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The Minister of Defense
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Bicoastal living suits ET actor to a Big Orange T
By TERRY MORROW, morrow2@knews.com
October 8, 2006
When David Keith looks at the character he plays on CBSs "The Class," he doesnt see the jerk everybody else does.
"Hes not a jerk because he is a bad guy. He is a jerk because he is just so happy," Keith says with a laugh. "Friends might say thats closer to home for me than I might tell you."
on error resume next plugin = ( IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.6")))if ( plugin "The Class," which premiered two weeks ago, is a 20-something, "Friends"-like ensemble that follows eight former grade-school classmates who are reunited 20 years later.
As self-absorbed former pro football quarterback Yonk Allen, the 52-year-old Keith isnt one of the kids. He has a secondary role, but is in a major storyline that is driving the shows drama.
Yonk is married to one of the eight former classmates, a lonely woman (Andrea Anders) many years his junior whos having an affair behind his back.
"The Class" stars Jason Ritter (son of the late John Ritter), Andrea Anders ("Joey"), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (from Broadways "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"), Lizzy Caplan ("Related"), Heather Goldenhersh (Broadways "Doubt"), Jon Bernthal ("World Trade Center"), Sean Maguire ("Off Centre") and Lucy Punch ("The Life and Death of Peter Sellers").
Yonk is not too bright and fairly insensitive (ranking his Super Bowl moment as the best time of his life, even above his wedding). He is the kind of ex-pro who expects you to kiss his Super Bowl ring and like it.
Despite that flaw, Keith recognizes a bit of himself in the character.
"Hes very much like me in my life in that I am almost never in a bad mood," he says during a phone interview. "Almost nothing gets me down. Im just basically happy all the time, and thats the way Yonk is."
The scheduling
"The Class" is making Keith a very content man these days. "Im just in heaven," he says of working on the sitcom.
And who wouldnt be?
The work schedule for a sitcom isnt bad. Mondays usually consist of a table reading of the script, and that lasts 30 minutes. Tuesdays through Thursdays are usually three-hour days of rehearsing. Fridays are when they shoot it.
It gets even better for the bicoastal Keith. "Im not in every episode," he says, "so I can still live in Knoxville."
Keith is doing double duty now. He flies to Los Angeles to shoot his episodes during weekdays and hops on a red-eye flight back here so he can catch the Vols on Saturdays.
Its the best of both worlds for him.
This is hardly a new situation for Keith. He has tried to maintain this kind schedule throughout his career.
He was born and raised in Knoxville and wants to remain here. So far, hes been able to do it.
Landing a network TV acting gig certainly isnt cramping Keiths Knoxville-bred style.
He went to the Tennessee Valley Fair recently, caught a movie matinee a few days ago with his daughter, and has been mingling with Knoxville elites at the grand opening for Moll Anderson Homes.
In the thick of all this scheduling, Keith tries to make sure hes home on Sundays so he and his family can attend church and have "family time." Keith says its more important to him than any role.
"God just smiled on us," Keith says of his new role, "and believe you me, we thank Him every day for it."
Landing 'The Class'
Keith got into "The Class" fairly quickly.
"My agent called me one Friday, and said, I think you may be getting an offer to be in a pilot from your buddy (veteran TV comedy director) Jimmy Burrows," Keith recalls.
Burrows, whose extensive and Emmy-lauded credits include "Will & Grace," "Two and a Half Men" and "Friends," had worked with Keith on other projects, including ill-fated TV pilots. Undoubtedly, Burrows knew of Keiths availability, his acting chops, his passion for football, and that he was the right age.
Playing Yonk was serendipitous.
"The Class" had already cast the role of Yonk once. The producers decided to recast it, and they needed to do it fairly quickly.
By Saturday, producers were negotiating with Keiths representation.
On Monday, Keith was on a plane out to Los Angeles to begin work.
At weeks end, Keith had already reshot the scenes of the first episode his predecessor had done, and he was at work on another episode.
In recent years, Keith has been keeping an active career by balancing independent films (such as "Locust: The 8th Plague" for the Sci Fi Channel) with mainstream pictures (2004s "Raise Your Voice").
His career, which has its foundation in the late 1970s, has remained vital throughout the decades. Keith has a knack for landing an impressive range of movie projects: "An Officer and a Gentleman," "The Great Santini," "The Rose," "The Two Jakes" and "Daredevil," among dozens of others.
Doing a successful weekly television series has been a slightly harder nut to crack. Keith has made several attempts, but his fortune has always been found in movies.
"The Class," which so far has been a modest success for CBS, may be his lucky break on the small screen.
Shaping the role
From the beginning, Keith asked for certain aspects in the role.
He wanted Yonk to retain Keiths natural Southern accent. Also, he was hoping Yonks back story would include him playing for the University of Tennessee Vols.
"Thats the way I always do it," he says. "I always see if (producers) will let me keep the accent, then I see if they will let me use something of the Vols, then I try to get in a (football) helmet (as a prop)."
Working such details into his role is not unusual for Keith, says Maryville native Steve Davis, a longtime friend who now works in television production in New York.
"David immerses himself in his characters," Davis says. "He has always been that way. Hes loyal to his family and to Tennessee. He is committed to both."
Try to get Keith to compare Yonks style to a real-life Vol, and Keith is hard-pressed for an answer.
"Theres no real player I could compare him to," he says. "Most of the athletes I know are great guys. They arent quite the level of egomaniac that Yonk is."
By TERRY MORROW, morrow2@knews.com
October 8, 2006
When David Keith looks at the character he plays on CBSs "The Class," he doesnt see the jerk everybody else does.
"Hes not a jerk because he is a bad guy. He is a jerk because he is just so happy," Keith says with a laugh. "Friends might say thats closer to home for me than I might tell you."
on error resume next plugin = ( IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.6")))if ( plugin "The Class," which premiered two weeks ago, is a 20-something, "Friends"-like ensemble that follows eight former grade-school classmates who are reunited 20 years later.
As self-absorbed former pro football quarterback Yonk Allen, the 52-year-old Keith isnt one of the kids. He has a secondary role, but is in a major storyline that is driving the shows drama.
Yonk is married to one of the eight former classmates, a lonely woman (Andrea Anders) many years his junior whos having an affair behind his back.
"The Class" stars Jason Ritter (son of the late John Ritter), Andrea Anders ("Joey"), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (from Broadways "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"), Lizzy Caplan ("Related"), Heather Goldenhersh (Broadways "Doubt"), Jon Bernthal ("World Trade Center"), Sean Maguire ("Off Centre") and Lucy Punch ("The Life and Death of Peter Sellers").
Yonk is not too bright and fairly insensitive (ranking his Super Bowl moment as the best time of his life, even above his wedding). He is the kind of ex-pro who expects you to kiss his Super Bowl ring and like it.
Despite that flaw, Keith recognizes a bit of himself in the character.
"Hes very much like me in my life in that I am almost never in a bad mood," he says during a phone interview. "Almost nothing gets me down. Im just basically happy all the time, and thats the way Yonk is."
The scheduling
"The Class" is making Keith a very content man these days. "Im just in heaven," he says of working on the sitcom.
And who wouldnt be?
The work schedule for a sitcom isnt bad. Mondays usually consist of a table reading of the script, and that lasts 30 minutes. Tuesdays through Thursdays are usually three-hour days of rehearsing. Fridays are when they shoot it.
It gets even better for the bicoastal Keith. "Im not in every episode," he says, "so I can still live in Knoxville."
Keith is doing double duty now. He flies to Los Angeles to shoot his episodes during weekdays and hops on a red-eye flight back here so he can catch the Vols on Saturdays.
Its the best of both worlds for him.
This is hardly a new situation for Keith. He has tried to maintain this kind schedule throughout his career.
He was born and raised in Knoxville and wants to remain here. So far, hes been able to do it.
Landing a network TV acting gig certainly isnt cramping Keiths Knoxville-bred style.
He went to the Tennessee Valley Fair recently, caught a movie matinee a few days ago with his daughter, and has been mingling with Knoxville elites at the grand opening for Moll Anderson Homes.
In the thick of all this scheduling, Keith tries to make sure hes home on Sundays so he and his family can attend church and have "family time." Keith says its more important to him than any role.
"God just smiled on us," Keith says of his new role, "and believe you me, we thank Him every day for it."
Landing 'The Class'
Keith got into "The Class" fairly quickly.
"My agent called me one Friday, and said, I think you may be getting an offer to be in a pilot from your buddy (veteran TV comedy director) Jimmy Burrows," Keith recalls.
Burrows, whose extensive and Emmy-lauded credits include "Will & Grace," "Two and a Half Men" and "Friends," had worked with Keith on other projects, including ill-fated TV pilots. Undoubtedly, Burrows knew of Keiths availability, his acting chops, his passion for football, and that he was the right age.
Playing Yonk was serendipitous.
"The Class" had already cast the role of Yonk once. The producers decided to recast it, and they needed to do it fairly quickly.
By Saturday, producers were negotiating with Keiths representation.
On Monday, Keith was on a plane out to Los Angeles to begin work.
At weeks end, Keith had already reshot the scenes of the first episode his predecessor had done, and he was at work on another episode.
In recent years, Keith has been keeping an active career by balancing independent films (such as "Locust: The 8th Plague" for the Sci Fi Channel) with mainstream pictures (2004s "Raise Your Voice").
His career, which has its foundation in the late 1970s, has remained vital throughout the decades. Keith has a knack for landing an impressive range of movie projects: "An Officer and a Gentleman," "The Great Santini," "The Rose," "The Two Jakes" and "Daredevil," among dozens of others.
Doing a successful weekly television series has been a slightly harder nut to crack. Keith has made several attempts, but his fortune has always been found in movies.
"The Class," which so far has been a modest success for CBS, may be his lucky break on the small screen.
Shaping the role
From the beginning, Keith asked for certain aspects in the role.
He wanted Yonk to retain Keiths natural Southern accent. Also, he was hoping Yonks back story would include him playing for the University of Tennessee Vols.
"Thats the way I always do it," he says. "I always see if (producers) will let me keep the accent, then I see if they will let me use something of the Vols, then I try to get in a (football) helmet (as a prop)."
Working such details into his role is not unusual for Keith, says Maryville native Steve Davis, a longtime friend who now works in television production in New York.
"David immerses himself in his characters," Davis says. "He has always been that way. Hes loyal to his family and to Tennessee. He is committed to both."
Try to get Keith to compare Yonks style to a real-life Vol, and Keith is hard-pressed for an answer.
"Theres no real player I could compare him to," he says. "Most of the athletes I know are great guys. They arent quite the level of egomaniac that Yonk is."
