Harry Connick Jr, star of DOLPHIN TALE, lives life to the fullest
Making music is not his only gift, Harry Connick, Jr, says he makes the most of life, proving that so in the career choices he’s had. Currently, he stars as Dr. Clay Haskett, a marine biologist, in the family-focused feature, DOLPHIN TALE from Warner Bros. Pictures.
The New Orleans native, who lives in Connecticut with his family, balances well a music and acting career and returns to Broadway later this fall to star in the revival of the musical "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever."
His love of music and performing dates back to his childhood , where he studied piano with such luminaries as James Booker and Ellis Marsalis. He first performed publicly at age five, appeared on his first recording at age ten, and released his self-titled major label debut for Columbia Records at 19, only a year after his high school graduation and his move to New York City. In the two decades since, he has released more than 20 albums, totaling more than 25 million in sales, and has received numerous music honors, including three Grammy Awards.
Connick's initial foray into the world of motion pictures came in 1989 when director Rob Reiner asked him to perform a number of standards for the romantic comedy smash "When Harry Met Sally." The movie's soundtrack brought Connick mainstream success, becoming his first multi-platinum album and also earning him his first Grammy, for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance.
The following year, he made his feature film acting debut in the World War II drama "Memphis Belle." His acting credits also include Jodie Foster's "Little Man Tate"; Jon Amiel's "Copycat"; "Independence Day," with Will Smith; "Hope Floats," opposite Sandra Bullock; "Mickey," written by John Grisham; William Friedkin's "Bug"; Richard LaGravenese's "P.S. I Love You," with Hilary Swank; and "New in Town," opposite Renée Zellweger.
Animated scene from The Iron Giant
On the small screen, Connick starred in the ABC presentation of the musical "South Pacific" and played the recurring role of Grace's love interest, Dr. Leo Markus, on the hit NBC series "Will & Grace." In addition, he won an Emmy Award for the PBS Great Performances concert special "Harry Connick, Jr: Only You," and earned Emmy nominations for the Great Performances concert specials "Swinging Out Live" and, most recently, "Harry Connick, Jr. In Concert on Broadway." He also starred in two holiday specials, "When My Heart Finds Christmas" and "Harry for the Holidays," both built around his best-selling holiday albums.
In 2006, Connick made his Broadway acting debut in the Tony Award-winning revival of "The Pajama Game," earning nominations for Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical. He had earlier received a Tony nomination for Best Original Score for the 2001 musical "Thou Shalt Not." In 1990, he played to sold-out audiences in "An Evening with Harry Connick, Jr. and His Orchestra - Live on Broadway" at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. In the summer of 2010, he again performed in concert on Broadway, in a sold-out limited engagement at the Neil Simon Theatre.
I sat with the die hard New Orleans Saints fan to discuss DOLPHIN TALE --
Sandra Varner (Talk2SV): You are distinguishing yourself both for your music career in addition to your increasing acting choices. Is that by design?
Connick: You know, nothing’s really by design. I don’t really have any goals, I'm excited to wake up everyday and try something. When I first read this script I thought it was a fictional story—I didn’t know it was real. When I found out that all the stuff about Winter was real, I felt like it was something I wanted to do. Then, I found out about the cast with Morgan and Chris, and Ashley and it just seemed like a great project. But, prior to that, I didn’t plan on doing this type of movie. It could have been anything—I just really liked the story. I liked the struggles that this character was going through. I did some research and found out about what these marine biologists really go through, and it’s deep. One veterinarian I talked to said, “Yeah, if that dolphin were brought to me, I would have euthanized her because there’s a million of them out there, and we need that money for endangered animals.” So, I’m like, it’s a pretty hard decisions to make. You know, when you have a limited amount of money, do you spend none of it on developing a prosthetic for an animal that is endanger? So, none of it (film choices) is by design.
Talk2SV: As a family man, have any of your choices been guided by that fact or to make them proud of you?
Connick: No, not at all. I mean, I don’t do anything to make my kids proud. I mean, the only thing I do is, I'm aware that I have children, but I think if you start trying to do things to make your kids proud, it’s too late for that. You should have already been doing that in the choices you’ve made up to that point anyway. So, some of the things I do aren’t appropriate for my kids, you know. Some of them are, but this has nothing to do with my kids. I would never make an artistic decision—well, I take that back. I just recorded with one of my daughters to raise money for a project we did in New Orleans. So, that was a specific choice —one of my kids sings—and we did this thing together. But I, I'm not going to say, “Well, now I have kids, I'm going to do a family movie,” because that would preclude me from any other opportunities that came along.
Talk2SV: Harry, you're a proud New Orleans’ son; there is a lot of filmmaking going on there. Do you get involved as a sort of an ambassador for Louisiana to bring more projects in?
Connick: Well, not officially, but, I mean, I’d lie to you if I told you that I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for New Orleans. I mean, everything I am is that city. You know, the food that I eat, the music that I play, the way that I talk, my essence is more lenient, I owe everything to that town. I don’t feel an obligation to pump my city up, but I love my town. I love anything I can do, but I don’t have an official title—there’s nothing I do specifically. I don’t go and try to solicit business for New Orleans. I think it’s all happening organically, on its own. But, I'm always talking about New Orleans from the (performance) stage; I'm always talking about it in interviews because it’s just my favorite city. It’s just the best, you know.
Connick, Jr and Oscar winner Sandra Bullock in scene from Hope Floats
Talk2SV: Will we see you wear yet another hat and start producing?
Connick: I’d like to at some point. I really don’t want to do it now. I have so many things that I really like to do. I would like to direct one day. I have a lot of ideas about things that I would like to do. I’d like to be in a musical film one day—that’s something I’ve never done. There’s so many things within the realm of what I'm doing now that I haven’t had a chance to do yet. Yes, I’d like to do some other things.
Talk2SV: Can’t let you go without asking for a comment about your beloved New Orleans Saints…
Connick: It’s my team man—I love them. I didn’t realize I had a Saints hat and a Saints shirt on today. I have a lot of Saints hats, I buy them by the box. My house is full of them.
Talk2SV: Is that the extent of your decadence, lots of hats?
Connick: I'm pretty modest with that kind of stuff. Only because I have a manger who won't let me spend any of my money [laughter]. I would be broke.
Ashley Judd and Connick, Jr in scene from Bug
Talk2SV: Would you consider opening a restaurant in New Orleans?
Connick: I’d love to do that. That would be so fun. I’d like to, I’d like to maybe open up a supper club where musicians could come and play. But, I think it’s all about management, you know, and I just don’t know enough about it. I don’t know who to trust because I couldn’t run it. It would have to be somebody to do it, but I’d love to open up a great place with great food and have great musicians come in. Imagine hearing Branford (Marsalis) come in with his quartet, and play.
Talk2SV: You could drop in every now and then—
Connick: Exactly, I would love to do that. There’s a place in the Roosevelt Hotel which is a supper club; there’s not a lot of them anymore. But, you eat and then there’s a show…I love, love that. I think that’s such a great atmosphere with booths, everybody’s comfortable and it’s an intimate setting. I think that’s a great night of entertainment…maybe one day.
Talk2SV: That would mean moving back to New Orleans…?
Connick, Jr and wife, Jill
Connick: I think at some point I'm going to be back in New Orleans anyway. We live in Connecticut now. I’ve been in the Northeast since ’86, so I have my roots there, but I think at some point, my wife Jill and I, we want to probably move back. We love it down there.
Talk2SV: Morgan Freeman talks about what brought him back to Mississippi—perhaps you too will come full circle and move back home one day.
Connick: I was just talking to my dad about this the other day. As many great memories that I’ve had, even though I lost my mother when I was 13, I haven’t been able to go back to that house. I just can't—30 years later, I still can't go. I said, “Dad, I don’t know if I can come back here man, because that nostalgia is so heavy.” I think about—I mean, I have so many memories down there, I don't know if I'm ready for it yet. But, maybe I'm not ready to come full circle. Yeah, (pauses) maybe later, I think something’s starting to beckon me back, so I think that process has already started but, I don't know if I'm ready right now, you know.
