The Mesmerizing Way Danny DeVito Peels a Hard-Boiled Egg

In March, Danny DeVito made his Broadway debut in a production of Arthur Miller’s The Price as used furniture dealer Gregory Solomon. It’s quite a demanding role. In one scene, DeVito must peel and eat a hard-boiled egg and still say his lines without choking.

Over the weekend, the Times theater section released this two-minute video in which DeVito walks through how he accomplishes this feat multiple times a week. It’s glorious. He carefully explains how he takes a hard-boiled egg and cracks it with his cane; peels it fastidiously, angling the egg shavings towards his briefcase; and shoves it into his mouth, chewing artfully while still making his lines intelligible.

The highlight of the video, in my opinion, is when he speaks of the egg’s “masticating conflict”—a clever, exciting way to describe an egg’s interiors. Some of us would watch our favorite actors recite the contents of a phone book aloud; well, in keeping with that spirit, I'd gladly watch Danny DeVito eat a hard-boiled egg.