Peter Riegert gives other actors room to be peculiar without disappearing beside them. We value his unforced steadiness, above all in Local Hero, where he gives the stranger characters someone convincing to talk to.
Fi1m perspective
In Local Hero (1983), Peter Riegert does not try to match the eccentric people around Mac MacIntyre. His American oil executive in Scotland gives Bill Forsyth’s comedy a steady centre, and the restraint is funny in itself. Burt Lancaster’s Felix Happer can indulge his silliness while Denis Lawson’s Gordon Urquhart responds more briskly. Riegert leaves room for both, yet Mac remains a person worth watching even when someone else has the more conspicuous part.
His film debut was another ensemble comedy, National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), in which he played Boon. The breakthrough lead in Local Hero was followed by Sam Posner, the pickle vendor and romantic lead in Joan Micklin Silver’s Crossing Delancey (1988). His natural delivery and ease with other actors suit that move into romance. We like a leading man who can be affable without continually checking that we find him charming. Those leading parts are worth remembering when looking at the long supporting career that followed.
We laughed at Mac’s steadiness beside Happer’s silliness; Riegert does not need to underline the difference. Forsyth trusts the actors’ different responses to supply the humour, and we are allowed to notice things without being hurried past them. That gentle pace suits the performances, though the film’s affection for eccentricity sometimes softens the questions raised by its coastal property deal. It does not pretend the locals are above wanting money. Riegert’s plainness is particularly useful in a film that can grow too fond of its odd people.
The supporting years brought Lt Mitch Kellaway in The Mask (1994) and recurring television work through the 1990s and 2000s. His high, nasal voice and frequent New York accent keep him recognisable even when he is playing quietly. As parts became scarcer, he turned to directing, co-writing and directing the feature King of the Corner (2004). His usefulness in an ensemble should not obscure what Forsyth understood: he can hold our attention at the centre of one. Start with Local Hero, and give the actor between the eccentrics as much attention as the eccentrics themselves.
Biography
Peter Riegert is an American actor. He was born on 11 April 1947 in New York City and graduated from the University at Buffalo. Before turning to acting he worked as a teacher, waiter and social worker.
His film roles include Donald 'Boon' Schoenstein in Animal House (1978), MacIntyre in Local Hero (1983), Sam Posner in Crossing Delancey (1988) and Lt. Mitch Kellaway in The Mask (1994). On television he has appeared in MASH, Seinfeld, The Sopranos as Assemblyman Ronald Zellman, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Succession*.
Riegert directed the short film By Courier (2000), which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in the 1993 HBO film Barbarians at the Gate.
