Need a charming character actor with a sweet smile and a determined attitude? Richard Kind you've got it. Guest star and host of “Only Murders in the Building” “John Mulaney Presents: All in L.A.” He is known to appear on screen left and right, playing roles in several movie and TV shows over the past few years, including the upcoming Apple TV+ crime comedy “Wolves” with a close friend George Clooney. Discussing why he chooses to keep his work life so active, in a recent interview VultureKind explained that, for the most part, it's just part of the practicality of being a supplier.
“The main reason is that I have three kids in college,” he said. “I'm going to prostitute myself because I have to pay for their college.”
Even when it means working on a low-budget set where “the director was the one doing the skins,” Kind is happy to have the opportunity to show off his craft. Especially because he often doesn’t have to bear the real weight that most films go through to get to the screen.
“People are like, ‘Why are you doing this? Didn’t you know it was terrible?’ I did it because it was out of my league,” Kind told Vulture. “I’m an actor-for-hire. It’s what I do. I get paid, it’s going to get me exposure, and it might lead to other work — that’s why I do it. I wish I could say the challenge was the main reason, but it’s because I get offered roles, and I love acting. I take 93 percent of the work.”
Citing his longtime friend, Kind acknowledged that other actors, like Clooney, who have to “carry big movies” on their shoulders, have a lot more responsibility on their shoulders.
“When George Clooney says yes to a movie, there are industries — laundry, catering, hotels, other actors, writers, editors, all the special effects, a city where it can be shot, and shareholders who invest in the studio hoping to make money,” Kind said. “There's a lot of pressure on that guy. There's no pressure on me.”
As for the other seven percent of projects Kind doesn't take on, he said it usually comes down to the project being “raunchy or unappealing” or a scheduling conflict, such as parents having the day off at his daughter's school. Later in the interview, when touching on his daughter's education, Kind also joked about discovering he's the second-most famous father at her school.
“I was sitting in a parent-teacher conference a few years ago, and I looked across the room, and my eyes just popped out of my head. It was Daniel Day-Lewis,” Kind said. “He saw me looking at him and nodded at me, so he obviously recognized me. I walked up to him after it was over and said, ‘You know, I’m so fucking mad at you.’ And he said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Because I wanted to be the most famous dad in the class.’”