THE DAY IS CLOUDY AND SO IS JEFF DANIELS.
The actor has walked to Central Park directly from watching the news conference in which Attorney General William Barr defended President Trump in the moments before the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, and it has done even less for his mood than the drizzle that arrives at the park entrance with him.
“I’m waiting for the hero,” Daniels growls, after sitting gamely for a portrait with the two Australian shepherds he has come to walk. The older one, Magglio, is named for a Detroit Tigers outfielder his daughter had a crush on in high school. Scout joined the family last summer after Daniels signed on to play Atticus Finch in a new Broadway production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Aaron Sorkin adapted Harper Lee’s 1960 novel for the age of Trump, and the show’s roaring success is fueled by the steady combustion of liberal sensibilities and the kind of news Daniels is stewing over.
“It’s exactly what Mockingbird is about,” he says of Barr’s news conference. “You know, it’s about, where’s goodness and decency? It’s respect and honesty and truthfulness and ‘do unto others.’ Where is that? I didn’t see it this morning. I haven’t seen it for two years.” He pauses to pick up after one of the dogs. “But the country is divided between people who want to believe it and people who don’t believe it. Dangerous times.”
This story is from the June 3 - 10, 2019 edition of Time.
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This story is from the June 3 - 10, 2019 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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