Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 17, 1993 TAG: 9301150342
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JERRY BUCK ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ROLE GOT ACTOR'S TOTAL ATTENTION
Gary Cole said his role in the CBS movie "The Switch" - that of a man paralyzed from the neck down - was a lesson in concentration."Obviously, it wasn't something I was used to," said Cole. "I'm used to using my body and body language. This took another focus. But on the other hand it strips away some excess business you might have been into otherwise. It makes you focus totally on the role."
"The Switch," which also stars Craig T. Nelson and Beverly D'Angelo, will be broadcast tonight (9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7).
Cole stars as Larry McAfee, who led an active life until a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed and dependent on a ventilator to breathe. In this true story he feels he has lost all reason to live and sues the state of Georgia to install a switch to cut off his life-support system.
"He was at the mercy of other people 24 hours a day," Cole said. "He can't just get up and leave. McAfee was initially, as are most people with such a severe injury, very angry. He had to depend completely on other people. He didn't feel the care was sufficient. He didn't feel the quality of his life was worth pursuing. He was bitter and angry. Then, he had more of an acceptance of what had happened."
McAfee's case later led the Georgia Legislature to enact a program that emables paralyzed persons to lead a more active and independent life.
Nelson plays Russ Fine, a radio talk show personality, and D'Angelo is his wife, Dee, who helped McAfee in his fight for self-determination.
"I spoke on the phone to McAfee at his home in Augusta," Cole said. "But most of the contact I had with people similar to him, with the same injury, was at the Veterans Hospital. I trained with Dr. Bob Felton. He put together the wheel chair like McAfee's, that is operated by `sip and puff.' It responds to commands when you blow or suck on a tube.
"I spent about six weeks working with the doctor. I had to simulate McAfee's speech patterns of talking while using the ventilator to breathe. I had a video tape of him talking. I wanted it to look the way it should before we started."
Cole, who starred as the late-night talk show host in the NBC series "Midnight Caller," has just completed a co-starring role with Clint Eastwood in the movie "In the Line of Fire."
Cole plays the head of the White House Secret Service detail in the thriller about a would-be assassin who stalks the President. It is due to be released this summer.
"John Malkovich stalks the president during his re-election campaign," Cole said. "Clint Eastwood is the veteran agent, and I'm the authority figure he has no time for. He was with President Kennedy when he was assassinated, and this is his first assignment at the White House since then.
"Eastwood develops a kind of relationship over the phone with the stalker. He keeps dropping hints to Eastwood where he will be."
Cole studied acting at the Illinois State University, then moved to Chicago where he helped organize the Remains Theatre and became a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre. He said he tries to return at least once a year to do a play.
He played Gen. George Custer in the miniseries "Son of the Morning Star." "That was my introduction to Westerns. I have a whole new admiration for the Western and those who do them. It's not as easy as it looks when you have large animals involved."
He also played Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald in the miniseries "Fatal Vision" and homicide investigator Jack Holtz in the miniseries "Echoes in the Darkness." His TV movies include "Those She Left Behind," "Vital Signs" and "The Old Man and the Sea."
His next project is a miniseries for CBS called "Love Kills," which is based on a book by Ben Greene called "The Soldier of Fortune Murders."
Cole said he is not anxious to get back to the rigorous schedule of a series. "It's too soon after `Midnight Caller,' " he said. "But it's the only opportunity you have in this business to work with the same people over a period of time. That's a nice situation."