Last night (June 25), the Praxis Centre for Screenwriters presented A Tribute to Graham Greene.

Fellow Native Canadian actor Tantoo Cardinal (who mentioned she has played his wife several times) interviewed Greene before an attentive crowd.

Greene—who has appeared in films as diverse as Breakfast With Scot, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, The Green Mile, Luna: Spirit of the Whale, Maverick, and TransAmerica—was casual, self-effacing, and constantly cracking jokes throughout the hour and a half session.

He said he got his first role by losing a card game to a friend who had a script.

Although he had initially not wanted to perform in the play (he described it as a melodrama that was “just awful”), he found that he liked acting.

Theatre, he said, taught him discipline. Previously, he had worked in the music business, which was “kinda loose.”

With no formal training of any kind, he said he learnt from working with other actors, but also picked up a lot by simply being observant while sitting on park benches and watching people. When asked if he has a technique, he says he doesn’t have one.

He was very straightforward and no-nonsense about the process: he says he just learns his lines, keep working on things, and makes sure he shows up on time.

In fact, he seemed like he can’t stand any artsy-fartsy approaches to acting.

He said he doesn’t understand actors who do strange things to prepare for a role, like Val Kilmer, who he says goes into a room or tent and blocks out all light. He also dislikes any excessively deep, cerebral discussions about the material with directors.

Although he has had quite a career on stage, he actually stopped doing theatre for about 16 years as he became bored of performing in the same show over and over again.

He finds that film is more about spontaneity, in the chemistry that happens between two people that can be magical. On the other hand, he does like performing comedy on stage for the immediate response of laughter that he finds gratifying. He says with comedy on film, he finds it harder to know if he has the right timing or not.

After his Academy Award nomination for Dances With Wolves, he said his life changed. He said he couldn’t go anywhere without someone saying something to him.

Although he learnt his Native language lines for Dances With Wolves phonetically, he said it was a real challenge.

However, he also feels that he hasn’t been stuck in any Native typecasting as he has played a variety of different roles, both on stage and off. He even once had to play the ghost of a black transvestite.

The most challenging time for him, he said, were his early years in the business when he had no money and had to struggle.

But later, he also mentioned that at one point a few years ago, he was riding around in a limo after a horrible film shoot that he called a “nightmare” and he looked over to see a bunch of kids in a beat-up car that seemed to be having the time of their lives. 

He realized that he wasn’t having any fun—even though there he was sitting in a luxurious limo and yet the guys outside who seemed to have nothing were enjoying themselve far more—and that made him reassess what he was doing.

In spite of acting in scenes with the likes of Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, and Tom Hanks, it’s clear that stardom and Hollywood success hasn’t gone to his head.