In Character: Frank Langella

When Frank Langella is on screen, you pay attention. His presence demands it. With his towering frame, steely gaze and impeccable bravado, he’s the kind of actor who is impossible not to notice. But the thing I love most about him is that, despite his imposing figure, he often prefers to inhabit his characters in a more nuanced and restrained manner. Watching Frank Langella break bad is plenty of fun, don’t get me wrong. But watching Frank Langella threaten to break bad is infinitely more appealing.

Five Essential Roles

Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)

George Prager

Frank Perry’s ferocious and criminally ignored Diary of a Mad Housewife (the movie has still never been released on DVD) concerns itself with Tina (Carrie Snodgress), a kind hearted New York gal who happens to be married to the man from hell. Jonathan (Richard Benjamin) is emotionally controlling and unspeakably mean; he literally treats Tina like a subhuman. So Tina steps out, finding sexual comfort in George Prager, an insanely handsome (yeah, Langella was a fox back in the day) New York intellectual.

George is confident, sly, and, as Tina soon learns, not all that much different from her husband. But there’s an assurance to the way Langella plays him that is absolutely captivating. George was Langella’s first film role (he was already an accomplished stage actor), yet he carries himself with the poise of a veteran.

Lolita (1997)

Clare Quilty

I actually really like Adrian Lyne’s Lolita. Stanley Kubrick’s original film was damn bold for 1962, but 35 years later, Lyne was able to push the sexuality of Vladimir Nabokov’s text even further, thereby creating a far more unsettling film. I still prefer Kubrick’s version, but Lyne’s effort is a worthy one all the same.

Noting that, it can’t be easy to step into a role once occupied so marvelously by Peter Sellers. Wisely, it appears everyone involved in Lyne’s film made the conscious decision to demonize Clare Quilty, as opposed to keeping him a humorous character. Langella plays him not as shifty and outgoing, but more of a hidden, foreboding presence. In Lyne’s version, Clare Quilty’s big moment is saved for the climax of the picture. It’s a doozy of a scene that Langella simply devours. Lyne’s version is a darker and more forceful take on the original novel, but, again, one certainly worth exploring.

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

William Paley

My favorite scenes of George Clooney’s masterful Good Night, and Good Luck are the unbearably tense moments between Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn), his producer, Fred Friendly (Clooney), and their boss, CBS owner William Paley.

The CBS network was Paley’s. He founded it, he built it. It was his. When you take that into context, it’s easy to see why Paley was so fearful over Murrow and Friendly’s on-air crusades against Senator Joseph McCarthy. Murrow’s lengthy condemnations about McCarthy helped bring the senator’s reign of terror to an end. Murrow’s coverage on the topic remain a pinnacle of American journalism, and helped cement Murrow as the finest reporter who has ever lived. But in the moment, those broadcasts threatened to destroy CBS, which, naturally, William Paley didn’t take too kindly to. Watching Langella and Strathairn verbally duke it out is as thrilling as any action sequence. Their articulate, precise words are thrown like daggers, ultimately to Murrow’s dismay.

“Let’s walk very carefully through these next few moments,” Langella sternly suggests at one point.

Yes, let’s, indeed.

Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

Leonard Schiller

Here’s a rarity for Frank Langella’s filmography: a quiet and humble man; no danger, no scorn, just a normal man nearing the end of his life. Leonard Schiller is an accomplished author who hasn’t released a major book in years. As he gets closer to his natural end, he knows that his current book will likely be his last. For much of the film, we watch as Leonard shuffles around his New York apartment, occasionally attending parties stuffed with intolerable intellectuals, or hanging out with his grown daughter. So carefully and wonderfully does Langella embrace Leonard’s silent melancholy. It’s all in the nuance; in a slow glance or a hushed admission that his life will soon be done. Leonard’s life is resurged once Heather (Lauren Ambrose), a grad student looking to study Leonard for her master thesis, comes into the picture. Their interactions seamlessly evolve from cautious to accepting, questionable to loving. Although Starting Out in the Evening is just a decent film, Langella does wonders with his character.

Robot & Frank (2012)

Frank

Frank could be Leonard Schiller’s long lost brother. Where Leonard gently accepts that his days are numbered, Frank is tired and grumpy and all around pissed off about his aging sensibilities. Plagued with dementia and a shitty attitude, Frank is furious when his grown son, Hunter (James Marsden), brings a small robot to Frank’s house to help the old man with menial tasks. But Frank’s life finds newfound purpose when he realizes that the robot will do most anything Frank tells him, including helping Frank break into places and steal stuff.

Frank is one of my favorite Frank Langella curmudgeons, of which there have been many. Again, like Starting Out in the Evening (the two films really are quite similar), Robot & Frank isn’t a great film, but Langella is great in it. The movie wouldn’t work nearly as well as it does without Langella’s contribution.

The Best of the Best

Frost/Nixon (2008)

Richard Nixon

The easiest way to criticize a film that claims to be based on a true story is to call out the scenes that are completely fabricated. I’ve taken many Based on a True Story films to task for doing this very thing: manipulating audiences with heartfelt, fake sequences that make us care for the characters. Frost/Nixon is the rare exception to this particular criticism. A key scene in the film, in which a drunken Richard Nixon phones a weary Robert Frost in the middle of the night, never happened in real life, yet it remains the best scene of the film. And, arguably, of Langella’s entire career.

The five minute sequence is a masterclass of acting. We watch as Nixon stumbles and stammers his way through a tirade – daring Frost to bring his A-game in their upcoming and final interview together, while also relenting how similar the two men actually are. Nixon’s aggression mounts, culminating with the furious delivery of “We’re gonna make those MOTHER.FUCKERS. CHOKE!”, while Frost stares off, completely dumbfounded by what he’s hearing.

And hell, that’s just one damn scene of this movie. Of course, Langella owns the entire film with his unique humility and uncanny rage. A lot of damn fine actors have embodied Nixon over the years, but Langella’s take on Tricky Dick may be the most accomplished yet. Simply put, there isn’t a shred of Frank Langella found in his Nixon. Real or not, the actor became the man.

Other Notable Roles

in Superman Returns

The Twelve Chairs (1970)

The Deadly Trap (1971) 

The Wrath of God (1972)

Dracula (1979)

Masters of the Universe (1987)

1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)

Dave (1993)

Bad Company (1995)

Eddie (1996)

The Ninth Gate (1999)

Sweet November (2001)

House of D (2004)

Unscripted (2005)

Kitchen Confidential (2005-2006)

Superman Returns (2006)

The Tale of Despereaux (2008)

The Box (2009)

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

All Good Things (2010)

Unknown (2011)

Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight (2013)

Draft Day (2014)

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