Tim Robbins: Indies, Family, and Boy Scouts

by Lydia Marcus

At a press conference prior to the Piper Heidsick tribute at the Sundance Film Festival, Tim Robbins shared how his many years behind the scenes and as an actor for his theater troupe The Actors Gang, (a place he described as his "refuge" in his early years as an actor), along with lessons he learned working with Robert Altman and Ron Shelton, helped him prepare for his multifaceted career as actor/writer/director of independent films.

He credited two of his earliest films - the disasterous big budget studio flop "Howard the Duck" and the independent film "Five Corners", with helping him establish his career as an actor because they led, "to people thinking I could do both comedy and drama." Despite the indie nature of his films "Bob Roberts" and "Dead Man Waking", Robbins said, "I'm not going to sit here and damn Hollywood," citing filmmakers Spike Lee, Gus Van Sant and Sam Fuller as filmmakers who've been able to maintain their independent visions while working with major studios. He also clarified that though he felt "Bob Roberts" was a political film, he believes "Dead Man Walking" had more to do with "The idea of love, unconditional love," than with the death penality itself.

Robbins also shared the many reasons for his politcal activism by saying, "When someone calls you on the phone and says, 'Here's what's going on in Haiti,' and you have an opportunity to do something about it, then it's kind of your responsiblity to do it...I'm not saying it's everyone's responsibility to do it, I'm not saying that actors should do it, I'm saying it's who I am, it's what I was raised to do. It has everything to do with my parents, the Catholic school I went to and it also has to do with the Boy Scouts because when you're a Boy Scout and you see an old woman on the street and she needs a little help, you help her and you're not supposed to look the other way. Maybe that's naive but I gotta say a lot of that Oscar thing had to do with being a Boy Scout to tell you the truth."

Features » Baumbach Features » SXSW iPOP Features » "Lovers" Clip

Robbins admits that he has been recently absent from the screen becauseafter two years of making and promoting "Dead Man Walking" he was ready for rest and quality time with his family. He revealed that both he and mate Susan Sarandon choose their projects around their kids schedules, preferring to stay close to home with their three kids and looking for worthwhile projects to film during the summer. "It's hard at times, I just turned down a lot of money yesterday for a movie. It was a big schedule and it was over a long period of time, it was going to be out of the country, and I really don't want to miss what's going on right now (with my kids). Robbins can be seen in May in the feature film "Nothing to Lose" and is currently writing a screenplay. posted on January 19, 1997 |Share