The outsider insider

PN: He was a great, great poet of our time. Though just to see him and to be with him never gave you that impression. Of course, when we did Cat, [director] Richard Brooks changed a lot of the language to accommodate the needs of film. Sadly, I think he thought that Williams language was too ornate for the screen.

GF: He also eliminated the homosexual theme, didn't he?

PN: It was certainly there, but nowhere near to the degree it existed in the play.

GF: Do you think that was for commercial reasons?

PN: In those days, yes. I don't think it would be a problem today.

GF: When stardom came along and you were talked of as a beautiful young man, how did that affect you? Did it impact on you at all?

PN: Well, yes. If you start thinking that's the single ingredient that makes you successful, it really undermines your sense of your own value. [pauses] Incidentally, I'm actually someone who laughs a lot. I really am a joker. But if you ask serious questions, you get serious answers. [laughs]

GF: Was the '60s a good decade for you? I ask that because I sense that coming off the successes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969] and The Sting [1973], the '70s were tougher for you, professionally.

PN: Well, I think other people were a lot more worded than I was in the '60s. But I was already thinking further down the pike. In other words, I was probably more of a character actor than people were willing to cast me. But a portrayal is one thing, and whether or not audiences are prepared to accept me as anything other than the blue-eyed boy is another question. By and large, I don't think they are. They liked me while I was the cocky hero and the smartass and the rake. I don't think they liked me as Mr. Bridge [in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, 1990].

GF: I think that Mr. Bridge, Earl Long in Blaze, the older Fast Eddie, and the career officer in Fat Man and Little Boy are among your finest performances.

PN: And The Verdict [1982].

GF: Absence of Malice [1981], too. These characters are vital to understanding the flow of your career because they are men who have a lifetime of experience behind them. Some of them have found some grace; others are still seeking it. In many ways, they're more interesting than the cocky younger guys.

PN: I mean, the sense of growth has to come from the actor if you're going to continue to be accessible. It has to be part of your own personal . . . trip, I guess you would have to say. I was going to use a fancy word like trajectory or journey . . . [pauses] You know, I always used to joke that I was an emotional Republican.

GF: Do you feel you've mellowed as a person?

PN: Oh, God yes.

GF: Do you think that's common to men who've passed through their sixties?

PN: I think transitions are never that noticeable, but they are always on their way. It has to do with distance and accessibility. People call it mellowing, but I think it's how available you are toward other people, or how much you distance yourself. Tennessee had a great expression. He said, "If I seem distant, it's not that other people's arms are so long; it's that mine are so short." I think a lot of people find themselves in that situation. As an actor, you have a tendency in your youth to go toward characters. As time passes, I find that I insist on drawing the characters toward me, though I can switch back in the other direction too.