Dwier Brown has been acting since 1982. But it wasn’t until his brief, yet iconic role in “Field of Dreams” seven years later before he became a recognizable face on the silver screen.
In part one of our interview with Brown, he talked about the inspiration behind his book If You Build It… and provided some behind-the-scenes nuggets about the making of “Field of Dreams”, but the 55-year-old actor has much more on his mind than just the Academy Award nominated film.
HOVG: If it is alright with you I would like to talk about your acting career a little bit. Probably some different questions than you are used to, because I am curious about other aspects of your career.
BROWN: Sounds good.
HOVG: Ok, so something interesting happened to me. As I shared with people in my life that I would be talking with you…my parents, my wife, my neighbors, co-workers, there was this interesting phenomenon and I am interested to know if you have ever had this before. When I showed your picture to most gentlemen, they say “Field of Dreams”. Almost instantly. But when I showed your picture to the ladies in my life, they all said “Oh, the guy from ‘The Cutting Edge’”. And so I am curious to know if you have ever noticed anything like that before in your fan interactions?
BROWN: Well, I have never done the research like you have. (Laughs). I’ve never had access to a control group before. But I do get recognized for “The Cutting Edge” sometimes. I wouldn’t have thought that particular picture would bring me to mind, but that is very nice that they remembered me. I’ll tell you what I did do research about though.
HOVG: I would love to hear.
BROWN: Ok, so I wrote the whole book with the title “Wanna Have A Catch?”. To me it’s seemed very appropriate. These people came out of the blue to tell me their stories about their fathers and I’m sort of throwing it back to them these stories about my father. It was just…so appropriate. I’m not sure how else to say it. So we got to the end and you know, I told my mom that the title was “Wanna Have A Catch?” And she asked me, “How do you spell that?”. A simple question, right? And I said, “well I spell it W-A-N-N-A”. She responded, “Well then is it H-A-V-A for have a?”. And I found myself doing all this spelling, started thinking about people trying to look up the book on-line, no one is going to know how to spell this! I realized then, that “If you build it…” is hard to misspell. So, I made the right choice. Although I do miss the symbolic aspect of the original title. Part of my own personal research, like what you did, was to ask men and women which they preferred. The men liked and knew “Catch”, but the women I spoke with didn’t really get the reference right away. Then when I mentioned “Build It”, the women seemed to like that one more, because they recognized it from the movie. So, I thought, you have to go for the wider appeal. Even though “Catch” was where my heart was. Anyway, there does seem to be a slight sexual disconnect between certain moments in one movie, so it is not surprising that women would love “Cutting Edge”, it is a pretty fun movie.
HOVG: Another good sports movie too. You are combining two different sports. I like that movie. It just isn’t what I recognize you from.
BROWN: You know, an interesting fact…the lead of “The Cutting Edge” (D.B. Sweeney), was Shoeless Joe in “Eight Men Out”.
HOVG: Oh my gosh, he was wasn’t he?
BROWN: Yup. And the very first TV show I ever did, was in Chicago, this would have been 1981 and it was called “The Trial of Shoeless Joe Jackson” and I played a reporter who covered the Black Sox scandal. So Shoeless Joe has been a big part of my life in several different ways.
HOVG: That’s pretty interesting. I have another question about your movie career, but to get there I have to give you some background. You were in a movie called “The Guardian”…and I have seen it, because I love late 80’s/early 90’s horror movies in general.
BROWN: We should make it clear that you are talking about the 1990 movie, as opposed to the Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner one from a few years ago.
HOVG: Good call, I forgot that those movies had the same title. So, you were a father in “Field of Dreams”, you starred as a father in “The Guardian”, and you also played the father in “Dennis the Menace Strikes Again.” My question is, do you ever get sick of playing the father of kids who cause you nothing but grief?
BROWN: That’s a good point. What’s good about it is, if you get typecast as a father then there will always be work. You know I have played plenty of fathers on television. For a long period there, I kept playing the father of abducted children.
HOVG: Oh geez.
BROWN: It’s obviously a big dramatic event that you can write a TV show around. Sometimes those got a little bit old, because it is a lot of teeth gnashing, wringing of hands.
HOVG: Screaming in the middle of the street.
BROWN: I’ve enjoyed every aspect of being a father, having a father, and playing a father. If those jobs keep coming, I will be ok with it.
HOVG: Well…those are all of the serious questions I have for you. The way I like to finish interviews is with five random questions that I like to ask everyone.
BROWN: Okay, sounds like fun.
HOVG: If you could only eat one food item for the rest of, what would that be?
BROWN: (no hesitation) Uh, pretzels. No question.
HOVG: Wow! I have never heard that one. Do you prefer the hard, soft or braided?
BROWN: If you are going to give me an option…that’s tough to pick between the soft or hard pretzels. I really like them both, in fact I just had a soft pretzel fifteen minutes ago. I love them.
HOVG: Good stuff. I think I have an idea where this next question might go, but let’s see. If you could pick one person, living or dead, to have dinner with, who would it be?
BROWN: Wow…that would be a toss up between Abe Lincoln and Jesus.
HOVG: Those are good ones.
BROWN: Who did you think I would pick?
HOVG: I thought you might go Shoeless Joe Jackson…with all your experience with him. Just thought he might be high on that personal list.
BROWN: I mean, if you are giving me one chance…Shoeless Joe I have read enough about, but I can’t read enough about the other two.
HOVG: Very true. What is your least favorite nickname (if you have one)?
BROWN: Boy, that’s a tough one. I’ve had a lot of nicknames, Dwier is not an easy name. In High School I was Dwee, or Dwy. In college it went to Dwi Guy, which I used to have as my license plate. Then I realized I had to change it, because D-W-I Guy makes it sound like I am always intoxicated when I drive. I didn’t want the police to think I was mocking them. You know, “I’m the DWI Guy, come and pull me over.” (Laughs) So, I dropped that. Now I will answer to anything that starts with a D-W. I had a nephew who had a bit of a speech impediment when he was younger and he had trouble with his R’s and W’s. So, saying “Uncle Dwier” was really a mouthful for the kid. He asked my wife it would alright if he called me Uncle D. Now all my nieces and nephews call me Uncle D. And that works out pretty will. When I used to play basketball, I had my favorite nickname. I was a defensive specialist, so they called me “Denier”, which I always liked.
HOVG: Yeah, I like that one. It’s a keeper.
BROWN: You know, I can’t think of any nicknames that I really didn’t like. So…sorry about that.
HOVG: No apology necessary. This one needs a little clarification, but I haven’t figured out quite how to do it yet. What is your favorite scary movie? And that does not necessarily mean horror movie. Like, what is a movie where you find yourself being scared? Maybe that is the right way to word that. So, as an example, someone might say “The Manchurian Candidate” is the scariest movie ever.
BROWN: Wow. Gosh, I guess if we are going that way…I might say “Wall-E”.
HOVG: Oooh! That’s a really good answer.
BROWN: You know, the future that they paint for us…where all the kids are chubby and we have flying chairs, you know that’s a scary future. That isn’t a great example, but you know I do not watch a lot of scary movies. I can safely say that I have probably been in more than I have watched. So I think I will stick with “Wall-E”.
HOVG: Yeah, that future does hit a little too close to home. This next question is kind of in the same vein, what is your favorite all-time television show or program?
BROWN: There are just so many! (Laughs) When I was a kid there was a show called, “Copy Cats”. It was a bunch of impersonators doing scenes from old movies. George Kirby was on it and Frank Gorshin, Rich Little…all of the greats. That was a show I loved and I wish they would bring back. Right now, it’s the “Colbert Report”. No matter what kind of mood I am in, I can watch that guy forever. I am sort of glad that he is going to “Late Show”, but I am also worried that it won’t be as funny as his current show, but…you know other than that I don’t watch much TV. I’m an actor who doesn’t watch TV shows.
HOVG: I think that is probably more common than we know. That is all I have for you. It’s been a real honor to talk with you, it really has.
BROWN: I hope I didn’t ramble too much.
HOVG: Not at all, I enjoyed every second.
BROWN: One thing about writing a book, it is a very solitary practice. So know when I am finally talking about it, it’s like I saved up that two and a half years of silent, middle of the night type jaunts. Anyway, it was a pleasure.
HOVG: Pleasure was all on this end of the phone. Thank you again for your time.
You can learn more about Dwier Brown and purchase his book over at his website. You can also following the actor on Facebook and on Twitter. Brown, some of his “Field of Dreams” castmates and some former Major Leaguers will be heading back to Dyersville, Iowa for the 25th anniversary of the film Father’s Day weekend.
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