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 | Meet....Bruce Greenwood |
He's played everyone from Guardsman No. 5 in Rambo: First Blood to JFK in Thirteen Days, but despite his classic good looks, he's never played the classic leading man -- until now. Bruce Greenwood returns to his home and native land (he was born in Noranda, Quebec) to star in The Republic of Love, a whimsical adaptation of Carol Shields' novel about a thrice-divorced radio personality who falls in love with a woman terrified she'll never live up to her parents' happy marriage (see review page 22).
Don't nice guys finish last?
Most actors would rather play the villain than the hero, but Greenwood's sick of being the sick puppy in every film. "Having played so many people with hidden agendas, I just wanted to play a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve," Greenwood says. "It's nice to go to work and smile instead of hiding behind a door plotting." He likes his character in The Republic of Love because "he laughs easily. I usually play guys who, if they laugh, it's cynical. And this character is not a cynic. I'm not a cynic either, personally."
How did Greenwood get into the mindset of a triple-divorcé when he's still married to his high school sweetheart?
Greenwood may not be a cynic, but that doesn't mean he's not suspicious. When the subject of his long marriage is brought up, he politely demurs. "You know what? That's not part of my rap any more. I just keep all that to myself." After reassurances that eye Weekly doesn't actually give a fig about his personal life, he answers the question with a rueful joke. "I think the longer you've been married, the more you can imagine being divorced." He quickly adds, "I don't know -- even long marriages are cyclical and everybody wants to be in love. That's not hard to imagine."
Before becoming an actor, Greenwood was a diamond driller, a chemical factory worker, a skier and a sailor. Has he also been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king?
Greenwood dares to take this question seriously. "I'm often a pawn, 'cause I'm in this business," he offers. "I've been a puppeteer." A quick check of his resumé reveals that Greenwood played a life-sized puppet on his best friend Norman Foote's children's show. "I'm still waiting for the throne. And pauper -- yes, I'm familiar with pauper. Pirate -- you know, occasionally I've taken jobs for money." Another check of his resumé reveals a long list of TV movies he'd probably rather forget he was in. Naturally, that makes it fun to remind him of them. After appearing in duds like Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge and Matlock: The Billionaire, Greenwood jokes that he "finally drew the line on [movies with] colons, semi or otherwise." Too bad that rule won't help keep him out of crap like The Malibu Bikini Shop.
KIM LINEKIN
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