Me talking with the wonderful Kevin Kline at Sundance for my public radio show, The Sound of Young America. He starred in a film called The Extra Man, which was premiering at the festival. His character in the movie is an aging playwright and dandy who maintains his elegant lifestyle by being an “extra man,” which is something like being a gigolo, only without the sex. His fancy dinners, summer house and opera tickets are all funded by either by the generosity of older ladies or, alternately, low-level graft.
After we stopped shooting, Kline told me that there was a scene which was shot but ultimately cut where his character and his character’s protege, portrayed by Paul Dano, dumpster-dove for furniture and thrifted for their clothes. Kline looked wonderful in the film – every so slightly threadbare and spectacularly aristocratic. As far as I’m concerned, ever so slightly threadbare is the way to go if you’re going to look aristocratic, whether or not you’re an aristocrat.
Also of note: Dano’s character moves to New York and rents a room from Kline after finding his ad in the newspaper classifieds: “Gentleman Seeks Same.”