Kelsey Grammer: Probably not. It's true, though. When I was about 12, I read Julius Caesar. I don't know what it was, but that was it - I was hooked. Later, when I started acting, that's what I loved doing the most. I still do. Even after one performance in Richard II, during an especially dramatic scene, when there was an earthquake - just as I delivered one of those earthshaking lines from the depths of my being. It must have seemed quite impressive. Yes, Shakespeare is my first love.
Stoner: So, let's see. I need to link this from Hamlet to Down Periscope. Uh...
Grammer: Let's see...the lead in both is on a mission...
Stoner: Perfect. And both were underestimated. But you know what struck me about your technique - speaking of underestimating? You never INITIATE humor; it's your REACTION - a look, a toss-off line, a slow burn, but always reacting to someone else.
Grammer: I know. Put me on stage by myself, and I wouldn't be funny. That's what I did with Frasier - both on Cheers and on my own show. That's what I do with Lt. Commander Thomas Dodge [in Down Periscope]. I've been lucky, being surrounded by pros who give me so much OFF of which TO react. Maybe that's why I keep going back to Shakespeare. There, I can react to those words that have come down to us over the centuries and still resonate. But, in the roles that brought me what fame I have, you're right: They throw; I catch. I just hope the fast balls keep coming.