Ryan Phillippe (Oliver) and Claire Danes (Sookie) were the first actors attached to the "Igby" project. Phillippe feels that Oliver is one of the most complex characters he's taken on. "Oliver is very dark and superficial but he's also aware of that fact. He looks down on society the same way Igby does, but he tries to use it to his advantage," explains Phillippe.
Writer/director Burr Steers paid Ryan Phillippe a great compliment saying that working with Phillippe was like having another producer on the film. "Ryan was professional, mature, and meticulous in his preparation. He's willing to do ugly things, to be ugly and not worry about it. He's not self-conscious," said Steers.
RYAN PHILLIPPE (Oliver)
Why are you so proud to be involved in "Igby Goes Down?"
This is a good movie. I almost produced this movie. I tried to produce it and my company wouldn't put up the money. It was going to be Sydney Pollack and I were going to produce it because I love the script so much. Then when I couldn't be a producer any longer, I still knew that I could help them get the money together to get it made. I loved it and believed in it so much that I said that I'd do the part and help them get their financing.
I'm so proud of it. Burr (Steers) did an amazing job.
How did you approach your character in this movie?
There are a lot of people who say that you have to like a character that you're playing, even if they have undesirable qualities. I don't think that's true. I don't like this guy and I do believe that guys like him exist. I know that that has to come from a true place, that his environment shaped who he was, so there is a reason. That environment would include a great education and a really eye-opening life experience. I hope that one thing people realize about the character at the end of the film is that his father is the one who had the nervous breakdown, and that's probably where he is going to end up. I tried to thread that in throughout the movie. He's 20-something but he's an alcoholic and he's trying to hold it together but not doing a great job. I also like the duality of man as a theme, both in literature and in film. It's just so human. We all have both that dark side and that good side.
What was your favorite scene in the film?
The whole reason why I did the movie was pretty much the end scene with him. I don't even know if it has the impact overall that I thought it would but I know that's the reason that I did the movie. Just the complication between the fraternal relationship. That's why I did the film as an actor.
Why did you feel so strongly about this film?
I don't know. I've been in this business for over 10 years and I've done 16 movies and it's getting to the point now where I can recognize a script that is original, that has a voice, and is grounded in some sort of honesty or some sort of interesting world. When it's something I haven't seen before I get excited. That's what appealed to me about this, the humor, the coldness, the callousness of the society and the fact that once I knew that Burr, this was sort of like his life in some ways, it became that much more interesting to me.
Were you already familiar with the sort of privileged world this takes place in because of your other roles?
To some degree, yes. This for me wasn't like a challenge as an actor. When I have to talk about why, as an actor, I wanted to do the movie it was A) the script was excellent and B) I loved the relationship between the brothers. That's a dynamic that appeals to me cinematically because I didn't have brothers - I had three sisters. Cinematically it's something I'm drawn to.
It is a character I sort of played before but I knew I could do a fine job with it, and I wanted to help get the movie made. I also like playing those guys because it's so different from how I grew up and who I am.
How did growing up with 3 sisters and no brothers shape who you are?
A great deal. I'm such a supporter of women, work-related. I'm happy for my wife and I'm ecstatic that she makes more than most men in Hollywood (laughing). The first writer I hired for a movie I'm producing was a black woman. She did an amazing job. It's like I just think that seeing women get passed over, being so intimately involved with so many women throughout my life - my sisters, my mother and that sort of thing - it's shaped me and given me a sensitivity and understanding that I don't think a lot of men necessarily have.
Can you talk about Kieran Culkin's performance in this film?
I think he did an incredible job. I was skeptical when he was first cast because I knew the script for so long and I hadn't seen him do work that was of this level. But he and Burr worked so hard together - this kid worked so hard - and I think it really paid off. I think he's the first young actor to really come close to capturing, unintentionally, the essence of Holden Caulfield. You really believe this kid. I think there were things for him to draw on in his life that rooted his performance in some ways. I saw the movie and he was the first person I wanted to call because I just thought he did such a great job. He carries the movie and it's such a tough piece in a lot of ways.
When you first read the script were you thinking of playing 'Igby?'
I would have loved to but I was way too old. That's a part I would have dreamt about playing when I was younger, certainly.
You also have “The I Inside” coming up. What's that film about?
It's a film I just finished. It's a suspense thriller in the vein of Hitchcock. This director who did this film is phenomenal and the cast turned out great. It's the best work I've ever done as an actor, definitely.
Why do you say that?
Because I got to do things and go places that I haven't on film before. It's a descent into madness. It's very much like the Nicholson character in “The Shining.” It's kind of a fun, losing your mind kind of trip.
What's the film about?
It's hard to say because it is a mystery. Put it this way: a guy wakes up in a hospital with amnesia, doesn't know what year it is, is told that he has a wife, that he killed his brother, and that someone is trying to kill him. Then you are trying to figure out throughout the whole movie how this happened. It jumps back and forth between two different realities - the year 2000 and the year 2002. You have to figure out what is real and what isn't. It's a crazy little movie I think.
It's interesting that you say that's your best work.
I know that I did things in this film that I've not done as an actor before. Every range of emotion this character offered within it. The script was so weird and original. It feels like something Kubrick would have done, or Hitchcock would have done. It's a really interesting piece.
The cast was Stephen Rea, Sarah Polley, Robert Sean Leonard, Stephen Lang and Piper Perabo. A German director named Roland Suso Richter directed it. [He directed] a movie called “The Tunnel” last year that they said was the best movie since “Das Boot” to come out of Germany. This guy's going to be a big director, I think.
You could have gotten stuck in the teen genre when you did “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Was that a conscious decision on your part, or your management's part?
My part. I take responsibility for all the good and bad in my career because I make my own decisions and I have since I was 18 or 19. You learn what traps to avoid. You learn through experience how to protect yourself as an actor in all these things. The major transition in my career came when I realized that my involvement in a film could help it get made. So once I realized that... The best example would be “The Way of the Gun,” “Gosford Park,” “Igby Goes Down” - I got those movies financed, okay? Although I take no credit for how incredible “Gosford Park” was, I take some credit for helping them get the money to make the movie. That's the business side of what we do. Once I realized as an actor that I had that kind of power, why would I not want to do that - help Altman get his movie made or help Burr Steers get money for this original script?
So, you're a natural producer?
I'm a natural producer but that's what is most fulfilling to me is this idea that I'm proud of these films. I'm not proud of the films that I made earlier on and the films that I've made with the studios. I feel like I'm on the right track now. I feel like I'm doing things that are relevant and make sense and are different.
Do you have any desire to direct?
Yes. I have written something I'd like to direct within the next two or three years. It's a true crime. My inspiration was like "To Die For" and "Fargo," but it's a true story. It's a true crime story about a kid con artist from Europe who comes to America pretending to be a missing child from Texas. He lives with this family and it truly happened. It happened in the mid 90s.
How have you and Reese kept it together?
It's not easy but we work hard and we sacrifice. We focus on each other. I don't think we've figured it all out but I think we've done as good a job as anybody else. We'll see where we go from here. It's been good and I think we've done all right.
What do you enjoy the most about being a dad?
I don't know. Every day it's different and every day it's exciting. That's what I enjoy the most - just seeing her mind develop and being a part of that.
How do you and Reese juggle your schedules? Do you have a lot of help?
We have some, but not a lot. It's just balance like any other family relationship. We have certain rules we adhere to for our own family's construct.
