Interview: Moonrise Kingdom actor Bob Balaban

Bob Balaban is one of those charming character actors that has an instantly recognizable body of work, chief among them for me are his collaborations with Robert Altman in GOSFORD PARK, Steven Spielberg in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and most notably his involvement in Christopher Guest’s repertory company. Now Bob has collaborated with Wes Anderson, another director known for his company of fantastic and colorful actors. This time out he literally one-ups Alec Baldwin’s narration effort in THE ROYALE TENENBAUMS with a narrator who also roams about the island.

Sitting with Bob to discuss my absolute favorite film of the year so far was a highlight and I have to admit I was caught a bit off guard… see, off the bat he was really interested to hear my opinion of the film and wanted to get an honest response before the cameras even rolled. You might be surprised but that kind of immediate and direct exchange can be rare thing for both the journalist and the talent during the junket grind. Promoting “meh” flicks can be a challenging thing, luckily for the both of us he loved the process as much as I loved the outcome. MOONRISE KINGDOM is currently breaking limited theater records and will expand nationwide JUNE 1st!