Notes in preparation for a conversation about actors

Can never keep Kevin Kline and Jeremy Irons straight. Let's see...is Kline is the American who got his Oscar from a British movie, or is that Irons is the Brit who got his Oscar from an American movie...? All I know is my girlfriend in the 80s dug them both. A few notes if you are ever caught in a conversation about the two of them (you can access this from your iPhone while pretending to do drugs in the bathroom).

Born, active since
Irons - 1948, 1971
Kline - 1947, 1972

Long married to...
Irons - Sinead Cusack
Kline - Phoebe Cates

Julliard?
Irons - no
Kline - yes

Breakthrough stage role?
Irons - Godspell
Kline - The Pirates of Penzance

Academy Award?
Irons - yes, Best Actor, Reversal of Fortune
Kline - yes, Best Supporting Actor, A Fish Called Wanda

Tony?
Irons - yes, The Real Thing
Kline - yes, The Pirates of Penzance

Emmy?
Irons - yes, Elizabeth I
Kline - no (ah HAH!)

Famously discriminating about his roles?
Irons - yes, "because I'm now successful, what I'm being offered as an actor is more and more of the same."
Kline - Reputedly nicknamed "Kevin Decline" in the industry.

Perfectionist?
Irons - "I constantly experience failure in that my work is never as good as I want it to be. So I live with failure. What buoys you up? The people who you have deceived who think you are great and congratulate you on things. Of course, you know there is no good or bad basically. And that gives you comfort when you read terrible reviews."
Kline - "I've never felt completely satisfied with what I've done. I tend to see things too critically. I'm trying to get over that. I've got the Jewish guilt and the Irish shame and it's a hell of a job distinguishing which is which."

Modus operandi
Irons - " I think I would not be described as a character actor in that I don't take on characteristics which are very alien to me. "
Kline - Q: "Is it hard playing gay?" A: "No. I just think of all the men as women."


I hope this proves as useful to you as it has been to me.