Heald as Scott Guber in Bost Public. Photo courtesy of Fox 47

Robert Bao, editor of the MSU Alumni Magazine, will regularly conduct Q&As with Spartan celebrities and distinguished alums. This is an exclusive service provided by the MSU Alumni Association for its members.

His current subject is Anthony Heald, who plays the authoritarian assistant principal Scott Guber in Boston Public.

For previous MSUAA Q&As, see our archives.


Biography

A character player capable of projecting priggish attitudes or a sinister aura even when not specifically a villain, Anthony Heald did not begin to be noticed in film until middle-age and after more than 20 years in the theater. The compact, light-haired actor had intended to be a stage actor, and spent 15 years working in repertory companies in Florida, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Kentucky before venturing to New York at age 35. Heald quickly established himself, playing Tom in a 1980 Off-Broadway production of "The Glass Menagerie" and two years later made his Broadway debut alongside Holly Hunter in Beth Henley's short-lived "The Wake of Jamey Foster".

He continued to work in the theatre throughout the 80s, notably in support of Remark Ramsey in "Quartermaine's Terms" (1983), as the Welsh Fluellen to Kevin Kline's "Henry V" (1984 in NYC's Central Park) and in the title roles in "The Foreigner", in the Broadway revival of "The Marriage of Figaro" (1985, co-starring with Christopher Reeve and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and the off-Broadway comedy "Digby" (also 1985, with John Glover).

He won critical praise for originating the role of Stephen, the lover who had thwarted his opera-loving beau in Terrence McNally's "The Lisbon Traviata" (1989-90). 5Television and film work began to beckon in the 80s as well. Heald played a recurring role on the ABC daytime drama "All My Children" and guest starred on "Miami Vice" and "Spenser For Hire", but his first big TV appearance was as Kevin Kensington, one of the family of raisin barons in the 1986 CBS spoof miniseries "Fresno", co-starring Carol Burnett.

Other small screen credits include a turn as an incestuous doctor in a 1991 "CBS Schoolbreak Special" entitled "Abby, My Love" and the final episode of the hit sitcom "Cheers". By the early 80s, Heald had begun to gain small roles in features (as a doctor in Mike Nichols' "Silkwood" 1983, as a cop in "Teachers" 1984).

His first prominent role was Weldon, the government agent posing as an acting student, in "Outrageous Fortune" (1987). While Nichols cast him in a more prominent role in "Postcards From the Edge" (1990), Heald hit pay dirt in 1991 when director Jonathan Demme cast him as Dr. Chilton, the arrogant psychiatrist brought down by his own hubris--and Hannibal Lechter--in the Oscar-winning "Silence of the Lambs".

Despite the notice, however, Heald never fully graduated to major roles. Throughout the 90s, he has continued to alternate between features and the stage. On screen, Heald was Annabella Sciorra's former boyfriend in the undistinguished thriller "Whispers in the Dark" and had a small role in the superior "Searching for Bobby Fischer" (both 1993).

Heald has appeared in three adaptations of John Grisham best-sellers: Alan J Pakula's "The Pelican Brief" (1993) and "The Client" (1994) and "A Time to Kill" (1996), both directed by Joel Schumacher. In Barbet Schroeder's 1995 remake of "Kiss of Death", he was cited for his depiction of a sleazy lawyer. Heald has also appeared in Proof of Life (2000) starring Meg Ryan & Russell Crowe, 8mm (1999) starring Nicolas Cage, Deep Rising (1998) & Bushwhacked (1995).

Heald has excelled in two plays by Terrence McNally: in "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" (1991), he was Christine Baranski's slightly stuffy husband, while in the Tony-winning "Love! Valour! Compassion!", he was half of a successful gay couple. Heald demonstrated his versatility in multiple roles in A.R. Gurney's off-Broadway hit "Later Life" (1993) and more than held his own against heavyweights George C Scott and Charles Durning in the 1996 revival of "Inherit the Wind".

He was born in New Rochelle, NY, and received his bachelor�s degree from Michigan State University. In 2000, he was awarded a Crystal Spartan Award by the MSU Alumni Association for his success in film, and in 2001 he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award. He served as the 2001 Grand Marshal of MSU�s Homecoming Parade.

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Q & A with Anthony Heald:

MSUAA: Well, it looks like our judgment of you, when we presented you with the Crystal Spartan award in the Spartans In Hollywood event, is now being shared by the nation. Boston Public has certainly been a major success, and you have one of the juiciest roles. Are you enjoying your work there? Is the shooting on location, or are you located in Hollywood?

Anthony: Playing a continuing character on a television series is still an unfamiliar experience for me. My work in front of a camera has, until Boston Public, been limited to sporadic small roles in films and TV. The opportunity to spend many hours a week, week after week, learning how to create a believable character on film has been exhilarating and humbling. We shoot the series at The Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studio, a few miles south of the Los Angeles Airport. Occasionally we do location work in Pasadena, but that�s as close to Boston as we�ve gotten (so far).

MSUAA: Has the success of Boston Public made you better known to the public? Any anecdotes about autograph hounds you can tell? Has it changed your public life at all?

Anthony: Obviously, when television allows you to enter millions of living rooms every week, you sacrifice to some degree your public anonymity. For the most part the contact I have with people who enjoy Boston Public is gratifying and reassuring, but my family is still somewhat uncomfortable with it. Occasionally fans of the show (usually mature females) will impulsively give me a big hug -- I guess out of sympathy for Scott Guber�s personality disorders.

MSUAA: What makes Boston Public so successful?

Anthony: I attribute the success of Boston Public to the universality of the setting and the experiences of the characters. We�ve almost all been through High School and wrestled with the process of attaining knowledge and discipline, and many of us have children now going through that process, so there�s a lot an audience can identify with. I feel enormously gratified to hear of parents and their children watching the show together and then discussing some of the ideas and issues raised by the episode. That�s when television watching goes beyond a kind of mindless reception of entertainment, and can have a real impact on peoples� lives.

MSUAA: You've worked in theatre, in Hollywood, and now in television. What are the pros and cons of each? What are the differences? Which do you prefer most and why?

Anthony: I�m first and foremost a stage actor. I love the rehearsal process -- spending four to six weeks exploring the character and developing colorful and insightful behavior to bring the text to life. Film is the director�s medium, television is the writer/producer�s, but the stage is the actor�s. And no amount of positive public response to a film or TV performance can take the place of appearing before an audience of several hundred strangers and causing a roar of laughter or a collective intake of breath, and then taking a curtain call after an especially good performance and experiencing the audience�s expression of appreciation.

MSUAA:You starred in most of the Grisham movies, plus Silence of the Lambs. In most of your films, however, you played a rather undesirable character. In 8mm, for example, you were the lawyer behind the mess. Has this negative typecast hurt you in landing new roles? Any chance you can emerge at some time as a hero along the lines of Harrison Ford?

Anthony: I�ve yet to star in any movies (but thank you). It�s true that after playing the nasty Dr. Chilton in Silence of the Lambs I was never again considered for a sympathetic role in films. And that�s somewhat frustrating. But David E. Kelley has created a nicely complex person in Scott Guber, and I�m having great fun exploring him. I seriously doubt I�ll ever be a hero to anyone but my children (and rarely even to them).

MSUAA: What other work are you currently involved in? What things are coming up in the future?

Anthony: I reprise my role of Dr. Chilton in Red Dragon, with Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Kietel, Emily Watson, Mary Louise Parker and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It�s slated to come out in early October.

MSUAA: Last year you were the Grand Marshal of the MSU Homecoming Parade. Was it fun for you to return to campus and revisit with your old profs?

Anthony: I had a wonderful time in East Lansing last fall. It was a fantasy come true to return to that gorgeous campus and reconnect with my past and some of the people who were so instrumental in steering me toward a life as an actor. And I was treated so warmly by everyone -- I very much look forward to visiting again.