As Dr. Niles Crane on the popular NBC sitcom Frasier, which ran from 1993 to 2004, David Hyde Pierce was a paragon of gentility. However in his latest project, the independent movie The Perfect Host, he gets to embrace a far darker side of his psyche.
At first Warwick Wilson (played by Pierce) appears to be the epitome of civility and the consummate dinner party host. But when an unexpected guest arrives John Taylor (played by Clayne Crawford), a bank robber in desperate need of a place to lay low the evenings events take a surprising course. Without giving too much away, by the time desert arrives, its impossible to tell who could or should die.
SuicideGirls caught up with Pierce by phone to chat about The Perfect Host and his other post-Frasier projects. The topic of dogs also rather unexpectedly, but nonetheless fortuitously, interrupted our conversation.
Nicole Powers: Congratulations on being such a wonderful deranged and demented dinner party host.
David Hyde Pierce: Well, right back at you.
NP: This role definitely takes you into completely new territory. The character is kind of Niles Crane meets Hannibal Lector.
DHP: Yes, well, thats a nice way to put it. Of course one of the reasons I did was it gave me a chance to flex some different muscles.
NP: Did you find that you enjoyed letting your dark side loose?
DHP: Absolutely. Its not that I havent done it before, but since most people know me from the TV show, it was a chance to just do a different kind of thing. Its always nice to try something different and challenge yourself.
NP: How did you prepare for this role?
DHP: First of all it was a lot of getting ready for the shoot. I knew it was going to be a very tight schedule. We only had 17 days to shoot. So part of it was really learning the lines[With] a big budget feature, you have a lot of time sitting around and you dont cover a lot every day. This was the opposite situation. So that was part of it. I did a little bit of psychological research on delusional people and people who have hallucinations and stuff like that. But for the most part it was going through the script, sifting through and trying to figure out where the character is when, what he knows at any given moment, or what he believes at a given moment, and what hes doing.
NP: Did you and the writer/director have conversations about exactly what kind of psychosis your character has?
DHP: NoI was spared a lot of research because I feel like Nick [Tomnay], who wrote and directed the film, created a very complete character. He is as he appears, so whatever the medical realities or psychological realities of his condition werent as important to me because everything he does, all the different levels that he goes through, are all there on the page, so I just had to sort of be faithful to that.
NP: Its beautifully paced the way the characters almost swap roles. Who has the moral high ground, who has the upper hand - its very interesting to watch that switch occur.
DHP: Yeah. Its nice for an audience I think, because really what happens to the audience happens to the characters. The people who you think you can trust you really cant. The people who you may think are the good guys, might turn out to be the bad guys, and really that happens for everyone in the film. Its a lot about issues of trust and things not being what they appear.
NP: Youre about to direct a new Broadway production
DHP: Yes, Im directing a new musical. Were going to do it out of town first, since its never been done before. Its a brand new original show. Well try out of town in the fall, and well see how it goes. Based on that well know whether it needs more work, or whether its ready to come to New York.
NP: Are you appearing in it too?
DHP: No, just directing. Ive never directed before so I figure to direct a musical is probably more than enough for me.
NP: Youre starting off with a very full plate doing a musical rather than a smaller theatrical piece.
DHP: I think its like learning to drive on one of the Apollo rockets instead of a car.
NP: You recently appeared in La Bte [a period comedy written in iambic pentameter] with Joanna Lumley. What was it like working with her? Im a huge fan of Joannas. I cant actually imagine a better cast than you and Joanna in a play together. Im sorry I missed it.
DHP: I love her. Like you, Ive always been a fan of hers. I think shes terrific. But actually getting to work with her, she is exactly what youd expect. Shes hysterically funny, but also very sweet and very generous. In fact, she just came back for the Tony Awards a couple of weeks ago. She was nominated for her performance. She took all of us who were left in the cast it was a mixed British/American cast and all of us here in the States, we all went out to lunch and had a great reunion and a great time together. I just adore her. Shes a wonderful performer and also wonderful person.
NP: The production actually started out in the West End didnt it?
DHP: Yeah, it was great, it was a real adventure for us. Like I said, it was half British and half Americans. We rehearsed in London. It was about a year ago actually that we opened. We started out in May rehearsing and opened in July I think, and ran through September. [We] then brought it over here and ran it on Broadway through January. Along with me and Joanna, it was a wonderful cast; you also had Mark Rylance who is one of the great British stage actors. He was amazing in the title role of La Bte. Hes also just won a Tony Award himself for his performance in Jerusalem on Broadway. So it was quite an experience for me to be able to work with artists at that level.
NP: Had you spent much time in London before?
DHP: Not all at once. I mean, Ive been over there as a tourist. You know, gone for maybe a week at a time or something. So the chance to really live there I had a little townhouse apartment and I got to walk to work everyday that was fantastic. I love London and really enjoyed my time there, and I really miss it.
NP: I can imagine you fitting in with England very well. Because youre such a civilized character, I always think of you as an honorary Brit.
DHP: Thats nice, although I question a little bit the civilized just having walked by enough pubs with drunken, screaming people.
NP: [laughs]
DHP: I do know that Frasier was a huge hit in Britain, so there must be some sort of simpatico there.
NP: We English have some sort of fundamentally civilizing principles; We dont have the death penalty because we believe that it brutalizes a society, and were far more open minded I like to think were maybe where America will be in 15 years time with regards to gay marriage and the public attitude to that. What were your thoughts experiencing the different cultures?
DHP: Well, I would say that there is a fair amount of liberalism and a fair amount of staunch conservatism in both countries. Actually, while I was in London was when you all formed the coalition government. I would hesitate to make a lot of generalizations about either place, although I think its always wonderfully surprising and refreshing that as staid and as you say civilized a reputation that the British may have, they are so much more relaxed about sex and about, you know, what they show on television, what they show in their movies and everything. I think a lot of Americans that might not be that familiar with the British culture might be surprised at that if theyre used to the stereotype of sort of the stiff upper lip sort of uptight British.
NP: Youre working on the new musical production, but what would be your fantasy show that youve always wanted to direct if you could direct anything?
DHP: Well, to be honest, Ive never wanted to direct.
NP: No?
DHP: This show came along and its the first. People have told me for many years that they thought I should direct. This is the first thing, this piece, that I thought, Oh, this piece speaks to me and Id be interested in doing this. So I wouldnt have an answer for you because its not like I thought, Ah, finally my chance to direct and I can do whatever. Ill see how this goes, but part of the fun for me is that [dog barks] its a completely original piece. [dog barks] Is that a dog? I hear a dog barking.
NP: Yeah, shes a very small dog with a very big bark.
DHP: What kind of a dog is it?
NP: Shes a Dachshund and Chihuahua mix. Shes a complete cuddle bunny and so when she barks its just so ridiculous.
DHP: I have my two dogs here and a visiting dog. So far theyve kept quiet, but Im waiting for them to go.
NP: What kind of dogs do you have?
DHP: I have Wheaten TerriersTheyre like a mid-sized dog. Theyre very good girls.
NP: Have you always been a dog person?
DHP: Ive always been a dog person since I was a little kid, but I never had dogs. Ive always loved them. It actually wasnt until around the time of the TV show when Id moved to Los Angeles and had a house with a yard that I started actually having dogs of my own.
NP: Thats kind of like me. I was never allowed a dog as a child, but I always wanted one. Now Im finally getting to express my inner dog person.
DHP: You know whats funny, apparently, I dont remember this, but our family did have a dog when I was born and it was a Dachshund.
NP: Ah!
DHP: I think it tried to eat me.
NP: Yes, dogs can get very jealous of children.
DHP: They had to make a choice, and lucky for me they made the right choice, they booted the Dachshund.
NP: Your life couldve been very different had they kept the dog and given you away.
DHP: Yeah, exactly.
NP: Its funny because when I was asking you about musicals, I guess I was imbuing you as an actor with qualities of Niles because youve been in my living room for so long. Id see Niles always going to the theater and having the latest opera on the tip of his tongue.
DHP: I really started doing musicals only after Frasier. I had done theater for many years before Frasier, butI wasnt a person who was particularly interested in musicals and now I love them. Ive been working on Broadway for the past, whatever it is, 5 or 6 years since Frasier, and thats been a whole new world for me. Thats why Im directing now. Directing is a whole new world for me, and I guess every once in a while I feel like I have to stir it up.
NP: Was there a particular production that got you hooked on musicals?
DHP: No, I wouldnt put it that way exactly. I can tell you the first musical I ever saw was Zorba, which was a Kander & Ebb musical. That was when I was a little kid and my mom and dad had taken me to New York. It made an impression on me. I know because when we went back home I was sort of obsessively playing the opening theme on the piano all the time. Just something about the music got in my head. But I didnt know at that time that it was going to have any kind of lasting impression.
Really what happened for me was, getting back to the British, it was in the last year of Frasier and I was thinking Ive been training my voice, Id been taking dance lessons; I knew that I wanted to do a Broadway musical and read in the paper that Mike Nichols was about to direct a new musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven because I worked with Mike before, I knew him as a director, I had grown up on the Pythons and adored them, and it was a musical. So thats where it all came together for me. That was the first musical that I did and also the thing that really introduced me to the world of the Broadway musical.
NP: So Spamalot has a lot to answer for.
DHP: Thats right.
NP: Thanks to Monty Python, Spam for so long has been this joke thing, but now youll find theyre serving up Spam sushi in the finer sushi restaurants.
DHP: Oh, I dont believe you.
NP: Im not kidding. Spam has become an ironic hipster, high-end food, and you can go to very posh sushi restaurants and get Spam sushi.
DHP: Do you mean as in they take it out of the can of Spam and go cook it.
NP: I dont really know how it qualifies as sushi, I mean, you know, they have cooked substances in sushi.
DHP: Yeah, thats true.
NP: [laughs]
DHP: Thats so depressing.
NP: Im kind of with you on that.
DHP: That may signal the end of the world, Im not sure. Its not a good sign. I think its one of the warning signs of the apocalypse.
The Perfect Host is in theaters and on VOD. For further information visit ThePerfectHostMovie.com/.
At first Warwick Wilson (played by Pierce) appears to be the epitome of civility and the consummate dinner party host. But when an unexpected guest arrives John Taylor (played by Clayne Crawford), a bank robber in desperate need of a place to lay low the evenings events take a surprising course. Without giving too much away, by the time desert arrives, its impossible to tell who could or should die.
SuicideGirls caught up with Pierce by phone to chat about The Perfect Host and his other post-Frasier projects. The topic of dogs also rather unexpectedly, but nonetheless fortuitously, interrupted our conversation.
Nicole Powers: Congratulations on being such a wonderful deranged and demented dinner party host.
David Hyde Pierce: Well, right back at you.
NP: This role definitely takes you into completely new territory. The character is kind of Niles Crane meets Hannibal Lector.
DHP: Yes, well, thats a nice way to put it. Of course one of the reasons I did was it gave me a chance to flex some different muscles.
NP: Did you find that you enjoyed letting your dark side loose?
DHP: Absolutely. Its not that I havent done it before, but since most people know me from the TV show, it was a chance to just do a different kind of thing. Its always nice to try something different and challenge yourself.
NP: How did you prepare for this role?
DHP: First of all it was a lot of getting ready for the shoot. I knew it was going to be a very tight schedule. We only had 17 days to shoot. So part of it was really learning the lines[With] a big budget feature, you have a lot of time sitting around and you dont cover a lot every day. This was the opposite situation. So that was part of it. I did a little bit of psychological research on delusional people and people who have hallucinations and stuff like that. But for the most part it was going through the script, sifting through and trying to figure out where the character is when, what he knows at any given moment, or what he believes at a given moment, and what hes doing.
NP: Did you and the writer/director have conversations about exactly what kind of psychosis your character has?
DHP: NoI was spared a lot of research because I feel like Nick [Tomnay], who wrote and directed the film, created a very complete character. He is as he appears, so whatever the medical realities or psychological realities of his condition werent as important to me because everything he does, all the different levels that he goes through, are all there on the page, so I just had to sort of be faithful to that.
NP: Its beautifully paced the way the characters almost swap roles. Who has the moral high ground, who has the upper hand - its very interesting to watch that switch occur.
DHP: Yeah. Its nice for an audience I think, because really what happens to the audience happens to the characters. The people who you think you can trust you really cant. The people who you may think are the good guys, might turn out to be the bad guys, and really that happens for everyone in the film. Its a lot about issues of trust and things not being what they appear.
NP: Youre about to direct a new Broadway production
DHP: Yes, Im directing a new musical. Were going to do it out of town first, since its never been done before. Its a brand new original show. Well try out of town in the fall, and well see how it goes. Based on that well know whether it needs more work, or whether its ready to come to New York.
NP: Are you appearing in it too?
DHP: No, just directing. Ive never directed before so I figure to direct a musical is probably more than enough for me.
NP: Youre starting off with a very full plate doing a musical rather than a smaller theatrical piece.
DHP: I think its like learning to drive on one of the Apollo rockets instead of a car.
NP: You recently appeared in La Bte [a period comedy written in iambic pentameter] with Joanna Lumley. What was it like working with her? Im a huge fan of Joannas. I cant actually imagine a better cast than you and Joanna in a play together. Im sorry I missed it.
DHP: I love her. Like you, Ive always been a fan of hers. I think shes terrific. But actually getting to work with her, she is exactly what youd expect. Shes hysterically funny, but also very sweet and very generous. In fact, she just came back for the Tony Awards a couple of weeks ago. She was nominated for her performance. She took all of us who were left in the cast it was a mixed British/American cast and all of us here in the States, we all went out to lunch and had a great reunion and a great time together. I just adore her. Shes a wonderful performer and also wonderful person.
NP: The production actually started out in the West End didnt it?
DHP: Yeah, it was great, it was a real adventure for us. Like I said, it was half British and half Americans. We rehearsed in London. It was about a year ago actually that we opened. We started out in May rehearsing and opened in July I think, and ran through September. [We] then brought it over here and ran it on Broadway through January. Along with me and Joanna, it was a wonderful cast; you also had Mark Rylance who is one of the great British stage actors. He was amazing in the title role of La Bte. Hes also just won a Tony Award himself for his performance in Jerusalem on Broadway. So it was quite an experience for me to be able to work with artists at that level.
NP: Had you spent much time in London before?
DHP: Not all at once. I mean, Ive been over there as a tourist. You know, gone for maybe a week at a time or something. So the chance to really live there I had a little townhouse apartment and I got to walk to work everyday that was fantastic. I love London and really enjoyed my time there, and I really miss it.
NP: I can imagine you fitting in with England very well. Because youre such a civilized character, I always think of you as an honorary Brit.
DHP: Thats nice, although I question a little bit the civilized just having walked by enough pubs with drunken, screaming people.
NP: [laughs]
DHP: I do know that Frasier was a huge hit in Britain, so there must be some sort of simpatico there.
NP: We English have some sort of fundamentally civilizing principles; We dont have the death penalty because we believe that it brutalizes a society, and were far more open minded I like to think were maybe where America will be in 15 years time with regards to gay marriage and the public attitude to that. What were your thoughts experiencing the different cultures?
DHP: Well, I would say that there is a fair amount of liberalism and a fair amount of staunch conservatism in both countries. Actually, while I was in London was when you all formed the coalition government. I would hesitate to make a lot of generalizations about either place, although I think its always wonderfully surprising and refreshing that as staid and as you say civilized a reputation that the British may have, they are so much more relaxed about sex and about, you know, what they show on television, what they show in their movies and everything. I think a lot of Americans that might not be that familiar with the British culture might be surprised at that if theyre used to the stereotype of sort of the stiff upper lip sort of uptight British.
NP: Youre working on the new musical production, but what would be your fantasy show that youve always wanted to direct if you could direct anything?
DHP: Well, to be honest, Ive never wanted to direct.
NP: No?
DHP: This show came along and its the first. People have told me for many years that they thought I should direct. This is the first thing, this piece, that I thought, Oh, this piece speaks to me and Id be interested in doing this. So I wouldnt have an answer for you because its not like I thought, Ah, finally my chance to direct and I can do whatever. Ill see how this goes, but part of the fun for me is that [dog barks] its a completely original piece. [dog barks] Is that a dog? I hear a dog barking.
NP: Yeah, shes a very small dog with a very big bark.
DHP: What kind of a dog is it?
NP: Shes a Dachshund and Chihuahua mix. Shes a complete cuddle bunny and so when she barks its just so ridiculous.
DHP: I have my two dogs here and a visiting dog. So far theyve kept quiet, but Im waiting for them to go.
NP: What kind of dogs do you have?
DHP: I have Wheaten TerriersTheyre like a mid-sized dog. Theyre very good girls.
NP: Have you always been a dog person?
DHP: Ive always been a dog person since I was a little kid, but I never had dogs. Ive always loved them. It actually wasnt until around the time of the TV show when Id moved to Los Angeles and had a house with a yard that I started actually having dogs of my own.
NP: Thats kind of like me. I was never allowed a dog as a child, but I always wanted one. Now Im finally getting to express my inner dog person.
DHP: You know whats funny, apparently, I dont remember this, but our family did have a dog when I was born and it was a Dachshund.
NP: Ah!
DHP: I think it tried to eat me.
NP: Yes, dogs can get very jealous of children.
DHP: They had to make a choice, and lucky for me they made the right choice, they booted the Dachshund.
NP: Your life couldve been very different had they kept the dog and given you away.
DHP: Yeah, exactly.
NP: Its funny because when I was asking you about musicals, I guess I was imbuing you as an actor with qualities of Niles because youve been in my living room for so long. Id see Niles always going to the theater and having the latest opera on the tip of his tongue.
DHP: I really started doing musicals only after Frasier. I had done theater for many years before Frasier, butI wasnt a person who was particularly interested in musicals and now I love them. Ive been working on Broadway for the past, whatever it is, 5 or 6 years since Frasier, and thats been a whole new world for me. Thats why Im directing now. Directing is a whole new world for me, and I guess every once in a while I feel like I have to stir it up.
NP: Was there a particular production that got you hooked on musicals?
DHP: No, I wouldnt put it that way exactly. I can tell you the first musical I ever saw was Zorba, which was a Kander & Ebb musical. That was when I was a little kid and my mom and dad had taken me to New York. It made an impression on me. I know because when we went back home I was sort of obsessively playing the opening theme on the piano all the time. Just something about the music got in my head. But I didnt know at that time that it was going to have any kind of lasting impression.
Really what happened for me was, getting back to the British, it was in the last year of Frasier and I was thinking Ive been training my voice, Id been taking dance lessons; I knew that I wanted to do a Broadway musical and read in the paper that Mike Nichols was about to direct a new musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I thought that I had died and gone to heaven because I worked with Mike before, I knew him as a director, I had grown up on the Pythons and adored them, and it was a musical. So thats where it all came together for me. That was the first musical that I did and also the thing that really introduced me to the world of the Broadway musical.
NP: So Spamalot has a lot to answer for.
DHP: Thats right.
NP: Thanks to Monty Python, Spam for so long has been this joke thing, but now youll find theyre serving up Spam sushi in the finer sushi restaurants.
DHP: Oh, I dont believe you.
NP: Im not kidding. Spam has become an ironic hipster, high-end food, and you can go to very posh sushi restaurants and get Spam sushi.
DHP: Do you mean as in they take it out of the can of Spam and go cook it.
NP: I dont really know how it qualifies as sushi, I mean, you know, they have cooked substances in sushi.
DHP: Yeah, thats true.
NP: [laughs]
DHP: Thats so depressing.
NP: Im kind of with you on that.
DHP: That may signal the end of the world, Im not sure. Its not a good sign. I think its one of the warning signs of the apocalypse.
The Perfect Host is in theaters and on VOD. For further information visit ThePerfectHostMovie.com/.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
keith:
It seems like you guys really bonded over the whole dog-lover thing. Your puppy knew what she was doing. Great interview. 
melx:
Great interview. He seems like a surprisingly fun guy.