Front & Center: Michael T. Weiss in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Theater Mania, January 02, 2006)

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Front & Center

Michael T. Weiss in Les Liaisons Dangereuses {Excerpt}

Michael T. Weiss and Louisa Krauss in Les Liaisons Dangereuses
(Photo © Derek Kouyoumjian)

Only a few days into rehearsing the Huntington Theatre Company's upcoming production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Michael T. Weiss, who plays the evil Vicomte de Valmont, was already drawing parallels between France on the eve of the Revolution and the Bush administration. "There is absolutely a political message in this play," says Weiss, best known for his work in the TV series The Pretender and in the film version of Jeffrey. "We in America are the global aristocracy. We're such a consumptive culture. If we each took small steps to lessen that, the impact would be enormous."

But theatergoers shouldn't fear that they're in for a political diatribe. "It's deliciously sexy and dirty," says Weiss of the play, which begins performances on January 6. "It's all about the decadence going on behind the facade." Speaking of decadence, the actor has been dazzled by Erin Chainani's contempo-classic costuming -- Valmont's wardrobe is said to echo the Karl Lagerfeld look -- and he alludes to the fact that the production will contain some nudity.

As part of his preparation, Weiss has delved into the original 18th-century novel, which he describes as "a series of letters written between various lovers in various degrees of undress. It's all about human relationships, how we tend to manipulate people for our own personal gain, and how that can bite us in the tuchis," he says.

When it comes to the subject of our present-day consumptive culture, Weiss is hardly all talk; he's on the board of the Earth Communications Office (ECO), dedicated to disseminating information to improve the global environment, and he personally does his part by driving a "guilt-free" Prius in SUV-saturated Los Angeles. ("You can get just as lucky in a Prius as in a Hummer," he jokes.) In Boston, he's car-free, instead patronizing the subway system. He does so not only to conserve energy but also because, as a photographer, he loves studying faces. (His show at a Hollywood gallery last spring was a near sell-out.)

This is Weiss's third Boston-area sojourn in the past year. He played Pale in Burn This at the Huntington last fall, and he recently studied art history -- the work of 18th-century French court painter Fragonard, to be precise -- as "the oldest co-ed" at Harvard Summer School. "I got a 98 on my midterm and immediately called my mom," he brags. If he appears to be following in the footsteps of John Malkovich, who originated the role of Pale on Broadway, played Valmont in the film version of Liaisons, and now lives in Cambridge, Weiss says it's mere happenstance. "He just has very good taste," he remarks.