By Marc Lee
AFI FEST Daily News

Preceding Tuesday night’s AFI FEST screening of THE LAST STATION, the Festival paid tribute to legendary actor Christopher Plummer. He began an interview full of witty comments with the observation that if he had to be anything other than an actor, he’d be “a drunk.”

“Actually, I wanted to be a classical pianist, or a jazz pianist,” he said. “But I’m glad I joined a more gregarious profession.”

Artistic director Rose Kuo started the evening by thanking nine-year AFI FEST tributes sponsor The Skirball Cultural Center. She was followed by L.A. Weekly film writer and critic Scott Foundas who gave a short summary of Plummer’s career — which includes theater, radio, television, film and, just recently, a book. “He was at the center of the American Theatrical scene,” Foundas said. “A scene that included the great stage actors, jazz and women. And there were many of those.”

Before Plummer’s introduction, a tribute reel played that included clips from many of the actor’s most recognizable films, including HAMLET, STAR TREK VI, THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER and THE INSIDER.

Afterward, Foundas asked him about his theater career, which makes up a significant portion of his recent memoir, In Spite of Myself.

“The ’50s was the last golden age of the theater,” Plummer said. “We’ll never see another age like it again.

“I was lucky to be in New York in the ’50s and in London during the ’60s. I miss both of them dreadfully.”

Dressed in gray slacks, a striped shirt and a navy blazer with a red handkerchief in the pocket, he was full of quips (“Drinking is no longer fashionable”) and stories (a tale wherein he and Jason Robards tried to ride a motorcycle into a bar but flew over the handlebars and landed in seats instead; “We immediately each ordered a Jack Daniels”).

Foundas quizzed him on how he felt about the writer of many of his roles, Shakespeare. “I never liked being called a Shakespearian actor,” he said. “I always thought our role was to be good at everything.”

“No one has been able to write the most tragic, most dramatic moments more simply than Mr. Shakespeare.”

He didn’t have as much love for one of his most memorable films, THE SOUND OF MUSIC. “There were others who tried to pretend they weren’t in it,” he joked. “It was very much like being in on a delicate operation with a bunch of cynical doctors.”

Playing a real life figure, like the characters in THE LAST STATION or in THE INSIDER, requires special considerations, he noted. “I try very hard not to confuse Tolstoy with Mike Wallace.”

“The trick to playing a person the public knows is that you have to do some things exactly as they did. But once you’re off screen, off the TV news, you’re fine to be yourself.”

“Tolstoy, I didn’t watch on television,” he quipped. “I did watch the documentaries on him, but they were all silent. I had to imagine what he was like.”