SOURCE: Shepard, Sam, and Michael Phillips. “Sam Shepard's Family Values.” Los Angeles Times (8 November 2000): F1.

In the following interview, Shepard discusses his casting decisions for and the inspirations behind The Late Henry Moss.

Halloween Day 2000. Outside Theatre on the Square on Post Street, a woman sporting a French maid outfit trots up the sidewalk with a couple of Draculas and a faux homeless man. Nearby a genuine homeless man looks up from his fragment of bagel, muttering.

Inside, away from the sun, Sam Shepard and company are wading deep into rehearsals for The Late Henry Moss which opens Nov. 14. The wood-paneled hallway near the tiny, second-story box office is dark and shadowy and, Halloween-wise, a little more like it.

Lunch break. Nick Nolte, with the voice that launched a thousand gargles, eases through the door on crutches and makes his way toward the elevator. A minute later, Sean...