Ted Danson has unveiled why he wants to continue acting at his rather ripe age of 76. Most others of his status would have bowed out of acting ages ago, but not Ted Danson.
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Danson has been acting for so long that different generations will know him for different performances. It's as though he's had numerous breakout roles in his career. He's mostly famous for playing Sam Malone in the 80's sitcom Cheers, although is known to others for playing Michael in The Good Place.
The renowned actor spoke to the Los Angeles Times about his upcoming role in A Man On The Inside, a Netflix comedy series about a retired widower becoming an undercover spy in a retirement home. The show, inspired by a real event, is based on the 2020 documentary The Mole Agent.
Danson said to the outlet that he tells himself to keep acting. "I have said to myself in the last two to three years, 'I want to keep working for as long as I physically can because I want to know what it's like to try to be funny at every age.'" I want to keep discovering that. I don't want to be younger or hold onto who I was before. I want to age and to celebrate aging and celebrate aging with humor."
That's quite an ambition.
Ted Danson Wants To Keep Acting Due To How Much He Enjoys It
You know what they say about loving what you do and all that.
Danson also goes on to explain why he took the lead role for A Man On The Inside.
"I'm a silly man who remains youthful by being silly. So will this fit with my age and what we think of when we think of retirement homes?" he says. He wants to help the show challenge what people think of the elderly and what they can do.
He also spoke to PEOPLE about the show. "My favorite kind of comedy has serious overtones, and in this case, it's a very funny premise."
Danson also says, "We get to explore aging, all those things that, in this country, sometimes we're afraid to talk about, memory loss, everything, we broach with a tenderness and a seriousness still contained in a kind of light-hearted, joyful way."
So long as there are projects that fit the bill of being both hilarious and meaningful, and as long as Danson keeps getting older, I don't think we'll see the last of him any time soon.
