INT: Giovanni Ribisi

Nobody
can deny the ferocity with which Giovanni Ribisi owns the screen
whenever he’s on it, regardless of whether he’s a co-star or simply
a small returning character from a TV show. He makes bad movies look
good, and good movies look even better. If his name doesn’t ring a
bell, then don’t worry, because his face definitely should. You
probably don’t even realize how many times you’ve seen this dude. He
played Scarlett Johansson’s husband in LOST IN TRANSLATION, Phoebe’s
goofy brother Frank in TV’s ‘Friends’, one of the main medics in
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, Dex the geeky mechanic in SKY CAPTAIN, and even
the insanely creepy Elliot in the FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX remake. He
continues his scene-stealing legacy with PERFECT
STRANGER, where he stars alongside Halle Berry as her best friend.

The
people over at Sony were nice enough to provide JoBlo.com with a one-on-one
chat with the star over at the Four Seasons Hotel. I arrived there
early, eager to grub out on the free and oh-so-tasty food while
waiting, but instead found them already ready for me – apparently,
his schedule cleared up early. Fine by me! This gave me some nice
time to just kick back and relax with the dude in his hotel room,
chatting away about his upcoming roles, finding out some of his
experiences with scientology, and getting the scoop on certain
directing projects of his own. And you know what, Hollywood actors
are constantly surprising me. You expect them to be stuck-up and
snobbish with big egos, but most of them really aren’t like that at
all. This was especially evident with Giovanni, who seemed to just
be happy doing his own thing, working on whatever movies interested
him (while not really caring about being the center of stardom). He
was also a genuinely cool guy to just sit and chat with – read on
and you’ll see what I mean!

And
don’t forget to check out PERFECT STRANGER, which hits theaters
April 13, 2007.

Giovanni
Ribisi

You
tend to play a lot of quirky characters with an evil side to them.
Do you seek out those types of characters?

I
dunno… I looked on IMDB recently and I was like, ‘Wow, there’s
like 40 movies.’ Maybe it’s just a coincidence that people haven’t
seen the other films. I have another film coming out after this
called ‘The Dog Problem’, and it’s sort of a lighter romantic
comedy. And yeah, I think that he’s troubled to a greater or lesser
degree. But I think that the problem exists in storytelling. You
know, if you just saw a guy who was just happy the whole time, that
wouldn’t be a really interesting movie. But I think at the same
time, a lot of people ask me – the word that I hate – ‘Quirky.’
You know, ‘Why am I playing these quirky characters?’ I don’t look
at them [like that]. It’s not about that. It’s more about being
interested in the breadth of human emotion and doing something
that’s dynamic.

Having
a personality.

Yeah,
exactly. I think that anybody to a greater or lesser degree has a
dark side.

But there’s
a part of me that’s quite the opposite now, because so many people
have been saying it. I’m not interested in that anymore. And it’s
got me thinking, because I get that question a lot – especially
today – about, ‘Why?’ And I think it’s because it’s a challenge
and there’s something enticing about that.

Do
you ever get a script where the character you’re supposed to play is
either too plain or boring, and you want to add your own touches to
him?

Well
yeah for me, one of the things about acting is, ‘What are the
possibilities?’ And someone’s imagination with that. And I think
there are some actors who just want to execute or whatever, and just
do that. But I think the people that I find really interesting are
those who will take it the next level.

For
instance, this character was written as being even darker. He was
written as being a frumpy, overweight, introverted tech guy, which
is a cliché to me. And I wanted him to be charismatic. That was the
first conversation I had with James Foley, the director. Just about
being witty and charming, and really trying to win over Halle’s
character. So in a way it’s just that much more drastic when you do
see his darker side.

In
‘Perfect Stranger’, your character is this computer savvy techie.
How much of that is actually like you?

Not
like me at all. There was a moment where I really got into
computers, and I just felt like it was a vacuous void. There’s so
much information out there now, and sometimes I feel like it can be
a bit of a distraction. And also, I think that with the MySpace and
the online chatting and all that – for me, I [prefer] that
personal connection, or to at least hear a voice.

Do
you like to improvise at all during scenes?

Yeah,
I think that’s good. I think sometimes you can do that and it keeps
it fresh, and sometimes some really smart writing comes out of
improvising because it’s more organic. But usually you’ll improvise
in rehearsals and lock it down. And then of course there’s just
ad-libbing, which is not necessarily improvising – it’s just sort
of making it more natural.

Did
that happen between you and Halle a lot?

Yeah,
a little bit. But I think that also the movie has so much complexity
that it’s difficult to sort of stray from that. Because sometimes
you need something to be said at a specific moment, and then the
next thing to be said as well. And so, it was mainly done in
rehearsal, and then just locked down. It’s nice that way because
then when you do takes – and James [Foley] likes to do more takes
than less – you can just sort of hone it in, and make it better.

Do
you prefer working on big studio movies like ‘Perfect Stranger’, or
smaller indie films, where there’s more freedom?

I
find the discrepancy between independent films and studio films to
be a lie now. Because I think that, yeah, that was probably
plausible in the early 90’s and maybe in the 70’s and the 50’s. But
now – you know, I did a movie recently that was a 2 million dollar
movie that was a lot more censored then, say, this one. This one was
all about not doing that, and pushing the envelope. There
were definitely scenes in the film that we shot that were almost too
much. So really, again, it comes to the script and the director and
who’s making it. It’s an interesting discussion, I think, because
what people used to complain about – what studio films used to
suffer from – seeped into the independent world. You have
independent people wanting to be studios.

Have
you been getting any big offers for leading roles?

Yeah,
that happens. But it’s not necessarily about how big the role is or
if your name’s above the title. I dunno, maybe – I think that
there’s a certain viability in that, because you have more of an
opportunity, more of a variety of movies. But I think that for me
it’s about the character and the director and the script, and not
necessarily the size of the role. I’m not like counting lines.

So
if you don’t like the director, do you ever decide you don’t want to
do the movie?

Yeah,
absolutely. There are definitely times where you meet with somebody
and the script is interesting, but there’s just something about it
that doesn’t click for you.

Have
you ever found out too late that it doesn’t work for you, when
you’re already working on the project?

Yeah,
so many times. Because I think anything is a new experience, and you
always have expectations even if you don’t want to have them.
There’s definitely been times where you get into a conversation with
the director and it’s great, and it’s really inspiring, and you
really like where they’re coming from – and then it turns out to
be a completely different experience. And you know, that’s
unfortunate, but it’s part of what we do. And I think you just need
to make the best of what you have.

But
‘Perfect Stranger’ wasn’t like that, was it?

No,
not at all. A script will start out one way, and then of course it’s
going to be different in its final machination. And sometimes it
isn’t going to be as good as [the original] script. But I think this
was definitely an elevation of that.

You
played a returning character on ‘My Name Is Earl’. Any plans to
reprise the role?

I’ve
known Jason Lee since I was 14 or 15 years old – part of the
family – and Ethan Suplee, I think I’ve known him even longer. And
it was really just about having fun and kicking around, but I think
my schedule’s picking up now.

So
you’re probably not gonna play Ralph again?

No.

Both
you and Jason Lee are scientologists, correct?

Yeah.

Do
people give you a hard time about that, after the whole Tom Cruise
thing?

People
say ‘the whole Tom Cruise thing’, and when I was younger, people
used to give me a hard time about it, and people used to yell at me
– not often – for being a scientologist. It was on the level of
bigotry. And there are so many people that are scientologists that
aren’t celebrities. And it’s really just a simple thing that in the
press, anybody’s heard negative things about it. But from my
experience, it simply is a pragmatic philosophy, in the way that it
has an application and it’s very much like going to a university.
And that’s the simplicity of it.

Do
you have a preference between TV and film?

I
really like doing movies, because there’s a lot more time. With TV,
if you’re breaking it down in pages of the script, you can be doing
anywhere from six to ten pages a day. Whereas with a movie, you’re
doing one and a half to three pages a day. And it’s a lot more
concentrated and there’s a lot more time to do that. And there’s not
necessarily as much censorship as well, with films as there is with
TV.

So
the fact that you get more takes, do you think it allows you to
bring more to the character?

Well,
no, it’s not just that. Because sometimes directors don’t do as many
takes. But there’s definitely this thing where it’s not as rushed.
There’s more time to work on it, in your trailer or in your dressing
room to be able to think about things and be able to come up with
ideas – that sort of thing. There’s just more time.

So
can you talk a little bit about your current and upcoming projects,
like the one you mentioned earlier?

Oh
yeah, I have a movie called ‘The Dog Project’ coming out that I did
that with a friend of mine, Scott Caan, who wrote and directed it,
and was in it with me. And Don Cheadle’s in it… And Lynn Collins,
who’s great. And that’s like the opposite of [‘Perfect Stranger’].
It’s more or less a romantic comedy. But there are other movies that
I’m going to be starting in July, for the rest of the year.

Can
you talk a little bit more about those?

Well
there’s one that’s in October called ‘The Stanford Prison
Experiment’. Which, in 1971, there was a professor at Stanford who
conducted this experiment where he simulated a prison, and he got
nine students to be prisoners and six students to be guards. And it
was supposed to last for two weeks, and it was just basically like a
real prison. And he had to pull the plug after six days, because it
went completely insane.

Who
do you play in that?

One
of the students.

So
you get to be in jail?

Yeah,
I mean it’s not – they actually built a prison in one of the study
halls.

So
have you thought about doing any work outside of acting, like
writing or directing?

Yeah,
I definitely wanna direct. Which is more or less around the corner,
probably next year. It’s a big thing to get a movie off the ground
and have a movie find its legs, so to speak. It’s all about the
story for me, and the script. There are some projects I’ve been
looking at – some books, I’m thinking about adapting. Namely
there’s this one character, Egon Schiele, who was this turn of the
20th century Viennese painter. Sort of a contemporary of [Gustav]
Klimt, and he led a really interesting life – and just the
socio-political scene going on.

Got
questions? Got comments? Send me a line at: [email protected].