Interview with Christopher Titus on Dad

Jim - The relationship with- that you had with your father - - does it scare you about being a father? Does that have any - -

Christopher - Actually, you know, it's like this: my dad's been divorced five times and -- well, divorced five times and on his sixth wife - - I've been married nine years to one woman. So, actually, in a way, I've always looked at it as "here's what NOT to do." Some people look at their life as, "yeah, I'm gonna BE this way because my DAD is this way." You know, "I'm just following in his footsteps." Well, I chose to just notice his footsteps and take another path.

Jim - Your dad - your Stacy Keach TV Dad - - -

Christopher - Yes - - - brilliant!

Jim - Brilliant, yes! The Brilliant Stacy Keach - - -

Christopher - There you go!

Jim - Yes - -

Christopher - He's actually legally changed his name to that: The Brilliant Stacy Keach.

Jim - Where you place him in the universe of TV Single Dads - - is he - - is he a worse dad than Jonny Quest's dad? You know, Jonny Quest's dad used to take him out in the swamp and they'd be shot at and stuff like that. I mean, does he put his kid in danger a lot?

Christopher - You know, Stacy - - it's funny, we've tried to really - - - people have asked me, "how do you nail down - - how do you deal with a guy that's so mean to you, if that really happened to you?" Stacy Keach plays - - we designed my father as ACTUALLY my father: a man who will let you put a penny in a light socket. And the reason he gets away with it is because he's trying to teach. Now, his method may be really in question - - -in fact, his message - maybe the way he's teaching may be illegal in 35 states - but he's always trying to teach, and I think that's what pulls it off. If Stacy played Dad just plain mean - it's not funny. And there's been a couple times in rehearsals - - 'cause we have to walk that edge - - and if Stacy goes one step - he's such a brilliant actor - - if he goes one half-a-step the wrong way, it'll kill the funny, because it crosses that line to MEAN. But he never does. There's one or two times in rehearsal we did it, when we all looked at each other, like, "oh, wow - that was too tough." But by the end of the week, Stacy has it nailed, and pulls it off. I can't believe what he gets away with!

Complete Interview at TVDADS Web Site