Academy Award-nominated actor William H. Macy's excitement for "Welcome to Collinwood" is contagious. Speaking to him about the film actually made me want to see it one more time - a first for a film released in 2002. In this exclusive interview, Macy enthusiastically discusses working with new directors, 'comic' actors, and addresses the Bellini issue - is there such a thing or isn't there?
WILLIAM H. MACY ('Riley')
What was it about the script that so attracted you to the film?
It's funny; it's really, really funny. There are no jokes in it and yet it's hysterically funny. It's got a great third act. I'm so totally American in my tastes, I need a big surprising page 90 surprise. I loved the fact that it's kind of got a good moral center to it. Even though it's about these low-lifes in Cleveland who are planning a heist - they are going to break into an apartment and rob a safe - it's got a good moral center. They fail and they get their comeuppance but in the meantime you have sort of fallen for these guys. It's honor among thieves I guess is what you would say.
Was it difficult for you to act and react with a baby in your arms during a large majority of the film?
No. That's one of the things that I loved about the idea. [I'm] playing a thug and a guy who beats on people with a baby in my arms all the time. I thought, “Now that's funny. That's tough to do.” I was very protective of these kids. As normal in Hollywood they cast twins. In case one of them was a little under the weather, we could go to the other one. Having a daughter the same age as these two little boys, I was very protective of them. A movie set can be a rough place. I made sure that they were taken care of and it just bled over on camera. I felt protective of them on and off-screen. I think to a certain extent it brought me to life.
Was it ever hard to stay in your character with an unpredictable baby in your arms?
Whatever they did, that was the character. What you see is what you get. The best acting is when you know exactly what your objective is and you know the lines cold, and then you stop judging what is in and out of character. If it happens, it happened for a reason. It's all in, in other words.
It didn't make it into the film but there was a scene where I'm in prison talking to my wife - the wife is in prison and I was visiting her - and the little lad peed all over me, right in the middle of the scene. My pants suddenly got very dark. I put it in; I kept acting. I thought you can't say “Cut” because the baby peed on you, that's part of the scene, dude, keep going. It's too bad that it got cut for length. But no, I thought that whatever happens happens.
The movie makes all the characters likable - even though they are criminals. Was this a hard thing to pull off without making your character too artificial?
It's not the actor's job…well, to a certain extent it is the actor's job. First of all that problem was solved by the writers, Joe and Anthony Russo. It's got a good center to it, and good wins and evil is vanquished. For me having two little girls who will someday see my films, that's the bottom line. I just want to be on the right side of right and wrong all the time.
I think they were also very cagey in how they cast this thing. They got a real serious cast; these are serious actors with big careers. There aren't any “funny” actors, comedic actors. God help us with comedic actors, they bore me to death. These are serious actors and we were kind of on each other to play it straight, you know? When anybody started to get too whacked out trying to be funny, the cast was kind of on each other. A long time ago I realized that it's not an actor's job to be funny, it's the writers job to be funny. They wrote a really funny script. I've seen this film four times and I just roar every time they break down that wall. It's a very funny moment.
You mentioned the times when you'd have to get on each other about pulling back in the comedy. Did that happen often?
When you get a really good cast of really good actors, it happens without anybody saying anything. It's just that you see your fellow actor acting really, really well and they raise the bar and one would be loathe to do a bunch of cheap gags when you see your fellow actor who is hysterically funny without doing cheap gags. It makes you want to act well, too.
Is there really such a thing as a Bellini?
No, they made all that stuff up. We were so fooled. I think that's when I got hooked on the project. I read the thing and I thought, "What's a Malinsky? I know a lot and I love words, but I've never heard of a Malinsky or a Bellini." So I asked the guys, "Is this a Cleveland term from the streets?" They said, "No, we made it up." I said, "Okay, I'll do it. I'll do this movie." They made it all up (laughing).
You had two directors on the film but not only two directors, two new directors and they were also the writers. Was that a challenge for you?
It could have been a challenge but, lucky me, these guys are really excellent filmmakers. They directed one other film and this is a big shot for them. Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney produced [the film] and it's going to get a big release. They were exquisitely prepared and even though it's tag-team directing, they knew what they were about. They would conference with themselves and the D.P. and they presented to us a united front. That's really all an actor wants, just tell me what to do.
Do you believe a tight shooting schedule benefits you as an actor?
You know what? I think it does. On one hand, if you are having a fractious day and something goes terribly awry, you don't have the luxury of saying, "Well, to hell with it. Let's go home and try it again tomorrow." On the other hand, it forces you to be prepared - there's no time to learn the lines once you get there; you better know them before you get there. And you have to go with your first impulses. I don't know much but I do know that my first impulses are the ones that I should listen to.
I like having to act fast. I think it's good for me personally.
How involved were Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney in the production end of the film?
[Soderbergh] was never on the set because he was shooting "Ocean's 11" at the time. We're hoping that we kick their asses at the box office because they are both heist movies. Wouldn't that be 'the little engine that could?' I know from talking to Joe and Anthony Russo that Steven was very involved in the pre-production, in the final tweaking of the script. I know he was very involved in the cut. He had many, many suggestions. But I have to tell you what excellent producers George and Steven were: at one point we were falling behind - it was through no fault of Joe and Anthony and it wasn't because of lack of preparation, it's just that these things happen - and they made a phone call and the next thing we know, we've got our two extra days. No muss, no fuss. As I understand it I think that George and Steven went to their wallets to pay for these 2 extra days. Even though they were very hands-on with the cut and how to cut the film, as I understand it from Joe and Anthony, they got the final cut. These guys, because they're filmmakers themselves, because they've been around the block, they treated these guys really, really well. The result is a wonderful movie.
"Welcome to Collinwood" is being compared to "Fargo" in that they are both comedy crime films. Do you find that comparison fitting?
Sure, sure. It doesn't have any jokes in it; it's not a jokey thing. All the humor is character or situational. But it's a lot lighter than "Fargo." "Fargo," I would have to call that a black comedy. This is not a black comedy, it's a comedy. It's funnier than all get-out.
You've been a part of some pretty amazing ensemble casts. Is there one group you'd like to package and take with you from film to film?
(Laughing) You know, "State and Main" was a great cast and boy, we were really firing on all cylinders, I thought. I'd like to schlep them around with me.
This is an extremely smart script. Have you found that with the superhero big budget movies so popular the past 6 months, that decent dialogue driven scripts have been more difficult to find?
No. It's hard to write a good script, it is very hard. But I have to say that I read more good scripts than I have time to do. I can't for the life of me tell you how a movie gets made. It's a miracle when it happens. A lot of time it has to do with somebody, or two or three people, having an unshakeable faith in the story that they want to tell so they just won't take no for an answer - and they are dogged with these things. Finally they see the light of day. No, there's a lot of good scripts out there. I think that movies are getting better and better. I mean, there's a bunch of garbage every once and awhile but I'm really happy to be in the business in these days because I like what's going on.
Do you enjoy working in independent films more than a big studio production?
Not more but just as much. They are different animals. I think a steady diet of either would grow old, personally. If I only did the big, fat studio movies I'd be really rich. I guess the difference is this: in an indie you've got to work fast and it's more about the actors. They light it as fast as they can because mostly they've got to get me acting, and that's fun. On a studio movie, like on "Jurassic Park 3," I would put in a 12 hour day. I'd wait 10 of them to act 2.
Do you feel like you have more freedom as an actor when you're doing an indie film?
Not necessarily, no. I don't think so. Certainly if you are doing a scene that's high-tech, that's got a lot of special effects, then you've got to sort of fit into the gag as it's been designed as opposed to a scene where two people are sitting in a room talking, then there's a little bit more freedom to improvise with the blocking, etc. etc. But truth to tell, I'm a relatively prescribed actor. I like to memorize the words exactly and do them exactly as they are written. All my improvisation has to do with the other actor. In other words, I don't need to have to move around a lot. You can give me my blocking and I can hit my marks every single time, and I can say the words exactly the same every single time. But within that, given that you do that, there's a lot of room for improvisation with your delivery as it were, by working off the other actors. That's enough improvisation for me. I find that exhausting as it is.
At this point in your career, what is it you're looking for in a project? Is there something out there that you know you have to head toward next?
Well, I'm not getting any younger and they seem to be letting me get the girl these days. I'm going to do this submarine movie called "U-Boat" next and I'm kind of a hero of this thing. There are no jokes and I'm kind of heroic. I like that. I feel like I maybe have a couple more years to do romantic comedies and romantic guys. Then after that, I think I'll be moving into the dad years when I'm everybody's dad. I look a lot younger than my actual age so I feel like I should really seize that in the next couple of years. I'm trying to keep in shape and not drink myself to death and get a couple more years out of my youthful appearance.
Do you see yourself as a romantic leading man?
Yes, but who doesn't?
Do you plan on doing any more writing?
Yes, we did this thing "Door to Door" recently and that fooled them all. That got over really big so we will do another one for TNT. We've had a meeting with them and we're trying to figure out what that will be. We perhaps will do more than one. We are now writing a script called "The Stripper and the Accountant" - we being Steven Shaitner who co-wrote "Door to Door" and directed it. This will be a little feature. So we've got three in the works.
Do you find yourself moving more into the writing arena, than acting?
No, I've been writing one a year for about the last 10 years and maybe I'll write a few more. I can write at home and I've got two little girls so that's a good thing. But my talents lie in acting.
Any plans to direct again?
No, that's not on the horizon for me. To be blunt, it's too much work. It's too much work and too much time for too little money. The director comes on months before the actors [and] the director works his or her ass off during the shoot. I mean it's the most exhausting thing. Steven Soderbergh described it as being dragged behind a pick-up truck for 6 weeks. And then you've gotten another several months after everyone else goes away. I don't have the patience. I'll stick with the writing and the acting.
Is it important to you that you're acting and trying to leave a good solid legacy for your children, nothing that they'll look back on and say, "Oh my gosh Dad, I can't believe you were in that?"
Oh gosh, it's my worst nightmare. So far, mostly, I'll stand behind all the work that I've done. You're exactly right, I have redoubled my determination to make sure that I don't do movies that are not true.
