Gideon Glick was already performing on Broadway before he'd graduated from high school. "I started out acting really as a means to sing in front of people," says the actor, who originated the role of Ernst in the Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening. "On top of being hearing impaired" — Glick was born deaf in his right ear — "I'm a very nervous person, so singing very quickly started to frighten me."
The same year that Spring Awakening debuted, Glick booked his first movie role in the cancer comedy, One Last Thing... "As I've grown older I've only become more fascinated with the acting process — doing it, watching it, and I've learned to use my anxiety as a sort of battery," Glick explains. "I find myself on a constant and obsessive quest for transcendence and freedom."
In recent years, he has appeared in Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story and White Noise, along with a recurring role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. His latest role is in Maestro, the Bradley Cooper-directed drama in which Glick plays Tom Cothran, a lover and confident of Leonard Bernstein.
"I do believe there's a little providence in the parts that I've been picked for and parts that I haven't," the actor reflects. "I've been lucky to be a part of thoughtful and interesting projects led by thoughtful and interesting people. I feel super lucky that the majority of the work I've done on film and TV has been with directors who also write their own work — Noah Baumbach, Bradley Cooper, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino. That's something I might like to do."
Below, Glick shares with A.frame his Top 5.
Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich | Written by: Buck Henry, David Newman and Robert Benton
The perfect comedy. Brilliantly written and performed. Here you have a director, Peter Bogdanovich, still firing on all cylinders, collaborating with his ex-wife and secret weapon, Polly Platt. The movie is buoyed by a zany and infectious performance by the legendary Barbra Streisand and incredible turns from Madeline Kahn, Austin Pendleton, and Ryan O'Neal. From its stylish opening credits to one of the greatest car chases in cinema, What's Up, Doc? makes me laugh every time I revisit it, and I marvel at the fact that it's still so funny over half a century later. I've always believed the true mark of genius transcends time, and this is a prime example.
Written and Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
The movie is a masterpiece. The script and filmmaking are stylish and sophisticated, and the story is gripping, twisty, and fun. All About Eve introduced me to Bette Davis, and for that, I'll always be grateful. Her acerbic and biting delivery is aspirational. I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the knockout performances by Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, and a delightful cameo by a young Marilyn Monroe.
Directed by: John Schlesinger | Written by: Waldo Salt
John Schlesinger hits it out of the park with Midnight Cowboy. Adapted from the novel of the same name, the movie is gritty, sad, and tender. Visually dynamic and containing one of my favorite movie theme songs. Dustin Hoffman and John Voight's relationship will break your heart. Hoffman's extraordinary turn as Ratso Rizzo cements Rizzo as one of cinema's great characters and Hoffman as one of cinema's great character actors. Sylvia Miles and Bob Balaban round out the cast with eccentric and memorable performances.
Directed by: Michael Cimino | Written by: Deric Washburn
This was one of those movies that made me want to be an actor. Due to a bizarre fascination with Vietnam as a kid, I was drawn to the film first for its subject matter, and then sat glued to the screen due to its exhilarating performances. In this sweeping epic about how the members of a Pennsylvania working town get sucked in and spit out by a senseless war, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep exhibit the power of transcendence through performance. And if you leave this movie without shedding a tear, you've got issues.
Directed by: Bob Fosse | Written by: Jay Presson Allen
This adaptation of the Broadway musical is an extraordinary example of how great a musical can translate to film. Bob Fosse's masterful way of capturing his original choreography creates a visual feast. I'm still haunted by the camera scanning fervid faces evoking German expressionist paintings passionately singing, "Tomorrow Belongs to Me." Liza Minnelli delivers an electric performance, and Joel Grey is chilling as the Emcee. It's hard to adapt anything, but I dare say Bob Fosse improved on the original.
