TV/Radio & Cable Week , Sunday , August 26 , 1984
Nice-guy role limits Billy Moses By STEVE REICH
CBS's hit soap "Falcon Crest," Billy Moses is a man with a problem . He's shackled with a vanilla pudding image . "People should realize that I just don't feel how I look. There's more to me than the boy-next door," Moses told TV Week in Hollywood. Moses concedes his laid bac k characterization of Cole Gioberti reinforces the impression he' s a dull Mr. Goody-Two -Shoes . "Cole is just a nice a young man , who was brought up well and tries to do the right thing. That' s the scope of this character . Playing a nice guy is restrictive for an actor." Despite several tragedies - a crazy custody situation , a murder rap , the shooting of his father , the kidnap of his son , the suffering of his cancer-patient mother , the machinations of his ruthless cousin , two rocky marriages — Cole somehow manages to maintain his calm and niceness .
Faced with such situations , many young men would be going nuts or seeking psychiatric counsel. Moses doubts if he himself would be able to cope . " I certainly wouldn't handle it as well . But I don't think I'd get into some of those situations. I'm a lot smarter and more aggressive than Cole Gioberti . He' s not the swiftest guy on the block. I wouldn't pick up a murder weapon and look at it like Cole did . All I could say is that I take what they give m e and make the best of it." At the beginning , Moses knew exactly why he was tapped to play Cole . "They wanted a male ingenue . I know I look a certain way . But in the last three years , I've grown emotionally and physically . I've gone from being a boy t o manhood." As Clint Eastwood usually says , " a man gotta know his limitations. " Moses is such a man . "I doubt if any casting directors are going t o call me up to ask m e t o wear an eye patch , walk with a cane or talk with an Irish brogue."
Nevertheless , Moses wants Cole to have a rougher ,harder edge . "If I had my way , Cole would have broken into Falcon Crest to see his son during the period when his ex-wife had custody. " But Moses stresses that "Falcon Crest " Is just fantasy . "The characters drive nice cars , wear expensive clothes and usually don' t work hard at jobs . Whenever Cole has something to do , it usually involves racking wine and that's just a device to interrupt a scene . Let' s face it , it's not reality."
The Californian , a former star basketball player at USC and international relations major at Wesleyan in Connecticut, feels that the presence of the Gioberti family lifts "Falcon Crest " above the other soaps. "The Giobertis embrace the best values of Earl Hamner' s material - which is the meaning of family . In the other shows, families are either getting divorced o r yelling at each other . Our family members are more tender to one another . There is a basic goodness. "
Moses also thinks that the sexuality on "Falcon Crest " is more subtle than the other shows. Moses refuse s t o talk about the plane crash that climaxed the season . H e was not aboard the ill-fated craft . "All I know is the cast will be smaller when the new season begins . Our cliffhangers don't exactly inspire job security. Another actor estimated that 'Falcon Crest' has a death every fourth episode." Every season has been different for Moses, whose brother Rick is an actor , too . "The first one was devoted to learning . During the second, I was more comfortable . It was the most challenging since I had very intense work with Joanna Cassidy." But last season was something of a disappointment to the young actor . " I didn' t have as much to do because there were more characters. I've had to come t o grips with the fact that it's an ensemble . I try not to be dissatisfied or write off the material . In every script , I look for the possibilities and seek to develop them t o the best of my abilities." Moses , an experience d horseman , dreams of playing a cowpoke in the future . "I'd like to wear a gun , wear a hat , chew tobacco , spit and make bad smells . That' s my boyhood fantasy . Playing a mass murderer or drug dealer would break my Pepsi image , too."
By
Paul Raven ·
