Stephen Tobolowsky on Groundhog Day, Harold Ramis, and why you should expect the horrible

Stephen Tobolowsky — Groundhog Day’s Ned Ryerson — on What He Learned From Harold Ramis:

When the scene called for Bill to punch me out on the corner, I went to Harold and asked if there was anything he wanted me to do. He leaned in and whispered with that half-smile, “Do whatever you want. I’m setting the camera up wide. No close-ups. Comedy only happens when there is a relationship. We’ll see both you and Bill at the same time. Comedy lives in the two shot.”

Tobolowsky talks more about Groundhog Day in The Tobolowsky Files podcast episode 29.

And he's got a blog too. The post "Why Acting Is So Horrible" talks about crisis management as a key skill for performers: "You never have the right circumstances to do your job. The horrible isn’t the exception. It is the rule...Don’t look at calamities as a wall between you and your work. Think of them as little surprises life is giving you to keep it fresh."