(bright upbeat music) - Alan, I wanna say congratulations. It's exciting to be here with you. And congratulations to being the recipient of the 55th Life Achievement
Award for SAG-AFTRA. It was wonderful, wonderful
to see you receive it, and it's an honor to
be with you here today. - Oh, thank you. - Thank you. - Well it really was meaningful to me. You know, I didn't know
how meaningful it was. - [Gabrielle] Oh. - Until it got closer to the day, and I started to think
about what I would say, and I realized, I had started thinking of
starting with something funny, and the realization came to me, I'm gonna be talking to fellow actors, and they're gonna see right
through any attempt to perform. - You're right. - I realized that unless
I was really direct about how I felt, it wouldn't be any good, it wouldn't be useful
to anybody in the room. - Wouldn't be authentic, right. - Wouldn't be authentic. - First of all, I was so excited to know that you were
receiving this award. It's not just for performance, but it's for your contribution
on a social level. - And being cute. - And being cute, really cute. But what was great was, I
was sitting at the table, Mike Farrell was sitting there with me, and I saw you with Arlene, your wife. And watching you walk up, and
I couldn't help but wonder, like, what does it feel
like in this moment? Like you're saying, you were
thinking about it days before, but in the moment when you were going up and your family was sitting there, all to just celebrate you. - But don't forget, it's the mind of an actor
you're talking about. (Gabrielle chuckles) What I was thinking was, don't
slip on the steps, right? (Gabrielle laughs) Get there as fast as you can
before the applause dies. - Right, and just stay a bit. (Alan laughs)
It lasted pretty long. You saw that was standing ovation. - I know, it was wonderful,
I was very touched by that. - That's beautiful. It was really great. And it's so funny is
my family and friends, you know I told them I was
gonna be doing this interview, and everybody, everybody hands down said, "Oh my god, I wish I was gonna be there. "I love, love Alan Alda." Most people recognize you from M*A*S*H, so I'm gonna start with M*A*S*H. - [Alan] Yeah. - God knows that's only a piece of your whole spectrum of your life. But M*A*S*H was one of my
favorite shows as well. And in preparation for coming together, I wanted to watch the final episode. - Oh, you did? - Right. So how many years ago was that then? - More than 35. I can't, it was 1983. - You helped to write that
and you directed, right? - [Alan] Right. - So I watched it. I just want you to know, I was so excited when I was gonna see you. I watched it and I wept the whole time. - You did? - I wept.
- Oh, my god. - And I can't believe still
how profoundly that show affected me all these years later. I mean, to watch it and to, and I was touched by your friendships and really touched by, you know, M*A*S*H was that show that almost spoke truth to war, right? It wasn't the glorified, you guys had fun in it
and it was all great, but there was that sense it taught us that war is about fear and it's about-- - And pain.
- [Gabrielle] Pain. - Dismemberment and death. And because of the setting,
you couldn't escape that. You could escape it if you chose to, and the network in the
beginning wanted us to avoid the mayhem, or just have fun
while these guys were dying. You know, none of us wanted to do that. But that gave us a chance, and I think that's one of the things that made the show successful is that we were telling the stories of people who had really lived. And it was as funny as we could be, but we didn't leave out-- - The truth, the real-- - [Alan] The hard parts. - Right. The heart of it.
- Yeah. And the recognition that you
don't have life without death. There is no such thing in the universe, that we know of anyway,
not on this planet. So the chance to have both of
those elements in the stories was something that helped us
as performers and writers, because you could tell
any kind of story then. - [Gabrielle] Right.
- In any style. Drama, comedy, burlesque, all
kinds of different, satire. - Were you writing in the very beginning when the show started? - I think the first thing I wrote was the end of the first season. - And did you always wanna be a writer? Was that something that-- - I wanted to be a writer
before I wanted to be an actor. - Really? - Yeah, when I was eight. My father had been in burlesque, and he had stacks of burlesque
sketches that were like, there was a body of work
that all the comics did. And nobody got any credit,
you never saw anybody's name as a credit to the sketch. Just everybody stole from everybody else. - (chuckles) Right, that's
why we have unions now, to make sure that you get acknowledged for that, right?
- (chuckles) Right. - Your father, actually
when you talk about it, I was looking, he was in M*A*S*H with you. - Yeah, twice, I wrote a show for him. - And your brother? - My brother is in that same show, yeah. Half-brother. - So tell me that. How was that working, I mean
I think that's fabulous. - That was wonderful
because my father had also, he had written the burlesque
sketches with his partner when he was in burlesque, then he became a big movie star, Broadway star after that. But he wrote songs, he liked to write, too. So when I told him the idea
of the show that I was doing, writing for the three of us, he said, "Yeah, I got a great idea. "They go up to an aid
station and they're bombed, "and you lose the use of one arm "and I lose the use of the other arm, "and we have to operate on a guy." (both laugh) "And each of us has a free arm." And I thought, that's the
worst idea I ever heard. This is his Tin Pan Alley
personality coming out. What a corny idea. And my next thought was,
give the guy a break. Maybe it is a good idea. Just because it sounds corny,
maybe you can make it work. Well, I don't know if
it's not corny or not, but I wrote that in and we shot the show, but what was extraordinary was it was a father and son moment. I had accepted his idea, which
was already a father-son-- - Right, moment. - Moment. And then we were actually two hands, two hands on two different
bodies acting as one, and that was me and my father. And I'd always had a slightly competitive relationship with him. When I was 10 years old,
I'd hold the book for him while he was learning his lines. - Oh, really. - And I'd say a line, I'd read a line, and he'd say a line, and I'd read a line. And he'd say a line, and
there'd be this long pause. And he'd say, "What?" And I'd say, "No, no, it's all right." - (laughs) You'd give him a
bad time, oh you're funny! - "What is it?" I'd say, "What if we read that like this?" I'm 10 years old . - [Gabrielle] That's so funny. - He says, "You're giving me direction." (laughs) - Say, yeah, Dad, and some
I really be doing that and get paid for that. - And I did, yes. - Tell me though, that's
interesting when you say when M*A*S*H started, the
networks wanted to stay away from the reality element, the pain. - They said stay out
of the operating room. - Wow, so how did that change? - How do you do that with that story? - Right, so how did you, how
were you able to change that? - We ignored it. (they laugh) - That's great, you ignored it. - And then when the
time came when somebody, a soldier died on the operating
table in one of the stories, they were crazy with opposition to it. The head of the network said, "What is this, a situation-tragedy?" - Really. - [Alan] Yeah, because,
see, they didn't want the full spectrum of life. - Well, did they not want
the full spectrum of life 'cause they thought it wouldn't sell? - Oh, sure. - Right, and then when they saw it did, then they're saying, okay do more, or-- - Once we got popular, we
could do anything we wanted. In the beginning, we
were heavily censored. Radar had a line in one show that he was, he wanted to express the fact that he didn't understand
something at all. And he said, "I'm a virgin about that." No sexual content, he
was just talking about that it was all new to him. They said, "You can't
say the word virgin." Even in a non-sexual context. So the next week, Larry
Gelbart, the head writer, had a short nothing scene
that came out of nowhere, a guy's coming by on a
stretcher, and I say, "Where are you from, son?" He says, "The Virgin Islands, sir." - (laughs) "Are you a virgin, no, okay." - They couldn't take it out. - Oh, that's so funny. - 'Cause can't change the geography. - I don't think they
probably minded that as much. It's interesting the fear of
networks sometimes, right, when there's, 'cause I've
experienced it in different ways in terms of inclusion and diversity. I had a boyfriend who was African-American but we weren't allowed to touch on TV. "He's your boyfriend,
but you can't touch him." It was very-- - It's like the two beds for
married couples in the '40s. - Exactly, when the shows
started, you couldn't do that. You were one of the writers
for this final show. - Right. I wrote head-to-head with
each of the other writers on every segment. - So what does that mean? - Well, there were I
think eight other writers. - [Gabrielle] Right. - So one of them and I
would work on a few scenes, and then another one and I would
work on another few scenes. - Did any of the other castmates-- - I think one or two wrote
shows, I can't remember. And some of us were, other actors would
direct from time to time. And whoever was directing
suddenly got serious, and there was no laughing. - No jokes. - And at the end of the day, when we were on the same
set for a whole day, the lights kind of eliminate
the oxygen and you get giddy. So we'd have these laughing
jags, and we couldn't stop. And once one person
started, the other person. But whichever actor
was directing that week would suddenly say, "People." - Come on, get it together, right? (chuckles)
- Yeah, right! And the more you try, the worse it gets. - Right. - You just gotta let it go. - So you guys were on for how many years? - [Alan] 11. - 11 years. So we were on for 10 years. I remember, I left a
little earlier in the show, but I remember the good-bye. - [Alan] Yeah. - I mean I remember the good-bye. Even though it's not
necessarily good-bye in life, it's good-bye in that period of time. - Good-bye to the show or to your-- - Well, good-bye to the show, when we're all closing the show down. - We were all, the last day we
were all crying all the time. - Right. And how did you come to
the finish of the show? What made you say this
is it, what kind of-- - It came a lot from me,
because I thought we were still doing our best most of the time. But it looked like before
long we'd be heading downhill. - So you didn't wanna jump the shark. - Yeah, well, talk about jumping the shark on the slightest provocation. - [Gabrielle] Right. - They like to say you jumped the shark. But I didn't want the quality to go down and be doing something
we weren't proud of. We could've gone on for-- - Were people resentful of
that, were they, how did-- - Some of us wanted it, said
but we could go on more. The head of the studio
said why do you wanna stop, I love it. - [Gabrielle] Right. Well of course they loved it. - (chuckles) Yeah, but it was, we could've gone on more,
we would've enjoyed it. But we were also too old for
the characters we were playing. Those people were in their 20s. - You looked like you were in your, you still look like you're in your 20s. - I know, it's a little
trick of the camera. - (laughs) When you said
good-bye on that last day, did you stay connected
to your fellow castmates? - Yeah, I'll tell you
how connected we are. We have dinner at least
once a year if we can. - Really. - We're in touch all the time by email. And I have a podcast
called Clear and Vivid, which is about communicating and relating. And I learned things when we
did M*A*S*H about relating, as a person and as an actor. - What did you learn? - Well, we didn't do what a
lot of actors do between shots, go over the lines maybe a
little bit and then disappear into the dressing room
while they light the set waiting for your next scene. We sat in a circle of chairs
and made fun of each other for hours at a time. - Did you really? - Yeah, and just laughed. - That's great. - Played word games and come
up with stupid questions and taking a poll, what's
your favorite ethnic food? - Oh, is that funny. So anybody who didn't fit into that couldn't stay in the cast, right? You have to either be
part of the circle, or-- - Well, people gravitated to
it because it was so much fun. But what would happen was, and why it was an important
acting lesson for me, was that that connection
that we established sitting in the chairs as
people, not as actors, not in terms of the scene. We would go over the lines a little bit, but that wasn't the main
thing that was valuable to us. The main thing was this
contact person-to-person. - Right, the relationship. - Reading each other's faces, being in the same moment together. When they would call us to the
set, to the part of the stage that they'd been doing the lighting on, we got there connected already. And sometimes we'd keep
the connection going until the first line of dialogue. It looked like we weren't disciplined. - That you didn't care. But you were. - But it was a deeper kind of discipline. - Right. That is really interesting. And have you brought that
quality into your other work? - Yeah, whenever I do a play,
I try to see if I can get the other actors to sit around for an hour before every performance. - Really. And are they receptive to that, or-- - Once they do it, they realize
how much fun it is to do, and then how valuable it
is to the performance. We did it especially on a play called Art. It's only a three-character play. And if anybody was late for
the hour of getting together, they'd apologize and say, oh I'm so sorry, I missed the important part of the day. - Aww. - Two shows, days we did two shows, we did that before each show. So I was telling you about how
we stuck together on M*A*S*H. I just did an episode of the podcast where we connected with
all the remaining members of the cast. - Did you? How was that? - There was so much laughing and kidding. It was just like we were sitting
around in the chairs again. I see so many posts on Twitter where people are glad to
see we're still friends. - Yes! - [Alan] It's like they're
living the show through us. - Because you're their family. You are the family of everybody. - Yeah, in some strange way. - People feel connected to you. And they wanna see that friendship, right? They long for that. - Well, we all kind of, that's why one of the reasons why I think people listen to this podcast, because I think we have probably all of us a desire, kind of an inherited desire to make contact with other people. And yet we have this
tendency toward anonymity. You know, as soon as we got cars we moved away from our families. - Isn't that interesting? And as soon as we got our
phones, we stopped talking-- - We stopped talking to anybody. - Isn't that interesting? - Yeah, and yet we are hungry for contact. - We are, that's why people
are listening to the podcast. What is your podcast called,
so we're being clear? - It's called Clear and
Vivid with Alan Alda. That's me. - Is that you? (both chuckle) I was so confused for that
one moment, and then (laughs). Because you talked about
theater and Broadway, I am really struck about
a play that you did, The Owl and the Pussycat. - [Alan] Oh yeah. - And that was in 1964. This was the first really colorblind cast. - Yeah, it was originally not
written for a black woman. And Diana Sands played it as written. There was never a reference in the play. And yet, some people in the audience were shocked when we kissed,
and we got hate mail. - Unbelievable. - It really is unbelievable. I mean, we both felt that
at that point in our history it was surprising to see
that kind of response. And I think neither one of, well at least I didn't, I
didn't talk to Diana about it, but I didn't think it was such a big deal. So I was therefore surprised when some people reacted like that. Even reacted with praise for doing it. - It was a time when
everybody was taking a stand about power to the people, it
was a very interesting time. The idea that it was so controversial is interesting in itself, but also how did you even get to that? How did it become, was this something the
director had envisioned? - No, the producer, he was a Caucasian guy
married to a black woman and very concerned about
race, race relations. So it meant something to him to do that. - [Gabrielle] And how did you feel when he approached you about it? - Well, I loved it, it was the first time I was gonna to be in a
play where I had the lead, where the play might
run past intermission. (Gabrielle laughs) Up until then I'd been
in some stinky plays. - So how long did that play go? - We ran about a year I think. - That's a long time. So you've done Broadway, you've
done film and television. What's your favorite medium? - You know, I'm most
comfortable on the stage. - [Gabrielle] Are you really? - Yeah, I'm really at home there. I was carried on stage
when I was six months old in a burlesque sketch. - And then just stayed. - (chuckles) Yeah. And I did Who's on First? with my father at the Hollywood Canteen
when I was nine years old. - Did you really? - And I mean, all my early
experience was on the stage. It took me a long time, I don't know, did you start on the stage? - I did, I started in New York on theater. - Did it take you a while to
get used to acting on film? Took me a while. - I actually, so I have
incredible stage fright. - Oh, really! - To me, it's almost paralyzing. - [Alan] Oh, I'm sorry to hear it. - Once I'm on, I'm fine, once
I'm in the moment, right, just beforehand, whatever goes on. So TV and film for me was
more intimate in a way. I didn't have to, I was
more comfortable with it. It's so interesting. Though I loved the training in my theater. For me there's nothing like it. - I don't know how people act on film without theater training. - [Gabrielle] It's so important. - But some of them have never done it, and they seem very comfortable
and they do everything well, you read their thoughts
while they're acting. But something about the
long rehearsal period, which you do not have in
movies, almost never have it. - And nothing in TV. - We had three weeks rehearsal
when I directed Four Seasons, which I also wrote. - Oh, I didn't know
you wrote Four Seasons. That was great.
- [Alan] Yeah, yeah. I love that movie. - It was great. - And partly because of what happened, same thing happened during the rehearsals that I was telling you about with M*A*S*H where we were sitting around
relating to one another. When we did Four Seasons, we
had three weeks of rehearsal, and I said the main point
of this rehearsal period, even though we'll read the scenes and we'll act them out a little bit, but the main thing we have to
do is become close friends. And as soon as I said that,
everybody was a good soldier. - Because they felt good. - They started telling personal stories at their own expense so they could open up to the other people. And there was a lot of hilarity. And by the time we got
in front of the camera, we were a unit, we could
toss the ball back and forth and it didn't sound like acting. - That's what I actually, so the one thing I miss about theater, even though I love doing television, is the rehearsal process. Because I do love the discovery,
the time that you have to discover and to
rediscover and to rediscover through a rehearsal process. - I have to say I hate rehearsing. - Oh, do you really? - (chuckles) Yes. - Oh, that's interesting,
I love the rehearsal. - It's like lifting weights. (Gabrielle laughs) And it's good for you,
but I don't like it. - Right, you just wanna get to the end. That's so funny. - You know, in French
they call it répétition, and that's what it
feels like, repetitions. Repetitions are boring. - Yeah, but you're doing a year, a show, that's repetition every
day, eight shows a week. - Yeah, but it's always different, and when rehearsal is like that, you know, people say how
can you do the same show day after day? I don't do the same show day after day. It's spontaneous, it's always different. - That's how I feel rehearsal is. - It should be. But that's what happened, when we did The Owl and the Pussycat, the director, Storch, I
forget his first name, we only had a three week
rehearsal for a Broadway show. - [Gabrielle] Wow. - For the first two weeks or more, we just sat at a table reading it. And then he said, "Now
get up on your feet, "put the script down. "Move wherever it feels
like you should move. "And if you can't remember
the line, improvise it." And Diana and I had both been in the same improvising company together for an entire summer in a cabaret. And we were comfortable improvising. So what happened was, all
the impulses of the scenes came up naturally because we weren't trying to
remember the lines so much as play the moment and
connect with one another. - Right, who are you, together? - Right, and where we
moved was not because the director said now go over there. We moved over there because
the character needed to. It was the first time I really
enjoyed rehearsing that much. - And you had a
relationship with somebody. So you're clearly a relationship man. That's who you are. - Yeah, I get a lot out of it. - Yeah. Now you talk about-- - And you, too, I mean,
the way you relate now is really nice. No offense. (chuckles) - Thank you, thank you. I actually, when you talk about, and clearly communication,
communication, communication, I'm really sensing that and I know you've been actually recognized for your ability to communicate. You have your podcast that you talk about. You did a book. - Right, and I train physicists,
all kinds of scientists, people in STEM and people
in medicine, women in STEM, to communicate better. We have the Alda Center
for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University,
do you know about that? - Yes, I want you to talk to
the audience about it though because I find it riveting. So when we talk about
actually the full meaning of the life achievement
award, it is for so many, social consciousness and contributions. This is a really, most
people do not think of actors in the world of science. - I know, but the funny thing is, we have a lot to contribute. Our staff, we have 20 or 30 people who go around the United
States and all over the world. We've trained over 15,000
people in the last nine years. - How did you even get involved with that? What is that? - When I was doing the science
program on public television, it was called Scientific
American Frontiers, I realized that what I was
doing in the interviews made them not conventional interviews. They were conversations. What I was doing was making use of my experience as an improviser. I was connecting with them. And when somebody connected
with them as a human and said, I don't know
what you're talking about. Make it clearer for me, I can't get it. Make me understand it. - Right. - Then they stopped
worrying about the camera. They stopped thinking about
the lecture that they had-- - Saying it right. - Saying it in the utter details
that only another scientist in that field could recognize. They were talking to me,
and the real them came out. So it was a human experience. And when I got it, that
was a TV moment, you know. Something happened. So I realize-- - I don't mean to interrupt,
but I have to ask. - [Alan] Sure. - Did you start it, so did
you start this as a job, and the job became a part of your life? - No, they called me up, wrote me a letter and said would you like to
be the host of this show? And I realized they probably wanted me to introduce the episode and
disappear and read a narration. And I'm crazy about science. Always have been. And I said, look, I'd be
interested in doing it if I could interview the scientist, 'cause then I'd spend
the whole day with them and I'd really understand new stuff. - [Gabrielle] Right. - So by the time the show
came to a conclusion, I realized we did that for 11 years. - Oh, wow. - And I realized that
I could help scientists communicate better, the
way we had on camera during the show, if I
started training them a little bit in improvisation. So I tried it out at USC,
University of Southern California. Had 20 engineering students. And I said, just talk about
your work for a minute. Then we'll improvise for three hours, and then talk about your work again. And everybody in the room was shocked at how much better they
were, including me. - Transformative, right, transformative. - I wasn't sure it was going to work. And they were transformed. Now, over the last nine years,
once we started the Center, where we've spent nine
years researching it and refining the method, we now have exercises that
begin with improvisation and work their way up through formulating what the content of your message is based on the improvisational experience. What's happening in
the other person's mind as you talk to them about
this complicated subject? What's the best way to reach them and keep this connection going and be aware of whether
or not they're getting it? And the funny thing is, it works not just with
talking to the public, it works with talking to people you can get money from to do research. Legislators. - So is that one of the reasons
that you are pursuing that and giving them a form of
a better way to communicate so that they can reach out
beyond just their little world? - That's the amazing thing,
is it helps them communicate what they do so the public understands it and gets behind science, because it affects all our
lives in a positive way. They can talk to Congress,
they can write op-ed pieces. Because it even works when you're writing, because you're worried
about, you're thinking about how the reader is going to process this, so you're connected to your audience. - That's great. - The amazing this is, even
talking to other scientists who are not in your
field, that's improved. - Do you wish you were a scientist now? - No, I'm in the right spot. - You are right where
you're supposed to be. - Yeah, I don't answer
questions, I ask them. - (chuckles) That's perfect. So this is something, this is great. In 1976, the Boston
Globe went and dubbed you honorary woman, right? A feminist icon, and I was thinking-- - That was wonderful,
but I can't tell you, you know, menopause has been hell. - That's really, tell me about it. (laughs) No, you know what is really
interesting when I look at this? This is during a time where,
and I still know women who don't love to be called
feminists, right, but this was-- - I know, I can't understand that. What is it based on? - I don't know, 'cause I don't
have a relationship to that. I'm proud to be a feminist,
and I don't think that it's-- - Yeah, maybe they think
it means something else. Maybe they equate it with some-- - Some people think it's militant. I don't think it's militant,
I just think it's ownership. But I think it's interesting
that you were labeled that. And if you could even, I mean, we're in a very interesting time, it's the #MeToo movement now and whatever, but tell us a little bit
about how did that happen? I mean, where did that come to be? - The way I remember it, I
don't know what's underlying the whole story psychologically, I've never delved into that, why I get so angry when
I see the inequality. It's more than half the world is assumed to be inferior to
the minority in the world. It's not right, and it's not true. They're stronger, they're better, you folks are stronger and
better at a lot of things than we are in so many ways. We have strength and-- - I was gonna say, I think
there's a yin and a yang, right? There's a strength on both sides. - And to exclude half the population that can make things
happen in a better way, I mean, so many studies have been done about corporations that are
more diverse make more money. And yet, they act as if it's not true. But I was asked if I would help with the Equal Rights Amendment. And I didn't really know what it was. - But why were you asked? I mean, who asked?
- 'Cause I was famous. - Oh, so they wanted, okay, okay. - Yeah, that's the way
things happen often. I started to look into it, and it was only 18 words and it was the simplest possible thing, and to realize the many
ways in which men and women were not equal before the law got me angry. Why I got angry I can't tell you. But it still makes me angry. - Were you close to your mom? - I had a difficult
relationship with my mother because she was schizophrenic and paranoid and thought I was trying
to kill her all the time. So it was a difficult time. It's funny, I think the
chorus girls in burlesque were very motherly toward me. It's ironic, 'cause they
didn't wear all their clothes. (Gabrielle laughs) So I mean, it did give
me a lifelong interest. - (laughs) You always remember. (laughs) - Yeah. But I had a very warm
relationship with them. And my mother did love me
and gave me confidence, told me I could do anything,
and I actually believed her. I have a much better
awareness of my limitations than I had from her. But it was out of love, and I resolve it. So I don't know what the-- - It could be that you just actually have a deep respect for women and thought it was unacceptable. - I've always enjoyed being with women. I don't feel uncomfortable with women, and the people I work with at the Center for Communicating Science are almost all women. - Oh, that's interesting. - Yeah. They just hired somebody
new to be an instructor, and it's a man. And they sent around an
email saying, "It's a boy!" (both laugh) - That's great, that's good. Do you still do work with the Center, then you're still doing that? - Oh yeah, I spend an
awful lot of my time. When I'm not acting,
that's mainly what I do. - So I really am interested in this, 'cause I consider myself an activist, so it really resonates with me. I hear your social justice
stance and how you feel. With all your activities, do you feel it's helped
your career as an actor, or has it hurt your career, and
has it informed your career? - Well the only thing I'm aware of was, I was really outspoken as a feminist and as a proponent of the
Equal Rights Amendment. And I spent about 10 years when I wasn't in front
of the camera on M*A*S*H making speeches, traveling around, lobbying state legislatures. And I got known as that, and after awhile I got the
nickname of being a wimp. - No. - There was even a cover of a magazine that called me the King of the Wimps. - Because you were-- - Well, it was a backlash
against feminism, you know. - Right. - So I think because of
that I got to be known as a nice guy, when in fact, most of the parts I've played have been-- - Is it when in fact
you're not a nice guy? No, I'm kidding. - Well, I'm human, I make
mistakes like everybody else. But I played a lot of parts
where I was either flawed or a really bad guy. And every time I do that, somebody says, "Boy, you've never done that before." (Gabrielle laughs) But I think I've covered them with the slather of my amiability by the interviews that
I've done as a real person. - [Gabrielle] Right. - There are actors who don't
do interviews as themselves because they wanna-- - They wanna keep that
persona or whatever that is. - Whatever character they're playing, they want that to be
the one that they see. And there's a lot to be said for that. I couldn't help it. I wanted to be of help. I saw that if a man expressed these views, it could be very helpful
for other men to listen and for women to feel that
there could be allies among men. Because men are not the enemy, men-- - No. In fact, as we go through
this #MeToo, #TimesUp, you know, when I go to
speak, people ask me to speak around the country on this, and I say it's good men
and good women together. - Yeah. - It is not all women are good,
it is not all men are bad. - And when you hear about
abuse or harassment, we should all be equally upset by it. And all look for ways to eliminate it. - So you say there were 10
years that you were doing this. I just wanna just put a pin on this. Do you feel during that
time it hurt your career? - I don't know if it hurt my career. I do remember once or twice,
even 20 or 30 years later, a director told my agent,
"He's too nice for this part." When in fact, I got a nomination,
and Academy nomination, for playing a really scuzzy
senator in The Aviator. - I remember. - [Alan] I wasn't too nice for that. - Tell me, so what was your favorite role that you've ever performed? - I don't have one. - [Gabrielle] Not one. - No. No, there are moments that I
remember with real pleasure. The live debate on West
Wing, which was live. - That was live. - Live, and we did two
shows, one for the east coast and one for the west coast. And it had a feeling of
improvisation even though-- - It was scripted. - It was scripted. But it was very exciting. When you know in 30 seconds
the red light's going on and millions of people are
watching you, right, yeah. - There you go, you like the live, it's like theater for you,
there's something that feeds you. - I really do, yeah. There are moments I
remember with pleasure, moments on the stage. And I think that's what we're all, I look for that in other
people's performances. I don't have a favorite actor but I have moments that
I've seen actors perform that really were an inspiration for me, and those moments where you
say, how did that person do it? And I loved the part I played
in Louis CK's Horace and Pete. - [Gabrielle] Oh yeah? - On the internet. And there was a performance
by an actress in there, she had a 10 minute monologue. And the next day when we were on the set shooting our scenes, we all
said, how did she do it? It was like she was
making up every moment. It was a like a real person
telling you real stories. - [Gabrielle] Fabulous. - And that kind of thing, if I never see her do anything else-- - Right, it's rich. - That moment and that performance. Moments that I've seen
other great actors give mean something to me. - [Gabrielle] Right. - But you know, you can't
be expected to be great all the time. - Oh my god, no. But you do aspire to
have moments, I agree, and those are the most exciting. The moments add up. - And that's what you
remember with pleasure. - So if now in your life, if you were to say there's one role, I've never performed it but
I must perform this role in my lifetime, what is that one role? Do you have-- - Baby Snooks. - [Gabrielle] Baby Snooks. (laughs) - No, I really do approach my
life like an improvisation. I have very few long term goals. I mean, I do have a long term goal for the Center for Communicating Science, which is world domination. (Gabrielle laughs) I want it to be taught all over the world. - Good. Can we do it in this country, too? - Yeah, yeah, right. But as an actor, I just make the most of what's in front of me. Things come in front of you or they don't. So to say I really want
that, what's the point? - Some people really have
that one, like, ring, that one performance that
they say, I want that-- - Do you, have you ever had that? - I don't, I don't have that. I just love, I am excited
to always try something new, and I'm excited to do my work
but then take the chance, like let go, I think about that a lot, how can I be freer, how can I just be listening in the moment? - Yeah, me too, me too, and I think when I'm reading a script that somebody's offering me and I think, this writing is good but how
could I ever be that character, that makes me want to do it. - Oh, if you have to
know, how can I get there? - As long as it's in my range, and I think this is almost scary, I'm not sure I know how to be this guy. Which is how I felt about Hawkeye. - Oh really? Tell me how Hawkeye came, 'cause
we didn't talk about this, but how did you-- - Well they sent me the scripts while I was in the Utah State Prison. - Why were you in prison? (both laugh) Oh, this is another side of Alan Alda that we don't know about. - And they say I'm a nice guy. - (laughs) That's right. - I was in the prison for
three weeks making a movie. - [Gabrielle] Oh, okay. - But 12 hours a day
surrounded by inmates, it was like being in prison. And it was a great
script that they sent me for the pilot of M*A*S*H. And I didn't wanna to say yes to it until I had a conversation with them to make sure it wasn't gonna
be hijinks at the front. - Right, right. - So I talked with them till
one o'clock in the morning the day before the first rehearsal. - [Gabrielle] Really. - Then we had 10 days of rehearsal, at the end of which the
scenes were playing, but I didn't really
feel like I was Hawkeye. And the next morning we're
out there on the ranch in the mountains standing in that tin shed waiting for the first shot. And I've got my costume
on, I've got my shoes, and I was supposed to
be in character with him to get the shoes the character wears. It wasn't helping. So I hear them call scene
one, take one, quiet, clapper. (claps hands) - And it happened. - I got opened the door,
and I still don't know, I don't feel like the guy,
I'm not convinced, you know? So all I have to do is a silent shot walking across the compound. And there's an extra coming toward me, a young woman playing a nurse. So as she passes, I just reach out and give her a hug around the waist. And all of a sudden I
thought, "I'm Hawkeye, "that wasn't so hard." - Oh, that's great. That's great. You had, so at 11 years of shows, you had people who came
in, left, you know? - Yeah, and the producers were very smart not to try to repeat the characters, but to find new characters
and new relationships, and that really helped. - That's for like the captain,
what's his name who was-- - The colonel. - Colonel, yes. They did that really well. - Harry Morgan came in to
replace McLean Stevenson. - Right. That was really interesting. And David Ogden Steers-- - David Ogden Stiers, yeah. - Stiers, excuse me. He played my father. - Really? - It was years after M*A*S*H, and he talked about that
being a great experience and how much he had
grown as a human being. - [Alan] Oh that's nice. He was lovely guy. - Really great. - We all enjoyed his company. Harry Morgan was so funny. I still say things he used to say casually that would break us up. He just had a twinkle in his eye. And in a way, he replaced for us that same ability to keep us laughing that McLean Stevenson had,
who was a wild improviser, he would just go on rants
that were hilarious. - How great though that
they let you do that. I mean, some shows will say-- - Well he didn't do it
as part of the show. It was between shots. - I was gonna say. - Yeah, no, we all came from the theater, so the word was sacrosanct for us. So one day, we're out at the ranch, and Wayne Rogers and I
are going over our lines. And the ranch was, you know,
45 minutes away from the studio and they didn't think we
were gonna be a success, so they didn't even put
a telephone out there. So we couldn't call the writers. - We didn't have cell phones. - No cell phones. So Wayne says, "Do you
know what this line means "that you're gonna say?" I said, "I have no idea what it means. "It must be Larry Gelbart being funny "in a way we don't get." So I said the line. The next day we're watching rushes and Larry watches the scene and says, "Why did you say that?" - (laughs) Because it was in the script. - "It's in the script." He said, "That's a typo." (both laugh) - That's funny, that's so great. - I had such a respect
for the written word. I did it naively, I wasn't
trying to make a point. - This has been a great interview, but I know that we're gonna
be coming up to an end. I do wanna say something
I said to you earlier, 'cause I really want you to hear this. - [Alan] What? - At the awards, we went and, afterwards, we're in an action right now, with BBH, this is regarding commercials. And I want it to be noted, even though I said this to you, I want you to be able to really hear that you taking a stand and supporting
the union and the members regarding BBH, the action we're in, putting your name to that, has meant so much to the members. - Oh, that's nice. - It's really, I think
it really speaks to, being in a union, even though as actors you know it's our contracts, whatever, but there is a brother-sisterhood-- - [Alan] Sure. - That goes on, we're here
to take care of each other. And you really stepped up and leaned in, and I had to say it out loud to you. - Well, thank you, let me return it. You know, as a young actor,
I was doing a play in Italy with my father when I was in my early 20s. And it was a very interesting experience because the producer was an Italian. We were doing the play in English, but it was an Italian production company. And we would get paid in cash every night after the performance. - Different time. - And that was the habit there, because if you waited
till the end of the week, you might not be able to find a producer. - Wow. - And if you didn't have a
guarantee of a way to fly home, you might not be able to leave. You had to go on your own steam. It became very clear to
me during that production why we need a union. Why we have to be organized. Because when we're on our own, one person against an unscrupulous or, let's say an unscrupulous producer, it's just you. - That's right. It's the collective voice, and that is actually what people really, I think that you helped bring
the collective voice together by speaking up, because
when people look at you, they do remember you from
a part of their lives. They've seen all the
different body of work, and they're saying, he's not so big that he's
not speaking with us. He's saying that he's a part of us. And in that feeling of
being a part of community, it gives strength. So I wanted you to know that. - Well, I'm glad for you that you dedicate so much of your life to this, too. - I love our membership. It's been an honor to be able to serve. - You know, we work very hard
to learn how to be artists. And then we have to operate
in a business environment. - [Gabrielle] Right. - And the business environment, although it's called show business, is run mostly by people who are interested in the business part of it. And we're just one of the commodities that make up the product that they sell. When they started calling movies product, I felt we were in trouble. - Right. And sometimes we are. - [Alan] Yeah. - I think that we're in a
really good place as a union. The merging of SAG-AFTRA
was really important. Mike Farrell, who I told
you, I really, I love Mike, he was actually a big
supporter of us merging, and clearly a major friend, I wanna say, or there is a brotherhood
I can tell with you both. I watched Mike. When you walked up, I watched Mike as you walked up. So I couldn't see if you tripped or not, it wouldn't have mattered,
when you said you were nervous. But I literally-- - He would have been
first one to pick me up when I fell down the stairs. - He was so proud of you. There was tears in his eyes. - Well we love each other, we all do. - [Gabrielle] That's beautiful. - And that's one of the things
that showed on the screen. And by the way, just like a real family, we had differences of opinion. - [Gabrielle] Of course. - We made each other
annoyed from time to time. But we always knew that we
were there for something bigger than ourselves, and
that made a big difference. - Well, you have made an
incredible difference. If, you know, the responsibility, my mom used
to say, of every generation is to make a difference, and you have made a profound difference. - Well, thank you very much. - So it's such an honor to have you here, and congratulations, you are great. (kisses) - Thank you. - [Gabrielle] Thank you. - [Alan] That was nice. (bright music) (gentle upbeat music)
