Anthony LaPaglia to make Australian stage debut

Adelaide-born star Anthony LaPaglia will tread the boards in Arthur Miller’s American classic, Death of a Salesman.

Anthony LaPaglia as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Picture: James Houston

Adelaide-born star Anthony LaPaglia has won a Tony, an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his acting chops in the US, but has not yet appeared on the stage in Australia.

And he admits he is “appropriately scared to death” as he prepares to tread the boards for the first time in this country as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s American classic, Death of a Salesman.

He won the Tony Award for best actor for his Broadway turn as Eddie Carbone in Miller’s A View from the Bridge in 1998.

“My first seven years in show business were on stage in New York – that’s where I started,” LaPaglia said. “Before I went to do television, I was getting fairly well established on Broadway.

“Once I went to do television, that changed the direction of everything.

“But intermittently, I’ve gone back on stage.”

Acclaimed director Neil Armfield will stage the production of Death of a Salesman, to open at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne in September.

LaPaglia in his award-winning portrayal of Eddie Carbone on Broadway.

LaPaglia, 64, said he was motivated to appear in one of the great works of 20th-century drama and to work again with Armfield. He appeared in the film adaptation of Holding the Man, which Armfield directed.

“This is next level, working with Neil – a very attractive thing to do,” LaPaglia said. “I was scared of it also – it made me want to do it.”

LaPaglia got to know Miller, then in his 80s, during the Broadway season of A View from the Bridge. Death of a Salesman, he said, was about the dream of prosperity, disillusionment, and Willy’s belief that success depended on being “well liked”.

“I think the play works on that level more than ever, because we are living in a society where your job is to be well liked,” he said.

“Social media is all about being well liked. That’s not a criticism – it’s just what it is.”

Armfield said LaPaglia was one of Australia’s finest actors, with the ability to communicate “concentrated pain and stillness”.

With Judy Davis in a scene from the Australian movie Nitram

“In terms of the feeling of a great part suddenly being there for a great actor – it’s the reason that you do a play,” he said.

The cast also includes Alison Whyte, Steve Bastoni, Richard Piper, Josh Helman and Sean Keenan.

LaPaglia has had parts in TV series such as Frasier and Without a Trace, and in award-winning Australian films Lantana, Balibo and Nitram.

He will also appear in the Netflix adaptation of Trent Dalton’s bestseller Boy Swallows Universe, playing the evil drug dealer Tytus Broz.

“I try to portray him as in the book – as a very creepy, albino, quite threatening character,” LaPaglia said.