Caffeinated Clint
There is little question John C. Reilly is one funny guy. His characters in ”Step Brothers” and ”Talladega Nights” while over-the-top, are hilariously funny. But ”Cyrus” makes a distinct departure from that style of ‘John C. Reilly funny’. In the film Reilly plays John, a 40-something divorcee who unexpectedly finds himself dating the beautiful Molly (Marisa Tomei) after years of being out of the dating world. The two seemed destined to be together, until Molly’s grown son Cyrus (Jonah Hill) plots again John to prevent him interfering in his extremely close relationship with his mom.
Moviehole’s Tim Johnson caught up with the star of the film, who spoke about (directors) Jay and Mark Duplass’s style of improvising most of the film, who had the most trouble keeping a straight face and which musical John wants to put his name down for if made into a film.
Hi John! What was it that caught your eye with this script?
John: The masturbating at the beginning… That really, I was like, ‘I got to do that!’ Although I have done it in movies before. No, I knew about Mark and Jay Duplass because my wife is an independent film producer and she had met them at a bunch of different film festivals and she saw ‘The Puffy Chair’ way early on, and she said, ‘You’ve got to see this movie, you would love to work with these guys, they love to improvise and they’re really cool, up-and-coming filmmakers.’ And I eventually saw ‘The Puffy Chair’ and loved it and then I just told her, ‘Tell them that I would love to do something, we should find something to do,’ and then a little while later they said we wrote this script with you in mind and we sat down and they said ‘We really hope you want to do it, because if you don’t want to do it we’re not going to make this movie and we’re going to make something else, because you are the only person we thought of the whole time we were writing.’ I just really wanted to work in the way that I had heard that they worked and it’s not every day that someone writes a script with you in mind. So, you really feel like… it was flattering.
So we know there was a lot of improvisation on set, how did their (Mark and Jay Duplass) technique work?
John: Yeah, I think when they made ‘The Puffy Chair’ I think it cost them like, $10,000 or $15,000 and they would just shoot things over and over and fully improvise and find their way through the story and the story almost made itself as they went along. And this movie was much more expensive and had a bigger movie crew and all the trappings that come with a studio movie, but to their credit, they really stuck with the way that they like to work, which is basically they kind of throw the script out first of all! I mean, you get to the set, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, this is a great scene, we’re not going to do that, just go with your instincts and if what happens in this scene ends up happing then that’s great, because that’s kind of what we were thinking, but if something else happens, then that’s fine too. So, it was actually kind of scary on a lot of days. Because usually, even when I do a lot of improvisation with like Will Ferrell and those guys, you do the scripted version at least once or twice, and then once you kind of nail it, or feel like you’ve got a good version of that then you start riffing on it. But these guys were like, ‘No, don’t even bother saying what’s written in the script, literally just say what comes to mind.’ The story kind of tells itself in that way. And we also shot in order, which is another thing that they think is really important and it’s a real blessing to be able to do that because then the story literally builds on itself. Instead of having to make these arbitrary decisions ahead of time, and shooting the end of the movie first or mixing up the order, you can really find an organic way through the story and the characters build and get to know each other. Like, I didn’t know Marisa at all before we made this movie. And I met her like a day before we started, and then when you see us meeting at party, it’s like the second day I had known her. And as we got to know each other better, and it went on, that was what was really happening between me and Marisa. And me and Katherine had known each other for a long time, so that was really great to have that instant intimacy with Katherine because she and I had worked together before and have known each other for many years. The whole thing really worked out really well; I really liked the camera style that they use, I like the fact that they could just let their egos go about the script. It was scary though. People ask me, ‘What kind of research did you do for the part’ or ‘What did you do to prepare?’ And all I could do was like, if I’m not even memorizing the lines, all I could do, be like prepare to be unprepared and that’s sometimes really hard to do. Because it’s easier to go in, like I’ve memorized it, I know what to do, we’re just going to go do this thing and I’m going to try to do my best. If you’re walking in like, ‘What is going to happen today?’, the whole story could change, they were that open to the truth of the moment, but I think it makes for a really original sounding movie and a really emotionally true movie.
What that was improvised did you bring to the table?
John: Probably eighty per cent of what I say in the movie is improvised. I mean, a lot of the lines that people are pointing out, like “I’m like Shrek in the forest,” that was just me having a low self esteem moment in front of Marisa Tomei, you know? Like there’s that line when we’re sitting across from the dinner table when I first come to her house, and Jonah was like, “Seriously, don’t f**k my mom!” that was just Jonah calling it out like it was. Like, we were sitting at this table in this awkward situation. So, the movie is full of it. What’s also really cool about the way these guys like to work, they don’t rehearse and we barely blocked, really. They would just light the whole room and have cameras that could move around. So, a lot of what you see, is the first take of what we’re doing. The majority of the movie, is the first or second take. And so, with that sense of the characters discovering what’s going on or these thoughts coming in to our heads, or our responses to each other – you’re seeing the first time it happens. So, I’m really happy with the movie and I was really shocked at how well it all tied together. I thought many days on this, ‘I don’t know what we just did! And hopefully it makes a story, because we were all over the place.’ But they worked with this really great editor named Jay Deuby who they call the third Duplass brother, he’s like a big part of what they do. And it’s funny, because they wrote a script beforehand but really, I realized what these guys do, is they do their screenwriting in the editing room almost. They gather all this material and they try to guide it and they give a lot over to the actors and then they sit in this room for six months and reconstruct what they have.
It took six months to edit?
John: I’m guessing, something like that.
And how long was the shoot?
John: The shoot was about eight weeks.
Were there any moments that went too far when you were improvising that ended up on the cutting room floor?
John: The only thing I can think of that might have gone too far, is there is a scene where I am trying to break, towards the end of the movie, and I’m trying to get Marisa to understand in a gentle way that he (Jonah) might be lying and being manipulative. And he’s going behind with the signs. Well, some of those signs were really… there was a series of like 15 different signs that were like one more ridiculous than the next. But the ones we ended up with were pretty biting and I thought funny, but also realistic in terms of his point of view.
Have you been in a situation like that?
John: People holding up signs behind the back of someone? Well there’s that guy right over there! Well I’ve been married for a long time, so luckily have not had to go in to the dating world. But I have a lot of friends who are separated and divorced and have to deal with kids. And it’s funny, once you get married, especially if you have a kid with somebody, you’re talking to that person for the rest of your life, one way or another. But, I related to the character a lot emotionally, not that I’m in the same place he was in the movie, but a lot of my clothes that I wear are clothes from my house and I’ve spend a lot of time with editors over the years, so I know how lonesome and weird that life can be. But it’s funny, when we took this movie to Sundance, I was been driven around by this guy in his twenties and he went and saw the night it premiered. And afterwards I said, ‘Well, what did you think of the movie?’ and was like, ‘Well, I think a lot of people my age are going to relate to this movie.’ And I was like, it took me a second because I was thinking of it from my own point of view, like people in their forties, trying to figure out a new relationship and he was thinking of it, I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And he goes, ‘Well, my mom and dad are separated and there are many times when I would come home from college and there would be some dude boning my mom and have to sit across the table with this guy, that you kind of want to punch in the face, but it’s your mom’s friend but you’re not sure how nice to be because is the relationship going to work out or not? And so there’s just these really awkward things.’ He’s like, ‘You can’t really shelter me from it, because I’m an adult.’ So he said that, ‘I have a lot of friends that were in the same situation and I think a lot of people will relate on that level.’
Have you ever, or would you consider doing stand-up comedy?
John: Well you know, when you go on talk shows that’s essentially stand-up! I used to think the host of the show were the funny part, then I did it a few times, and I’m like, ‘Oh, no. It’s my job to provide the entertainment here!’ I call it sit-down stand-up.
You’ve worked with some great directors like Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen – how far would you normally push with improvisation with other directors?
John: All the people that you mentioned, I think, are the ones who would want you to improvise in one way or another. A lot of times, a script is like a theory of a movie, and then when you get there on the day, and in the script it says the room is square, but this room is rectangular so then, that won’t work when you say this, so you go over there… so, you’re always having to kind of custom-fit a script to the actual situation and all the great directors that I’ve worked with always want you to improvise a little bit, usually. But I don’t mind not improvising. It’s a big weight off my shoulders you know? If someone’s written a great script, I like that.
Is there any director who asked you specifically to stick word for word to the script?
John: Well, Polly Anderson (???) does both. There are scenes that I’ve done with him that are fully improvised and then there are other scenes in the same movie where he was like, ‘No, no, make sure you say that contraction in the middle of the line.’ He writes his own scripts. It tends to be people who write their own scripts that and have really put a lot of thought in to it. A director who just got a writer, usually they’re kind of eager to change it a little bit, but not to the extent that the Duplass brothers do! It was a personal challenge. I loved it.
Are you going to be working again with director Paul Thomas Anderson (the two worked together on ‘Magnolia’) on his new 1950’s religious drama which is in the works?
John: I don’t know, I haven’t heard much about it. So, I don’t know. We’ll see…
What was the hardest scene not to break character during shooting?
John: It was pretty hard to keep a straight face when he was putting those signs behind, because Jonah was deliberately messing with me, writing stuff. Like, when you couldn’t see him, he was writing stuff, inside jokes. And also the music thing (where Cyrus showcases his alternative new age music). Although I’m a little better in general about breaking than some people are. Jonah could not keep it together. I think there’s even a little bit in the movie if you look, as he’s turning away and he starts to do this weird little grin. He laughed so much when he was doing that, that the footage that’s in the movie is the only footage of him not laughing. I think they cut out all the laughing and what they were left with is what’s in the movie.
Do you have any plans to do another musical movie, ”Guys and Dolls” perhaps?
John: Yeah, that would be great, Guys and Dolls! That’s like the holy grail for me. I don’t have any plans, no.
Do you do much with music in your spare time?
John: I play a lot of music. I’ve been doing kind of close harmony singing with a friend of mine lately and doing a lot of performances at Largo club in L.A. But, movie musicals, they just don’t come around all that often. And movies with music.
What is the difference for you as an actor between supporting roles and a leading one?
John: I would say, every character that I’ve played is the main character of their life story. Whether it’s a tiny little part or not. In some ways, I prefer to play leading parts, only because it’s just as much work for me to play a smaller part, you still really have to have a back story for the character and you really have to bring a new person to life, so it’s just as much work and you have less time to get it done. You know, the great thing about playing the main role in a film is that you can build up momentum, you can start slow and kind of feel your way through a character and then it just stars to snowball and then all of a sudden, by the end of the movie you know exactly what to do. When you’re coming in for a supporting part, and I did it a lot. I used to say I’m like the special forces. In those situations, you come in, you’ve never met anybody, you’re there for ten days, you usually have some important scenes to do and you’ve got to just deliver. You don’t have time to get to know everybody and get a vibe going with the director, you just have to come in, in some ways it’s a lot harder.
Any chance you’ll get out there doing live shows with a band again?
John: I would love to do that again. I don’t know, I think the days of movie studios paying for actors to go on an eight city concert tour with a backing band on a private jet might be over for a little while, in the current economy! But, music is a big part of my life. I just bought a guitar yesterday in New York, a 1934 Gibson.
What about theater? Would you get back on Broadway?
John: Yeah, it’s funny, I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire in that way, but real estate is so tough in New York, to get a theater is like, it’s harder than you would think. But, I’ve been offered something that might go in the fall, we’ll see?
How far back does your relationship with Jonah Hill go back.
John: He was in Walk Hard and I also know him through a couple of other people. But we spent a lot of time, obviously together in this movie. And he’s really, really a great actor you know? People think of him as this comedic actor, but he’s really just a good actor. He just has a real knack for the truth.
Do you feel part of the Apatow (production company) family?
John: Yeah, I guess so. It’s not like we have club meetings. I saw something in a magazine one time that was like, ‘The Apatow Mafia. The crew leaders,’ this whole thing, this whole organized thing. It’s really just a bunch a people trying to make good movies, you know? It’s pretty random. But I’ve become pretty good friends with Judd (Apatow) and Jake Kasdan who directed ‘Walk Hard’. Of course, Will (Ferrell) and I are really close. So, I hope something else comes that way.
Do you enjoy going back and forth between comedy and drama?
John: I don’t really see a huge difference in what I do. There is a thing in comedy where you got to put a little bit of carbonation in it or something. You can’t really let things go to a really dark place, or it’s just tough to pull out of that and have something be funny. But, one of the reasons I loved doing this movie is I didn’t feel a obligation to be funny. And a lot of the biggest laughs in the movie are things that I didn’t mean really to be funny. Like reaction shots of me, it dawning on me what’s happening. It gets some big laughs in the movie, but I wasn’t thinking it was funny at all when I was doing it. To me, you just try to be as honest and truthful and in the moment as you can, and you really try to inhabit the character and then if the situation, and the circumstance is ridiculous in the scene – then you’re in a comedy. Like, if you’re pretending you just stole your friend’s wife in two hours while he was out of the house and you’ve adopted all these children in two hours – then you’re in Taladega Nights, and it’s a comedy! But I try to do it for real. I think a lot of the humor of Will (Ferrell)’s movies and Judd (Apatow)’s movies is people taking preposterous situations really seriously.
Do you get all your scripts from your agent, or do you get some directly?
John: Are you going to take a script out of your bag?
No!!!
John: Usually I like to direct things through my manager or my agent. It’s just easier that way and I guess there’s those lawsuit type things that happen sometimes if someone gives you a script. Have I ever done a script that came to me that way? No. But I’m not hard to get a hold of. I’m on the internet, I’m easy to find.
Thanks so much John!
Thanks a lot!
