{"id":52009,"date":"2019-12-05T08:27:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T14:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=52009"},"modified":"2019-12-05T08:27:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T14:27:18","slug":"tony-shalhoub-grew-up-in-a-lebanese-family-in-wisconsin-he-draws-on-that-to-play-his-jewish-marvelous-mrs-maisel-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/tony-shalhoub-grew-up-in-a-lebanese-family-in-wisconsin-he-draws-on-that-to-play-his-jewish-marvelous-mrs-maisel-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Shalhoub grew up in a Lebanese family in Wisconsin. He draws on that to play his Jewish \u2018Marvelous Mrs. Maisel\u2019 character."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By EMILY BURACK<\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK (JTA) \u2014 On a recent snowy afternoon, Tony Shalhoub is drinking tea in a room at the Whitby Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. He\u2019s in the midst of a long press day promoting season 3 of \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,\u201d and he just wants to get comfortable. So he gets up before the interview begins to turn up the room\u2019s thermostat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow it\u2019s good,\u201d he says in his smooth, deep voice.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52010\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52010\" class=\"wp-image-52010 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52010\" class=\"wp-image-52010 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52010\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tony Shalhoub with Rachel Brosnahan in season 3 of &#8220;The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.&#8221; (Amazon Studios)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The move fits Shalhoub\u2019s thoughtful personality \u2014 he speaks in careful, measured sentences \u2014 and it\u2019s also something his exacting, intellectual character on the show might do.<\/p>\n<p>As Abe Weissman, a neurotic but lovable Columbia math professor, and the titular Mrs. Maisel\u2019s father, Shalhoub steals most of the scenes he\u2019s in. His character\u2019s tone ranges from comically flustered to darkly serious, and it\u2019s capable of eliciting laughter, anger or sadness in quick succession.<\/p>\n<p>Last season, his portrayal won Shalhoub an Emmy and a SAG Award. The 66-year-old actor attributes the success to a certain humorous article of clothing (more on that later).<\/p>\n<p>Despite growing up the son of Christian Lebanese immigrants in Green Bay, Wisconsin \u2014 about as far culturally as one can get from the Upper West Side of \u201cMarvelous Mrs. Maisel\u201d \u2014 Shalhoub says the story of the upper-middle-class Jewish family at the heart of the show does not feel so different from his own upbringing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a young kid during this period. I have very vivid memories of my father and his friends and my friends\u2019 parents, and it just feels kind of strangely familiar to me,\u201d Shalhoub told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.<\/p>\n<p>His dad, Joe, immigrated from Lebanon at 8 years old, and his mom, Helen, was a second-generation Lebanese-American. Shalhoub was the ninth of 10 kids, and his father drove a refrigerated truck to sell meat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of my dad in this portrayal,\u201d Shalhoub said, despite the differences on paper between Abe and Joe. \u201cLike Abe, my father wasn\u2019t interested [in], or impressed with, show business. My mother was the opposite \u2014 she loves movies and theater and music. But he was a little bit more pragmatic. That side of him is reflected in this character.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52011\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52011\" class=\"wp-image-52011 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/169;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52011\" class=\"wp-image-52011 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52011\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tony Shalhoub&#8217;s one-piece romper in season 2 was a comedic sensation. (Amazon Prime)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a time of tricky debates about representation \u2014 for example, should only Jewish actors play Jewish characters? Does it matter? \u2014 Shalhoub says he isn\u2019t worried about the role and has not received any pushback. He is immediately believable as a late 1950s New York Jewish dad \u2014 see his enthusiasm at a Yom Kippur service in season 2&nbsp;for some evidence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople who I meet on the street, or who are fans of the show, [tell me] \u2018Oh, you remind me of my father\u2019 or \u2018you\u2019re my uncle so-and-so,\u2019\u201d Shalhoub said. \u201cIt\u2019s the way these writers have made these characters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s not surprised by the continued success of \u201cMrs. Maisel,\u201d which has earned numerous Golden Globes and Emmys.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can only assume that people want to revisit this time period and get out of the present. I mean, they need a little respite,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Shalhoub is hitting on something that likely contributes to the popularity of \u201cMrs. Maisel\u201d: the beautiful, colorful costumes, the lush old-time sets and the retro lingo creates an escapist product in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>In season 3, the protagonist Midge, a stand-up comedian learning on the job, goes on tour, and the show travels to Las Vegas and Miami. Much of Abe\u2019s storyline in the first half of the new season focuses on leaving his comfort zone as he tries to figure out the world of entertainment that his daughter now finds herself in.<\/p>\n<p>Still, growing up a Lebanese kid from Green Bay, did he ever think he would play a role like this?<br \/>\nShalhoub laughs before responding.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52012\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52012\" class=\"wp-image-52012 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-300x202.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-768x517.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-1024x690.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/202;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52012\" class=\"wp-image-52012 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-300x202.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-768x517.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-3-1024x690.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tony Shalhoub filming &#8220;Monk&#8221; in New York City. (James Devaney\/WireImage\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t really think about it. I mean, I didn\u2019t really think that I would be an actor,\u2019 he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really imagine that was such a viable avenue to pursue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pursuing acting has turned out to be more than viable. After his breakout role as an Italian cab driver, Antonio Scarpacci, in the NBC sitcom \u201cWings,\u201d he went on to win three Emmys for his portrayal of detective Adrian Monk in the comedic procedural \u201cMonk\u201d (he was nominated&nbsp; eight consecutive years).<\/p>\n<p>Shalhoub has also had some notable roles in film: He was a chef in the Stanley Tucci-directed \u201cBig Night\u201d (1996); an FBI agent in a Denzel Washington thriller \u201cThe Siege\u201d (1998); and a reformed villain in the \u201cSpy Kids\u201d series (2001, \u201902 and \u201903).<\/p>\n<p>On top of it all, he\u2019s also had a critically acclaimed career on Broadway. In 1989, he met his now wife, the actress Brooke Adams, when he starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play \u201cThe Heidi Chronicles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps his best-known Broadway role is as Tewfiq Zakaria in \u201cThe Band\u2019s Visit,\u201d which swept the Tony Awards in 2018. In the musical, which is based on an Israeli film about an Egyptian police band that gets lost and ends up in a small Israeli desert town, Shalhoub plays the bandleader.<br \/>\nDuring his Tony acceptance speech for best lead actor in a musical, he talked about his father coming as a child from Lebanon to Ellis Island in 1920, and ended with a message to the children of immigrants: \u201cMay we, their descendants, never lose sight of what they taught us.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_52013\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52013\" class=\"wp-image-52013 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/169;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52013\" class=\"wp-image-52013 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/12-4-19-shalhoub-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-52013\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tony Shalhoub plays Abe Weissman and Marin Hinkle portrays his wife, Rose. (Amazon Studios)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For nearly two years, Shalhoub went back and forth between working on the Broadway show and \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.\u201d The musical premiered Off-Broadway in November 2016; the pilot for \u201cMaisel\u201d aired the following spring, in March 2017, with season 1 debuting on Amazon Prime in December of that year. The Broadway version of \u201cThe Band\u2019s Visit\u201d began previews in October 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Shalhoub recalls how much fun he had alternating between the two roles: the Egyptian general Tewfiq and the Jewish mathematician Abe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI loved being that busy,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was even a month leading up to the Tonys, when the Tony voters were coming, where I was doing both at the same time. I was shooting [Maisel] in the day and going in and doing the show at night. It was amazing. It was like splitting your brain in two.\u201d<br \/>\nThe different wardrobes helped him switch from one character to the other. When he donned Abe\u2019s sweaters, Abe emerged. At the theater, putting on the Egyptian band\u2019s powder blue uniform, he got into the headspace of Tewfiq.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just you sort of step out of one world into another. That\u2019s what makes the work endlessly fascinating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about his most iconic \u201cMaisel\u201d costume \u2014 the workout romper that Abe wears on summer vacation in the Catskills in season 2 \u2014 Shalhoub interrupts before the question is finished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople seem to love the romper!\u201d he exclaims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI loved it,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole other part of Abe, outside of his normal routine in New York. He\u2019s up in the country, he\u2019s by the lake. He\u2019s drinking more \u2014 he\u2019s having tomato juice every day. He\u2019s in the fresh air. You see this whole other side of him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I have to say, people asked me about the Emmy Award and the SAG award, I attribute that to the romper. I owe that to Donna [Zakowska], our costumer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Really?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do, because really I don\u2019t think anyone else in my categories had the chance to wear a romper,\u201d he said. \u201cThat set me apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Shalhoub, the Abe role isn\u2019t only about humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s what\u2019s so incredible about our country and our industry that I \u2014 being a Lebanese kid from Green Bay \u2014 could end up portraying this kind of character,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s just \u2026 something sort of magical about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Season 3 of \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel\u201d debuts Friday on Amazon Prime.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Tony%20Shalhoub%20grew%20up%20in%20a%20Lebanese%20family%20in%20Wisconsin.%20He%20draws%20on%20that%20to%20play%20his%20Jewish%20%E2%80%98Marvelous%20Mrs.%20Maisel%E2%80%99%20character.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7139],"tags":[9422,9133,9922,8790,8795,8788,6175,10347],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52014,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52009\/revisions\/52014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}