07.16.99

VALERIE PRINGLE: [video excerpt] That's Scott Speedman who you just
saw with Keri Russell. He starred in the TV series "Felicity" which
became a huge hit this year. Scott Speedman has had one of those
extraordinary years, a young Canadian actor who just got this big
break. Now he's been in a movie this summer; he's about to be in an
Edward Albee play in Toronto. And he's sitting here with me now.

How are you?

SPEEDMAN: I'm good. How are you doing?

PRINGLE: Gazing at yourself.

SPEEDMAN: I know.

PRINGLE: I want to see that season finale though --

SPEEDMAN: Okay.

PRINGLE: -- because I didn't see it. My kids all of course watch
"Felicity".

SPEEDMAN: Oh, do they?

PRINGLE: And you have to watch yourself with eyes wide open, eh?

SPEEDMAN: All right. [video excerpt]

PRINGLE: You don't watch, do you?

SPEEDMAN: [laughter] No, no watching.

PRINGLE: You're still a little sort of self-conscious about all
this stuff?

SPEEDMAN: Well, yeah. I'm just trying to maintain some composure
through it all.

PRINGLE: Well, what a year.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: You have had this rocket ride of "Oh my gosh, look at this
guy" and the success of that, coping with your father's illness and
death, and getting back to Toronto.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: I mean, it's a hard year.

SPEEDMAN: It's been a crazy year, yeah, just filming all over the
place. I was filming in Vancouver and L.A. at the same time and
trying to get back to Toronto and see my family for a bit, see my
dad, and having to fly back to Vancouver and back to L.A. It's been
crazy. I'm still trying to relax and take some time for myself.

PRINGLE: But there isn't much time.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah. I mean, my friends are saying I'm a bit of a
workaholic because, on my time off, I decided to do a play instead
of just getting ready for the new season.

PRINGLE: Yeah, why? Why did you do that?

SPEEDMAN: Why did I do a play? Well, I've never done a play, and I
wanted to do something.

PRINGLE: To get more acting credentials?

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: Do you have a feeling that you've got to kind of keep
proving yourself there?

SPEEDMAN: It's not so much about proving myself. In a way it is,
but it's more about just expanding and broadening the horizons a
bit. I've never done one, and I wanted to see what it's all about.

PRINGLE: And you picked a good one, eh? Edward Albee's "Zoo Story".

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, the story's great.

PRINGLE: It's an amazing play, and you play kind of the --

SPEEDMAN: I play the off-the-wall character. Yeah, which is good.

PRINGLE: Now, we've got to plug this because, if anybody's in
Toronto, they can see it. When is it? Next week, July 21, 22, 23 at
the Equity Showcase Theatre.

SPEEDMAN: Equity Showcase at Dundas and Dufferin.

PRINGLE: Cool.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, I think it'll be pretty good.

PRINGLE: And you just finished a movie with Gwyneth Paltrow?

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: Directed by her father in the role that Brad Pitt was
supposed to have originally when they came up with the concept and
they were engaged at the time.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, they were going to do it together and then they
broke up and he dropped out. And they'd been looking for a guy for a
long time.

PRINGLE: They were looking for a guy for a long time?

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: Then they say, "How about that Scott Speedman?"

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, it was really strange.

PRINGLE: You and the Oscar winner.

SPEEDMAN: I know, that was fun. My first day working with her was
the day she got nominated, so it was wild. It was a circus.

PRINGLE: What kind of movie is this?

SPEEDMAN: "Duets"? Well, I guess it'll be classified as a romantic
comedy. It's six characters, three different duets. It's a road
movie essentially about karaoke singers travelling around the
States.

PRINGLE: And Gwyneth is funny?

SPEEDMAN: Gwyneth is great. She's a great singer -- great, great
singer. I'm the only character that doesn't sing. [laughter] I
couldn't. We all went out karaoke-ing, and Huey Lewis is in the
movie actually -- Huey Lewis and the News.

PRINGLE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEEDMAN: And it was so funny because we would sign his name up for
like "I Want a New Drug" and stuff, and he'd get up and sing in this
karaoke bar. And people would just kind of point and look at him and
go, "Oh my gosh, it's Huey Lewis." And the place would go nuts. It
was great.

PRINGLE: And working with Gwyneth and her dad --

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: -- because they're very tight.

SPEEDMAN: They're very, very close and they just let me in very
easily. Her dad was great -- great, great, great. I really liked
working with him. He was great.

PRINGLE: So what happens to you? Just tiger by the tail.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah. But I mean, it doesn't feel that strange. I'm still
able to live a normal, normal, normal life.

PRINGLE: You are, eh?

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, it doesn't seem that strange.

PRINGLE: You just have a shirt that Tom Ford gave you the other day
-- a kind of Gucci thing.

SPEEDMAN: [laughter] Yeah.

PRINGLE: No, I mean, there is that element but it's wonderful if
you can keep your balance.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, in L.A. especially, I have two or three friends
that I hang out with all the time and I just try to keep a small
life there.

PRINGLE: But "Felicity" continues.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, we go back in another week-and-a-half. I can't
believe we're going back already. It seems like the summer vacations
went by like that. [snaps fingers]

PRINGLE: Because you were working too hard, honey.

SPEEDMAN: I know, I know. I went to Ireland. I got to hang out in
Ireland for three weeks, which was great -- try to relax. That was
nice. Then I came back and I got antsy and I wanted to do something.
There's no really good films going on in L.A., so I decided to do
this play.

PRINGLE: Well, good luck with it.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: I mean, it's a two-man show. It's a hell of a play.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, it's wild. When you're shooting television and film
and stuff, you shoot for maybe like 45 seconds. And this thing is an
hour and ten minutes on stage the whole time. It's different. It's
teaching me a lot about acting.

PRINGLE: But you don't have to kiss him -- your co-star.

SPEEDMAN: No, no, no.

PRINGLE: [laughter] That Felicity kiss, though -- people won't know
until next fall.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah.

PRINGLE: Well, you look great. I'm glad you're in good shape. How
old are you?

SPEEDMAN: Twenty-three.

PRINGLE: Quite the year there for you.

SPEEDMAN: Yeah, it's been a wild year.

PRINGLE: Good luck.

SPEEDMAN: Thank you very much.

PRINGLE: Thanks, Scott.

SPEEDMAN: No problem.