Backstage.com

August 21, 2001
Scott Caan
By Jamie Painter Young

Scott Caan, the eldest son of well-known actor James Caan, has been carving a name for himself--most notably as a feature film actor in last year's Gone in 60 Seconds, Ready To Rumble, and Boiler Room, and before that as a co-star in Varsity Blues and James Toback's Black and White. Earlier this year, the 24-year-old wrapped production on the comedy Novocaine, with Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter, as well as Steven Soderbergh's highly anticipated remake of Ocean's 11. Caan's also starring in the hip Western American Outlaws, which will be released this week.

In addition to his acting career, Caan has found success as a screenwriter. He's written three feature scripts, one of which, Chasing the Party, was purchased by Jerry Bruckheimer Productions and is currently in development with Caan attached to star.

Given his lucrative dealings with Hollywood of late, it comes as a bit of a surprise to hear that Caan has chosen to spend his downtime this summer working on a new stage production in Los Angeles. The play, Almost Love, will be staged at Playhouse West in North Hollywood beginning Aug. 21 and continuing through September. In addition to co-starring and co-directing (with actor Val Lauren), Caan will also be making his debut as a playwright.

"As far as acting goes, I love the process of making movies, but if you really love acting, there's nothing like doing theatre," said Caan, who began his training at the age of 18 with Playhouse West, a repertory theatre and acting school co-founded by actor Jeff Goldblum and modeled after Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. "When I'm not working and I have time off, I like to go back there."

Caan was initially turned on to the theatre school by his mother, Sheila Ryan, who had studied there. Caan soon found a second home for himself under the guidance of Playhouse West's co-founder and teacher Robert Carnegie, a protege of Meisner's.

"I wanted to get into acting, and that was the only place I've ever known," said Caan, who in between film jobs continues to study there and occasionally performs at the theatre's showcase nights. "From the day I got there, they instilled in me that acting is all about hard work and that the people who make it and continue to work in this town are people that--excuse me--give a shit and love to do it. Going back there is a luxury for me."

According to Caan, he never intended to become a playwright, but after experiencing difficulties with securing the rights to a few plays he was interested in staging, he decided to take a stab at penning a play on his own.

"When I came back from doing American Outlaws, Val Lauren and I said, 'We're going to find a play and we're going to do it,' because of the possibility of the strike. One way or another it was just not coming together. We were frustrated for weeks, and then I finally told Val, 'You know what? I'm going to write a play.' So I went home and that night--out of pure frustration--wrote the first 18 pages of play. It just kept going from there."

Caan realizes that certain people might be skeptical that he could pull off writing an original full-length play, but the confident thesp makes no apologies and, in fact, plans on continuing his work as a playwright.

"I never thought about writing a play before this because I have a huge respect for playwrights," said the actor/writer. "Why would I even try when there are so many great plays out there to do? Out of frustration from not being able to get these plays up, I wondered, Could I do this? I'll try it. And now it's happening. Now I can't wait to write my next play."

As for Almost Love, which Caan described as a dramatic comedy about "a guy who finds the right girl at the wrong time," he hopes that his play helps spread the good word about Playhouse West. The production's cast, which also includes Laura Katz, and crew are all students at the theatre's school, which also boasts up-and-comer James Franco (Freaks and Geeks, TNT's James Dean) as a pupil.

Said Caan, "I would love to have my play published and have it say, 'First performed at Playhouse West.' I want to put Playhouse West on the map. We'd love to turn it into the 'L.A.' Neighborhood Playhouse. We pride ourselves on being a really serious school for acting."

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