SFR: Halfway Decent is a total treat, I think partly because Alan Berger's screenplay is screamingly funny, just airtight, and also because your performance is so nuanced. Had you worked with him before-what drew you to this project?
EH:
So much of my work has been as a supporting actor, and sometimes it seems the parts are getting smaller and smaller; I get paid fairly well, but there's just not a whole lot to do. I really wanted the experience of carrying a film. Alan wrote the character [of Tom] with himself in mind, and he can be…a little cynical. Let's just say, we have really different approaches.
Like his character in A Walk in the Park-
Right. But when I decided to do the role, he didn't change the character, which made it really odd for me. I just wouldn't do these things, you know-like when Finn [Carter] and I pull over the car and you see us get in the back seat. I mean, in the daytime? Why not just go home! Or, when I walk past my mother, he wanted me to bump into her really hard. I wouldn't do these things; but Alan Berger would. We see the world differently. But I thought, OK, it'll be a nice exercise, and I wanted to have a project where I could really work on something-as opposed to
Miss Congeniality
, where I get paid a lot, but…
Your
costars are really solid; every actor pulls his or her weight completely, and even the tiniest parts-say, the crazy barber who fires Cervando-are astonishingly well cast, perhaps especially Finn Carter as Tom's wife, Bonnie.
You know, I saw the film but not in a very good setting, so I'm not quite sure how the movie plays out as a whole; I'll see it in Santa Fe. And the whole time we were filming, there was always this tug of war between Alan's stuff and my stuff and trying to reach a compromise as the character tries to find home. Like, why am I fighting with my wife? Relationships are very interesting to say the least [laughs]. We want it to be so simple; boy meets girl, what's so hard about that? Originally Alan had cast Brett Butler opposite me but, while I like her and worked with her on her TV show, I couldn't imagine dating her. Then she wasn't able to do it and we got Finn, who's perfect: sexy, fun, interesting. I thought people would have a problem about the interracial relationship, and I was especially concerned blacks wouldn't like it, that I'm married to a white woman in the movie-but it really doesn't matter; we all put ourselves in these difficult romantic situations, and that was [Tom's] reality. And it turns out nobody's ever even mentioned it.
Your delivery is so deadpan and exasperated-did you crack up your costars?
Actually, I mostly fought with Alan, every step of the way; it was the only way I could grasp this character. Alan's really-he walks around and he'll say the weirdest stuff, and if you don't know he's joking you'll be really offended. I can work with pretty much anybody, but at one point I just wanted to kill him. I looked at him and Suzanne Olsen [who's married to Berger] was watching me watch him-and she said, 'He's an acquired taste.'
The film has a flippant exterior but a really sweet, almost sentimental heart-for instance, the scene when Tom Black gives his reasons for being a cop. And you've played a lot of authority figures-cops, principals, ministers-any idea why?
It's so bizarre to me because in truth I've never had a job in my life. I can't really consider acting as a job; it's so much fun when it's something that I can sink my teeth into, like [the part in]
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
. And my kids think it's hilarious when I get cast like that, because they know. I'm not sure; maybe it's my voice, or my size…
Or casting directors have some kind of James Earl Jones complex.
[Laughs] Exactly. But it's strange to me because I don't identify with those qualities. I feel on the inside more like a Tom Hanks kind of actor-just goofy and happy to be alive. But that's not how I get perceived, so…sometimes it seems like I get cast because they respect me and want me there, but then when I show up they don't necessarily want what I have. Now, playing that part on
Oz
I really liked. I'm sure they wanted me to play it much darker, but I couldn't do that. I just felt, this guy's gotta have a sense of humor! In the end I lightened up the character probably more than the writer wanted. None of my earlier characters had this much gravitas-so it's probably my age, too.
Any interesting projects coming up?
The hardest thing for me as an actor is trying to find a way to keep it interesting so I don't wake up one day and say, 'I'm tired and I don't want to do this any more.' So I like to do different things-I did an episode of
Stargate
, which should come out in February, and I just finished a horror movie with Snoop Dogg, whom I really respect. I also finished
Nobel Son
, with Alan Rickman, Mary Steenbergen, Bill Pullman-it's great to play opposite people you really like and with whom you can work at a certain level. In an ideal world, I think we're all looking for the experience of finding ourselves through our work, making our contribution.
Have you been to Santa Fe before?
When I shot
Speechless
with Michael Keaton and Geena Davis, we came here for a couple of days-I just remember that the spas were really great. And these days I'm more and more interested in connecting with other people, so I look forward to meeting everyone.
