Why don’t you see yourself as hot and sexy?
It’s not that I don’t see myself as hot and sexy. Don’t get me wrong. No, it’s not that. It’s that I’m 39. I feel hot and sexy, actually. …I feel it inside myself. I don’t feel dried up and tired and no longer interested in sex is what I’m trying to say.
But this business, you know, young Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd, young, hotter, bigger stars. Bigger stars. I think it would have maybe helped the movie, maybe helped him. Maybe not, and ultimately not, and of course now I’m really happy with the movie. It’s great. I’m happy the way it turned out but my initial instinct was to get somebody bigger, because I’m a producer as well as an actor. I’m in this business and I’m not dumb. It’s good to be able to share the wealth a little bit, get a star. It’s important.
Is it difficult to relinquish vanity to play an un-made up character?
It isn’t when you’re actually in the moment of doing it. And then when you watch it on film, you go, “Ugh, ew, gag. I’m icky. I should’ve been lit a little better and worn a little more mascara.” You know what I mean? Your vanity comes up, but it’s done. I have too much respect for the characters I play to make them anything but as real as they can possibly be. I have a great deal of respect for all of them, otherwise I wouldn’t do them. And I don’t want to screw them by not portraying them honestly.
Do you want to work together again?
Not for today. In some ways, going through all this is so much harder being in the same boat. It’s easier in some ways being on the life raft and the other guy’s in the boat and you can row alongside and be supportive. In some ways, that’s an easier role. But I also think that it’s hard. It’s hard on our kids when we’re both away. It’s not something that we usually do. And I don't know how many times it’s going to be something that people are going to want to see, people together, actors. I think Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks to me are the only people who could work over and over again together and it work. But there are not that many people that get paired up again and again and do a good job. Again, they did it in the day, back in the day in the ‘40s. Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant and obviously Katharine Hepburn. That was great. But I just don’t know that that’s done so much anymore well.
Overall was it a good experience?
Oh, it was an amazing experience. He’s the best actor I know, so that’s always good. It’s nice to work with a good actor and you know every day when you go to work, you’re going to get something back that’s good.
Did you do a lot of research for your role?
I did my own kind of research. I asked a lot of questions. I spent a lot of time with Nicki, talking about history of the character. I did look at some documentaries. I worked in a lumberyard. But this was a character who really spoke to me. I really heard her voice right away from the moment I read the script. There wasn’t a great deal of research involved for me.
How difficult were the love scenes?
Well, you know, those scenes are always really uncomfortable, no matter how you slice it. Even if it’s someone that you would really like to be “hanging out” with. They’re just always awful. And this was again, once again, just had to stay incredibly committed to the character. It’s such an important piece for Walter and Vickie, that piece of it. And it’s such an important part of the film. It’s like any other scene. It’s like the big crying scene or the big screaming scene or the big laughing scene. It has got to be prepared for in that same way, and one has to stay as committed to the material as the character as in any other scene.
