Younger audiences, including myself (wink, wink), have been smitten with strapping British chap, Matthew Goode, since his big screen debut in CHASING LIBERTY. Since then, the actor’s gone on to star in a number of indie flicks, including Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT, and Zack Snyder’s adaptation of graphic comic book, WATCHMEN. Up next, he takes the lead opposite Amy Adams’ as a captivating yet scorned Irish bloke in Anand Tucker’s rom-com, LEAP YEAR. Check out what Goode had to say about the film, acting, and WATCHMEN, during our one on one breakfast phone date last week.
Matthew Goode
Tell me how you were selected for this role?
Anand (Tucker) the director, contacted me in regards to the script. I met with him because I’ve always loved what he did with HILARY AND JACKIE. So I was interested in the classic comedy and I wanted to hear what he had to say. I also liked Amy Adams and the script, so it seemed like a good opportunity to get into something fun and not take myself too seriously. I was having a baby with my other half at the time and I thought it would be fun to film with great witty people, right across the pond, in Ireland.
Was Anand Tucker all that you imagined and expected as a director?
He was fantastic and heaps of fun. He let us run with ideas and he had lots he wanted to do anyways, and beyond. He knows what fits well and was filled with great ideas. He’s everything I expected really.
Talk a bit about working with Amy Adams. It looked like you guys had so much fun filming.
It was great! We were going around meeting beautiful people in Ireland. It’s a beautiful place. The weather wasn’t always necessarily shining. Amy’s fantastic. She’s so clever and talented. She has a knack for comedy and we had a really good laugh!
Was the entire film shot in Ireland?
It was. Some of the interiors were shot in a old factory in Dublin. The rest was shot on location between in on the west coast. I had never been before. It was so beautiful.
Some scenes were absolutely breathtaking, but it seems like it was raining most to the time.
It was most of the time, but we also had the pleasure of rain machines. Amy was a real trooper, trekking up and down those hills in her Louboutins in the rain. She was wearing a dress, so she couldn’t even wear any undergarments to keep her warm. I was layered underneath so I was lucky, but Amy was a trooper.
Tell me a little bit about the “leap year” myth.
Well leap year is every Olympic year, isn’t it? I don’t know actually…but it’s the 29th day of February, which probably has to do with the hours of sunlight and time. I have no idea actually, but in Ireland there’s a tradition that you can get married, or that the girl can propose to the gent on that day. I had never heard of it before.
Your character asks Amy’s character, what she would take with her in case of a fire. What would you take?
I think I’d probably take the misses and child, although some days I’d leave ‘em in there (laughs). I’d certainly take the misses and baby, then everything else and then the dog.
Congratulations on your new baby. Did you also get married?
We’re not married yet. We’re still living in sin and rather enjoying it. No plans as yet, but soon it’s going to happen. My economics have to be in order first. That’s the difference between men and women. Women say “let’s get married,” and men say “maybe we should buy a house first.”
You’ve had parts in action, drama, comedy and superhero films. What would you like to do next?
Oh good Lord…I don’t really think about it that much, but maybe I should. I don’t know. If something comes across my way and I like it….and it’s not like it’s given to me either. I have to sort of phone and meet and audition, blah, blah, blah. We’ll wait and see.
Which directors would you like to work with?
Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese…but the minute you sound them out, it sounds so ridiculous. It’s been going great so far. When I talk to Emily Mortimer, we’re both like, it’s so f*cking weird that we were in a Woody Allen film. When you leave drama school, you’re not thinking, “that’s one thing I’ve got to achieve when I’m older.”
What are you working on next?
I did a part for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in CEMETERY JUNCTION. I don’t know what next, but I’m bouncing a few ideas around.
Have there been any more talks about a WATCHMEN part 2?
I believe it’s still in the contract, but I’d like to put it to bed. Also luckily for that matter, it didn’t make a huge amount of money at the box office, but considering it has such a small audience, it wouldn’t do terribly well. It would be a bad idea, I think. I think I’d try to wiggle my way out of it.
Would you like to play another superhero?
I’m not really into the whole superhero thing, to be brutally honest. They’ve all been done haven’t they. I don’t think the world needs another Spiderman.