F. Murray Abraham

F. Murray Abraham makes bluntness sound quite reasonable as Bert Di Grasso in the 2022 instalment of The White Lotus. He gives this flawed older man's humour the same precision he brings to more imposing figures. We laughed at his lack of tact, then felt slightly uncomfortable about how readily we had forgiven it. The performance suits Mike White's resort satire, which finds reasons to be tender towards people who make that difficult. Abraham's firm delivery leaves us free to question the man doing the talking.

The supporting role of Omar Suárez in Scarface (1983) brought him prominence; Miloš Forman's Amadeus (1984) gave him Antonio Salieri and a leading part that made full use of his theatrical intensity. Salieri's envy is hard to ignore because Abraham delivers it with such conviction. This is emphatic acting, and the part can bear it. We would not ask him to make himself less noticeable here.

Much of the subsequent career has been spent in supporting film parts and on stage, rather than in comparable leads. That is not in itself a reason to regret the work. Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) places his Mr. Moustafa within an ensemble, while the series Homeland (2011) gives him a recurring role as Dar Adal. Both offer room for an actor who can establish authority quickly, though it is the humour of his later television work that makes us keenest to watch him.

Bert is a useful place to start because The White Lotus does not require Abraham merely to sound important. We admire the series for its willingness to stay with difficult people; his performance fits that generosity without asking us to approve of the man. The danger with such deliberate delivery is that every line can seem equally significant, but Bert's foolishness gives the formality a comic use. Start here for the humour, but do not expect a kindly elder.