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Q:
Steve, great to have a chance to talk with you again. You were
recently in Toronto for the Film Festival hyping up Joyride; did you
have a good time?
A: Actually, yes I did. I love Toronto, I have
spent a lot of time up there working. There's a lot of stuff
going on there.
Q: Well, your most recent role as Ray in
Riding In Cars With Boys must have been a bit of a challenge
seeing how you had to play a guy who ages in the film over a
20-year period.
A: Ya, you know that gets hard. A good character
makes your job a lot easier, I know it sounds corny but a really
well written character makes it. What's hard is that kind of
thing where you are, like, how old am I now, and am I high
school kid today? The whole night you are saying to yourself, no
way, no way!!! Then there are extras that are real high school
kids and you're like, dude how old are you? And then you start
thinking no way; this is NOT going to work. What have I gotten
myself into? This guy is 18. I can't do this.
Q: It must have been fun to go back
though,
huh
A: (sarcastically) Ya,
kind of, I guess.
Q: Is it harder as an actor to play someone
based on a real life person?
A: I guess it depends. Ray is a real
life person but at the same time he's not playing this adorable
figure where everybody has this idea of what he is like and you
have to follow that and stay true to it. It's a movie, it's a
stage and its my interpretation of that person and it made it kind
of hard because the real Beverly was around on set a lot and even
though it's entertainment we are still telling her story, so
thats what makes it hard.
Q: With having Beverly Donofrio on
set, did she discuss with you what Ray was really like or did she
leave it to you and the script?
A: No, she was pretty cool about
it. She was very aware of the fact that making this movie was going
to take on a different life than her book and that was refreshing.
Otherwise, it could be really hard if someone is standing over you
saying, you know, Ray didn't do that, no he's not like that. I
know that I did things that her husband would never do, but at
the same time, again, it has to be entertaining and it's not a
documentary.
Q: So, is Drew Barrymore
really as sweet and innocent as she seems?
A: Nope!!! She's got
you all fooled! Just kidding, yes she is. What you see is what
you get. For someone who grew up in this business and has been known
since she was such a little girl and is such a nice person. it is so
completely refreshing. She is truly unbelievable. Trust me, there
were times on that set when I would say to her (yelling) this
coffee is horrible, get me some more, come on it's 5:30 in the
morning. She never did stuff like that. I'd always ask her, are you
going to yell at least once on this shoot? Come on, get
pissed!
Q: You have been so busy lately it's always
exciting to see what you are going to do next.
A: Well,
thanks.
Q: When you get a script is there is there anything
in particular that you are looking for that you really want to
do?
A: I'm like a kid still so if I read a
script where there are fast cars I'm there. Or if I get
something, for example, where I'm on a mountain and I can be a
cowboy, that's fun stuff. How cool would that be? What it all really
comes down to is reading a character that you think that you can do
well. That's the hard part. finding that, and you hope that it falls
into something like the war picture or the western. There's a lot of
balancing involved, especially when you have people knowing what
you do and associate you with certain types of
characters.
Q: You recently reunited with Ethan
Hawke whom you starred with in Hamlet and Reality Bites, but now he
has directed you in a film called Chelsea Walls that we will be
seeing quite soon. How was he to work with as a director?
A: You know what? Ethan should direct,
a lot! He's dynamite. I was very impressed. After we finished
Chelsea Walls I went right up to him and said, dude, let's find
another project that we can act in and you can direct. He is
amazing. There are a lot of people, and actors, who say "I want to
direct now" and they try it out, but I have to say that Ethan is
a natural. I think that he's got it in him. I don't
think that I could do that, I don't think that way. But Ethan is an
amazing guy who's got many talents.
Q: I just recently watched the
DVD version of Dr. Dolittle 2 with my kids in which you provided the
voice for Archie the Bear and you will soon be reprising the role of
Monty in Stuart Little 2. Is it more fun doing voice work? Do you
like it better than being in front of the camera?
A: I do like it and it is completely
different but it is very hard work. It was harder than I thought it
was going to be. But when they really let you go it is such a gas.
On Dr. Dolittle 2 we had so much fun on that thing and it was so loose. We'd go about ten hours every
day just making jokes and try to come up with stuff. It can be
really fun. It is a blast but a lot of hard work,. though. People
don't realize that.
Q: Coming up next we are going
to see you in a film called National Security. Can you tell us a
little about that one?
A: It's an action comedy coming out next spring. It's Martin Lawrence and
I being crazy. We are real crazy guys together. We play
security guards who get into a mess of trouble. Let's
leave it at that!
Q:
Sounds great, we'll look out for that. Good luck with everything and
thanks for the chat.
A: Take care.
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