Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 25, 1994 TAG: 9411300022
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SIMI HORWITZ THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
``And I'd have got him,'' he said, only half-smiling.
In another story, McCoy was willing to accept a plea bargain from a clearly disturbed woman who has killed three of her babies. There's one catch: She must submit to sterilization, McCoy said. Even his boss was shocked.
Veteran actor Sam Waterston, added to the ``Law & Order'' cast this season, brings a street-smart, angry edge to the role of no-nonsense assistant D.A. Jack McCoy on ``Law & Order'' (Wednesday nights on WSLS-Channel 10). He evokes uncanny competence coupled with a bulldog's determination and just a hint of menace.
``McCoy's aggressive, but I hope he's a little merry,'' said Waterston in his dressing room in the ``Law & Order'' studios on Pier 62 at 23rd Street, right off the Hudson River.
Waterston's addition to the show's ensemble coincides with the series' rise in viewership ratings. In its fifth season ``Law & Order'' is bidding to become a top-20 program.
Settling into an arm chair, feet propped on an ottoman, Waterston leaned his head back to take a series of rapid gulps from his bottled Evian water. He was enjoying a breather between rehearsals and still sporting his McCoy costume: the very uptown blue-and-white pin-striped suit, blow-dried hair and a ring monogrammed JJM - yes, they pay that much attention to detail.
``If bad news is constantly coming across your desk, you've got to figure out a way of not going crazy,'' the 53-year-old actor pointed out. ``McCoy likes practicing law and the intellectual combat. And, yes, I guess he is short-tempered. Things make him angry. When you imagine his background, he has reason to be a scrappy fighter.''
A key element of the critically acclaimed and increasingly popular show is the fact that the viewer never learns much about the characters' backgrounds or personal lives. These are suggested only through nuance and occasional detail, but the actors know their characters.
``McCoy comes from a lower-middle-class Irish family and has made his own way,'' Waterston said. ``He's not used to having favors done for him, and he's deeply committed to the law. His father was a cop. He believes bad guys should take their punishment. No, that's not necessarily a reflection of a conservative sensibility. It's an attitude about law and order.''
Waterston's McCoy is a far cry from Michael Moriarty's patrician, agonizing, philosophizing Ben Stone, ``L&O's'' prosecutor for the last four seasons.
Waterston represents the latest cast change for a series that now has only one player who has been with the show from the beginning, Chris Noth.
Although Waterston is perhaps best known to viewers for his recent role as Forrest Bedford, the conciliatory, coalition-building attorney on ``I'll Fly Away,'' he also has an impressive roster of stage and movie credits. Among them: several Woody Allen films - ``Crimes and Misdemeanors,'' ``Hannah and Her Sisters'' and ``Interiors'' - as well as the much-awarded ``Killing Fields,'' and last season's ``Serial Mom'' opposite Kathleen Turner.
On Broadway last year, Waterston played the title role in ``Abe Lincoln in Illinois,'' for which he received a Tony nomination as best actor.
Indeed, Waterston's acting has earned him award nominations from virtually every entertainment medium, including Academy Award, Drama Desk, Emmy, Golden Globe, Obie and the British Academy Award. He won a Golden Globe in 1993 for ``I'll Fly Away.''
Waterston, a Cambridge, Mass., native, got hooked on acting at Yale. Waterston said he has indeed been one of the lucky few. Within a year of his college graduation, he was a working actor in New York and has been steadily employed since. Only once, during a brief dry period, did he toy with the idea of taking a day job as a cab driver. But an acting stint came through.
Waterston has been married for more than 20 years to Lynn, a former model who is now a full-time homemaker. They are the parents of four children. Waterston suggested that whatever spare time he has, and it's not much, he enjoys spending with his family in their Connecticut home.
by CNB