Tireless Dreyfuss un-retires

RICHARD Dreyfuss has a lot on his mind. And he's more than willing to share.

Among his talking points: the beleaguered state of civics education and filmmaking today - most roles in new films are "stupid," he believes - studying at Oxford and directing John Gielgud.

Many of Dreyfuss' movies are iconic, including "American Graffiti," in 1973; "Jaws," in 1975; "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," in 1977; "The Goodbye Girl," also in 1977 - which won him a lead actor Oscar - and 1995's "Mr. Holland's Opus," which earned him a second Oscar nomination.

He's been busy with his educational civic activities lately, so acting has been on idle for a while. But he's back on-screen with the new techno-thriller, "Paranoia," which opened to poor reviews and even worse box-office returns.

Dreyfuss' role in "Paranoia" is small, but he turns it into something more memorable with his trademark cockiness, humor and warmth - he's flirtatious around his nurse, loves to crack jokes and has a genuine concern for his son.

It was nearly a decade ago that Dreyfuss "retired" from film acting to pursue his first love - theater. "I am a very nice and good and decent and selfish person - I am an actor."

But the theater sort of bit back. Dreyfuss was fired that year from the London production of "The Producers."

"I had a lot of issues," he said. "I said, 'I don't know how to sing or dance,' and they said, 'We don't care.' They cared."

He stayed in London. "I trolled for work. I lectured. I wrote articles in the Sunday Times," said Dreyfuss, who now lives in San Diego with his third wife.

And he became a senior advisory researcher at Oxford for four years. "I attended classes and I started writing speeches."

The speeches are in support of his nonprofit Dreyfuss Initiative, which he founded in 2006 to promote the teaching of civics in American schools.

His interest in civics and American history isn't a recent passion. When he was young, he memorized the speeches of famed attorney Clarence Darrow. And in 1987, he did the ABC special "Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville."

And it was the one and only time he got to work with his idol, Gielgud.

"I picked up the phone, called him and asked if he would play a member of the House of Lords deriding the Constitution. He said, 'Yes, dear boy.' So I wrote it, sent it to him and flew over to London. I got to the studio Monday morning and there is John Gielgud already dressed and lit. I said 'action' and he did it perfectly. I asked him to do it again and he did it perfectly. I changed the camera angle and he did it perfectly. I went up to him and said, 'Could you play it . . . ?' - I don't remember the actual direction I gave him - and he patted my knee and said 'How amusing, dear boy.' Then he did it perfectly. We were done by 11 a.m."

Dreyfuss admitted that he made a mistake using the word "retire" when he stepped away from film and TV work. "Frankly, I don't know how else to make a living," Dreyfuss said. "The only way I could make any money was to come back."

Because he was out of the limelight, when he came back to work the roles weren't as substantial. He's done some movies - playing Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's 2008 "W" - guest shots on "Weeds," "Parenthood" and A&E's 2012 miniseries, "Coma." And he's worked in a few more films since "Paranoia."

"It's been difficult because most of the roles are just so stupid," he said. "I wouldn't recommend to a young actor anymore to become an actor because I think the film industry has changed so terribly. The tools in the director's tool kit used to be story, dialogue, character, and after that came cinematography and editing. Now it's special effects, editing - and we are way down at the bottom part."