John Lithgow on his 22nd turn on Broadway

Talk about John Lithgow ... and you're talking about range.

His film roles include a football-player-turned-transsexual ("The World According to Garp") and a dance- hating preacher ("Footloose"). On TV, he's gone from alien ("3rd Rock From the Sun") to serial killer ("Dexter"). And onstage there was the weary bureaucrat beguiled by a Chinese temptress who may -- or may not -- be a woman (he's not quite sure!) in "M. Butterfly," or the big guy in "King Lear." Along the way, he's snapped up two Tonys, six Emmys, two Oscar nominations -- and written a memoir and nine children's picture books.

Lithgow, 69, now stars with Glenn Close in his 22nd Broadway show -- Edward Albee's provocative, poetic drama "A Delicate Balance," which opens Thursday at the Golden Theatre. They play Tobias and Agnes, a wealthy, WASPy suburban couple whose daughter returns home after yet another failed marriage, just as family friends show up unexpectedly with an odd -- very odd -- request.

He's also appearing in two new films, "Interstellar" and "The Homesman" (directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones).

On a break from rehearsals, Lithgow spoke with Newsday contributor Joseph V. Amodio.

You must mix a mean martini by now -- your character is constantly pouring drinks.

I've always liked martinis ... but never made one. I got a little mixology lesson. All my bottles are full of tea or water, but once, instead of adding dry vermouth, I put in anisette. Of course, they're both water, but I thought, "I can't serve this." That shows you where imagination can take you. I thought, "My God, this would taste horrible." Of course, if you actually drink as much as they swill during the evening, you'd be blotto. I'd never remember my lines.

SEE PHOTOS48 celebrities who've had Broadway roles

Was this role on your bucket list?

I have a pretty long history with this play. When I was a drama student in London, a friend hired me to give American dialect coaching to the actors in the British premiere of this play. So I did ... and Albee watched a run-through and the first thing he said was ... "Forget the accents." But no, it wasn't on my bucket list. The only play on my list was "King Lear," and I crossed that off this year.

Must be nice to reunite with Glenn Close. You practically started your careers together in "Garp."

Yes, "Garp" was her very first film. And we've been friends all these years. I think we're perfectly cast. I'm not sure she'd take this as a compliment but ... we look like an old married couple. I'll tell you another thing -- I was in Charlie's Restaurant, an old actors' haunt here in the '70s, on the night the cast of "Love for Love" came piling in to celebrate ... because Glenn Close had gone on as an understudy and had a huge success that night. That was the first time I'd heard her name or laid eyes on her. A big bright smiling face celebrating her Broadway debut. We didn't meet, but I remember seeing her. So I feel like both in theater and movies I was there at the beginning.

What does Albee's title mean to you?

That almost requires me to make a pretentious answer. But I'd say ... it refers to repression, keeping secrets, and the toll that takes. When Tobias flies apart, he's a man who's never been expressive or decisive in his life. He's fallen into a routine, but you can't maintain that delicate balance forever.

Life gets messy?

Life gets messy.

It's certainly messy in "The Homesman." Have you worked with Tommy Lee Jones before?

No. We were both at Harvard, and did plays together, but I've never worked with him professionally till now. Tommy Lee did not like people referring to it as a Western. He doesn't consider it that. These were homesteaders, not cowboys. You know ... I'd always wanted to ride a horse in a Western. But here I ride a mule. Fast. I have to chase Hilary Swank in her wagon. That's a brand-new experience ... ... that I'm still recovering from.

Maybe it'll be fodder for a new children's book. How'd that and the children's music start?

When I was a kid, I baby-sat for my baby sister and had to entertain her. When my first child was born, I taught myself the guitar so I could play songs for him. Then other kids came along, and I started playing at schools and benefits. I feel a certain quixotic mission to give children a wonderful first experience in a concert hall. They're an amazing audience. I perform with orchestras, and a sort of Dixieland band. It's a wonderful counterpoint ... to performing for grown-ups. And it's just so much fun.