Veteran actor James Caan has no qualms about starring in the Hallmark movie “JL Family Ranch.”
Just don’t expect him to ever do another TV series.
“Never. Under no conditions,” says Caan, 76, who starred in NBC’s “Las Vegas” (2003-08) and ABC’s “Back in the Game” (2013). “It’s not fun. Fun is being something different [as an actor] for three months. After a while, I don’t care how dedicated you are, you get kind of f–king sick of [a series].”
And don’t expect Caan to take on a role just to pay the bills. Earlier this year, he claimed in court papers that he was being forced to do just that, due in part to the excessive spending of his estranged wife.
But he now says he’s tackling projects, including “JL Family Ranch,” because he believes in their artistic merit.
“Right now I’m only working when there’s something that comes along where I feel I can take a sense of pride,” he says. “A lot of young actors look up to me and I wouldn’t trade that for any money in the world. I don’t want to lose their respect and be a hypocrite.”
The candid Caan, who’s fond of dropping f-bombs, says that “JL Family Ranch,” premiering Sunday night on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, was originally pitched to him as a big-screen feature. “And then I found out Hallmark was doing it,” he says. “I think they’re going to air it there and then in theaters. That’s what they’re supposed to do.”
In the movie (shot in Kentucky), villainous millionaire developer Tap Peterson (Caan) squares off against good-guy rancher John Landsburg (Jon Voight) in a land dispute that started with their grandfathers. It also involves fraud, a shady operator (Melanie Griffith), John’s daughters (Teri Polo, Abby Brammell) and his 20-ish granddaughter (Skyler Shaye), a city gal who’s returned home in search of her father.
‘Right now I’m only working when there’s something that comes along where I feel I can take a sense of pride.’
- James Caan
The Bronx-born Caan, who grew up in Queens — and recently underwent a serious back operation (he has five missing discs) — gets a little exercise in the movie, sitting atop a horse (it’s Western-themed, after all). The horse doesn’t move all that much, but Caan says that didn’t bother him.
“I rodeo-ed for nine years. That’s my other life,” says Caan, who was nicknamed “The Jewish Cowboy” during his roping days. “Not bad for a guy from Sunnyside. Some f–king people don’t know their way around horses … but I’ll take credit for that horse [in the movie] not moving. I still rope and I have a colt I’m raising who’ll now break my a–. Like I said, I had that back operation …”
Although Caan and Voight are contemporaries (Voight is 77), this is the first time they’ve worked together. “Jon’s a friend of mine and he came to my house and cried profusely asking me to do this. It’s an old Indian trick,” Caan says jokingly. “Jon was so funny. He’d say to me [during shooting], ‘You’re so good and I stink’ and I go, ‘Jon, don’t shoot for the moon, OK? Just go as far as you can.’
“It’s always more interesting to play the villain,” he says of Tap. “I always make the point of saying, ‘You can’t say “F–k you” nicely,’ so the actions speak louder than the words. It’s hard to tell writers, especially in movies, that words are secondary. Behavior is important. No matter how [Tap] says it he’s still going to take the ranch. Actors talking about acting is f–king boring … but I chose to be more of a lion in this role. A lion kills because he knows that he can, and I think I talk very quietly — but deadly — as Tap.”
“JL Family Ranch” air 9 p.m. Sunday on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.