INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR MARK JENKINS

Today I have the immense pleasure of welcoming a very special guest, actor Mark Jenkins, to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS for an interview. Mark has acted in several motion pictures over the years such as DOCTORS’ WIVES, THE FILTHY FIVE, RIVERRUN [my review of the film can be found here] THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, and DESERT BLOOM, to name a few examples. In this interview Mark will be discussing his role in RIVERRUN, acting, theatre, and position, now retired, as Professor Emeritus, Acting, in the University of Washington’s School of Drama.

Welcome to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS Mark!

Athan: When did you first realize that you wanted to be an actor?

Mark: It was my private, secret ambition from about the age of fourteen. While in college I discovered I could do this.

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Athan: Where did you study acting?

Mark: First at the University of Wyoming near where I grew up. Then in New York, with Herbert Berghof, and eventually at The Actors Studio.

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Athan: Your performance as Dan in RIVERRUN was a distinctive portrayal of a thoughtful young man trying to find his way in life away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, seeking a more meaningful existence. What it is that drew you to the part of Dan?

Mark: Auditioning and being offered the role - my first film role. I would have been happy to work in any movie. I had done only theatre work before riverrun, mostly Shakespeare. But,  I happened to identify with Dan for two reasons. I had left city life in Denver, Colorado to work on a ranch during my high school years which transformed me. Second, I was resisting being drafted for the war in Viet Nam and anticipated I would go to prison. Luckily I didn’t. I responded to Dan’s idealism and determination to do what he felt was right.

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Athan: RIVERRUN had a strong cast with yourself, John McLiam, and Louise Ober as the central trio of protagonists. What was it like working with these performers?

Mark Jenkins, Louise Ober, and John McLiam in RIVERRUN

Mark: It was easy to work with those good people. We had an easy rapport. John was very experienced and gave me a lot to push back against. Louise Ober was not even an actress but was easy going, natural and had a quietly expressive depth. 

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Athan: What did you find most exciting about the experience of making RIVERRUN?

Mark: Probably the fact that we were living and working far away from Hollywood and the show-business world, on an out of the way part of the Pacific coast. John Korty had leased a real farm where we shot most of the film. There were no distractions from us making a world for the film.

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Athan: RIVERRUN had a large amount of location filming, which gave the movie an authenticity. The waterways, the farm, the streets of the town, for example, all oozed realism, adding to the verisimilitude for which the film aimed in its presentation. For you, what was the most demanding, but emotionally satisfying segment of filming RIVERRUN?

Mark: Trying to tell my story with simplicity and authenticity. And adjusting to working for the camera which is massively different than working for in a play before an audience.

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Athan: Have you kept in contact with any cast members and crew from RIVERRUN?

Mark: John McLiam, became a good friend and introduced me to his agent who ‘”signed” me and to a whole community of good, experienced actors and directors. We even did a play together about ten years later - Eugene O’Neil’s Desire Under the Elms, in Los Angeles. Louise Ober never acted again, that I know of. She was an extremely curious soul, audacious and adventurous. Unfortunately, she died, far too young, of cancer.  

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Athan: RIVERRUN was directed by John Korty, who directed other diverse motion pictures as FUNNYMAN, THE CRAZY-QUILT, OLIVER’S STORY, and ALEX & THE GYPSY. What was it like being directed by Mr Korty in RIVERRUN?

Mark: He created a situation where; on one hand he considered us all as collaborators and welcomed our input and points of view. Only later did I realize that he kept his primary vision of the film to himself. (I would say, his attempt to merge nature with the human spirit by means of visual details.) To him, in this film “nature” was more than background.

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Athan: You were Professor Emeritus, Acting, in the University of Washington’s School of Drama for many years, and have taught many drama courses to students over the years. What did you find the most satisfying aspects of working with students in the School of Acting?

Mark: That is too big a question for this interview. Let me just say that being able to help actors peel away preconceptions, vanity, and ego-needs so that actual creativity can take place in real time, is profoundly satisfying. Also, I have able to introduce many actors to the subtle but thrilling genius of and craft of Anton Chekov’s plays which can be transforming to one’s sense of what art and theatre can be. I’ve also been able to teach, act and investigate acting as it’s practiced in Russia, Japan, Asia as well as locally.

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Athan: You are also a life member of The Actors’ Studio, which is renowned for the caliber not only of its alumni but also, its acting coaching. What it is that you most admire about the Actors Studio?

Mark: The Studio’s utter devotion to the actor’s individual process in order to unlock and reveal the inner life of a character “profoundly and intensively.”  

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Athan: Do you have any upcoming projects of which you would like to tell readers?

Mark: I spent much of the last thirty years trying to write plays. One, All Powers Necessary and Convenient was produced twice in Seattle and published by the University of Washington Press.  It deals in some detail with how the anti-communist “red scare” played out in Washington state in the late 1940’s. Since I retired, I’ve been trying to create a coherent and interesting look-back at my life’s journey.

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Thank you so much for your time today Mark, and for the insight you have provided into the art of acting, RIVERRUN, cinema, and academia. It has been wonderful having you on CINEMATIC REVELATIONS. You are welcome to return whenever you wish.

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Mark Jenkins links

+Mark Jenkins IMDb Actor Page

+RIVERRUN movie IMDb page