Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511220047
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Dutton is probably still known best for his TV work on the series "Roc," and he brought that "working-man" reputation to this part. Recently, he took a break from filming John Grisham's "A Time to Kill" in Mississippi to publicize "Nick of Time." As he sees it, Huey is anything but a "shoe-shine boy."
"In the case of this movie," he said, "I've never been a shoe-shine man, but I know that in the black vernacular, the shoe-shine men and barbers are philosophers. You go into the black community and get your shoes shined, you're going to learn something about life and the world.
"Go to any airport in the United States and there are Hueys everywhere. What you've got to do is learn to respect their humanity.
"So, I didn't look at Huey as being a stereotypical shoe-shine guy. I see the role as a noble man who'd get up every morning and do that for a living to raise a family."
He said that, as an actor, he doesn't really do research. Instead, he tries to recall people and traits that he's observed.
"I'm fortunate to have had an interesting and well-rounded life. So, to play a sheriff in `Time To Kill' for instance, I don't need to go to the police department and sit around with police. I've seen enough police and ridden around in the back seat of enough cruisers to get that vibe."
Huey's limp, for example, came from Mr. Gravely, the no-nonsense principal of a school Dutton once attended. But to get to the character himself, Dutton recalled another incident:
"In New York about five years ago, I was on Broadway doing the play, `The Piano Lesson.' I was coming from a meeting on 42nd and 8th Avenue, and like most New Yorkers I was focused. I was just walking up the street, not wanting to talk, dressed to the nines - you couldn't tell me I wasn't looking good! - when I heard this guy say, `Hey, brother, let me give you a shine.'
"Again like a New Yorker I answered, `Getouttahere, I don't want a shine,' and he says, `Yeah, your clothes look neat but your shoes look beat.'
"I stopped and looked down at my shoes. They were so dusty I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to see him again; I wanted to walk two blocks up and then get a shine. But he'd got me so good that I turned around and sat in the chair.
"He shined the shoes without saying a word, and I gave him a huge tip. Then I wound up using the line as an ad lib in the movie."
by CNB