Michael Smith: Let me start by saying...what a great movie!

Peter Riegert: Thank you.

MS: Probably one of the best written films I've seen in a long time.

PR: Thank you. Wow.

MS: I hope you'll be able to tap into the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" audience and attract the adult audience.

PR: They're gonna find it. The only thing I don't have is a marketing budget. I've got the DVD deal. I spoke to tons of distributors who are the right size for this film and they all said, "we like it but we don't know how to market it." And I've told them, I've seen this movie with film festival audiences and I trust my ears. I've been listening to audiences for 35 years. No movie is for everybody, but generally the response was absolutely encouraging. I think they've gotten lazy...they don't have a clue.

MS: I agree. I recently did a piece on how the studios are whining in the press, "oh, we're 4% behind last year's grosses."

PR: It's billionaires complaining about making less billions.

MS: These days movies open on 3,000 screens and everyone that wants to see it goes to see it that first weekend. So naturally the next week you're going to have a big drop. They think it's the end of the world. When I was younger and my friends and I wanted to go see "Animal House," "Jaws" or other movies from that period, going to the movies was exciting. You got to the theatre early, talked with your friends...it was an event. Now there's a theatre on every block.

PR: (nodding in agreement): It's very interesting. I think that something is definately happening. What it is, I don't know, because all of my evidence is anecdotal. I'm with you. I miss the anticipation. I miss the excitement of just going out and discovering it for myself.

MS: I just returned from a weekend on Martha's Vineyard where they held a JawsFest for fans of the movie. They expected 300 fans to show up and almost 3000 did.

PR: (impressed) Oh my God.

MS: And I hate to sound like an old man, "In my day..." but for our generation it was cool to talk about a film afterwards.

PR: That's what I'm hearing here. I mean, obviously the audience that is coming to this is probably 40 and over, but what they're telling me is that they miss having a conversation past the length of the movie. That for the most part they feel, one, disheartened that it's not fun anymore...talking afterwards. And, two, they feel like they're being ignored. They don't have to see a movie about themselves but, there's no engagement intellectually. I don't mean in an elitist way...there's nothing they can talk about. Something blows up. Fine. So that gives me hope. There are theatres like this all over the country. I could do this tour for another year or two but I can't go everyplace and say, "OK, we can support the film in Columbus, Ohio with $5000 or $10,000 worth of advertising." I just don't have the money. So, in lieu of that, if I get to the 27 cities that I plan to get to, newspaper articles will be written, people will come. People talk.

MS: Word of mouth.

PR: Word of mouth.

MS: When we spoke earlier I mentioned that Tom Laughlin did the same thing you are doing with "Billy Jack."

PR: True. I'm not doing anything other people haven't done. (John) Cassavettes did it. A lot of directors from different ethnic groups, who never had support. Black. Latin. You name it, there are tons of movies that they had to take on their particular circuit and find their audience. And Hollywood is locked into that. Even the independent films. There are way too many festivals. And most of the festivals are selecting the same movies. I don't need a movie about an eccentric, flame throwing what-ever. How do you explain "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" other then there's a vacuum that's been created. You don't make $350 million just like that.

MS: Well, "Greek Wedding" started out with a good story, which "King of the Corner" has. Plus you have a brilliant script...a brilliant script.

PR: Thank you.

MS: And you've got a great cast across the board. I've noticed recently that it seems that the actors who turn into directors on these smaller, personal films, have a way of drawing great talent on screen.

PR: The material will attract the actor. I'll use myself as an example. It's almost impossible to turn down a great part because you're not getting well paid. A great part is so rare, let alone a great script. And that's how I've done it all my life.

MS: Plus I think that if they see that you believe in the project...

PR: Even still, it's got to be the material. Because no director, no matter how great they are, can turn something bad into something good. Maybe they can make it less bad, but that's not much of an achievement.

MS: You also give a fine performance in the film, especially when you're giving the eulogy. Was it hard to deliver so well with the added responsibility of directing?

PR: I guess I didn't really think of it, or it didn't dawn on me. Once I had the right idea for the frame and looked through the lens I went from the less experienced job to the more experience job, which is the acting. All I really hoped for was that I had enough coverage to make it work. Because that scene, with the women coming in, Bogosian's speech, my speech...the degree of difficulty on it was so huge. Because in order for it to work it couldn't be overwrought. The scene is set up to be a traditional memorial scene, and it's working off the audience's knowledge, since most people in the audience have probably been to a memorial. And it's that preconceived notion that you undermine with all that comedy. Whether it's the women showing up or Bogosian's monologue. And of course the hope was that the surprise to the audience would be equivelent to the surprise that happens to Leo. It comes upon him. He wasn't planning to do what he does. He's just defending his father.

MS: Speaking of Bogosian, he's another fine actor that writes beautifully.

PR: He's a fantastic writer.

MS: Did he give you any notes on the script?

PR: No. He's a writer and he respects writing. He "played the ink" as they say. I didn't really have to say much. He's a very sensitive guy. Very compassionate. He understood what the story was about and he understood the function of the part and he played it beautifully.

MS: I think he's really a very underused performer. I see him in that Steven Segal movie ("Under Siege 2") and I just think, "why?"

PR: You've gotta pay the rent.

MS: You've worked with some big time directors as an actor. On "Traffic" you worked with Steven Soderbergh. John Landis, who I actually chased down the street in New York one day to ask a question. Bill Forsyth. When you were on the set did you study the way they went about the job?

PR: I didn't really study the people I worked with. I've been studying film since college. I fantasized about being a director, I directed a short film in college. But I went to the movies to learn how to act in the movies. I was a fan first. I would go and try to understand because I knew that if I ever got the chance to do this you are basically exercising something theoretically and you're hoping that it works. Now, in terms of the people I worked with...watching how Soderbergh works with the cast and the crew, Bill Forsyth on "Local Hero," absolutely crucial to my understanding of taking chances in whimsical ways. Joan Micklin Silver...watching how she cast her movies. A lot of European directors in terms of their courage of having people do nothing.

MS: One thing that really struck me with your direction was your camera movement and the angles you chose.

PR: I wanted to simplify as much as possible and I didn't want to use a lot of close ups because I wanted a lot of body proximity. I wanted the people to be in physical proximity because the language was so provacative. Except for one scene, when Dominic (Chianese), who plays the funeral director, and I negotiate. That's when it made sense to show the "you talk, I talk" action. It's like a chess match. Those are the movies I've always loved. Preston Sturgess, Billy Wilder, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Orson Welles; they've always concentrated on the various bodies relationship to one another and the story. And I said, "let me try to do it as best I can." Plus I had an excellent cinematographer. Mauricio Rubinstein is from Mexico, he's been working out of Amsterdam for 20 years. We spent a month talking about the film and he really understood what I was getting at. And just having the courage to use my back. Like when I first meet Bogosian, I wanted to make me the audience, so I never cut back to me. The scene of me and Rita (Moreno) talking around the swimming pool. Here are these two people talking about his father and the pressure they are both under. I never cut into the scene because I wanted the mountains in the background to dominate, to loom over the scene, to juxtapose human problems versus the enormity and time of nature. So here are these people that have lived 78 years and the Superstition Mountains have been around for a million years. Things like that. I'm hoping to make the kind of movie I would like to see.

MS: Since the film was made in 2003, was that Gregory Peck on the answering machine?

PR: That was Steve Landesberg. When he did standup he would do part of his act as Gregory Peck. Gregory Peck had died and a friend of mine reminded me about Landesberg. I sent him the scene and he called, said absolutely and asked which Gregory Peck I wanted. I said I think we need...

MS: Atticus Finch

PR: ...Atticus Finch.

MS: This film really reminded me of the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason film, "Nothing In Common, " particulary the father and son story, of them not being exactly close but bonding towards the end. And I mean the comparison in a good way.

PR: It is a father and son story. Every generation deals with that question. And any film you can liken this to that is good, well that's good.

MS: And it's true what you say about fathers and sons. I think with each generation, the father wants his son to do a little better then he did. I know growing up my dad would always hit me with the "I did this for you" line.

PR: That's a killer. I just love when Eli says "I did it all for you, you know" and Leo says, "Well, I appreciate that." It's classic in it's obviousness and yet you don't get to see it too much. Anything good is personal. And from the personal we can all identify. I don't want to see a generic story, I want to see a personal story. At a screening in Buffalo an older Jewish woman came up to me and said she was worried about how a non-Jewish audience would interpret the Rabbi, how they might not think well of Jews. I told her if this movie causes anti-Semitism we're in big trouble. I asked her if that's what she was getting at and she said, "well, kind of." Then these four people in the back row stood up and said, "We want you to know we're Irish-Catholic and you have nothing to worry about."

MS: You're the second "Animal House" cast member to earn an Oscar nomination.

PR: Tommy Hulce...of course. Just the two of us?

MS: I've always thought that, had he lived, John Belushi would have been what Robin Williams is now. He was just starting to branch out into more serious roles.

PR: I agree. I think he was just at the point where he was really learning to do character work. He was a brilliant sketch actor. He was just beginning to get it together. It's not an easy thing to do.

MS: What was it like to receive an Oscar nomination?

PR: It was a great time. It was completely unexpected. It was great fun to go since I'd watched the show since I was a kid. The best part is the luncheon for all the nominees. They mix everyone up at different tables. It was great.

MS: In the end credits you thank a lot of famous names like Ed Asner and John Landis. What is their connection to the film?

PR: I invited John to the editing room to take a look at my rough cut. I wanted to hear his thoughts and get some insights. He watched a very rough assembly and he had some terrific suggestions from an editing standpoint. He's given me two of my best roles, in "Animal House" and "Oscar." I did a reading (of the script) in New York and LA and Ed Asner is one of the actors who read in LA. Unfortunately I couldn't hire both groups.

MS: I know that early in your career you dated Bette Midler and later appeared with her in the television production of "Gypsy." Later you both appeared in seperate films about author Jacqueline Susan and her husband, Irving Mansfield. Coincidence?

PR: Coincidence. I did the version with Michelle Lee and she did the film with Nathan Lane. We still pass messages back and forth. She's an important part of my life. And it was fun doing "Gypsy."

MS: In "Local Hero" you got to work with the great Burt Lancaster. As an actor, was that intimidating?

PR: Growing up he was one of my movie idols...heroes. He was so perfect. And it was such a great script. Bill (Forsyth) wrote it for him.

MS: "Local Hero" was written for Lancaster. Did you come into this project knowing you were going to play Leo?

PR: I didn't but, secretly, as I read it and as we were working on it, in all honesty I thought "if this turns out to be what I think it's going to turn out to be, how can I give this part away?" It's a part that I'm hoping for. The big test would be could I find somebody who believes I can do both.

MS: What's next?

PR: I have to take this tour through its logical conclusion. It ends in September. I go to Dallas, Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle. Then the DVD comes out on October 25 so I'll have to do publicity for that. That takes me through November. Then I'm directing a David Mamet play, "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" (which was made as a film starring Rob Lowe called "About Last Night"). I'm doing that in San Francisco and that starts in December and opens in January. After that I plan to be on an island somewhere.

MS: Great show. Who's in your cast?

PR: I don't know. I haven't cast it yet.

MS: Really? I just did "Glengarry Glen Ross" here. I played Moss.

PR: Great part.

MS: (thinking like an actor): I could play Bernie.

PR: I did the show when it first opened.

MS: I didn't know that (memo to self: better research)

PR: Yeah, it was great. 8 months I did it.

MS: Are you coming back to "The Sopranos?"

PR: They asked me to come back in 2003 but I was too busy making the movie so I couldn't do it. I know they're shooting now. If they ask and I'm available I'd be glad to do it.

After a couple of suggestions on an Oscar campaign, Mr. Riegert went to hold a Q and A with the evening's second sold-out audience. This project is definitely a labor of love and despite the fact that his day started more then 16 hours ago, he answers each question with an enthusiasm that can't be contained. It's always a great story when the little guy makes good. Here's hoping Peter Riegert and "King of the Corner" get a much deserved happy ending!