Tommy Lee Jones at the USA Film Festival
written by Francisco Conde, Mari Weldon and Sue Neal
Photos by Mari Weldon

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1997

DALLAS, Texas --- Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones told a packed USA Film Festival TLJ Tribute Night crowd Thursday that he kicked open the door to an acting career by winning the confidence of directors through dedication to craft.

Looking fit and initially fighting off lots of emotion in the city where he went to high school, Tommy Lee won over the crowd during a free-form question-and-answer session with fans who attended the national premiere of his newest movie, "Volcano."

Following the movie, the crowd frequently erupted into applause and cheers as they viewed a 15-minute special film of highlight scenes from his 27-movie acting career that was narrated by his friend, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards. The scenes included his debut film role in "Love Story", along with well known moments of him in "Lonesome Dove", "The Fugitive", "Batman", "Good Old Boys" (which he directed and co-wrote), "Package", "Coal Miner's Daughter", and "The Executioner's Song", his Emmy-winning performance in the role of Gary Gilmore in the TV film based on the book by his friend, novelist Norman Mailer.

In presenting the USA Film Festival Tribute Award to Tommy Lee, "Volcano" director Mick Jackson lauded Tommy Lee for being the very example of a professional actor who consistently outdid any director's request for him to express joy, love, passion, deep sympathy and righteous anger on command. Jackson described his friend since 1985 as the leading actor of his generation. Jackson directed Tommy Lee in "Yuri Nosenko, KGB". At the foot of the stage of the Dallas Glen Lakes AMC Theater, Tommy Lee trembled with emotion, wrestled for words and fidgeted restlessly with the Tribute award in his hand.

"Being here, at home, surrounded by so many of my friends and family in a place that has meant so much to me and my family for 140 years, I am honored, just deeply honored to receive this award", Tommy Lee said, fighting off tears. He entered the back of the 500-seat movie theater about 20 minutes prior to start of "Volcano", accompanied by a tall, attractive bleached blond woman, who could not be identified. He spoke with friends and family while moviegoers gawked at him from all parts of the theater. Tommy Lee told fans after the movie and the tribute that projects currently occupying his attention include efforts by Hollywood Studios to shoot a kind of sequel to the hugely successful "The Fugitive". But he said they didn't want to hire "Harry" (Harrison Ford), the actor who played fugitive Doctor Richard Kimble, and so the sequel was turning into a different, "original" kind of movie with the working title of "U.S. Marshals"."We're trying to make it an original, good movie; its own kind of movie based on U.S. peace officers who were involved in the pursuit in "The Fugitive."" He indicated those efforts were still under discussion.

Tommy Lee graciously declined to identify his most and least enjoyable or satisfying movie role "especially not before this crowd and not in present company", he said, referring to Jackson, who has directed him in several features. "I guess speaking cynically, you'd say that your favorite movie is the one that made the most money, and the most emotional movie is the one in which I felt the most emotion, but I could not say which that might be."

One fan asked him which movie actor influenced him the most as a young actor and which author had most fascinated him. "I can't really say one actor influenced me more than any other, but I did concentrate a lot on reading Tolstoy, since I was told to do so at St. Mark's [Preparatory High School in Dallas] and I did what I was told." The latter remark provoked laughter among the fans, some of whom went to the elite private prep school. He caused laughter when he said he was a longtime subscriber to Livestock Weekly, a publication that brought to his attention the writer of a novel upon which he based the movie he directed entitled "The Good Old Boys", with Sissy Spacek, which featured Tommy Lee as a cowboy in West Texas. "I enjoy that author's writing a lot. I liked that book about a kind of country that has a lot to do with the way my family and I live. It allowed me to film pictures that I knew existed and that I knew I could capture and I deeply enjoyed that experience." He said he had been greatly affected by the writings of Norman Mailer, a personal friend, with whom he shared a similar outlook and whose literary genius he admired.

When questioned about what qualities he believed were required in a film director, Tommy Lee said: "He needs to know a lot about lenses." That serious asserted proved a typical, wry dead-pan joke from Tommy Lee, which led to extended laughter, then produced a more serious response. "A Director needs to have read a lot of books, know a lot about art, about architecture, be impervious to fatigue, have an ability to manage a large number of people. He needs to be able to maintain his cool under a tremendous amount of pressure. It takes a lot of thought and preparation. A director's never well prepared enough."

Asked whether he followed a particular acting method or another, Tommy Lee said, "I'm familiar with the Moscow Art Theater and I've read all of the volumes of Stanislovsky and just about everything that's been written about him. But I don't think there is The Method of Acting, or even An American Method of Acting. I think the American method of acting is to be flexible and adaptable to all the methods of acting."

Tommy Lee pointed out that most of his education for movie acting "was practical education". "There's nothing natural about it." Asked how he emotes into a camera and projects the feelings brought on by a woman or an inanimate object like a lava flow such as in "Volcano", Tommy Lee spoke in practical terms. "Most of the time you're in front of a camera and you're being asked to respond to a lover or a horse or a scene, and all there is in front of you is a camara, a cameramen, a director asking you to lean one way or another, or to stand up, and behind him is a crew, and behind them all is a guy eating a donut." The last comment led the crowd to burst into unexpected guffaws. "When you get people to think you are appearing very natural, yourself, then you're demonstrating an ability you've spent your life working on." "It ain't natural; no one comes into this world with a natural ability to do that. It's a craft."

A woman fan asked him what fascinated him about playing polo. Tommy Lee responded enthusiastically, saying, "My family has cattle and a ranch. I raise cattle, and I've always been around horses. Polo is about the best thing a man and horse can do together. If you can get your horse to play polo you can get that horse to do just about anything that it will ever need to do. That's why men and horses have been playing the same game [polo] with the same rules for about 2,000 years. It's the ideal way to get a horse to do anything you'll ever need it to do."

A drama major who attended the event after a Dallas theater play rehearsal paid homage to Tommy Lee with a longwinded commentary about how "many of us respect your body of work and your screen presence because you are a real actor, not some flash in the pan like the new actors now." Tommy Lee dismissed the overweening praise and provoked laughs by dismissing the fan's comment with a "Thank You. Have you got a question.......?"

Asked if he had a role or a particular actor whom he'd like to work with whom he has not had the opportunity, Tommy Lee said: "I like all actors. It's a pleasure to do the work." He said he didn't have a particular way of choosing roles, rather "I just choose what fits." Additional comments: Tommy Lee was wearing a navy blue jacket with grey pants, white dress shirt and red tie. His blond companion, about 5'8', a woman of around 40, wearing a white gold embroidered suit dress with large amounts of silver jewelry on her fingers and necklace. She wore her hair back in a pony tail. Tommy Lee looked straight ahead without expression as the whole crowd watched him sit down in the audience.

After the movie the director Mick Jackson introduced Tommy Lee and he stood up and walked down to the front of the theatre. As he walked by us, I snapped a picture. After he accepted the award, I personally walked down the aisle, almost having a heart attack from my own audacity in approaching Tommy Lee and Mick Jackson. I squatted down and took pictures of Tommy Lee from a distance of 5 feet. The two were sitting in director chairs. Both of them looked at me for a moment, then back to the audience. Tommy Lee fidgeted nervously with the round glass award in his hand, rubbing it, putting it inside his jacket, then in his lap, then behind his back, then back in his lap again. I was amazed at the size of his rough hands. His hand completely encompassed the award which appeared to be the size of a salad plate. His speech was slow and thoughtful and nervous. After a few moments he loosened up and appeared more relaxed. His voice clearly had a thick Texas accent with a long drawl to each word and stating "Yes, sir", "No, sir", which is typical of Texas' etiquette.

Addendum: Tommy Lee and companion sat three fourths of the way up from the front of the theatre on the right side. He signed several autographs before the movie began, wearing eyeglasses as he signed the autographs. He was talking to the people in front and to the side of him in an animated fashion, smiling and laughing. Next to Sue Neal who was sitting directly in front of me, was an avid fan holding several laser discs, 5 of them with "The Eyes of Laura Mars" on top. After the question and answers session was over, the fan bolted out of his seat almost knocking Sue down to get to Tommy Lee. We could see the fan holding the laser discs up in the air in the crowd around Tommy Lee, but Tommy Lee was escorted briskly away through the back exit door. As we exited the theatre through the front door we saw the black stretch limousine carrying Tommy Lee away. We waved to him, although we could not see through the glass. We suspect that Tommy Lee and his companion stayed in the night in the "Mansion on Turtle Creek", one of the top ten hotels in the world, in Dallas. The "Mansion on Turtle Creek" was one of the sponsors of the film festival.

The movie "Volcano" was ear-piercing loud and great entertainment. The evening was terribly exciting and an experience for which none of us would trade. Mari Weldon took the photos of Tommy Lee, comments by Sue Neal and Mari Weldon.
(E-mail address:mari@networked.net)

Editor's note: Click on the photos to download full-size versions from our Photo Archive!
If anybody else was at this event, esp. if you took any photos of Tommy Lee, please let us know. We´d love to put them on our homepage for everybody to view. Thanks!!

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