TMC
12-02-2015, 01:17 AM
http://www.avclub.com/article/max-casella-boardwalk-empire-doogie-howser-and-hor-228426
Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-93)—“Vinnie Delpino”
MC: Well, that was huge for me, the whole thing of doing Doogie. I mean, it changed my whole life. It literally changed my whole life overnight. Like I said, before I did Doogie, I had done some theater and small TV things in Boston, and then in New York I did that episode of The Equalizer—and also one of Kate and Allie!—while I was studying and working in a small off-off-Broadway theater. I was very broke, living with my mom up in Inwood, 207th Street, counting out the pennies to get on the subway. I was studying acting feverishly and working in that theater, being in the shows but also cleaning the place, running the lights, and doing all of these odd jobs… and then BAM! I get this thing and I’m in Hollywood doing this TV series I’m making a ton of money—for me, anyway. I didn’t go to college, so it was sort of like my four-year college experience. Leaving home, learning to drive, getting a license, getting a car, getting my first girlfriend, getting laid for the first time… It was crazy. It was a wonderful, adventurous time.
AVC: You had great chemistry with Neil Patrick Harris on the show.
MC: Oh, he was great! We had just a great time together. Like you said, we really had great chemistry, and I loved him. But at the time, he was 16 and I was 21 or 22, so we weren’t really hanging out. Also, culturally, we were from different planets back then. I’d say Neil—and I say this with all love and affection—was the first real white person I had ever met in my life. [Laughs.] Because, you know, I’d been living in New York City, but even growing up in Boston, I lived in a black neighborhood, and I was always trying to be black, hanging out with black guys and listening to black music. And you don’t really meet real Anglo-Saxon white people until you get deep into the country, into the Midwest, so meeting Neil and his family… It was a culture shock!
I remember how, early on, Neil and his family—his mom and dad and brother—and me and a friend of mine, we all went to Disneyland in the car. I was literally sitting in the back seat with my mouth open about these strange people, the way they talked to each other, thinking, “They’re so polite with each other! Nobody’s calling anybody a ****ing *******, nobody’s getting slapped, everybody’s speaking in such dulcet tones and so courteously.” I’d never experienced that before in my life! [Laughs.]
Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-93)—“Vinnie Delpino”
MC: Well, that was huge for me, the whole thing of doing Doogie. I mean, it changed my whole life. It literally changed my whole life overnight. Like I said, before I did Doogie, I had done some theater and small TV things in Boston, and then in New York I did that episode of The Equalizer—and also one of Kate and Allie!—while I was studying and working in a small off-off-Broadway theater. I was very broke, living with my mom up in Inwood, 207th Street, counting out the pennies to get on the subway. I was studying acting feverishly and working in that theater, being in the shows but also cleaning the place, running the lights, and doing all of these odd jobs… and then BAM! I get this thing and I’m in Hollywood doing this TV series I’m making a ton of money—for me, anyway. I didn’t go to college, so it was sort of like my four-year college experience. Leaving home, learning to drive, getting a license, getting a car, getting my first girlfriend, getting laid for the first time… It was crazy. It was a wonderful, adventurous time.
AVC: You had great chemistry with Neil Patrick Harris on the show.
MC: Oh, he was great! We had just a great time together. Like you said, we really had great chemistry, and I loved him. But at the time, he was 16 and I was 21 or 22, so we weren’t really hanging out. Also, culturally, we were from different planets back then. I’d say Neil—and I say this with all love and affection—was the first real white person I had ever met in my life. [Laughs.] Because, you know, I’d been living in New York City, but even growing up in Boston, I lived in a black neighborhood, and I was always trying to be black, hanging out with black guys and listening to black music. And you don’t really meet real Anglo-Saxon white people until you get deep into the country, into the Midwest, so meeting Neil and his family… It was a culture shock!
I remember how, early on, Neil and his family—his mom and dad and brother—and me and a friend of mine, we all went to Disneyland in the car. I was literally sitting in the back seat with my mouth open about these strange people, the way they talked to each other, thinking, “They’re so polite with each other! Nobody’s calling anybody a ****ing *******, nobody’s getting slapped, everybody’s speaking in such dulcet tones and so courteously.” I’d never experienced that before in my life! [Laughs.]