A Conversation with Timothy Hutton

Timothy Hutton holds the distinction of being the youngest man ever to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the troubled Conrad in Robert Redford’s Ordinary People. Hutton has gone on to star in numerous films, stage plays and television productions. Behind the camera he has directed numerous music videos, TV shows, and feature films including the delightful family film, “Digging to China” starring Kevin Bacon and Evan Rachel Wood. He currently heads up a stellar cast on TNT’s action thriller series, Leverage.

 

Mike Parker – You are a busy man these days. A trio of films at Sundance, the upcoming film, “The Ghost,” and of course your hit television series, “Leverage.” Where do you find the time?

 

Timothy Hutton – It’s been a busy period but in a wonderful way. It has managed to just work out. I made the three Sundance films between filming the pilot for Leverage and then filming that series. I went to Chicago to do the pilot, then on to Louisiana to shoot the first film for Sundance. I flew to LA for the next one, had a couple of weeks off and then we started filming “Lymelight.” We started filmingLeverage immediately after that and we finished shooting in November. I had some time off to spend with my family, then it was off to Berlin to work on “The Ghost” with Roman Polanski. I’ll be heading back to Berlin in April to finish up that film.

 

Parker – We’re getting ready for the season finale of Leverage which looks to be a nail-biter. What attracted you to this series?

 

Hutton – The concept. I thought it looked like fun. It’s a modern day combination of Robin Hood and Mission Impossible; old school meets high tech. I thought it would be fun for audiences to watch, but it also offered a fair amount of complexity in the characters that I thought would allow me to take in a lot of directions.

 

Parker – I’m going to move back in time a bit. Because of your family connections in the industry was being an actor a forgone conclusion for you?

 

Hutton – Acting was never anything that was a goal or something I dreamed about. My sister and I didn’t grow up with my father (actor Jim Hutton). We were raised by our mother and she was a school teacher. We moved quite a bit so I didn’t grow up on a Hollywood set. We spent time with our father when he wasn’t working. I was into sports, although I wasn’t good enough to make it a career. I was gung ho into baseball, basketball, and football. I was also interested in music. When I was in junior high I knew a lot of kids who felt a lot of pressure to figure out what they were going to do with their lives. I didn’t feel any great pressure. I was just enjoying being in the moment. The future was something that didn’t exist for me and I feel very fortunate about that. When my life led to acting it was quite unexpected.

 

Parker – You won an Oscar for your first feature film, “Ordinary People,” at the tender age of 20. I have to think that can be either a blessing or a curse.

 

Hutton – I guess I was lucky that I won the Oscar for a film like “Ordinary People,” and what I mean by that is that the people who were involved with that film - they were such an amazing group of people. Looking back I can say they really looked after me. The movie got a lot of attention and it was a whirlwind. But they kept my feet on the ground. But I wasn’t set on being an actor even though I had done that film. I went to the Bay area, then back to New York. I stayed with friends and spent some time with (Robert Redford). I spent some time trying to figure out what I was going to do. I felt like if I was going to continue doing this for a living I had a tremendous amount of work to do. I didn’t want to take anything for granted. It was a unique time in my life.

 

Parker – One of my guilty pleasures is the 1981 flick, “Taps,” in which you starred along with Tom Cruise and Sean Penn. Did you have any idea at that time of the magnitude of the body of work that your co-stars would create?

 

Hutton – Yes, I did. That’s easy to say now, given the impact Sean and Tom have had, but it’s true. I can honestly say they were unique, immensely talented people, and you could sense it even then.

 

1. What’s your favorite sound?

Hutton – Air

 

2. What makes you happy?

Hutton – Music

 

3. What makes you angry?

Hutton – No music.

 

4. What is the secret of success?

Hutton – To live not just for yourself, but to invest yourself in matters you believe in. To be compassionate. To listen. To take risks.

 

5. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?

Hutton – Henry Miller.

 

6. What is written on your tombstone?

Hutton – “*Look inside.”

 

7. What is the first thing you want to hear God say to you?

Hutton – “Your friends are over there on the right.”