Spend a Few Minutes With Hillcrest High School Grad (and 24's) Glenn Morshower

By Robert Wilonsky Wed., Oct. 14 2009 at 6:11 PM

Categories: From the RTF Dept.

Danny Hurley

Glenn Morshower in a photo the great Danny Hurley grabbed at the Sci-Fi Expo in Richardson back in April. "I didn't realize I had so many freckles," says the actor of the picture.

My dad came by the office yesterday -- not to see me, of course, but to meet his favorite actor, Glenn Morshower, who'd stopped by Unfair Park HQ for a chat-up. Morshower -- who began acting at the Dallas Theater Center when he was 12 before making his big-screen debut in 1976's made-in-Dallas Drive-In -- has an estimable filmography. One-hundred and fifty-two roles and counting, ranging from stints on C.S.I. and The West Wing to roles in both Transformers films and the forthcoming The Men Who Stare at Goats. But who's counting? He's also a motivational speaker -- seriously.

But he's best known, of course, for having played Secret Service Special Agent Aaron Pierce on 24 for the past eight years. And, yes, he's called "Aaron" oh, 'bout 90 percent of the time he's spotted on the street, he says. Big Hersch almost did it -- I could tell Dad so wanted to.

Turns out Morshower and my father have plenty in common: bar mitzvahs at Shearith Israel, diplomas from Hillcrest High School. And both will be at the Studio Movie Grill at Royal Lane and N. Central Expressway tomorrow night for the Dallas Producers Association's Curse of It Came From Texas, during which Morshower will talk about making Drive-In in between Gordon K. Smith and Gary Cogill screening clips from Seniors (recall that clip we showed you?), Route 66, Bonnie and Clyde and other shot-in-Dallas moments long forgotten (often, with good reason).

After the jump, a few excerpts from our rambling chat, during which Morshower and I (and, off-screen, DPA co-founder Bob Dauber) discuss the movie Morshower wants to make here (a script he wrote for Don Rickles called Kosher, Texas), his career (especially the impact of 24), working with William Shatner and why DISD boys like Highland Park girls. Patrick Michels shot and edited; can't imagine what it was like trying to make sense of it.