William McNamara's film breakthrough came in 1988 when he starred as Billy Kane in Peter and Paul Mones' urban drama 'The Beat.' McNamara led a fairly peripatetic childhood; his interior designer mother was granted custody of McNamara after divorcing his race car driver father. She took him to Dallas for a time, and then Los Angeles, where McNamara met many movie stars who inspired him to become an actor.
He and his mother eventually moved to New York, but McNamara continued working as a production assistant during the summers in Los Angeles. He finally ended up at Columbia University, where he studied acting and started working in a few television commercials, and studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute.
A summer stint with the Williamstown Theater resulted in his appearing in 'The Beat.' Prior to that, McNamara acted in two foreign efforts, Dario Argento's 'Opera' and the European miniseries 'The Secret of the Sahara' both in 1987.
After appearing in 'Stealing Home' opposite Jodie Foster and Peter Bogdanovich's 'Texasville,' McNamara turned to television movies, notably 'Wildflower,' which starred Patricia Arquette, and 'Doing Time on Maple Drive,' with Jim Carrey in a rare dramatic role. Also on television, McNamara portrayed Montgomery Clift in 'Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story' and Ricky Nelson in 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King,' and had a regular role on the Showtime series 'Beggars and Choosers.'
William McNamara returned to feature films in 1992 with 'Aspen Extreme,' and since then he has been getting many roles in good quality films. His role in 'Copycat' is particularly notable.
Once again it was my friend in England, Brett Ashworth who suggested William McNamara for this blog. As I have always been a fan of William's work, I was excited to work with him. Since he has striking good looks, grabbing a few shots of him was easy! I found William to be very charming, personable and intelligent. We had a few minutes to talk before he was off to his next appointment.
All photos: Alan Mercer
AM: I know you were born in Dallas, TX. I lived there for almost twenty years.
WM: I'm back in Dallas now working a lot. I've got a production company there. It's a 'right to work' state and there's no income tax along with a fifty percent incentive and no sales tax for production companies.
AM: There are a few television shows filming there now.
WM: There are three for sure that I know of. It's such a relief to be back in LA. The weather is so bad. Dallas is just concrete. What did you do there?
AM: I started my photography business there. I've been in LA for ten years now however.
WM: Is there anything around Dallas that you can recommend?
AM: Not really that I know of. That's one of the number one spots for going to the theater to see movies. I heard it was because the weather is so hot and there's not a lot to do outside.
WM: Well I guess that's something!
AM: Dallas is a corporate town.
WM: Yes I agree it's corporate.
AM: I know your Dad was a race car driver. Did you inherit some of that desire to drive fast?
WM: You know when I was younger I liked racing around like any punk with a little bit of money and a fast car. Today, no way. I drive under the speed limit to the far right on the freeways.
AM: Your Mom is an interior designer.
WM: Yes she is in New York.
AM: That is quite creative and artistic. Did you get your creative energy from her?
WM: I think it's a mixture from both of them. I think my Dad is creative in his own weird, eccentric way. I'm not sure where it came from.
AM: Did you grow up in Los Angeles?
WM: I grew up mostly in Manhattan since about the age of eleven. But I spent a lot of time before that in Los Angeles.
AM: You're quite cosmopolitan.
WM: Yes.
AM: I notice you portray real life people in some of your film roles like Montgomery Cliff and Ricky Nelson. Do you enjoy playing these types of roles?
WM: I really enjoy playing real life characters because I can do loads of research. I love doing research. I love watching old films to get mannerisms. It's so much more fulfilling. I guess it leaves less up to my imagination and more up to the research and detective work.
AM: Another thing I notice about a lot of your roles is that you play a lot of dark, psychotic characters. Is this something that you choose to do or do you feel typecast?
WM: I don't know. I did that one role in 'Copycat' and that's what changed everything for me. Before that when I went up for roles like that I was told I was too 'boy next door' or he's too mild and meek. Billy McNamara is not the right guy for this particular role. Then 'Copycat' changed it. Now if I go for a leading man role I'm told I am way too dark for that. You see how it changes. You just have to go where the money is. When you play the bad guy you can also 'over act' a little bit. I love to over act and the bad guy gives you license to do that a bit.
AM: You have also played some heavy drama roles. Does this allow you to over act?
WM: No, heavy drama gives you a lot of depth. In fact if you are doing heavy drama right, in my opinion, it's a lot of 'under acting.' It's a lot of energy work that is happening behind the eyes. It's about pushing it down.
AM: Didn't you study at Lee Strasburg and is that what you learned there?
WM: I don't remember because it's been so long ago. It's just what I picked up over the years of working. I did have a great teacher in Kim Stanley, who has since passed away. I worked with her and she was all about that.
AM: Are you surprised that the TV movie you made in the early nineties with Jim Carey, "Doing Time On Maple Drive" is still remembered by people like it was made yesterday?
WM: It's crazy!
AM: Why do you think that is?
WM: I think it's a movie that touched a lot of people's lives. A lot of people that I know of can relate to the guy coming out of the closet, or the alcoholic, or the daughter struggling with the pregnancy. All those issues seem to touch people. The dysfunctional family with the Mom who seems like she's got it all together but she's a nut who's about to break. All of those things plus it was really well written. James Duff is a great writer and Ken Olin is a great director. All those things added up to magic. It happens once in a while where a team of people come together and it creates something that has longevity.
AM: Do you enjoy making comedies?
WM: I do. I enjoy the conceptual comedy like 'Beggars and Choosers.' That for me was conceptual without a laugh track. I do enjoy making comedies a lot!
AM: Isn't that where you play a Hollywood agent?
WM: Yes I played Brad Advail.
AM: Are you really a fan of Don Knotts?
WM: Oh yeah! You know in the Andy Griffith show that guy is perfection. It's like he's over acting but he's so believable that you can't detect it. He IS the character of Barney Fife. To be able to take the chances and risks that he did and to maintain reality the whole time, that to me is more genius than Marlon Brando!
AM: I have to agree with you.
AM: What is the main focus you have for your career today?
WM: My main focus right this minute is the development of a couple of reality shows.
AM: Are you enjoying this?
WM: I really enjoy doing this because I get to create everything. I get to write, direct and produce the sizzle reel. I get to pitch them. I already sold them too. I do everything.
AM: So you like all the control and responsibility?
WM: It's much more of a proactive lifestyle. Being an actor is about waiting around for Hollywood. It may or may not come. While it's in limbo I want to be involved in other things. This is the perfect place for me. There's no unions in reality so you can go do your own stuff. You just need a video camera and you can do anything. I've done great so far.
AM: Do you think reality TV is here to stay?
WM: Oh yeah, it's here to stay. It might taper off a bit. It might become scripted reality. I think the thing about reality that's got the studios and networks so excited is actually two things. It's getting the same numbers as scripted shows are getting and it's union busting. It's a fraction of the cost and reality stars are not in any unions. There's no Screen Actors Guild to deal with, no pension and health to deal with. The corporations of America have always tried to union bust and vice versa. They've discovered a great way to circumvent the unions and bust them up.
AM: You do have to always say to yourself, "What's the next trend?"
WM: I was just going with the flow. I just had an interesting idea a couple of years ago that I pursued and it turned out to be great. It just so happens that reality is the place to be so I'm not going to fight being a Screen Actors Guild guy and be down on reality. No if that's the direction, I'm going with the direction of the flow.
AM: Would you be interested in a TV series?
WM: I would love a TV series.
AM: Do you audition for them?
WM: I haven't been lately, no.
AM: Would you consider creating a television show for yourself?
WM: I'm hosting my reality shows. One is about extreme animal rescues. We go out and rescue exotic animals. It's the A Team of rescues. It's really tough cases with exotics like bears, lions and tigers.
AM: What gave you this idea?
WM: I've always been into animal rescue. I was a crew member with Sea Shepard for ten years. I've always been into animals. I'm a vegetarian. I'm a hard core animal activist. It's just a perfect fit for me. I got a pilot for my EXTREME ANIMAL RESCUE show!!!!! this happened just this last Friday.
Check out William McNamara's acting reel here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6LhK6cpwU8
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