The Normal Heart’s John Benjamin Hickey on Juggling The Big C and Acting with Joe Mantello

John Benjamin Hickey has been a warm and humane presence onstage since his Broadway debut performance in 1995’s Love! Valour! Compassion! Since then, Hickey has appeared on Broadway in Cabaret, The Crucible and Mary Stuart, as well as in films ranging from Flags of Our Fathers and Transformers to Freedom Writers and the current Showtime hit The Big C as Laura Linney's brother. Now he's back on Broadway giving a heartwrenching performance as Felix Turner, lover of writer-turned-gay activist Ned Weeks in The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s explosive play about early days of the AIDS epidemic in New York. We caught up with Hickey recently to chat about what it means to be a part of this landmark play, acting opposite his former director Mantello, and how pal Laura Linney helped make this Broadway role possible.

Can you sum up for me what you love about The Normal Heart?
When I sat down to read the play again, I thought I was going to be reading a period piece. I was not prepared for what an unbelievably prescient, relevant, ticking-time-bomb of a play it remains. All of its fury, all of its love, all of its pride and rage are right on the surface, still as tremulous and as powerful as ever. I read a review once about the Beatles that said their music now seemed to exist outside of time. I don’t want to get too lofty, but I feel like Larry’s play is like that. It’s no longer just about that [early 1980s] time period, but it’s a relevant call to arms that could have been written yesterday. About health care, about marriage equality, about democracy, about oppression and, of course, about AIDS and man’s responsibility for his fellow man. One of the most stunning things about the play is how little it’s aged.

One of the most startling things is that the word AIDS is never used, because it didn’t exist.
I know. I remember [co-director] George C. Wolfe saying that we have to think of it like a horror movie, where this monster is somewhere outside in the woods and you’re in your lonely cabin and you don’t know what or where the monster is but it keeps getting closer and closer and closer. There was so much chaos and confusion in the New York gay community at that time that it's appropriate. I think the expression “I don’t know” is said more in this play than anything else, because nobody knew anything.

There are so many Broadway debuts in this show. Do you feel like a teacher to your younger co-stars?
Joe [Mantello] and I definitely feel like the senior members of the boys' club! We end up sitting on the floor together a lot in the play, and when we’re done with the scene, we both have to grab each other’s arms and help each other up. We kind of moan and our knees creak. But the younger actors in the company are amazing; it’s a real ensemble. They all came in knowing what the play was about and with a deep respect for Larry [Kramer] and [co-directors] Joel Grey and George Wolfe. We all signed on for a very abbreviated rehearsal and preview period and we all thought, “You know what? Fuck it. We’ll fly without a net and see what happens.” And the play is like that too—unsafe.

What is it like having Larry Kramer around for this process?
I remember when I was doing The Crucible on Broadway with Laura Linney, and Arthur Miller had been in rehearsal with us and was on stage on opening night. She turned to me during the curtain call and said, “Let’s make sure we remember this.” I feel that way about Larry. This is as good as it can get for an actor. Putting aside politics and what he’s done for the gay community and gay rights and the AIDS movement, his work as a dramatist is so profoundly exciting and humbling to me, and to have him with us to talk to about the production is the greatest gift you can get as an actor.

Speaking of Laura Linney, how did you make this schedule work with filming The Big C?
Well, one of the producers on The Big C is Laura, and she, of course, knows this play and loves this play and adores Larry Kramer. We went to Juilliard together and were kids together and the theater is her home, as well, so she kind of hooked it up. The producers of both projects got together and said, “If we all work to make this happen for you, will you take both on board?” There are a few nights I’ll have to be on location for The Big C and Wayne Wilcox will be covering me in the show, and he’s a phenomenal actor. It’s totally insane, but how can I possibly say no?

How are you holding up?
I’m going to be exhausted and schizoid, but I’m certainly not going to complain! A: You don’t want God to overhear you complaining about too much work, and B: They’re both such extraordinary jobs that I’m kind of unbuckling the seatbelt and trying to fly as steady as possible. I can’t think of the right metaphor. Maybe it’s like riding a bull in a rodeo. And I come from a rodeo family, so I can use that metaphor.

Joe Mantello has directed you many times. Have you two ever acted together?
We never have, and it’s great! We grew up together in the business; we started working together in our early 30s and we’re now in our late 40s so Joe and I are real peers, and that’s something we’re really trying to bring to our onstage relationship. I love that Ned and Felix are true partners.

Is it odd to be acting with him instead of being directed by him?
Oh yes, it’s odd. Sometimes I see him with his director hat on and I think, “I know you have a note for me.” It's almost unfair. Joe is such a great director and such a fucking great actor! I mean, how amazing is he in the play? Everybody in the cast really looks to him because he’s such a great leader.

You’ve got Joe Mantello starring, and Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe co-directing. Did it ever feel like you had three directors in the room?
Never, and Joe and I have such an intimate relationship that he could totally take me aside and say, “You know, I think you’re blocking yourself here,” but he never does. He’s miraculously set that part of himself aside and given himself to Joel and George, and I think it bears out in his performance.

See John Benjamin Hickey in The Normal Heart at the Golden Theatre.