Character of 1,000 Faces

Chances are if you’ve watched one or two movies in the last thirty years, you’ve noticed Richard Jenkins’s reedy 6’1″ frame, gaunt visage, and stern voice on more than a few occasions. He’s been a variety of cops, attorneys, psychiatrists, and desperate husbands — the “guy” you always seem to notice but can’t recollect the name of. After all, we’re not talking Robert Redford here.

Yet, within the screen time that his everyman characters have been given, Richard Jenkins has invested his dozens of roles with true star power. Now, an actor who has stayed brilliantly on the sidelines in every film and TV show, from The Witches of Eastwick to Miami Vice and The Core, is taking the long-deserved spotlight this year like never before as a lethally lovesick gym owner in Burn After Reading and the had-it-to-here dad who takes in the Step Brothers.

But the part that has just gotten Jenkins his well-deserved Oscar nomination is that of The Visitor‘s Walter Vale, a seemingly emotionless and utterly boring professor who finds new vitality when he befriends the illegal Lebanese immigrant Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and his similarly endangered African girlfriend Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira). It’s a bond that teaches Walter about the plight of those who desperately want to be citizens, as well as how to play the African drums. Walter’s unlikely camaraderie soon brings him into contact with Tarek’s mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass), with whom he bonds as they take a heart-wrenching journey through the impenetrable bureaucracy of our legal system — one that has zero sympathy for the illegals it relentlessly detains.

The Illinois-born Jenkins has spent years on the stage in Rhode Island — theatrical training that has let his work in The Visitor show you everything that a great performance is all about — namely complete, unpretentious reality. And though he never seems to do much on the surface (especially as an utterly uncaring psychiatrist in There’s Something About Mary), it’s his ability to subtly get at what’s underneath a character that makes Walter’s transformation into a true human being all the more affecting in The Visitor.

Almost shockingly warm, given the authoritarian figures he seems to play half the time, Richard Jenkins exudes a pleasant humbleness, acknowledging the subtle disbelief at reaching a plateau that so many other familiar and deserving character actors never touch — no matter how many icons they’ve played off after decades in the business. Now, with the rave reviews and awards he’s won for The Visitor, that mountain of gold could be in sight for Richard Jenkins.

Daniel Schweiger: When you look at the political climate when The Visitor came out at the beginning of the year, you wouldn’t think it was the best time to make a film that sympathetically shows illegal immigrants — especially Arab ones — yet it’s become an indie hit.

Richard Jenkins: Well, it’s such a complicated issue, and I think The Visitor‘s success was all in how it presented those issues. Our director and writer, Tom McCarthy, wasn’t out to make a “message” movie. He just wanted to show how everything changes when you know somebody. He’d been to Lebanon, where he met this great artist who was full of life. Tom wanted to put a character like that together with somebody like Walter — a man who’d probably never stop and meet him. The Visitor is how these two “opposites” affect each another, especially when you have the kind of Arab characters you never see in American movies. The immigration side of The Visitor comes from Tom’s work with a group called The Sojourners, who are based out of the Riverside Church in Manhattan. They visit those foreign detainees and do everything from giving them toothpaste to trying to find them lawyers and contacting their relatives. Because these people have no one to speak for them, Tom decided it was important to make them part of the story.

DS: What were your perceptions of Arabs and illegal immigrants before you took on the role of Walter Vale?

RJ: I didn’t know any Lebanese people, although I have been to Syria to do a play in Damascus, so I knew some artists there for a while, but I am a little bit like Walter Vale because my reach to other cultures is not great. So it was incredible for me to work with these actors who opened up my world — Hiam Abbass, who’s a Palestinian, was born and raised in Israel; Haaz Sleiman is from Lebanon… There were a lot of other people in the movie who were also from the Middle East, including a guy who played the restaurant owner near the detention center. Remember that the only parts actors like these are usually offered are terrorists.

DS: Did playing Walter change your own perceptions of these people?

RJ: As an actor, I like to stand in someone else’s shoes and look at the situation from their perspective. Here, I was trying to think of what it would be like if someone told me I was illegal or if I had my son or daughter put in a detention center. It all comes down to how you treat people.

DS: What do you think about those immigrants who are in detention centers right now?

RJ: It seems to me that they’re “lost.” When you get in there, there’s no way out and that’s that. We shouldn’t treat people like that.

DS: Do you think The Visitor has changed people’s minds about how America treats its illegal immigrants?

RJ: It depends on the person who sees the movie. Maybe it’s changed some people’s minds. Others will see and hear the word “illegal” and think that’s the only thing that matters. In the end, I don’t know. I just hope they enjoy The Visitor. I’ve had people say to me, “I don’t agree with this politically, but I really love this movie.” As for me, I’ve never thought of The Visitor as having a political viewpoint. It’s basically about people trying to help each other. Even the illegal immigrants in the film acknowledge that they’ve broken the law. And in that case, what can you do?

DS: When you play a character like Walter, who at first shows so little outward emotion, do you have to create a backstory to “bond” with him?

RJ: I don’t. I use what’s on the page. That’s where all the clues are. Sometimes you can get preoccupied with something that you really can’t play onscreen and do research that doesn’t mean anything. But for me, all the clues are there in Tom’s script. It gave me an idea of what Walter was like when his wife was alive. He was probably reluctant. She would be the one to push him to try new, fun things. So this woman was outgoing and full of life, and Walter lived off of that. That’s one of the reasons he’s so attracted to this young guy, Tarek, who has the same kind of vitality that his late wife had. I didn’t sit down and write that feeling out. It just kind of happened.

DS: Walter comes from academia — a world of writing papers that might seem pretty pointless to a lot of people on the outside. What’s it like for Walter to break out of that seemingly dead-end existence?

RJ: Teachers like him are expected to write, whether they want to or not. Walter has been a professor for a long time and has written three or four books, so there was something in this life that he liked. In a way, Walter reminded me of a friend of mine who’s a history professor at Brown. He’s written several books and loves it. One is about childhood diseases in late 19th century America — something that’s really fascinating for him. My friend saw The Visitor and told me that he knows guys like Walter. They go through their careers without changing the syllabus and give the same test every time.

DS: It seems, more than ever, that smaller films like The Visitor have a shot at the Oscars, yet the industry complains that the show’s viewership keeps declining because it’s mostly made up of independent films that mainstream audiences never see. Do you think that real cinematic “art” has indeed taken a place at the Oscars at the cost of the show itself?

RJ: I just know that guys like me wouldn’t help the ratings! It’s such a weird thing, anyway, to say “This movie is better than that.” It’s hard enough to make a movie that works in the first place, especially when it comes to these big commercial films. And doesn’t everyone make fun of awards shows anyway? Saying stuff like, “This is the longest one yet!” But I happened to like the Oscars last year. People were saying it was the worst they’d ever seen, while I thought it was kind of cool. I like seeing everyone, because the truth is that I like Hollywood. I like the idea of it. I like the people. It was great that the Coens won Best Picture and that Daniel Day Lewis won Best Actor.

DS: I far preferred the screwball black comedy of Burn After Reading to the far more “serious” No Country For Old Men, especially with your performance in Burn. Was it difficult to play it straight when surrounded by the crazed performances of just about everyone else?

RJ: All the script said about him was “Ted Treffon, the soulful manager of Hard Bodies Gym.” And that’s what he was. He’s kind of like Walter, in a sense. If Ted walked into a room, you wouldn’t see him. So playing him like that wasn’t a choice I made — it was just the character. And it was great to be around all of the Burn actors. Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand were hilarious during rehearsals, and J.K. Simmons and David Rasche were really funny as well.

DS: Yet you’re the poor shmoe who pays for everyone’s sins.

RJ: The Coen brothers have no mercy. All this guy is trying to do is find a girlfriend, and he ends up with a hatchet in his head!

DS: After doing so many movies, I think the film that mainstream America finally noticed you in was There’s Something About Mary, where you played a completely unconcerned psychiatrist. Did you think the film was going to take you off like that?

RJ: Most people don’t say that’s the part that did it for me, but I think it’s true. I live in Providence, Rhode Island, where I first met the directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly when I was in a film they produced called Outside Providence. So when they did Mary, they called me to come for one day to do this part. I really had no idea what the film was going to be. I don’t think Peter and Bobby even knew. But it’s amazing. Mary is one of those films that has never gone away.

DS: After playing so many authority figures, you’ve really developed a droll sense of comic timing.

RJ: I like fun things, but I also just want to be real when playing those parts. For me, it’s the easier way to go at it. I’ve worked with comedians who are brilliant at what they do, but I’m not a comedian. I can’t do that. So for me, “funny” is being real.

DS: I’ll disagree because I thought your scenes in Step Brothers opposite Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly were some of the most hilarious stuff I’ve seen this year.

RJ: I just loved working with the director, Adam McKay. And Will and John are incredibly generous performers. They wanted to get through the script a couple of times before they shot it, and I couldn’t remember getting through it once because we were laughing so hard. They like to do readings with 150 people to see how everything works. It’s almost like doing a play at the start. Then they’d rewrite, which made the second half of Step Brothers even funnier than it was before. And Adam shoots enormous amounts of film. These guys are so quick with their timing and jokes. I remember Will even crying when I said something harsh to him, just like a four-year-old would. Will really got into his character. It was unbelievable.

DS: I imagine you’ve had arguments with your own kids. Did you put any of that in Step Brothers?

RJ: Well, Will and John’s characters had an answer for everything. They refuse to take any responsibility for themselves. It was so maddening! My son and my daughter are pretty good at that too. You just know you’re going to lose your argument with them and finally, you just give in. But that doesn’t compare to what my movie son John C. Reilly put me through.

DS: Do you think half the fun of having you in comedies is seeing what will happen when a straight-laced guy like yourself is stretched to the breaking point?

RJ: I hope so. It’s like what Tom McCarthy said when he was casting The Visitor — he wanted an “everyman.” He wanted the first person you don’t see when you walk into a room. Then you end up focusing on that character. People don’t say, “Oh my God, it’s him!” when I walk into a room because I don’t have that “star” quality. So I like playing these guys who surprise you with what’s going on.

DS: So many character actors who work like you do never make the transition to leading man like you do in The Visitor. What do you think made your career “pop” like that?

RJ: I don’t think I could have played Walter without all those years I’ve done supporting parts. I don’t know if I trusted myself to just let it happen. I’m a slow learner as an actor, and there are a lot of great ones out there.

DS: Do you still consider yourself a “character actor” or a lead?

RJ: I’m 61, and they don’t write leading man roles for 61-year-olds, so I’m a character actor and that’s great. I’ve been really fortunate to do interesting roles. If they get a little bit bigger, that’s great too, but I’m not deluding myself. It’s not going to be “Move aside, Leonardo!”

DS: Yet you’ve played a romantic lead opposite Hiam Abbass in The Visitor and Mary Steenburgen in Step Brothers.

RJ: That’s weird, isn’t it? Hiam is very pretty in The Visitor.

DS: Do you wish they took that further?

RJ: Our characters’ “romance” never occurred to us when we were shooting the film, but it was sad to let her go at the airport, nonetheless. A lot of people at screening Q & As have asked if we ever got together. Some people told us that they knew exactly what happened — that Walter would go and see Mouna. Tom actually had a line at the airport where Walter asks her, “Do you ever go visit your son in London?” And we cut it because it just ties things up too nicely. The future has to be murkier than that.

DS: What’s coming up for you?

RJ: I do one scene in an animated movie called The Tale of Despereaux, playing a principal mouse. I was there for 35 minutes with the producer, Gary Ross, thinking we were doing a run-through, and then he told me, “Thanks, that’s it. You’re wrapped.” I like working like that!

DS: How would you describe where you’re at now as an actor?

RJ: I’m incredibly fortunate. This last year has been the best year of my life as an actor, doing Step Brothers and Burn After Reading. I loved every one of those projects and the people in them. Being in The Visitor was a real gift. When we did the film, we knew that we’d have to sell it. And if it was bought, would anybody like it? If not, it would be my fault. So it got a little weird there, and I understood how movie stars feel when the responsibility is on them. The Visitor ended up making nine and a half million dollars. I don’t think Gene Hackman could feed the families of his movies on that! But that was a big success for us. Right from the start, I loved being on The Visitor‘s set all of the time, and I felt honored when Tom asked me to see a rough cut of the movie. That really made me feel involved with a film on a level I’d never been before. I was like “The Guy,” and I always wondered what it would be like to have that feeling.

Daniel Schweiger’s column appears courtesy of Nancy Bishop and Venice Magazine.