Dicey Topics: William Zappa talks politics, money and religion
Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we're told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they're given.
This week he talks to William Zappa. The 70-year-old actor and playwright has worked across film, TV and theatre for more than four decades. Next month, he will direct and perform in The Iliad: Out Loud, his rhythmic adaptation of Homer's epic poem.
“Being an artist of any kind – actor, painter, musician, dancer – you don’t do it because you’re going to make a lot of money. You do it because you have to do it; it’s just in you.”Credit:James Brickwood
POLITICS
Does the best theatre reflect and interrogate politics?
Absolutely. The interesting correlation with me doing The Iliad is that it was almost obligatory for the citizens of ancient Greece to go to the theatre. Well, male citizens; we're talking several thousand years ago, and our roles as men and women have since shifted quite a lot, thank god. But essentially, the ancient Greeks saw theatre as an important way of developing democracy. Questions raised through plays were questions for society.
Do you think theatre is still doing that?
Generally, we – writers, playwrights – are afraid of being too didactic. But on top of that – and this is one of my biggest concerns with modern-day Australia and the arts – politicians are afraid of the arts. They love sport, but how many politicians go to the theatre?
Is it fair to say that for some politicians, there are "good arts" and "bad arts"?
Absolutely fair to say. In 2007, when Kevin Rudd set up the Australia 2020 summit, I submitted a paper called "Make Theatre Affordable". Funding from government [into theatre] has just gone down, down, down. Theatre companies now have to raise money through sponsorship, corporates and individuals, but the price of tickets hasn't gone down. On certain nights of the week, it can cost $98 to go to the theatre – and this is subsidised theatre. It isn't big commercial stuff or a big musical.
It makes it a classed genre of the arts?
This is what's so awful. And in most small, independent theatres, the creatives are working for virtually nothing.
You have described yourself as a bit of a greenie. Does that translate to how you vote?
It has to. I grew up very much in a Labour family in the UK, but when you've got something as serious as global warming and nothing has changed, voting becomes urgent. We're still living with a bunch of politicians who pretty much deny it, or are just too dumb to find a way through.
If you had to take a bet on who's going to win the next federal election, who would it be?
[Laughs] Someone we won't be happy with.
MONEY
Actors either seem to be super well-off or super poor. Is there a happy medium?
It all depends on how much work you get.
Have you experienced both ends of the spectrum?
I haven't experienced the super wealthy stuff. But when I've done musicals, the pay's pretty good and you can usually look forward to about a year's non-stop work. When I had a semi-regular role in the 1990s ABC TV series G.P., I was able to put money away – fantastic! But it's not just actors. It's across the arts, full stop.
Because work is never secure?
Never secure. So infrequent. And for actors, casting depends on so many variables. And the size of casts employed with theatre companies has plummeted.
Is there a secret to a sustainable acting career?
No, there is no trick. But being an artist of any kind – actor, painter, musician, dancer – you don't do it because you're going to make a lot of money. You do it because you have to do it; it's just in you. But before I went to drama school, I was working in fortnightly repertory theatre. Every two weeks, there was a new play. I was playing small parts, but lots of different parts. In a year, I may have played 12 different characters. Someone leaving drama school today in Australia or in the UK may get two roles a year.
So they come out with a limited skill set?
Absolutely. And how does a cabinet-maker practise his craft? Making cabinets, day in, day out. The great thing about being in woodwork is you can do it yourself; it's hard to be an actor by yourself. But a lot of the time, you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. So a lot of it is definitely luck.
RELIGION
Is there a god?
I think there is so much mystery to existence that it is impossible to know. I don't have a problem with someone having faith that there is a god. What I do have a problem with is when that faith blinds you.
When faith becomes zealotry?
Absolutely. When faith, for example, says, "God will solve it all, don't worry about it."
When faith becomes passivity?
Yes.
As someone who doesn't have faith, where do you find the sublime?
In nature. Life on this planet is just so f…ing amazing. I remember the first time I went to far north Queensland in the early 1980s and seeing a stag beetle. You look at it and go, "Why?" "How?" That doesn't necessarily mean there is a god; it just means there is a mystery. If I have a religion, the religion is to be in awe of the mystery.
Which actors do you think are worthy of worship?
Those who move you.
Do any come to mind?
[Laughs] Well, last night, I watched the last episode of the [BBC] series Bodyguard. Bloody amazing. The young actor, Richard Madden, who plays the bodyguard … I wish I was that good at that age.
What would you like written on your gravestone?
"Now I know."
The Iliad: Out Loud runs from January 23 to 27 at Belvoir St Theatre as part of the Sydney Festival.
To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.
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