Matilda Tony Nominee Gabriel Ebert Obsesses Over Bill Cosby, Old Hats, Bertie Carvel & More
Theater stars know what’s hot in entertainment, fashion and pop culture, so Broadway.com decided it was high time to tap in to the after-hours obsessions of our favorite stage actors. Tony nominee Gabriel Ebert currently stars in Matilda as Mr. Wormwood, Matilda's sleazy, slimy and sordid car salesman of a dad who wishes his daughter would watch the "telly" instead of wasting her energy on reading books. When Ebert isn't galivanting with Broadway's favorite revolting children onstage at the Shubert Theater, he's busy playing SportsTap, reading Kurt Vonnegut and watching The Cosby Show. Read below to find out what else Ebert can't get enough of!
TV SHOW: The Cosby Show
"If I ever become a parent, I'll prepare by learning life lessons from Heathcliff Huxtable."
MOVIE: The Princess Bride
"Inconceivable! This is a boy's fantasy world! C'mon, there are sword fights and magic and all these incredible cameos by people, but it's also the greatest love story ever told. When I was a kid, Westley was my hero. I've seen it so many times and it's one of the best all-around films."
SINGER: Noel Coward
"His song 'Time and Again' tells truths all over the place. It's a very obscure song about how he can't contain his lust and he's always getting himself into trouble, but it's written in his signature cheeky style. He was a gay man writing in a time when you couldn't write about that sort of a thing. It just has some of the most incredible lyrics."
BOOK: The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
"I had a hard time choosing between this, Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle. In Sirens, Vonnegut is my boy! He somehow manages to invent his own religion, and I think it's a pretty brilliant idea. He also writes about space, different planets and gravity problems. It's incredible book. It's just so lush, and the writing is so elaborate."
ATHLETE: Andre Agassi
"When my brother and I were kids, we played tennis pretty seriously. He was a Pete Sampras guy, and I was an Agassi guy. It's the equivalent of when you grew up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: My brother was totally a Donatello guy and I was a Michelangelo guy. Sampras won more championships than Agassi, but Agassi was all heart and I love that."
CELEBRITY: Bertie Carvel
"Oh my god! What needs to be said about him!? The guy is amazing. I'm just happy to be invited along to the dance, but no matter what happens, he is an incredible man and his performance [as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda] is pretty otherworldly."
VACATION SPOT: Cornwall, England
"Yes, please. I was there this last summer with Kneehigh Theatre Company, before I started this job, and it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Part of it is a testament to their good vibes, but also that part of the country itself is just beautiful."
STAGE SHOW (OTHER THAN MY OWN): Old Hats
"Masters at work. I love Bill Irwin, I got to work with him at school, and he's one of the coolest dudes I've ever met. What he is capable of doing with his body is astonishing to me, and his ability to work with an audience and get a laugh. I'd never seen David Shiner before, but he has a completely different style of being a clown. The two of them together are so incredible. I haven't laughed that hard in ages. As soon as I saw the show, I went back to studio and starting working on the character I'm playing now because I thought, 'I have to up my game.' Nellie McKay's music is stunning in that show! I'm in awe."
FASHION DESIGNER
"Paul Bunyan (Bunyan by Paul). I have an affinity for plaid and jeans and just boots. I grew up in a mountain town in Colorado, and we had a wood stove and a dirt road, so we grew up chopping a lot of wood. I love a plaid, what can I say? I'm a tall dude, so when winter comes, I put on one of those little hats that keeps my ears warm."
