Murderous smile
By Lori Sloane, Beautiful, 1992	Home   Cette page en Français

He was only nine years old but he already knew what he wanted to do with his future life : become an actor. He is a determined guy since he wears short pants, Michael Durrell, the interpreter of the character of Doctor Nikolas in Santa Barbara, C.C. Capwell's number 1 enemy. A nine-year-old "tough guy" who grew up in a school in a working-class neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, capable of tackling the older ones with closed fists but also of going to see his father to tell him that he did not want to end up in one of the family-owned shoemaker shops. His dream was quite different, more ambitious.

But if the son was determined, the father was even more : he had to forget this weird idea of going to theater and had to think about studying. Then, as he grows up, he finds a solid job and a guaranteed income. The little boy from Brooklyn therefore had to comply with his father's will and when he was finally able to leave school, he found a job as a sales agent for a goldsmith craftsman.

However, the idea of going on stage had never left him. In his free time or on the train, traveling from one city to another, with the case containing precious samples attached to one wrist, he studied the scripts of theatrical works. When he finally joins a company of young people, it seems to him that his life is about to take a decisive turn.

"It was of course the first step," he recalls today, "but I was sure that it would be the starting point towards my new career. The income did not allow me yet to give up my job as a jewelry salesman, but I had "extreme self-confidence"." Several years had to pass before Michael could consider himself a professional actor, that is, capable of supporting himself with his work and starting a family.

"I met a girl I really loved," Michael confesses. "Her name was Charlotte Savitz and she wanted to become a director. She loved me too, but two years passed before I could lead her to the altar. I would never have had the courage to go live with someone without having the financial means to support myself. But above all, to offer my partner a decent life. So I worked hard, saved a few hundred dollars and only then asked for this girl's hand." Today, Michael and Charlotte have been one of the most united and envied couples in the world of American entertainment for 18 years. They have a 15-year-old daughter who wants to become an actress.

Only once did Michael work with his wife. This happened in the TV miniseries Secrets which we will see on Rai in the fall. "Working with Charlotte was fun. She encouraged me to stay in a good mood and together we built my character day by day until it became more and more interesting to the audience. The filming took place in Europe, in France and Italy, so during the filming breaks we were a bit alone. In Italy I had bought tomato seeds which later, when I returned to Los Angeles where we currently live, were sown but I found them to be of poor quality. A disappointment in short, like the one that happened to me in Monte Carlo. Charlotte and I had the idea of visiting the most famous casino in Europe. We came out with empty pockets. It was better in Reno, where I was filming the movie Sister Act with Whoopy Goldberg. But it doesn't matter : in life I'm lucky in love", he concludes with a smile.

Michael also smiles when he talks about his characters, more evil than the last. "Yes, I have a mask very suited to these roles", he observes amusedly. "If Doctor Nikolas is a man who hates the Capwells, he becomes his daughter's lover and endangers the safety of C.C. and his company. Victor Sabachelli, protagonist of Secrets, is an infernal being, a murderer who loves to eliminate children."

In reality, Michael is an absolutely different man : gentle and sensitive, who in his free time devotes himself to his family and gardening. And when he has a whole week, he goes on a short vacation with his wife and daughter. "Sometimes," he concludes, "we also take the cat and the dog with us : they are two wonderful traveling companions."

His hair is graying and not from now on, but Michael Durrell insists on not revealing his year of birth. It is a bit of coquetry that he himself makes fun of, but there is no way to get him to admit the day of his birth. He was born in Brooklyn, the working-class neighborhood of New York. Michael is the son of a shoemaker, which kept him from pursuing art for as long as he could. For this reason, from a young age, Durrell began working as a jewelry representative. But he studied theater carefully. "The day I finally got an important role," he admits, "was the happiest day of my life. I gave up my job and since then, I have never stopped acting, in cinema and in theater."