BARRY CORBIN is one of the great character actors of our time. You'll recognize his from his roles in "Urban Cowboy", "Any Which Way But Loose", "War Games", "Lonesome Dove" and "No Country for Old Men". His television work includes "Modern Family", "Anger Management", "One Tree Hill" and now a show called "The Ranch", which can be seen on NetFlix.
With all of his success, he's remained humble and well grounded. I sat down with the Texas Native recently, and he shared some wisdom and insight about working in the entertainment industry.
Colton
So we got a little something in common. We were both born and raised in Texas, even though you ended up moving.
Barry
Oh I moved away for a long time. I spent the first 22 years in Texas and, well, I've been back 22 years, so more than half my life in Texas.
Colton
I found it interesting that you moved to the East Coast early on and did theatre.
Barry
Worked in theater for, well let's see, from 1962 till 1977, and then uh we had a black out in New York. I decided I don't want to live here anymore, so I loaded up a Pinto Ford and drove to California.
Colton
How did your work start to shift in Los Angeles?
Barry
Well, I did some theater in LA. I did some radio. Wrote, at that time, for national public radio. They were doing a series called "Popcorn Theater". And once a month they'd do 4 - 15 minute plays, one right after the other, so it would be an hour show. So I'd write a 15 minute play every month, and write in a role for me or and/or my wife because they paid me $100 to write the play and they'd pay me $50 a piece for the actors. So, I'd go in there and we'd make at least 150, maybe $200. That covered my rent.
Colton
When you decided to make the switch into film and TV, looking back... do you feel like having that theatrical background made a difference in how you approached the on camera work?
Barry
I think it does. Well, anything you do in life makes a difference because you know all we've got as performers is... basically what we are, we're salesman but we don't have a product, we just have ourselves. We're selling ourselves.
Colton
We're the product.
Barry
So you, you know, you build a persona, you know either consciously or unconsciously over the years and uh you're selling that. You're not selling some uh chameleon, you're selling you. Now you can play a whole lot of different things within that, within those limits but it's still you... I always tell young people, if you decide to do this, be prepared for more rejection than almost anyone has in life... If you go into any job, you might be in the job 10-15 years, then you might change careers then go and do something else for 10-15 years then before you know it you're retirement age. So in that time you might be rejected 4, 5, 6 times. I'm rejected that many times per day. And they keep saying it's not personal. And you think oh, well it's not personal. Then you think, well wait a minute, what am i selling here, I'm selling me. It can't get anymore personal than that.
Colton
Sure feels personal.
Barry
So what you've got to do is develop, you've got to keep the naivety of an infant. The curiosity of a baby. But you've got to grow the skin of a rhinoceros. That's what you've got to do. Otherwise, you're gonna become bitter, mean and angry. So that's the whole deal. A lot of people are not prepared for that and they just become very bitter and very angry by the time they're 30 or 40 yrs old.
Colton
Even after you get past that first hurdle of breaking into the industry and getting some good roles, you still have to make sure you don't get bitter by the ongoing process.
Barry
You have to keep reinventing yourself. It's like a surfer. You go out and catch the next wave. If you don't catch the next wave, you're gonna be pulled out. So you've got to catch the next wave, you know. Spot it. OK, here we go. This is it. And uh, it's gonna be... you've gotta be that fluid in your life. If you look at all the great, especially film actors... they reinvent themselves every 7-10 years.
Colton
Is it a planned process, where you think, 'Here are some things I've noticed worked, and maybe I'll hone in more on those'? Or is it more of an unconscious thing?
Barry
There's a subconscious activity that goes on, and then there's a conscious activity that I've got to alter this. I've got to be more open to my fan base. To the people who... see I don't work for the suits out in California, I work for the people who pay for the tickets. If they quit paying for the tickets, these people in California aren't going to fly me to California to do that work.
Colton
When you're out in public, is there a particular role you get recognized for more than others?
Barry
Well, it depends. Theres a certain group of people who are fans of "War Games". Usually computer people. Other people are fans of the Westerns, usually they like "Lonesome Dove". There are young women anywhere from their 20s up unto their 30s, who love "One Tree Hill". "The Ranch" is getting some attention.
Colton
That's one I'm a huge fan of.
Barry
Yeah, it's a good show.
Colton
Well, you've lived in Texas now maybe 20 or so years since you've moved back and that puts you away from where a lot of the suits are
Barry
Yeah, well it keeps me from going to those boring cattle calls. If they want me, they know where to find me.
Colton
(Laughs) I love it. For people who don't have quite the resume you have, is that advice you would give them or should they move out to the West Coast or East Coast to find work?
Barry
I think now in this day and age, you can live anywhere. I think if you don't live on the West Coast... they do a lot of filming around here, but you'll find they cast most of it in California or New York or Chicago... Atlanta now.