By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
April 22, 1988
Daniel Stern made his film debut 10 years ago opposite Dennis Quaid. In his latest movie, Stern co-stars again with Quaid.
“Yeah, it must be our electric chemistry that the audience likes,” Stern deadpanned. “I suppose it doesn’t hurt that we both look like gods.”
Stern laughed at his statement because, while Quaid catapulted to fame after his role as Ellen Barkin’s sexy lover in “The Big Easy,” Stern is best remembered for his part as the goofy record collector married to Barkin in “Diner.”
The two actors first met when they worked on “Breaking Away.” They team up again in “D.O.A.,” a whodunit now playing at local theaters.
In “The Milagro Beanfield War,” which also is at local theaters, Stern portrays Herbie, a New York sociologist who comes to Milagro to write his thesis. The townspeople ignore him until a local takes him onto his farm and lets him work.
“We made this picture on location in New Mexico,” Stern said in a phone conversation from his Los Angeles home. “Working with Robert (Redford) and Christopher Walken was amazing. Robert was incredibly friendly to me. He was great because, not only did he know everything about directing, he also knew things from an actor’s point of view. And Sonja Braga was so darned nice. She’s so alive and such an artistic personality. There were intense periods of shooting, but we all had a great time and learned a great deal from each other.”
After filming wrapped on the picture, Stern started work on “D.O.A.” In it, Stern plays a college professor who helps track down a killer trying to poison his colleague (Quaid).
“The opportunity to be in two films of this caliber is great,” Stern said. “I’ve been very lucky to make a number of good films since my start in the business. I was really relaxed watching (`D.O.A.’), which always is a good sign because I don’t enjoy watching myself.”
He attributed part of his relaxed attitude to Quaid, an occasional golf partner. Though they don’t see each other much socially, Stern said he and Quaid have kept in touch over the years.
“‘D.O.A.’ was a great chance for us to come back as adults,” he said. “This time around, we knew what we were doing. He also didn’t beat me up as much.”
Stern was referring to his impromptu boxing bouts with Quaid, a former boxer. Stern, a tennis and basketball player, said he often ended up with bruises after sparring with Quaid.
“The only thing I don’t like about Dennis is that when we play golf, he insists on driving a cart,” Stern said, chuckling. “You’d think that exercise nut would want to walk, like I do. I mean, he used to do about 8,000 sit-ups a day during `Breaking Away.’ I never met a guy in better shape. But now he’s an old man. Me, too.”
Stern, who’s barely into his 30s, was born in Connecticut and reared in Maryland. He got his start in entertainment as a member of his school choir. After working behind the scenes of high school productions, he won the role of Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” when he was 16.
“I must say that although most people wouldn’t consider a local play to be the pinnacle of their career, I consider it one of my finest moments,” Stern said. “I had so much fun playing Tevye. And I think it was that role that made me realize how much fun acting was.”
He parlayed that fun into income after graduating from high school. Stern got a job as lighting director for the Washington, D.C., Shakespeare Festival but ended up acting small roles in various plays. That experience whetted his appetite for more work. In 1975, he moved to New York.
Though he found full-time work as an actor, he supplemented his income by becoming a teacher’s assistant at the East Harlem Performing Arts School. He was 18.
“I didn’t know what I was doing, but I had fun,” he recalled. “I think that also was the first time I was considered a man, rather than a boy, because most of the teachers there were women. They were sort of hungry for someone in the teaching position who was a guy, even if it was only a 6-foot-4 kid.”
Stern said he can’t believe he’s not that kid anymore. Rather, he’s a husband and father of two children. While he’ll allow his 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter to view edited versions of his films, Stern said he doesn’t have any of his 25 movies on video at home. When his wife settled down to watch “Diner” on television recently, Stern said he walked out of the room.
“It is kind of peculiar because you’d think an actor couldn’t get enough of himself on or off screen,” he said. “But I kind of deal with `success’ by forgetting it happened. I guess there are a lot of actors who don’t particularly enjoy watching themselves.”
He doesn’t intend to let that deter him from acting, but Stern said he’d like to branch out. He’s honing his skills as a filmmaker on a Super 8 movie camera and hopes to make his own pictures one day.
