“Michael Boatman,” horror author Joe R. Lansdale is quoted as saying, “writes like a visitor from Hell!”

Mike is an Image Award-nominated American actor and writer, best known for his roles as U.S. Army Specialist Samuel Beckett in the ABC drama series China Beach, as New York City mayoral aide Carter Heywood in the ABC sitcom Spin City, and as sports agent Stanley Babson in the HBO comedy series Arli$$. Most recently he has appeared as attorney Julius Cain in the CBS drama, The Good Wife.

Boatman has also written the short story collection, GOD LAUGHS WHEN YOU DIE, as well as the darkly funny horror novel THE REVENANT ROAD, and recently his short story, A Father’s Work, appeared in Weird Tales, issue number 347.

CaFE: You played “The Jester” in ONCE UPON A MATTRESS with Tracey Ullman, Carol Burnett, Zooey Deschanel, and Glee’s Matthew Morrison! So how’s your old soft shoe? What was that like?

MB: I enjoyed playing the Jester, although it was a somewhat curbed production in that the Jester’s Old Softshoe number was CUT. I was disappointed. Even though I’m not a song and dance man I was happy to take on the challenge. Oh well, their loss. I had fun.

CaFE: Spin City was one of my favorite comedies ever. There was a lot of intelligence to the writing, and it seemed like you all were friends on screen and off. Do you still keep up with the cast and crew?

MB: Spin City was one of the greatest point in my career so far. I loved nearly every moment of my time on that show. I felt like I was doing something fun and thought-provoking at the same time. That’s saying something for a network sitcom from the nineties. I’m still friends with several cast members. I see Richard Kind frequently. Still friends with Alan Ruck and have become very close to Charlie Sheen.

CaFE: You’re gaining quite an impressive CV as a fiction writer! Have you been interested in writing long, or is a recent pastime? Do you consider yourself a performer who writes? A writer who performs?

MB: I’ve been writing for about sixteen years. I started writing when I ruptured my Achilles tendon back in the early nineties. I couldn’t take any acting work as I had twelve weeks of downtime. My friend Don Cheadle stopped by for a visit and advised me to do something creative to take my mind off my pain and suffering. I’d always wanted to write a screenplay, so I did. It sucked. And I loved every minute of it. I write every day now. I consider myself a storyteller; an actor/writer/master duck impersonator.

CaFE: Do you have a favorite genre?

MB: I love horror. I also love fantasy and science-fiction. But I love biographies and comedy as well.

CaFE: What is this about a movie based on one of your stories?

MB: I had a movie optioned based on a screenlplay of mine about a modern day voodoo priestess living in New York. But it went nowhere.

CaFE: What’s your favorite movie, (and why?)

MB: My favorite movie is Night of the Living Dead. I love the stark, grainy footage and the creeping claustrophobia of that story.

CaFE: What has been your most cherished moment in your professional career?

MB: My favorite moment was probably the day I got my first big movie job Hamburger Hill. I had auditioned right after I got out of college, and getting the job came as a complete surprise. I still cherish that memory. We shot for four months in the Philipines. The first time I ever left the country and met some of my best friends. (Cheadle, Steven Weber, Dylan McDermott and a lot of great actors.)

CaFE: It’s a couple of years from now, and you’re “Thanking the Academy.” Who gets a shout out?

MB: Apart from my wife, kids, agents and managers, I’d have to thank my college theater professor, Gene Kozlowski. He opened up the world for me, simply by believing I could do it.

CaFE: Who do you count among your influences and why?

MB: David J. Schow, Joe R. Lansdale and Stephen King. Stephen R. Donaldson and J.R.R. Tolkien.

And now, the Lipton 10! These questions were formulated by James Lipton for his television show Inside the Actor’s Studio.

1. What is your favorite word?

MB: Shitbox.

2. What is your least favorite word?

MB: Conservative.

3. What turns you on?

MB: Creativity. Great dancers. Funny women.

4. What turns you off?

MB: Conservative politics.

5. What sound do you love?

MB: My kids laughing.

6. What sound do you hate?

MB: Rush Limbaugh talking about anything.

7. What is your favorite curse word?

MB: Ass-clencher.

8. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

MB: Astronomer.

9. What profession would you not like to do?

MB: Defense Attorney.

10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

MB: “Wait wait…let me explain.”


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