2008 Woodie Awards
Indie film actor performs balance in 'The Visitor'
William Goss
Issue date: 5/15/08 Section: Variety
Over the course of the past three decades, actor Richard Jenkins has merited a fair amount of acclaim for his work in supporting roles, from the comedic - Me, Myself & Irene, the upcoming Step Brothers - to the dramatic - North Country, The Kingdom - to the unintentionally comedic - The Core.
Now, in The Visitor, Thomas McCarthy's follow-up to The Station Agent, Jenkins takes center stage as Walter Vale, a professor and widower who comes home to a young couple squatting in his seldom-occupied New York apartment.
"It's a character piece. It's about the people dealing with each other, and I always saw it as a relationship film," said Jenkins in a recent telephone interview. "Actors love to see that, to see how people affect each other."
It's difficult to argue that Jenkins' performance here isn't an understated one, but his reserved manner is crucial in keeping a film that deals with immigration issues from turning into a melodramatic soapbox, like in the recent Under the Same Moon.
When it comes to preventing a performance from becoming too mature or, on the flip side, too understated for its own good, Jenkins said, "you go by how it feels. That is kind of what we have as our barometer; if it feels phony, I guess, there's maybe not enough energy, or maybe too much. It's tricky, and you've got to go by how it feels in the scene."
Writer-director McCarthy is himself an actor, which Jenkins found helpful. "He knows what he likes from a director as an actor, and he tries to mirror that as a director. He's very collaborative and interested in your ideas, yet at the same time, it's his movie, and he makes the decisions."
As for the modest celebrity that Jenkins can no doubt claim, "It's flattering, it is nice. I mean, I'm comfortable with it, and always a little bit surprised by it."
After this drama, Jenkins finds himself once again teaming up with the Coen brothers for a comedy, Burn After Reading.
"It had a great script, and there wasn't a lot of tension on the set, or an ounce of pretension in them. [The Coens] shoot very fast and get the movie they want," Jenkins said.
As far as the balance of comedic and dramatic roles go, Jenkins isn't worried. "It depends all on the parts, all on what's there on the page. That dictates how you play 'em. So long as they're good projects, I'll do eight of them in a row."
The Visitor is now playing at the Regal Winter Park Village.
Now, in The Visitor, Thomas McCarthy's follow-up to The Station Agent, Jenkins takes center stage as Walter Vale, a professor and widower who comes home to a young couple squatting in his seldom-occupied New York apartment.
"It's a character piece. It's about the people dealing with each other, and I always saw it as a relationship film," said Jenkins in a recent telephone interview. "Actors love to see that, to see how people affect each other."
It's difficult to argue that Jenkins' performance here isn't an understated one, but his reserved manner is crucial in keeping a film that deals with immigration issues from turning into a melodramatic soapbox, like in the recent Under the Same Moon.
When it comes to preventing a performance from becoming too mature or, on the flip side, too understated for its own good, Jenkins said, "you go by how it feels. That is kind of what we have as our barometer; if it feels phony, I guess, there's maybe not enough energy, or maybe too much. It's tricky, and you've got to go by how it feels in the scene."
Writer-director McCarthy is himself an actor, which Jenkins found helpful. "He knows what he likes from a director as an actor, and he tries to mirror that as a director. He's very collaborative and interested in your ideas, yet at the same time, it's his movie, and he makes the decisions."
As for the modest celebrity that Jenkins can no doubt claim, "It's flattering, it is nice. I mean, I'm comfortable with it, and always a little bit surprised by it."
After this drama, Jenkins finds himself once again teaming up with the Coen brothers for a comedy, Burn After Reading.
"It had a great script, and there wasn't a lot of tension on the set, or an ounce of pretension in them. [The Coens] shoot very fast and get the movie they want," Jenkins said.
As far as the balance of comedic and dramatic roles go, Jenkins isn't worried. "It depends all on the parts, all on what's there on the page. That dictates how you play 'em. So long as they're good projects, I'll do eight of them in a row."
The Visitor is now playing at the Regal Winter Park Village.