{"id":114882,"date":"2022-09-13T14:18:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T19:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=114882"},"modified":"2022-09-13T14:18:44","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T19:18:44","slug":"jim-metzler-boston-red-sox-acting-north-south-tex-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=114882","title":{"rendered":"Jim Metzler: Boston Red Sox, Acting, North &#038; South, Tex and More\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=114882\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=114882\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-114883 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Jim-Metzler-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Jim-Metzler-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Jim-Metzler.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jim Metzler is an actor best known for Mason in \u201cTex\u201dand James Huntoon in \u201cNorth and South\u201d. But did you know he used to be a baseball player before he turned to acting? He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has been on the International Film Nominating Committee fort he last 20 years.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: I read that you were drafted by the Boston Red Sox after graduating from college? Tell me the story.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Actually I was not drafted. I signed as a free agent with the Red Sox and received a signing bonus of zero dollars. This was in 1973, so adjusted for inflation, that bonus today would be worth zero dollars. I know that doesn\u2019t sound like much, but I was also paid a salary of $500 a month! Considering I was able to rent an apartment for $100 a month in Elmira, New York, where I played that summer in the New York Penn League, I was able to make that $500 go a long way (I continued to drive my \u201964 VW bug). Baseball has been a life-long love affair, playing since I was six years old and scouted at Dartmouth and two summers in the Cape Cod League. So despite the fact that I was disappointed in not being drafted, I jumped at the chance to sign as a free agent. I loved it that I could go to the ball park and play baseball every day, and I intended to keep playing until they told me to stop. Unfortunately, the Red Sox told me to stop the next season when I was playing at Winter Haven in the Florida State League. Damn! <!--more--><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: What made you turn to acting and what do you like about it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I majored in English Literature at Dartmouth. I have always loved to read, albeit slowly. Being an English major is a great first step to an adult life of sporadic, low-paying employment, and I jumped right into that life with my short baseball career. I followed that up with a job as assistant sports editor of The Evening News in my home town of Newburgh, New York, and I stayed there for a little over a year, mostly wondering what I else I might try. Besides being a slow reader, I was also a very slow writer, and no matter however I projected my future as a sportswriter, I knew that I would always be wishing that I was one of the athletes, not the person writing about them. So I thought about acting. I don\u2019t know why, because I was basically a very quiet person, uncomfortable talking In front of other people, or in some cases, one person. And I had never acted before. As unnatural for me as it seemed, however, I thought that I might like it. And I thought I could actually be good at it. I envisioned it as a marriage of my love of literature to a desire to be a performer, which was missing when my athletic career ended. I also missed being on a team. Every theatrical production is a team collaboration. And even though I had never acted before, I was a dreamer. I often imagined theme music in the background of my everyday life.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: You are known for your role as James Huntoon in North &amp; South. How did you get this part and what attracted you to it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is a tougher question than you might have imagined, because there is a very tragic element to the answer. David Huffman, a very fine actor, had been originally cast in the role of James Huntoon. In 1985, about one week before North &amp; South was to begin filming, Huffman witnessed a robbery in progress in Balboa Park in San Diego. He selflessly pursued the thief and was murdered in the process. I had just finished work on a wonderful television movie, Do You Remember Love, with Joanne Woodward, and was available when the North &amp; South producers called me in to meet and explain the horrible situation. I was offered the part. Yes, I thought playing the character would be a great stretch for me. Huntoon was such a bloviator! Yes, I loved the epic sweep of the story. And yes, I had a wonderful time with a wonderful cast in Charleston, South Carolina and Natchez, Mississippi. I just wish the opportunity had not arisen.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: You played Mason in the movie Tex and got a Golden Globe nomination. How did you get this part and were you surprised about the nomination?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I think there were two main reasons why I got the part, the first being that I immediately had a strong identification with the character, or at least a strong idea of how I thought the character should be played. I have never felt more comfortable in an audition. The second reason is that I lied about my age. Mason\u2019s age in the original script was 17. I was 29. I knew I would be asked at the audition, and I figured that if I answered 29 I would be eliminated because it was so far removed from 17, and if I answered 17 they would know I was lying and be eliminated. So I settled on 24 as a compromise, and it worked. Good thing IMDB wasn\u2019t around then. In the film, when Ben Johnson asked Mason how old he was, he replied 18. I thought it might make it a little more credible. The Golden Globe nomination was a total surprise. I had no idea that an announcement was even coming up. I didn\u2019t win, did I?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Is there a movie or TV show you would have loved to play the lead in and why?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I think I should have played the lead in every movie ever made! Though I will tell you one that really hurt that I didn\u2019t get way back when (1983) was The Dead Zone. I had read the book and had a great meeting with David Cronenberg. My representatives also heard from casting how well it had gone and thought that an offer was imminent. I was just coming off Tex and thought I had a realistic shot. I thought I was perfect for the role. Right up until I saw Christopher Walken play it in the movie. He was great!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: If you look at current actors and actresses: Is there anyone you would like to do a movie with and why?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I see somewhere near 200 films a year. And almost as much television. There are so many extraordinarily talented actors and actresses out there that it would be fruitless for me to even try to make a meaningful list. And then I wistfully think of those whom I worked with that I can\u2019t work with again, because they are no longer alive. Too morbid. I\u2019d be name-dropping dead people. And then there are those that I have worked with who are still alive. That\u2019s a real good list, but I will say one name: Alec Baldwin. He owes me a phone call. I haven\u2019t seen him since 1996 when he visited the set of LA Confidential, where I was shooting a scene with Kim Basinger. He was visiting her and it was a surprise to him that I was there in the small but fun role of a city councilman. Alec and I had done a short-lived series (Cutter to Houston) together in 1983 and a miniseries (The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory) in 1986 and was extremely helpful to me when I was going through a divorce in 1988. We were good friends for quite a few years before slowly losing touch. The acting life sometimes giveth and sometimes taketh away. It was a pleasure working with him, and he was a kind, thoughtful and giving friend, intelligent and hilarious. I have enjoyed his successes and felt for his tribulations.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Are you still active in the business? What are you up to now?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I audition some and work less than that. I really don\u2019t mind much. To borrow from General MacArthur,\u201cOld actors never die. They just fade to black\u201d. I am a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and love seeing as many movies as I can before casting my Oscar votes. I also participate in voting for the Student Academy Awards and for 20 years have been on the International Film Nominating Committee, which has become my favorite category. Last year I saw all of the films from the 92 countries that entered. What a great way to travel the world without losing your luggage! I enjoy home life with my wife Susan and three entertaining felines, and planning the next visit to see our son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. I still love reading by holding a novel in my hands. I still love baseball. And I walk about five miles a day, sometimes accompanied by theme music.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen Jim Metzler is an actor best known for Mason in \u201cTex\u201dand James Huntoon in \u201cNorth and South\u201d. But did you know he used to be a baseball player before he turned to acting? He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has been on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28132,17984],"tags":[32,29587,29588,29589],"class_list":["post-114882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns-by-karen-beishuizen","category-entertainment-news","tag-acting","tag-jim-metzler-boston-red-sox","tag-north-south","tag-tex-and-more"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114882"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}