Tonys 2013: Courtney B. Vance says ‘Broadway ain’t for sissies’

Courtney B. Vance might not be the most famous actor in Lucky Guy – that would be Tom Hanks, who plays Mike McAlary. But the chance to play Hap Harrison, McAlary’s editor, was enough to draw Vance back to Broadway after a long rest. That’s especially true since he gets to work with director George C. Wolfe, who also directed “Angels in America.”

“He makes it fun, but at the same time he’s relentless in the pursuit of his vision,” Vance said to media after receiving his award.

The opportunity to do a play by Nora Ephron, who died last year, was also a draw, he said. Though Vance didn’t know Ephron well, he’d admired her work and did a reading with her before the play opened.

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“Nora’s just so wonderful,” he said. “It was just a wonderful opportunity to work with someone I’d admired for such a long time.”

Vance, married to Angela Bassett, said it was a different experience to leave Bassett and their two daughters at home as he went to the theater every night.

“My wife is the queen. There are very few actresses like Angela Bassett,” he said. “She had to go it alone with the twins and the nanny.”

Bassett was recently in both “Green Lantern” and “Jumping the Broom.”

The experience was grueling for Vance too though, he said.

“Broadway ain’t for sissies,” he said. “Eight shows a week, it’s grueling.”

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