New Amsterdam is a show about immortality as seen through the life of John Amsterdam, who was both blessed and cursed with an extended life because he saved a Native American medicine woman some 400 years ago.  As the years come and go, Amsterdam has had many families and many children.  And as part of the curse of immortality, they continue to age while he stays forever young.  Stephen McKinley Henderson plays Omar, one of John’s sons who is in his sixties, and still a very active part of his father’s life and his father’s secret. 

Henderson recently appeared live on ShaunOMac Radio’s TV talk to answer questions about his character and the season finale of Fox’s hit show.

Shaun Daily> Thank you for joining us Stephen, what’s it been like being a part of New Amsterdam?

Stephen Henderson>  It’s a joy to be a part of it, and we had a great time filming it.  You’ve probably talked to a few of the cast members and producers.  They’re just great people.  It’s a great group of people called together to do it, and I’m glad it’s being received well.

Shaun> What did you think when you first got the script?  You have Omar who’s the son of this other guy on the show.  Did you think what in the world is this?

Stephen>  I was really digging it because of the jazz connection and the fact that New York City was a character in the show.  The way I read it, it was just an incredible resource, and I thought it could go so many different places.  They could go so many different ways with this.   And Nicolaj and I got along really well.  Then I got a chance to do Nature Boy.  He and I were talking one day about the show and the concept, and the relationship between Omar and John, and how it reminded me of this great song that Nat King Cole did back in the day  And he didn’t know it so I sung a little bit for him just off to the side between takes.  And he thought it was great. Next thing I knew, he had talked to the producers and said we’ve got to use that.  So getting to do that, I’m not a singer; I don’t do musicals and that.  But I’ve always loved that great piece of music.  So I got a chance to do it and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done as an actor to tell you the truth. 

Shaun> All of your scenes have been fantastic.  The one I loved the most was the cemetery scene where you were telling John, ‘My mother loved you’.  The pain in your eyes, that was a fantastic scene.  The whole show is just incredible. 

Stephen>  Yeah, I don’t get to that kind of stuff that often.  And he is such a wonderful guy to work with.  It was really quite special. 

Kenn Gold>  What’s it like filming in New York?  Had you lived there before the show?

Stephen>  Yeah, I went to New York when I was 17.  In fact, I turned 18 in New York back in ’68.  And I’ve worked Broadway and off Broadway as an actor, so it was a joy to film on the streets.  I’d filmed in New York before, but not as much on the streets and in the city.  It’s like one of those things on your list as an actor.  You want to do Broadway, and you want to do a film, and you want to film on the streets of New York. 

Kenn>  It seems like more and shows are actually filming there.  A few years ago you didn’t see that so much, and now….

Stephen>  Yeah, I think one of the things is the industry sort of embraced New York all over again after 9/11.  I think that they wanted to show that we’ll get back and be the international city that its always been.  And John’s love for the city and the wonderful diversity that exists there, and the incredible tapestry of history that brings every country in the world together in it.  That’s really special.  That part of filming it in New York is really special. 

Kenn>  I really  love the historical segments, and when you get to see the city in the past like the Times Square pictures where you get to see the city year after year after year. 

Stephen>  Oh that’s incredible, and the fact that there is architecture there that’s been around a long time.  But it’s fabulous, the technology today to do some of that time lapse stuff.  It really is quite something.

Kenn>  As Shaun said, we’ve both really loved the show this season, and we’re looking forward to a second.  Do you know when we’re going to get an announcement about that?

Stephen>  Well, you know, I don’t.  I take this as a very good omen, the fact that we’re talking, Shaun and Kenn.  The fact that people have embraced the show.  And you know the thing is, the writers have really hit their stride in these last few episodes.  So I just hope that the network can sense that.  That it’s had an incredible amount of growth in the few episodes that have aired so that can continue.  But I don’t know when we’ll know, but I’ve got a feeling that you’ll hear some shouting going on from a lot of different places in this country and elsewhere.

Shaun> Are you all going to be together for the finale?

Stephen>  No, we won’t be together.  Well, we’ll be together wherever we are because we’ll be hoping for the best.  But it was such a joy to do.  It’s the kind of thing in this business that you cherish having those kinds of experiences, and if it does continue it would be quite, quite wonderful.  But I tell you, there are certainly no regrets. It was just a fabulous thing to work on.  And all the people, so many people who worked on it.  When you cross paths you know that you were part of something special.  I know that if it does come back, the writers have some really incredible story lines to continue.  We just hope for the best, you know?

Shaun> How do you feel about Omar?  Do you like the character?

Stephen>  I really like Omar.  I like the fact that from the standpoint of the circumstances of the character, he has had to look at the world a little differently.  I think that he’s read quite a bit of philosophy, and not so much the occult, but just the human spirit- the capacity of human beings.  And he’s read poetry because he got his name from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and also the music.  So he’s really a very philosophic being, but at the same time a very practical one.  And he believes in the unseen and the unspoken.  I really do like Omar, and I like what the writers have done thus far.  And I hope they keep them as rooted as he is.

Shaun> Your character has had some key scenes giving the background of his mother, and the scenes you’ve had with Sarah and John’s partner.  Even with John, you kind of ground him.  He’s had his head up in the clouds, met his true love and so on.  In the first episode when he says he is going to meet his true love and die, and you say ‘That’s great John’.  You bring a little humor to a serious show. 

 Stephen>  It really is quite a perspective.  It makes you have to have a philosophic slant on everything.  And if you have your parent in that life for that long, you really want to keep them around.  So the very notion that what normally is the case that we have to say goodbye to our parents, Omar has a little difficulty with that.  I think he would rather say, ‘If it wasn’t my mother, then you don’t ever have to run into her.  Run into her after I’m gone.’  It’s wonderful, the value of loving and being loved in return that Omar has come to understand that if anybody deserves it, John does.  He really does deserve to have the picket fence if he can ever do it.  But he does deserve to find the one.  And I wish that for him, but at the same time, I don’t want to loose him.  I don’t want to face his mortality.  It’s quite a dilemma.

Kenn>  At what point in the process did you find out that Omar was John’s son?  Was that something that you knew upfront before you did the pilot?

Stephen>  It was alluded to upfront, and I had to consider why I was his confidant.  It just occurred to me that either I had had the same experience or I am the one who has known him for all of my sixty plus years.  It doesn’t require a lot of faith on my part to believe him.  Sarah has to believe that he is telling the truth if he tells her that, but a lot of people just sort of hear it and go on by.  I have seen the ocular proof.  I have seen him not age before  my very eyes.  I have seen him do things like the furniture, and the reality of the different professions he’s had.  I see that knowledge that is like 5 PhDs worth of knowledge.  And it’s not book knowledge that I’ve seen.  I’ve seen him use his wisdom and also his folly, the kind of folly that you can only have if there is no tomorrow, as the saying is, if there isn’t any piper to pay.  So I’ve seen him do some very reckless things.  And I’ve seen him in deep remorse and you can only have deep remorse and regret if you’ve been around awhile and repeated your mistakes to the point that you get upset with yourself.  So he’s been a laboratory for my understanding of what it is to be a human being.  I’ve got a lot out of the association with him, and I’d miss him terribly. 

Shaun> We have a question from the chat room, does Stephen miss stage work?

Stephen>  Well, I don’t have to miss it because I get to do it.  I just came from the Kennedy center and we did the entire Wilson cycle, the plays of August Wilson.  We did the 20^th century cycle in stage readings.  So I would miss it if I had to give it up entirely,  but if you are doing a great project, whether it’s film, television, or the stage, what I’d miss the most is working.  So I’d rather be employed than unemployed.  But I don’t have to miss the stage because I do get a chance to do it from time to time. 

Shaun> How important was it for you as an actor to believe in the premise of New Amsterdam, and also to believe in this character?  Do you have think about whether you believe in the concept of the show?

Stephen>  Well, you know, I once played Van Helsing in Dracula The Musical on Broadway.  I’ve played some pretty far fetched characters.  I loved doing Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, that has to do with legends too.  It’s all imagination; the theatre is all about imagination.  So I kind of relish being able to do something in contemporary society that sort of a classic style to it; a style that has as it’s premise that time is connected- that this is all a continuum.  That’s the kind of stuff that you like to get involved in.  Because it’s a love story, and from John’s point of view he knows that he is doing something quite significant in homicide because people are taking the chances out of life for other people.  And he, having been around all this time, and he would love to live a normal life,  I think he has a particular sort of anger about people who would take life.  Every time I get a script from them, I find they’ve looked deeply into something.  So that’s what you really want to be a part of as an actor, is a story that helps others look deeply into life and not take it for granted.  It really does make you think quite seriously about how precious time is and relationships with other people.  That’s why I know it’s tough for John to have to continuously say goodbye to people.  That’s the hardest thing, I would think, about being around a long time is that you’ve just got to say goodbye to so many close friends. 

Shaun> The next question from the chat room is ‘are you happy with the popularity of the show?’  There are a lot of fan sites dedicated to the show.  Are you surprised?

Stephen>  I’m very happy about it.  I hope it means that not only are people finding something entertaining but also something enlightening.  I know that’s what happens for me.  I just love to read the scripts because I know that I’m going to learn something.  If there is a downside from saying goodbye to people, the great thing about it is that you get to learn so much.  And you know that it’s inexhaustible, how much you can learn.  But it’s great to have certain insights into things.  I love the fact that there are as many groups as interested in the show as they are, and I hope they get a chance to stay tuned.  I really hope they get a chance to continue their enthusiasm about it.

Kenn>  Which do you prefer, the stage, or doing a TV episode?

Stephen>  Obviously, this character is fine.  I can only speak to the ones I’ve gotten to do.  I really do like Omar.  I did an HBO film, Everyday People, that was a joy to be a part of.  I did a PBS American Playhouse version of A Raisin in the Sun some years ago with Danny Glover and Esther Rolle.  So it’s the project, and if it’s a really great project, whether we do it on the stage, on television or on film, that’s where you really get off on being a part of something that’s rich with humanity.  So that’s what I like to do.  Right now I’d prefer to do another season of New Amsterdam.  But being an actor and being around for awhile doing it, I relish the experience that I don’t know anything about; the experience that I don’t know anything about.  The thing that’s coming that I have no idea, the scripts going to come and somebody thinks I’m right for it and I get to do it with other people who really enjoy doing it, and that’s a joy.  But right now there’s nothing I’d rather do than another season of New Amsterdam. 

Kenn>  You are one of the actors that I keep seeing come back on Law & Order, and I think you’ve played a judge a few times there.

Stephen>  Sometimes I’ve played a judge named Mark Kramer, and sometimes another judge, but what’s been really wonderful about that, usually what you know about that is I’ve been working on stage in New York if you see me there.  People who work on the stage and are dedicated to that get a chance to do some television and make a little dough.  Sometimes you do a show off Broadway because you’ve got to do that role, or there’s some one who has written a play that you really want to do.  It’s not always financially lucrative but it’s always fulfilling artistically, and it’s wonderful to get to do something that fulfils you artistically and that you can make a living at it.  And Law & Order has great writers and great producers and directors.  And the people that do film in New York tend to do some things that have been thought out and are a part of what it is to live in society today.  Because of the theatrical tradition and the play writing tradition in New York, you’ve got great scripts and great directors and actors and it’s a joy to be a part of that. 

Shaun> Can you give us any spoilers or teasers about what we’re going to see on the finale?

Stephen>  Oh no, you don’t want me to do that.  I’d feel really bad.  I’ve got to keep the secrets.  I’m the guy that can keep the secrets.  I can’t blow it now.

Shaun> I think that police lieutenant is going to play a role since she popped up half way through the season.  I think she’s one to watch. 

Stephen>  Oh yes, Ms. Misner, she’s a wonderful actor.  But keep your eyes open.  There are things that you can’t possibly see coming. 

Shaun> What do you think about the pending actors strike?

Stephen>  Well, I’ve had enough strikes.  I tell you though, I’m a union man.  I’ll go with the call.  But I’d love for a season to come that we could just go straight through the season and do the work.  But I can’t really speak officially about it, but I’d just love for us not to be interrupted again.

Kenn>  Are there any other shows out there that you’d like to be a part of, or have a guest appearance on?

Stephen>  Yeah, sure.  I don’t know if saying what they are will get me there.  Probably saying it will make it the last thing that ever happens.  But I also like what I don’t see coming.   I’d really like somebody who is developing a show out there now who has been a fan of New Amsterdam to say, ‘Hey, I think I’d like to use that guy in this over here’.  But some of the comedy things, some of the wild far out comedy things like Boston Legal I really dig.  There are things that are out there that have great potential.  It’s difficult for me to call these shows because I don’t know if I’m in competition with them or how that goes, but there’s some really nice stuff there.  Eli Stone I like too.  I just got to see a couple of those, and I see the potential in that sort of stuff.  It’s the social conscious stuff that I really like, and especially if you enlighten people with a laugh too.  But I’m open for any opportunity that’s out there.

Kenn>  Well, I think we have a lot of show people that listen to this radio show, so he’s out there and willing to work, I guess we’d say!

Stephen>  Thanks a lot!  I appreciate that.  I didn’t know I’d be able to pitch me as well because I really want to pitch New Amsterdam. 

Shaun> People are asking, do you have a myspace page, or anyplace that people can go?

Stephen>  I don’t have a website or anything, but I have some friends that always invite me to their facebook or myspace, but I don’t have a picture out there.  I answer anybody that reaches out to me, but I’m a kind of private guy.

Shaun> I have an instant message from Suzette in Chicago, and she says without Omar and without you, there would be no New Amsterdam. 

Stephen>  Oh, that’s sweet of Suzette, I love that.  But I’m glad that she’s found a friend in Omar.  And she’s found a friend in me as well, so thank you Suzette.  It’s a great thing to be a part of Omar’s bar.  I’d love for her to be able to be an extra in Omar’s bar sometime next season.  But if Nicolaj;  if John didn’t come in the bar, it would be a pretty sad place.  So I’m glad the building exists and John has that wild room upstairs with all the photographs, that’s a kick.

Shaun> Well, thank you Stephen, we’ll let you go, and we want you to know that there are really a lot of people out there rooting for the show.

Stephen>  Thank you so much, I can feel it, and I hope we talk again.