From John-Boy Walton to Atticus Finch: Richard Thomas talks ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Richard Thomas — like millions of others — read Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” as a student.

“Probably early high school,” the acclaimed actor recalls. “I loved the book.”

Yet, then he did something that a lot of people don’t: He read the book again as an adult. Of course, Thomas had a good reason to do so, since he’d just been cast to play the character Atticus Finch in the touring production of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which opens to the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco on Sept. 13.

“When I was invited to do this tour, which I was very excited about, I read (the book) again,” he says. “As I have been saying to people, if you haven’t read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ since you were a young person — and you liked it — read it again as an adult, because it’s a whole other reading experience.

“It holds up beautifully. It was not a book that was written for kids. It was written for adults. So, the reading experience as an adult is very different — it’s very rich.”

Thomas’ comments point to the strange cultural phenomenon that exists in America (and perhaps well beyond), where many embrace literary masterworks like “To Kill a Mockingbird” in school and then tend to leave them behind — likely never to flip through their pages again — once they graduate.

“That’s true of so many books that are read in school,” says Thomas, who is still best remembered for his role as John-Boy Walton in “The Waltons” classic TV show. “I went to a sort of very forward (thinking) school in New York — a boys school, way back in the day when dinosaurs walked the Earth — and I was reading Dostoevsky in ninth grade. OK, but the second time through “The Brothers Karamazov” was like, ‘Oh, my God, why did I read that at this age?’

“I mean, it’s important for kids to read books that push them and stretch their minds. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be done. But if you continue to have an interest in literature, it shouldn’t be your final relationship with these books — because they have much more to yield later on.”

Those familiar with the 1960 novel will notice many differences between Lee’s original text and the stage adaptation from acclaimed playwright Alan Sorkin (it was also adapted for the stage in 1990 by Christopher Sergel). Notably, in Sporkin’s take, Finch is the main protagonist in the play, not his daughter Scout.

Those changes led to a legal battle during the development of the show, as the Lee estate charged that Sorkin’s work varied too greatly the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The lawsuit was eventually settled and the Bartlett Sher-directed “To Kill a Mockingbird” opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on Dec. 13, 2018.

The play was a smash success, prompting a West End production to open — after many pandemic-related delays — in March 2022 at the Gielgud Theatre in London. The similarly delayed touring production launched in March in Buffalo.

“We were supposed to start in August of 2020,” Thomas says. “So, we’ve all been on hold for a long time. It’s so wonderful that they held onto it and kept it going.

“And here we are!”

Understandably, some might think it would be very intimidating to play one of literature’s most iconic characters — Atticus Finch – in what the Chicago Tribune (and so many others) have called “the greatest novel of all time.” Yet, Thomas shrugs off that kind of talk.

“It’s not intimidating,” he says. “You have to kind of forget about that at a certain point. You can’t play icons on stage. It’s not possible. Icons are wooden paintings of saints. You can only play human beings.”

Thomas says that part of the beauty of what Sorkin has done with his adaptation “is sort of take Atticus down off the pedestal and give him a wonderful journey — just as a man, who’s struggling to raise these kids and do the right thing in this court case.”

That certainly factors into what makes this play resonate so strongly with viewers, and perhaps in some different ways than the novel. Sorkin seemed to anticipate the rising tide of social unrest that was felt throughout the country during the pandemic.

“He wrote this play before 2020,” Thomas says. “This play was written before George Floyd’s murder and before all this stuff that happened in 2020 in terms of getting down with our racial justice challenges. It’s amazing how prescient this adaptation was in terms of the lens through we are viewing these issues now.”

Again, it goes back in large part to the transformation of Atticus Finch.

“I think the first thing (Sorkin) did was to get the white savior off the pedestal,” Thomas says. “He’s still a man who’s trying to do the right thing. You are not on a pedestal for doing that — you’re just trying to be a decent person.”

“But this sort of king figure, this sort of white savior that everyone should feel grateful to for doing the right thing — (Sorkin) made short work of that,” Thomas adds. “I think that was very important, because we don’t get extra points for doing what we need to be doing anyway.”

Yet, Thomas says that the original source material — the novel — is about more than justice.

“Because we were so deeply in the throes of our current struggle with racial justice and social justice, we tend to see (the play) through that lens very strongly — which it deserves,” he says. “But it’s also very much a story about growing up. So, from Atticus’ point of view, it’s very much the story of being a dad and trying to raise these two kids with the help of Calpurnia (the family cook) and to teach them respect in how they treat other people and how they view community — which is at odds with what they are learning about the way the world really works.

“So, in some degree, the story is about the loss of innocence of the children. And the play is very much about the loss of innocence of Atticus as well.”

Beyond theater, Thomas has remained active in other acting realms. Notably, he appeared in the Emmy-winning Netflix series “Ozark,” where he played Nathan Davis — the father of Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney).

“I loved doing that show. I loved that part. I adore Laura,” he says. “It’s so ironic because a few years ago I had played her husband on Broadway in ‘Little Foxes.’ (Laughs). It was like four short years from husband to father.”

And Thomas has an answer for those wondering if the stone-faced Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) ever smiles.

“Well, the actor smiles all the time,” Thomas says. “He’s a very funny man. And he runs a very happy set.”

His many other accomplishments include starring in the mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s “It” and appearing in FX’s “The Americans” as well as the feature films “Taking Woodstock” and “Wonder Boys.”

Yet, has any of this success stopped people from shouting “It’s John-Boy” when they see him at airports?

“Oh, God, no. Of course, not. And may it never stop. Bring it on,” Thomas says. “I want to be hearing ‘Goodnight John-Boy’ at my funeral.”

‘TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD’

Adapted by Aaron Sorkin from the Harper Lee novel, presented by BroadwaySF

When: Sept. 13-Oct. 9

Where: Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor St. (at Market Street), San Francisco

Tickets: $56-$256 (subject to change), www.broadwaysf.com