Podtalk: My Convo with Wallace, Part Two of Wallace Shawn

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CHICAGO – When an interview opportunity comes up with Wallace Shawn, and it lasts more than 15 minutes, a conversation can be born. In our own version of “My Dinner with Andre,” I got an expansion with the actor, writer and one of the most famous dinner guests in cinema history (he is the “My” in “My Dinner … “ ).

Wallace Shawn’s story begins in New York City, where he was born the son of journalist Cecille Lyon and William Shawn, the longtime editor of the NEW YORKER magazine. After doing his undergrad at Harvard and post-grad work at Oxford, he eschew his philosophy and political studies to translate a play for a friend. He also had a role in the play, and his future was determined.

Wallace Shawn in ‘Rifkin’s Festival’
Photo credit: MPI Media Group

He began as a playwright, and many of his notable titles have been staged on Broadway and elsewhere including “Aunt Dan and Lemon” and “The Designated Mourner.” His film actor debut was in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” (1979) and his breakthrough film work came with “My Dinner with Andre” (1981). His status as character actor was solidified with “The Princess Bride” (1987), with his catchphrase, “Inconceivable!” Shawn has worked ever since, collaborating again with Allen in “Radio Days,” “Shadows and Fog,” “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” and most famously, “Melinda and Melinda.” And lest we forget his animation voiceover work in the Toy Story series as Rex, and his current role – among his many TV appearances – as Dr. John Sturgis in “Young Sheldon.”

His latest film is “Rifkin’s Festival,” written and directed by Woody Allen. Shawn is Mort Rifkin, a struggling novelist who used to be a film studies professor. Through his academia he met and married Sue (Gina Gershon), a movie publicist who saw potential in his literary pursuit. She is representing a hot young director at the famous San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, and takes Mort along for the ride. The ex-professor doesn’t like modern cinema, and distracts himself by pursuing a local cardiologist (Elena Anaya) and creating dreams and fantasies from his film heroes.

In a Podtalk, Wally Shawn and Patrick McDonald participate in “My Convo with Wallace” …

Wallace Shawn facilitated one of the most famous endings in a Woody Allen film, the snap ending of “Melinda and Melinda.” I recreate it with him here, with footage from “My Dinner with Andre” and an additional comment from WS on WA …

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor, Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com