and runs until October 4.
asserted
Death → open → October
The Aporia