AP Interview with Malcolm McDowell for Pearl 1997

Malcolm McDowell's Career Switches Channels

By Jennifer Bowles, AP Television writer
    Stark portraits of directors Stanley Kubrick and Lindsay Anderson loom overhead in Malcolm McDowell's Los Angeles office -- daily reminders of the actor's illustrious movie career.
    These days, though, it's the small screen that's got Mr. McDowell's career cranked up. The white-maned Brit is perfectly cast as an arrogant humanities professor in the new CBS sitcom "Pearl," playing nemesis to Rhea Perlman's blue-collar widow trying to make it at an Ivy League university.
    "Even though it's extremely grueling and hard work, it is the most fun, satisfying thing," says Mr. McDowell, whose pompous screen persona belies a real-life charm. "When you do it before an audience on Friday night, it's such an adrenaline rush."
Tucked away at the historic Sunset Boulevard studio where "Pearl" is filmed, Mr. McDowell's office is straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog: wooden furniture and white slipcover couches -- plus paintings by his wife, Kelly, including those of the two directors.
Then there are the tin cars and trucks, hanging on shelves and sitting on the coffee table. Mr. McDowell collects them.
    "They're like sculptures to me. I get into them in a big way. It's fun going to these toy fairs and going to these swap meets," says Mr. McDowell, pointing to one green car that cost him $1,000.
    Mr. McDowell's first venture into series television began as Hollywood happenstance. As a favor to a friend, he agreed to stand in as the professor in a read-through for the "Pearl" pilot. But he so impressed the producers, they offered him the role a couple of weeks later.
"My first reaction was 'I don't think so. I don't want to sign for that long with anybody,' " Mr. McDowell recalls. "Then I figured, 'If it's a big success, you're not going to mind working on it for five years, and if it's a disaster, you're going to get the hook. You're not going to be there, so why not?' "
    The 53-year-old actor had been best-known for his stage work and movies such as "If ..." and "A Clockwork Orange," and a few not-so- classics like "Tank Girl."
"I've done some stinkers, but I don't regret them at all," he says. "Listen, if I had to pay my mortgage that year, you know, I did it." In 1971's "Clockwork," directed by Mr. Kubrick, Mr. McDowell struck an enduring image as the odious hoodlum Alex, who wore a bowler hat and was passionate for Beethoven.
    The violent social satire, based on Anthony Burgess' novel, followed the adventures of Alex and his gang as they beat, raped and robbed helpless victims.
"It's a remarkable film that has survived as such a classic and I'd be a raving idiot not to be thrilled with that," Mr. McDowell says. "It's been 25 years. People are talking about this film like it was made this year. That's an extraordinary feat.
"And of course, I'm very proud of my work in it. I think it's a great, great part that I played to the full."
    Mr. McDowell got his first big break in 1968 in "If ...," another controversial film, directed by Mr. Anderson, in which Mr. McDowell played a rebellious upperclassman at a rigid boarding school.
    It's the late Mr. Anderson, Mr. McDowell's best friend and mentor, who serves as the model for "Pearl" Professor Stephen Pynchon, who Mr. McDowell takes pains to note is a wonderful teacher.
    "There's a lot of Pynchon in Lindsay," he says. "He couldn't bear to suffer fools. He would pounce on you if you made a stupid mistake." And what about Mssrs. McDowell and Pynchon? Any similarities?
    "Well, Pynchon's not like me at all. Not at all," Mr. McDowell says, his blue eyes twinkling. "I like to think I have a great sense of humor. I don't know whether it's quite that cruel. I love the character. He is just a delight to play. You get to say things that wouldn't even come into your head!"
    "Pearl," now airing at 8:30 p.m. EST Wednesdays, began the season on Monday nights, temporarily sitting in for the delayed "Ink."
    "Ink," coincidentally, stars one of Perlman's ex-"Cheers" castmates, Ted Danson, and his wife Mary Steenburgen -- who also happens to be McDowell's ex-wife of 10 years. "We like to think that we were the cavalry that saved them," he says slyly.