Interview with Justin Bartha: Holy Rollers
By Alexandra Heilbron on June 15, 2010 | 2 Comments
Justin Bartha was largely an unknown until his role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure series made him a star. He continued with steady roles in films like Trust The Man, Failure To Launch and The Rebound, before his role as missing groom-to-be Doug Billings in last year’s comedy megahit The Hangover further increased Bartha’s visibility. The 31-year-old’s latest role is as drug-dealing Hasidic Jew, Yosef Zimmerman, in the drama Holy Rollers. Tribute’s Bonnie Laufer spoke to Justin Bartha by phone from his home in New York, about his reasons for choosing such a bad ass role, immersing himself into this world, his current role on Broadway in Lend Me A Tenor, his thoughts on his best bud Bradley Cooper and the status on The Hangover sequel!
Q: You’re currently on Broadway in the hit revival, Lend Me A Tenor. This is your Broadway debut playing Max. How’s that going?
J.B. It’s going great. I love doing the show.
Q: Well before we talk about your new film Holy Rollers, I wanted to congratulate you on the Tony nomination for the show as Best Revival. That must be very exciting!
J.B. It is exciting. We have some stiff competition in that category, but we are really proud.
Q: Aside from the great cast, the show is directed by Stanley Tucci. How amazing has it been learning from and being directed by him?
J.B. He is an amazing man. He’s so uniquely talented and versatile in a very different sense. He can pretty much do everything and he is really funny. He has an impeccable sense of timing and an impeccable sense of taste and he just has a very clear point of view of what he wants. At the same time he is unbelievably collaborative. He really trusts the actors and everyone that is around him and that mix from that point of view and that trust is what makes a great director.
Q: Aside from working with him and that cast (Anthony Lapaglia, Tony Shalhoub, Brooke Adams) what was it about the show that made you want to do it?
J.B. I had heard of the show but I wasn’t really overly aware of it. I knew it was a farce and I have been a big fan of Noises Off and I knew that it was similar to that. I had always wanted to be in Noises Off and I had been looking for a play to do for a while and this popped off. I thought the challenge of the farce element along with working with this wonderful cast and Stanley Tucci as a director how could I not. I would have given anything to be in it.
Q: You did a great job in your latest movie, Holy Rollers. People who saw you in movies like National Treasure and The Hangover are going to be blown away by you in this. It’s very different from what we have seen from you.
J.B. Well, thanks so much. It was something I really wanted to do for a while and I found it to be an incredible challenge.
Q: It’s a story based on real events, about Hassidic Jews who get involved in the drug world, but as I was watching the film it was clear that this could happen to anyone. It’s very universal.
J.B. Absolutely. The Hassidic aspect of the film is obviously something that people focus on because it’s an odd combination the Hassidic drug world, but that religion is really the backdrop to the film and the themes of family and faith are quite universal and could really be anything.
Q: You grew up in a fairly Jewish neighborhood in Michigan, but did you grow up very observant?
J.B. No, always reformed. We celebrated the High Holidays while I was growing up and I did have a Bar Mitzvah but Bar Mitzvahs from where I am from is really traditional and a big party. So I am traditionally a Jew but I don’t practice, I’m not a religious person but I do think that the tradition and history of Judaism is beautiful.
Q: When you started to dive into your role for Holy Rollers, I would think that you had to spend time with Hassidic Jews for your research.
J.B. We would go to Brooklyn and we would observe a lot. There are not a lot of sects that bring secular Jews in. There are parts of Chabad that will bring in reform Jews to teach them. Jesse Eisenberg, my co-star in the film, actually had a mini Bar Mitzvah by some of these Chabad Jews. But we really did spend a lot of time observing and I would read a lot. I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles early in my career and when I lived there I lived above a Hassidic family for quite a while and they were a tumultuous family that were part of the inspiration for Yosef (the character that I play) and the broken family that he comes from.
Q: This story is unbelievable; it just kind of blows the lid open on many things. What was it about it that got you hooked in?
J.B. These types of little movies, these character-based movies are what got me interested in movies in the first place. This is what Jesse and I aspire to be a part of. Not biting the hands that feed us, the big studio movies are wonderful things but yes it’s one thing to be known form comedies and stuff but we are actors and we just want to act. Now this was more of an opportunity to have more of a hand in the development in the actual project and that’s something that Jesse and I have wanted to do for a while. It was a little movie at we really wanted to shape and develop over a long period of time and have some control.
Q: The film is based on a true story of how Hasidic Jews were used to smuggle Ecstasy from Europe into the U.S. Did your research for the film provide you with the opportunity to meet any of the actual people?
J.B. No, and to be truthful, I didn’t think it was really necessary. Even though this is based on true events, this story has, not only in the Hasidic community, but in a lot of other Orthodox communities with all different religions have come up with obviously wayward people in the community doing not only drug smuggling, but nefarious activities. So it’s not exactly based on a specific one or two people, it’s an amalgam of people.
Q: Really?
J.B. Yes, it’s loosely based on, but the characters are completely fictionalized.
Q: You and Jesse Eisenberg have been good friends for years — I understand he was the one who brought this script to your attention?
J.B. Yes, Jesse sent me the script originally and it was very good but it was originally written as a bigger movie. It was more of a thriller, more focused on the drug aspect and it was just not practical. We honestly didn’t think we were going to be able to raise that kind of money to finance it in that form. So we paired it down to this character piece which made it much more appealing to us.
Q: Your character Yosef is dealing with a lot of problems in his life which makes him turn to a life of drugs. Would you call him a bad ass?
J.B I see him as just being lost. He just wants a family, someone who will accept him. He’s a guy who has been lost for a long time. His father has been absent, so he has had certain responsibilities that took their toll on him and so that for me was the basis of the character. How does someone exist in those circumstances in this very strict community yet also have to provide for a family. I’m not justifying his behavior in any way, but he felt pretty much ousted from his community and his family and he just needed something to turn to. He’s a very frustrated, insecure lost person and those are just themes that I personally find very interesting.
Q: When you belong to a very religious group like that you’re either in or you’re out. There really is no in between. Shaming your family, or marrying out of your religion are just two examples of being ostracized. Where did you have to go inside your own head to feel that type of isolation?
J.B. That character trait in Yosef is prevalent in everyone’s culture. Whether they outwardly act out on their impulses is one thing, but almost everyone can relate in some way to this guy. I have met so many people who have seen this movie and they have said to me, ‘I know a guy who is exactly like Yosef. You had to have based him on this guy.’ It’s amazing how many people this film has struck a chord with, so I think that’s what is interesting. He’s kind of an outgoing character yet we so rarely see that type of character in movies because you just don’t know about them.
Q: So you finally get to work with Jesse Eisenberg, what was it like for you guys to do this kind of one on one acting?
J.B. Oh my god, it was so amazing. When I first thought I wanted to be in movies all I wanted to do is work with the people who I love and my friends. There’s a shorthand that is there with Jesse and I that is almost necessary when you’re making a movie in 18 days in the dead of winter in New York.
Q: What impressed you about him as an actor?
J.B. I’ve seen everything that Jesse has done and he never ceases to amaze me. There’s a lack of self awareness in his performances that is something that I aspire to also. It’s very hard to play weak characters, especially characters who are pretending to be strong that are actually weak. So you need to throw every bit of narcissism out the door and he has that in spades. He fully immerses himself into these characters. He’s an actor who makes you believe that he really is that guy he is playing.
Q: You’ve both had opportunities to be in successful big budget films, but at the end of the day when you get to do smaller indie films it must be so gratifying and challenging at the same time.
J.B. Oh absolutely, it’s stretching every muscle as an actor. You get to really do so much work and really think and really be a part of the creative process which is why I think anyone who is in it for the right reasons is doing it.
Q: I have to say, it’s been a not bad couple of years for you Justin!
J.B. I’ve been very lucky so far. Fingers crossed it will continue in that direction. (laughs)
Q; Now the big question that everyone wants answered is when is Hangover 2 going to happen and will you be a part of it?
J.B. Yes, I will be back in the Hangover sequel.
Q: So does Doug (his character in the Hangover) get to partake this time in the debauchery with his groomsmen?
J.B. We’ll see. The script is just being worked on right now, but I’ll be back with the same bunch of guys. I’m hoping I will get into some trouble with them this time around!!
Q: Do you think that we might see another National Treasure movie?
J.B. Nothing has been confirmed on that, but I know that there has been talk about it. I’d be totally open to doing that too if it works out.
Q; Your good buddy Bradley Cooper is doing pretty well for himself these days too!! Are you still close with him?
J.B. Oh, of course! He is a great friend and I am so unbelievably proud of what he has accomplished over the last few years. I can’t wait to see him in The A-Team. The film looks like a blast.
Q; So anything else coming up for you?
J.B. I’m on Broadway in Lend Me A Tenor until middle of August and then I’ll take a little break and then it looks like Hangover 2 after that.
Holy Rollers opens in Toronto and Montreal June 18, 2010 and wider in Canada in July.
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