Name: Hamish Linklater
Age: 33
Neighborhood: Harlem
Occupation: Actor, currently appearing in Shakespeare in the Park’s The Winter’s Tale and The Merchant of Venice presented by the Public Theater.
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Edith Wharton. Or John Starks, but he may have moved.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
My wedding cake.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Have the time of my life, or despair.
Would you live here on a $35,000 salary?
Not if you paid me $35,000.
What’s the last thing you saw on Broadway?
The Chris Walken play. Or Red.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
I’ve never seen anyone handling pans in the streets of New York, and if I did I doubt I’d give them money, unless I needed a pan. I do give money to homeless people, whether they ask or no.
What’s your drink?
A beer and a whiskey. Or a Ketel One martini, SLIGHTLY dirty, olives, up. (I seem to have two answers for a lot of these, which I think is a symptom of doing repertory theater.)
How often do you prepare your own meals?
I make my daughter’s eggs, and sometimes she shares with me, so once a day?
What’s your favorite medication?
See “What’s your drink?” and Propecia.
What’s hanging above your sofa?
A rain cloud.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
You can’t spend too much on a haircut.
When’s bedtime?
Too often too late.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
The next Times Square.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
Propecia.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
That everyone reads the New York Times.
Who is your mortal enemy?
Self-loathing and carbs. A bagel that hated me would be the worst.
When’s the last time you drove a car?
On Memorial Day I drove a truck …
How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
Not much. I invested all my money in debt.
Times, Post , or Daily News?
The New York Times.
Where do you go to be alone?
Onstage.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
Knowing you’re better than Boston, and a subscription to New York Magazine! (cue kissing-up sound).
