Owen Wilson Q&A

22 December 2010

Owen Wilson is back on the big screen this week as he reprises the role of Kevin in Meet The Parents: Little Fockers.

- What was it like going back and playing Kevin again?

Well for me, on the second one I just kind of came in, literally for one day, and so I haven’t really kind of been around those guys since the first one.

And it was a lot of fun. Kevin has always been a funny character to me and it was pretty easy picking up where we left off some years ago.

I liked playing him the first time and I would say it’s even more fun playing him the second time.

Kevin sort of has the tyranny of the pleasant personality, he doesn’t intend for anything negative or to cause any stress for Greg but of course that’s exactly what he does create.

- He’s kind of Greg’s worst nightmare though isn’t he, because Jack clearly thinks that he’s the best thing ever...

Yeah, exactly. Kevin can kind of do no wrong in Jack’s eyes, and I think what kind of makes it more aggravating for Greg is, it’s not like I’m a sinister person, I have this condescending admiration for Greg.

- Is he passive-aggressive?

Is he passive aggressive? Well, not intentionally, but yeah, that’s the effect, but I don’t think he would think that he was doing that.

- And where does Kevin fit into the story this time?

Well time has moved on and Greg and Pam have children now, they are raising their family, and Kevin has always sort of been on the periphery, and continues to sort of be successful in business and everything.

And I come back into the story when Greg gives me some advice on my engagement to some Russian model and that that doesn’t work out.

But you get the feeling that Kevin didn’t really want it to work out, because he’s still sort of, carries a torch for Pam.

The Fockers and the Byrnes, and their friends are gathering for the birthday party for the kids and everybody serves as to ratchet up the pressure on Greg.

- Do you get a lot of scenes with Ben?

Yeah, I think most of my stuff is with Ben and we’ve worked together on more than a few movies now. I think we’ve done something like 10 movies together. Can you believe that?

And we both really enjoy playing these characters because the way that Kevin and Greg relate to each other is funny to Ben and myself. We really have a great time playing these parts and, in particular, doing our scenes together.

- Can you remember when you first met Ben?

Yeah, I can. I first met Ben when I went to audition for The Cable Guy. Judd Apatow co- wrote that movie and I found out later that Judd really pushed for Ben to cast me (laughs).

Ben wasn’t very blown away by my audition and I’m not sure if ‘reluctant’ is the right word, but let’s say he put me in the movie without huge enthusiasm. But you know we ended up getting along really well and he said that he really liked the way I played my character in The Cable Guy.

I remember that he told me later that when he was editing the movie that it was one of his favourite scenes to work with - he said he really enjoyed that scene between me and Leslie Mann and how obnoxious my character was.

And then he saw Bottle Rocket after we had filmed The Cable Guy and he was a big supporter of the movie and he wrote me a very nice note, saying how much he liked it.

- Does it get easier working with somebody you know that well?

Well, I can’t say that it’s gotten easier, because it was always easy. I don’t think we were ever nervous or uncomfortable acting together, and I think usually when you are on the same page with somebody sense of humour wise, it goes pretty smoothly. And that’s always the way it is with Ben and me.

- I would imagine that working with Robert De Niro is one of the highlights of any career? But is it a little intimidating too?

Yeah, I get to do some stuff with Bob and that’s always exciting. I remember on the first movie being very nervous about my first day with Robert De Niro.

The scene was the one where I have to take everybody into Kevin’s house and I have to do this speech about all the great stuff in my house and I turned round and looked at De Niro’s face and every bit of dialogue went out of my head (laughs).

I just started speaking gibberish and Ben started laughing because I think he knew what was happening - that I just got very nervous.

But you know, Bob puts people at ease and I was able to get through it. And after that I got Bob to laugh a few times - and that’s a good feeling.

- So was it easier this time around?

Yeah, this time around, I was very comfortable with Bob and then I had fun with Dustin Hoffman, he makes me laugh a lot and he has this great energy that he brings to the part. So I got to work with Dustin just for one day, but it was fun doing it.

He’s great at comedy; in fact I’d say he’s a natural. He’s obviously great at the dramatic roles that he does, too, but when you are around him in real life he seems more like a person who would do comedy because he’s always laughing and making jokes.

He’s very loose on set - maybe he has another persona that he falls into when he’s doing something like Rain Man.

- There’s always an element of truth in good comedy and with these films that’s certainly the case - they play with that dynamic of two very different families getting together. Do you agree?

Yes. You can spend a lot of money doing special effects in movies but to me the most compelling part of any story are the people in it - the way they get along and the way they sort of misread each other and this has all the elements of that because the families are so different and there’s tension and comedy comes from that.

I think people can relate to it and that’s why they enjoy watching these films.

- Ben has been describing the scene where Greg has a fight with Jack on a bouncy castle, which sounds like a very surreal, very funny sequence. Were you around when they were filming that?

Yeah, I was around a little bit during that and I would see some of the stuff on the monitor and it looked like something from like World Wrestling Federation (laughs).

It’s a crazy scene and it’s a little bit surreal to see Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro having this kind of knock down, drag out fight, amidst this kids’ birthday party - it’s just very kind of odd and funny.

- You worked with Jay Roach on the first two films and this time Paul Weitz was directing. What did he bring to the picture?

Well it was similar in that Paul and Jay are both kind of quiet on the set, they are not loud, cracking a lot of jokes, or overbearing in their direction. And they are both kind of gentle and supportive, so you feel very comfortable improvising or trying things.

And I think Paul was a perfect fit to do this if Jay wasn’t going to be able to do it. It was great that Paul was able to come on board and do it.

- Do you like to improvise on every movie? Or is what happens on the day?

It’s not necessarily what happens on the day, although that’s part of it. It’s usually looking at your dialogue and thinking ‘oh when I do this it might be fun to try it this way..’

When I’m working with Ben, who is someone who is very comfortable with improvising, then we can feed each other ideas or play with different ways of doing a scene. I’d say it’s rare to work on a movie where you don’t do at least some improvising.

- You must enjoy those moments, when it sparks up and suddenly comes alive..

Yeah I do. Because I started as a writer I always feel that I’m contributing if I’m able to come up with a line or a way to make a scene better than maybe what it was on the page.

And with this, John Hamburg does a really good job with the script and it’s really funny so sometimes you just try to deliver what’s there and that make that work.

But sometimes the energy you get from trying to come up with something new - even if they don’t use it - it can kind of loosen things up. And it’s often the case that you can then do the original dialogue with more vitality.

- The first film had a really good blend of the more slapstick comedy - I’m thinking of the volleyball match in the pool - and the subtler laughs. Have they got the blend right with Little Fockers?

Yeah, I think so. John Hamburg does a great job and Paul Weitz can do stuff that is very broad in the sense that you get big laughs from the scenes but somehow it maintains it’s reality and it has a slightly unhinged quality, which is great (laughs).

- Do you get any physical stuff to do in this one?

Yeah, I do have some physical stuff at the birthday party that I’m do where I’m kind of in a Cirque De Solieil, type suit, it’s crazy kind of gymnastic stuff (laughs). Hopefully that should be good.

- Does it follow that when you’re doing comedy everybody is relaxed and fun on set? Or is comedy a serious business?

Well for me it’s pretty relaxed and loose. I guess there’s always a little bit of tension on movies where they are trying to make the day and on a movie like this, with so many people in it, and Paul, his first time for taking over for Jay, that puts a little bit of pressure on people.

But maybe I was just kind of cheerfully oblivious to it because I would just kind of come in and just have some funny stuff to do, and then leave. It was great.

- When you return to play a character like Kevin, a guy you’ve played a couple of times before, do you feel like you know him?

Yeah you do. I’m very comfortable with Kevin. I can put him in a situation or someone can describe the situation to me and I’m going to have a pretty good idea of how Kevin is going to react or interpret everything that’s going on around him.

- You’ve acted, written and produced so would you ever direct a movie?

When I get asked that question I feel kind of obligated to say ‘yes’ but I don’t have any immediate plans to do it.

And you know, acting is a lot of fun. But if the right project came along, maybe something I’d written myself, yes, I’d do it.

- Do you think this is a really good time for American comedy?

It seems to be. Personally, there are a lot of people around that make me laugh and they are doing really good work. So I would say that is a very good time for American comedy.

- Who makes you laugh?

I think Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell are great and I also really like Jonah Hill, he makes me laugh. And I thought The Hangover was one of the best movies of the year. And you know that guy Ben Stiller is very good (laughs).

I worked on a movie (The Big Year) with Jack Black and Steve Martin that will be out next year and I really enjoyed working with those guys. That guy John C. Reilly makes me laugh too.

It seems like there are a lot of good people working right now. And I loved that film Sideways, it wasn’t straight comedy but to me it had lots of funny stuff and both those guys made me laugh a lot in that, their friendship, their relationship was so well observed.

I was flipping the channels the other night and I saw that movie Punch Drunk Love with Adam Sandler and that’s a great movie.

- Talking of comedy greats, you worked with Woody Allen on Midnight in Paris. What was that like?

Yeah, that was a memorable experience. To be able to say that I’ve worked on a Woody Allen movie is pretty exciting. It was great.

- And how about working with James L. Brooks on How Do You Know? Wasn’t he instrumental in getting Bottle Rocket made all those years ago?

Yeah, he was the guy who gave us our big break and produced Bottle Rocket, and brought us out to Hollywood.

It was kind of funny to think that he came to Dallas and kind of got Wes (Anderson), Luke (Wilson) and myself out here to Los Angeles, and to have him cast me in the movie was exciting.

- Who were the comedy heroes that inspired you when you were growing up?

I didn’t have a background in stand up comedy or anything and so I can’t say that I ever wanted to be a comic. I still don’t think of myself that way.

I kind of ended up being in the funny movies just because the stuff that Wes and I started writing was the stuff that ended up having a funny slant to it. But I remember hearing Steve Martin’s album Let’s Get Small.

And Animal House was a movie that was really funny to me. The Producers with Zero Mostel was great. Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder really made me laugh in those movies they did.

But growing up in Texas, I never thought it would be possible to work in movies, so I wasn’t thinking as a kid that these are my heroes and I was going to try to emulate them.

- What about any of the British comedians?

Oh yeah. Fawlty Towers was genius and that really made me laugh. My Dad was the President of the PBS station in Dallas and that was the first station to have Monty Python on and so that was a big deal as a kid. And people like Steve Coogan and Stephen Merchant - those are guys that make me laugh.

- Will you work with Wes Anderson again?

Yeah, definitely I think we’ll work together again.

- So just sum up what it was like working on Little Fockers..

For me, it was great going back and having a chance to play this character again. It’s really funny and it was such a thrill to get the chance to see everybody - Ben and Bob and the rest - and play these scenes with them. It really was great fun.

Meet The Parents: Little Fockers is released 22nd December.