David Alan Grier
A Conversation with David Alan Grier
(Rip)

Q: What did you think when you were first approached to do a Western about King Lear?
A: The first thing I did was read the script, and I thought it was really wonderful. There's nothing worse than when you read "adapted from a Shakespearean play" and then it's a horrible script. Shakespeare's all about the language. I've seen really bad productions of Shakespearean masterpieces -- directors trying to impose their concept on these productions and they muddle the language to the point that it's unintelligible. Shakespeare's the greatest writer in the English language, so why would you change the language? These were my thoughts coming into it, but when I read the script I thought it was really, really wonderful.

Q: Do you think it was a good idea to set this in the Old West?
A: If you look around, you'll notice the vastness, the emptiness and the loneliness of the landscape, and that made it a great place to set the story. It's haunted terrain, which seems to really tie in to where Lear is in his life. He's a man facing his mortality. He's not as strong as he used to be. His children turn against him. Everyone is lying to him except for my character. I also think setting the story in that time period is really great. The West changed so quickly in terms of the way it was populated, and the cattle ranchers were driven out when all of the farmers came in. We don't deal with that in this production, but there is that sense that it's coming, so Lear's way of life is not going to be the same.

Q: You have one of the most pivotal roles in this movie. Tell us a bit about your character.
A: My character Rip is a slave. He's based on a character that was actually at the Alamo, and I think he was one of the two or three surviving people there. The Mexicans refused to fire on him, so he survived. Rip comes into this having faced death, having faced the worst massacre he's ever seen in his life, so he's fearless. The character is also based on the fool from King Lear. I think a lot of Western audiences, particularly American audiences, see the fool in Shakespeare and think of the court jester -- a knucklehead. But really he's the fool because he's foolish enough to tell the truth. Everyone else is afraid of Lear. They're afraid of confronting him and being honest. And that's why this character's a fool. Lear laughs at Rip's honesty, and I think he gives him joy in the sense that he's like his therapist.

Q: Are you bringing in any comedic elements?
A: No, because in the best comedy you have to play the real intention. You have to play the emotion and the situation. Now out of that comes comedy, but if it's funny, it's bittersweet. It's tangy, brackish water as I call it. There's a character that beats me, Hornell, and I deal with him by making him look more foolish. So that's where the comedy comes from.