Bill Smitrovich chats about The November Man

THE NOVEMBER MAN is the latest exciting international espionage film about ex-CIA operative Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan), who is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself facing his former protege David Mason (Luke Bracey) in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.  He must protect witness Alice Fournier (Olga Kurylenko) who holds the key behind a decades old conspiracy.  This film premieres today, November 27, 2014 in theatres nationwide. Bill Smitrovich plays Hanley, the spy that encourages Deveureux to return to the force.  Bill chats with Eclipse Magazine about this exciting movie and his role as Hanley.

Bill Smitrovich has been in the Hollywood spotlight for over 30 years. From his breakout role in Broadway in the Arthur Miller play to becoming a household name in the critically acclaimed drama series “Life Goes On” with Patti LuPone, his television career has flourished in such shows as “A Nero Wolfe Mystery,” “Nash Bridges,” “Crime Story,” “The Practice,” “Without a Trace,” “Millennium,” “The Event,” “Californication,” and “Rake,” more recently. On the silver screen his credits have included the blockbuster hit INDEPENDENCE DAY, AIR FORCE ONE, THIRTEEN DAYS, IRON MAN, SEVEN POUNDS, THE RUM DIARY with Johnny Depp and the hilarious Seth MacFarlane comedy TED.

 How exciting! The November Man opens this week.

Yes, it does. November 27, to 2000 theatres nationwide.

That’s really exciting!

It is a great film. I’ve seen it twice. One was with the general audience. Nice reactions and people really seemed to love the film.

Can you give us a summary what the film is about and your character Hanley?

The movie centers around Pierce Brosnan’s character Devereaux, otherwise known as “The November Man”. I pull him out of retirement to help with the situation we have that involves his ex-wife. No one really knew where he was. We are old friends in the CIA. My present boss is played by Will Patton. His ex-wife is an undercover agent in Russia. It is back to the Russia-United States battle. It is a lot of fun. The fun ensues after the plot unveils itself.

Rogers has done a wonderful job moving this film along. It’s such a great way in lifting the veil of the characters. It has a lot of heart an humor in it. There’s a little more “Bourne” and “Bond” together. Pierce is not carrying around the Bond icon with him. This particular story is about a man who wants to leave it all behind. He gets to show a little humanity in this rather than playing the Bond character.

My character is highly principled for getting him back involved. I think there is a great arc to this character which is why I was so excited to play it. This has a little bit of everything. He’s got suspense. He’s got some humor, some new intrigue, and some new secrets, as everyone does in this film. That’s the wonderful thing about this. It’s not bang bang shoot em up car explosion. It’s all that plus more. It’s a fun ride. I think people will really enjoy it.

For me, it was the best film experience I’ve ever had in all the films I’ve ever made – location, working with Pierce and Roger again after 13 days, the location in Belgrade, Serbia . . .  My wife took a Croatian vacation which was fantastic. Working with Pierce especially is something I enjoyed. He’s a great guy. We share the same birthday. We really came together in a wonderful way both onscreen and off. I had a great time.

You talked about working with Pierce Brosnan. Is this the first time you’ve worked with him before?

Yes, this is the first time. I met him years ago when we were at a charity golf tournament in San Diego and he had just found out he got the Bond role. We had a great time. We celebrated his new role and good fortune. He was generous and very excited to embark on this. He loves to act in films as I do. The next time we met was our birthday. When I came in (for this film), I came in on OUR birthday. I had a welcoming birthday party. It was a great beginning to a wonderful adventure.

Pierce Brosnan is one of the producers. When he did contact you and how did you get involved?

I was doing a play at the time in LA, American Buffalo,  a David Mamet play at the Geffen Playhouse. It is one of the best productions of 2013, with Ron Eldard and Freddy Rodriguez and myself directed by Randall Arney, a member of the SteppenWolf Theatre. After the play wrapped, I went in to meet Roger Donaldson on this film. A week later, I was off to Belgrade, Serbia. I shaved my head for American Buffalo, and it worked for this role as well.

When you played Hanley, did you have to do stunts?

I did some of my own stunts. Falling and running, but not jumping. I was in good shape. I felt I could do most of what was required. We had the greatest people Pierce pulled in his crew from the James Bonds films. His stunt double from James Bond doubles him in this film. There were terrific stunt guys from England, Ireland, and Wales. We were surrounded by wonderful professionals all the way.

You said this is one of your favorite roles. What specifically makes the film one of your favorite roles?

Hanley has a story and an arc. He is an interesting cat. He’s self assured, confident, and well aware of what he is doing. He is good at what he does. He is a principled guy who takes it one step further than he should. He’s an interesting character, like the other characters whose veils are lifted throughout the film and you get to see the secret and motivations behind the characters’ lives. For an action film, there’s a lot of humanity. I love the humanity of Hanley and what he’s about.  None of the characters are one note in this film.

How did you get involved in acting?

I got involved when I was in college. I started college late. I was about 22 or 23. My dad died when I was young so it took me a while to get the money to work my way through college. Somebody handed me Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck. I read it. It was the first time I was ever moved to tears by a piece of literature in my life. It just exploded in my head. The character, the story, what it meant, how beautiful a story it was. The timing was fantastic. I got to work with a great director who introduced me to Morris Carnovsky,  a member of the Group Theatre, guys from the Actors Studio… The whole world was opened up to me.

I went to grad school to get my MFA. I started the No Theatre Company with some friends. We had “no theatre”. We performed in film theatres, basements, halls. We did mostly Chekhoff short stories and made them into plays.  In 1980, I decided to move to New York. A year later, I met Arthur Miller. That’s where I got my equity card working on his new play The American Clock. For the world premiere, I was understudying all the male roles. There were 8 actors and 20 roles. I went on for the lead in the 2^nd & 3^rd performance of the world premiere. It was a great success. Word got back to New York, and things started happening for me.

All it took was one understudy role and the whole world opened.

Yes, you gotta be prepared. I knew every line of that play.  I was ready.

Do you still teach acting?

No, not anymore. I used to teach at University of Massachusetts for a while, and a couple of people privately, but teaching is not really what I yearn to do. Everybody’s got to make their own way and do their own thing. You can help people with specifics, but generally but what most actors need is confidence. You can’t teach confidence. You have to learn confidence. You can learn how to be confident but it takes time and commitment. Those are the intangibles. Teaching acting is a wonderful job if you can do it. I had fantastic teachers.  They put themselves aside. I can’t do it anymore. I just want to show everybody how to do it.

Are you still involved with charity work?

I’m still involved peripherally with Down’s Syndrome and Special Olympics. I don’t have the golf tournament anymore. I still play in several golf charity events supporting St. Jude. I played the Frank Sinatra celebrity invitational 12 of the 20 years it has been around. I support Habitat in Humanity and Doctors without Borders. I support in a quiet way now. If I find myself in another situation, I’d be happy to do it. There’s a lot of good work being done all over the world and you don’t hear much about it. You hear about all the bad things.

You look at the positive side of the world.

Exactly.

Were you with the SAG foundation golf tournament?

Yes, I helped start the SAG Tournament Actors For Actors. I came up with the title. It’s a wonderful cause for the SAG foundation. It helps actors who need immediate healthcare if they can’t reach their minimum for health coverage. SAG foundation pays their premium for people in dire need of health services and don’t have ability to pay for that.

It’s great to give back.

You would be surprised at the people who have been helped by this.

 What are your upcoming projects?

My hair is back and I’m off to do Ted 2 in September. Ted is getting married. I’m also on TNT’s The Last Ship, where we’re talking about saving the world in season 2. I’ve saved a couple of dogs. I have never saved the world yet, but I’m ready.

Any last words about The November Man?

You’re going to like the film. It’s a great ride and a lot of fun. There’s a little bit of everything in it. I’m so proud of being in it.

You can watch Bill and Pierce Brosnan save the world by watching this exciting movie THE NOVEMBER MAN on the silver screen now in theatres nationwide.

Trailer for the November Man:  ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1YoByDi_Cg

Official web site:  http://www.thenovemberman.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NovemberManFilm

Twitter:  @TheNovemberMan

You can stay up to date with Bill Smitrovich below:

Twitter:  @billsmitrovich