Some guys have all the 'Luck'

What is Dustin Hoffman doing on TV? Enjoying a rare chance to do his best work, he tells The Nation's Manta Klangboonkrong

Lightning-fast thoroughbreds and double Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman thunder through the new TV series "Luck" now showing on HBO, and we got an interview with one of them - happily the human one.

Hoffman - who plays inveterate bookie Chester "Ace" Bernstein in the series set at California's fabled Santa Anita horse racing track - met members of the Asian press visiting Los Angeles on the eve of the show's premiere here.

"Luck" is produced by David Milch, who created the acclaimed series "Deadwood", and directed by Michael Mann, best known for the hit 1980s show "Miami Vice". It also stars Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina and John Ortiz but, in the grand scheme of things, none shines as bright as Dustin Hoffman.

The question immediately arises, why does Hoffman - who's been a big-screen star since "The Graduate" in 1967, and who was Oscar's best actor in 1979 for "Kramer vs Kramer" and again in 1988 for "Rain Man" - even deign to do TV?

Thrice nominated for the Academy Award, Nick Nolte is also making a rare foray into television, it should be noted.

First of all, Hoffman said, "there's no reason for me to butter up HBO - the contract is done and it's too late to fire me!

"But Nick and I were just talking about this, because in film it's very hard to do your best work. You want a shot at it but you cannot get a shot at doing your best work in the studio system.

"With HBO, once they give a project a go, there is no committee, there are no meetings. The cast and crew are allowed to try to do their best work. I'm very thankful for that."

What appealed to you about the script for "Luck"?

It's extraordinary how much about horse racing the public is not allowed to see. I admire David and Mike for trying to show the exploitation of the horses - and of the jockeys, who lead lives you don't want to lead. They're bulimic, anorexic and don't have long life spans.

There was a guy called Gary Steven. He fell off the horse and all the other horses trampled all over him. You know how much they get paid? $35 or $40 an hour, and there's no jockey union.

The horses are forced to race earlier than they should and, as you know, when they don't want them anymore they just shoot them.

Also, the funny thing is that people who go to gamble at the races don't even look at the track - they're watching on a little-screen TV!

How was it working with Michael Mann?

I value the great effort he puts into his work, and he really took his time with this one! This is first time I ever trusted a director more than I trusted myself. I really put myself in his hands.

There is a cloud. I say, 'I have an idea,' and if there's this cloud that comes over the director's face and all the blood drains from his face, I know he's not a collaborator.

I was expecting 20 pages a day, an atmosphere like making movies on cocaine or on speed, but it was the opposite. We did the best we could with what time that we had, and we came back the next day. He did it digitally and we had three cameras, which actors love because you don't have to repeat in "coverage".

You and Nick Nolte have reputations for being difficult to work with. Were there sparks this time?

Again, it goes back to wanting to do your best work. It's a bad marriage when you don't know what it's going to be like until you get married. And if you're not laughing at the same stuff, if you're not being moved by the same stuff, if the director, producer, whatever, is satisfied before they should be satisfied, you want a divorce. Or at least that's where the arm wrestling starts.

When you're lucky enough to work with heavyweight talent, there's no problem - most importantly because they're not afraid of a suggestion.

Do you believe in luck?

I almost died at three weeks old, so I guess I was born a winner. But for much of our lives we don't know that. We are intellectually aware of our being, that we're living and we're going to die. Animals don't - they just go around each day, hunting and thinking, "Hope I get lucky today."

We're lucky we wake up every morning and make it through each day, but we also know mortality. So luck, in a sense, for me, is an ironic term.

What was your lucky break in showbiz?

[The 1978 jailbird movie] "Straight Time". It's the least successful of all my films, but it was quality and I enjoyed working on it.

Do you still enjoy being in front of the camera?

I became an actor because I thought no one could mess with me, and that I could always say goodbye and leave. But it's a bastard business - you can't leave until you're satisfied with your work, with your acting. But then again, if you could give up being successful, you're free.

One documentary maker said money is the cheapest thing, and the power of your work is the most expensive. I really like that quote.

I guess it's easier to say I do what I love, but it's long-term relationship work. I might get angry, but I'm never bored.

Do you care about awards?

Yes, I do [long pause, but no "however"]. It's been designed to kill us. I always think of it as running or swimming in the Olympics. The ones that win beat the others by a split second. It's just absurd. And the ones that didn't win feel their work was undeserving.

POST TIME

"Luck" premiered on Monday on HBO (TrueVisions 43, TrueVision 121 on HBO HD). The first episode reruns today at 2pm and tomorrow at 8pm.

New episodes air on Mondays at 9pm.