ERIK HEINILA
Timothy Hutton in TNT's "Leverage." He's concerned for the film industry. "The really good material is much more abundant on television," he says.
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A strong work ethic, whether in film, TV
"At night, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise would pile in my truck, and we'd drive down to Atlantic City. We'd hang out there, and then realize it was 6 in the morning and we had to be on the set."
Since then, he has worked in films habitually, although he's concerned at the direction the industry has taken.
"Harold and Maude - I don't think that would get made today," he says. "The studios are only interested in franchise movies and comic-book stories."
That's why Hutton has been increasingly turning to the tube. "The really good material," he says, "is much more abundant on television. We need storytelling, and cable has become the place for those stories."
He still takes on film roles that intrigue him, like the beaten-down suburbanite in the 2008 indie Lymelife.
Alec Baldwin, his costar in that film, says, "Like many others, the first film I saw him in was Ordinary People. But the film he really impressed me in was Daniel [a 1983 drama directed by Sidney Lumet]. It was a great film, and Tim gave an extraordinary performance. I'd been looking forward to working with him ever since."
Veteran and rookie actors alike treasure collaborating with Hutton.
"Tim has this presence on the set," says newcomer Beth Riesgraf, who plays the team's cat burglar on Leverage. "He cares about the work. It's why he's been successful as long as he has. It would be easy for him to come in, do his job, and go home, but he really cares."
Hutton has to juggle more than film and TV work. His personal life is also demanding.
Ideally, he'd like to act six months on, six months off, so he could spend more time in Paris with his wife, Aurore Giscard d'Estaing (niece of the former French president) and their son Milo, 7. (He also has a 22-year-old son, Noah, with his first wife, actress Debra Winger.)
"I can speak a little bit of French," he says. "I'm constantly trying to get better at it. But my son speaks French and English, and his mom speaks English, so there isn't a dire need."
Johnny Depp, who lives in similar Franco-American circumstances, has more-developed linguistic skills.
"We know each other. We did a movie, Secret Window, together," says Hutton. One Degree! "He is fluent in French. He learned a while ago."
Over the years, Hutton has built a remarkably motley resume, but he doesn't regret a single credit.
"It would be pretty lame to look back and say, 'I wish I wasn't associated with that,' " he says. "Everything is an experience. You met some interesting people. You were in an interesting place for a while.
"Sometimes, it's just as important to learn from the experiences that don't turn out as well as you had hoped."
Getting back to Bacon: He appeared in Frost/Nixon with Oliver Platt. Platt was in Kinsey with Hutton.
Piece of cake. Two Degrees.
Contact staff writer David Hiltbrand
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