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Terri

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : A gentle giant of a teenager, Terri has been abandoned by his parents to an ailing uncle (Creed Bratton of “The Office”), is mercilessly teased by his peers, and has set off alarm bells in his high school by showing up for school still wearing pajamas—when he decides to show up at all. Resigned to his outsider status, Terri is surprised when his tough-talking vice principal, Mr. Fitzgerald, takes an interest in him.

Opens July 1, 2011

Runtime:1 hr. 27 min.

 

Interview with Actor John C. Reilly, Actor Jacob Wysocki

 

(Q) : You guys both had really strong performances here, and I know John you do a lot of comedy but do you standup as well?
 
(Jacob Wysocki): I do improv.
 
(Q) : A lot of times you're playing it really straight and you're doing a good job. How difficult is it to sort of not make it a funny moment when you have the ability to, or what were you trying to go for?
 
(Jacob Wysocki) : My natural inclination is to be funny, is to find the comedy in things. It took a lot of work to dial that back because "Terri" is funny is a much more subtle, real way, rather than pointing out something or making a joke. So I think it took a moment to work with Azazel and find the place that he lived in.

Like his space and his pacing just of how he's saying things and how he's digesting the information. There were a couple of times where I would do something that was like kind of for the joke rather than for what the script called for. It was just all about finding those levels, the subtle levels of where he existed in the realm of the world.
 
(John C.Reilly): I don't really think too much about whether I'm playing something for laughs or not. Obviously when you're doing comedy you hope it's funny, but my approach is just to try and play it as real as possible and as straightforward as possible, and if the circumstances of the scene are ridiculous then it's a comedy. That's the only way I know how to do it.

I know some people have this ability to sprinkle funny dust, even on the simplest line and it comes off as this hilarious thing, but I'm much more character based and commitment based. Just try to really commit to whatever the idea is, and then if it's funny so be it and if not then you're in a drama or something.
 
(Q) : Do you try to get into character early? How long does that process of finding that character and getting into it take?
 
(John C.Reilly): It depends how different the person is than I am or whether there's a special skill or mindset that I have to get into. In this one I felt pretty close to this guy. I felt like I could pretty seamlessly go right into it. And then through the audition process with all the different kids that came in I ran these scenes over and over again, so I felt ready to go by the time we started.

(Q) : I really enjoyed watching his disciplinary skills, like screaming through the window. Do you suggest that for real life?
 
(John C.Reilly): I think it's insane. I felt bad for those kids. That is such a demented reason to yell at a kid; to please some old lady. It's kind of a weird thing but weird things make for good movies I guess.
 
(Q) : Your character is I think spot on because that's a high school character. But the thing is I've worked with principals that are even crazier than that. That's one nice thing about the film is that it really hits a realistic tone I think for a high school.
 
(John C.Reilly): This character was kind of like a combination of two different people that were at my own high school. One was this guy who was the dean of discipline, that was his official title, and he would just wander around the halls looking for people who were breaking the dress code or whatever and he was kind of scary.

And then this other guy, I had this guidance counselor who was like Mr. Rodgers, like "If you ever need anything I'm here. No problem too small or too big." I mean Patrick Dewitt is kind of demented for putting those two responsibilities together in this character. He's in charge of disciplining the students and he's also the guy that you need to go to if you have a problem. So it was pretty fun to play the duality of that.
 
(Q) : This was your first big film; did you splurge, like buy a bike? How excited were you?
 
(Jacob Wysocki): I was really excited. My splurge was I did a television show before and I remember just always wanting a MacBook. And I was like "I need it for school," and my parents were like "You're in high school; you don't need it." And then I got out of high school and I was like "Can I have a MacBook? I'm in college."

And they were like "It's too expensive." I was always saving up for a MacBook and I could just never. Something would happen; I'd have to fix my car. So I remember I got my first check from "Huge" and I went and spent it on a MacBook. I like to have the money and I like to sometimes spend it, but I'm not like "Yeah, a new car for everybody." I'm trying to be smart with it.
 
(John C.Reilly): I think the coolest thing like that I ever heard was that kid Rupert Grint from "Harry Potter," who plans Ron, bought himself and ice cream truck and drives around London in an ice cream truck. How cool is that? He'll go give it away because I think you need a license to sell it, but he actually got a vintage ice cream truck. How cool is that?
 
(Jacob Wysocki): That's an amazing idea.
 
(Q) : Jacob, has your experience as a comedian all throughout the country secured your appearance in front of the camera? Your experience might actually help you performing in front of the cameras.
 
(Jacob Wysocki): I think in the comedic world it's very important to be confident. In improv there's a lot of room for failure, and when I was learning it, like when I first started in high school one of the things that I was taught was fail big. So if you're going to fail own it and just do it. I've been booed before and I've done stuff that hasn't gone over well. So those are the things that you're like whatever, it happened, onto the next one, and those things make you stronger because if you can withstand that then you can withstand something else.

So I feel like that has really helped my confidence. I was nervous to shoot on film for the first time because it's not digital, you're shooting on something that they had to pay for rather than just a microchip. So there was some pressure but I think my confidence comes entirely with what I've learned in improv and comedy.
 
(Q) : You've worked with so many great filmmakers, directors, and producers and different people; what stands out to you as the experience you've learned the most from?
 
(John C.Reilly): Well hopefully you learn a little something on each project you do, even the ones that are not successful or that don't come together as an actual movie. This one friend of mine, he's a little bit younger, sent me an email from location on some huge budget movie he was on. He was like "Dude, I'm dying, it's so boring, I can't believe I took this stupid movie. Why did I do this?" And I was like "Listen. Just because the movie is ending up lame doesn't mean you can't take a good experience out of it."

I could go through every movie I've done and each one I can say well that's when I met this person, I became friends with that person, or that's the first time I saw that part of the world, or that's the first time I learned this random skill or whatever. Luckily, most of my movies have been really artistically successful as well as personally rewarding, but those are the things you learn from. I think that's one of the reasons I was drawn to becoming an actor. There was a point when I was in high school where I was thinking who becomes an actor? This is not a realistic career path.

It just seemed too audacious a thing to think you could do, so I was like what could I do? And I was puzzling through all these different ideas. Well I'm good at talking; I could be a lawyer. I didn't have any passion for any one of these things. And then I just stumbled on this idea that if I become an actor I get to do everything. You get to do six months of the most exciting part of being a sword fisherman or being a cop or being a porno actor. Whatever it was, I got to do the most fun part of it and then move on. Those are the things you learn, like these intense experiences where you have to put yourself in the shoes of another person. Not to be corny though, probably the greatest thing you learn as an actor is empathy for other people.

When you put yourself in the shoes of a character and you really see the world from another person's point of view, even if it's a character you're playing, it teaches you to do that in life. It teaches you to suspend your own judgment or transpose yourself into another person's point of view and understand what it's like to be them for a second. I think that's a really kind of cool added benefit.
 
(Q) : Speaking of empathy, I'm coming from Japan so there's not much of a teacher that takes an interest in a particularly bullied kid who was bullied by his classmates and that ended up sometimes committing suicide. The suicide rate is very high in Japan. When you were growing up did you have a particular teacher that changed your life or perspective?
 
(John C.Reilly): Yeah, I did have different mentors along the way. And I grew up in a really kind of tough, working class sort of neighborhood in Chicago where needless to say there wasn't a thriving theater community. There were a very few places where you could do it, like a couple community theaters and then at school usually there'd be some musical or something to do. So the people that I came across at a young age who said this is important, storytelling's important, and this is fun, and art is important.

Those are huge people in my life. It's one thing when your other nerdy friend is like "No, doing plays is cool." It's good to hear that, but when an adult says that to you, "Doing plays is cool," then it bolsters your confidence for when there's some person throwing a beer bottle at you on your way to play practice and calling you a whatever, "play fag" or whatever. You're like "Wait. But Mr. Morely said doing plays are cool. And he's an adult and that person's an idiot. I'm going to trust this person."

Even though you might not realize it as you get older, as an adult, you can have a major impact on kids just through expectations. Like I go into school sometimes with my own children and direct plays, and even if the kids are not able to express their words right away it's really powerful those examples you get. And I was lucky to have a few of them.
 
(Q) : I just remember being in a high school assembly freshman year and they’re like this is the best time of your life, and I was like this sucks. I think they should change the message. There’s so much more after those four years.
 
(Jacob Wysocki) : I’ve been out of high school for almost four years, so it’s rather vivid, and I look back at me and I’m like I had no clue, I had no idea. And I know that in five years I’m going to look back at myself now and be like man, I just had no idea what was going on. Everything’s so easy now and clearer.
 
(John C.Reilly): Then you get to be my age and you realize no, it’s now getting harder.
 
(Q) : How do you feel about the junkets? Are they fun or is it work?
 
(Jacob Wysocki) : I like the festivals because the mentality that I’ve grown up with in California is you don’t need to leave because it’s California. It’s 70 degrees and there’s a beach. So it’s been really cool for me to actually get out. I’ve never been to New York and I was in Florida and Tennessee and San Fran. So it’s been cool for me to be able to see all these different places and experience them and romp around.

(Q) : Could you talk about working with Creed? He has such an interesting dynamic with the characters.
 
(Jacob Wysocki) : I loved working with Creed. It was kind of cool. I wouldn’t say he’s like my grandfather, but I never had that growing up. Both of them died when I was really young and so I kind of image that’s what it would sort of be like. I think he’s a little younger, yeah, I mean he’s a little younger than they would be, but it was cool to have someone that’s older but still kind of your friend and not your dad. We just have this way of joking around with each other.

We laugh and giggle and make fart noises and say stupid things, and then it would come time to shoot and it would just get into very easy that relationship. Thinking about it it’s like when we were joking around and then you have to stop and you have to get into the acting. It’s like this point where it’s like these two people used to have this relationship and now this person’s getting sicker and sicker and is getting further and further away. I think it helped to our benefit to see that opposite and then like be we’re having so much fun and then all of a sudden he’s just this sad person that’s getting further and further away.
 
(Q) : Terri was just such a sweet kid.
 
(Jacob Wysocki): I agree.
 
(Q) : John, how Hollywood is your life?
 
(John C.Reilly) : So Hollywood.
 
(Q) : Like what’s an average day?
 
 
(John C.Reilly) : I have a very un-Hollywood life. I live on the outskirts of LA, I don’t go to Hollywood type events unless I have a reason to be there, and I really treasure my time off and my time with my family so that’s really the focus of my life. And then there’s my work and I do as much of this kind of stuff as I have to to fill my obligations, to make sure I do my best so people see the work. I didn’t get into acting so that I could strut the red carpet.

I got into acting because that’s what I love to do and I love to be a storyteller. It feeds my imagination; it’s just what I’ve always loved to do. And the fame part of it and people knowing your name or whatever are just kind of byproducts of that that you just kind of have to manage and be appreciative for what you have, but not get swept up into thinking that you’re better than anyone else just because people want to take your picture or whatever.
 
(Q) : Do you think that gives you a sense of longevity?
 
 
(John C.Reilly) : I hope so. It’s working so far.
 
(Jacob Wysocki) : I think you’re going to make it.
 
(John C.Reilly) : I hope so. It could change in a moment.
 
(Q) : Were you concerned about your kids? Because you were constantly driving around doing acting jobs in other states or countries. Were you concerned about your kids getting a good education?
 
(John C.Reilly): I’m sure they’re fine.
 
(Jacob Wysocki) : He’s got smart kids.
 
(John C.Reilly): I’ve been working a lot in Los Angeles, so we’re actually been very lucky in the last five or 10 years to be home mostly. Before I had children I was doing movie after movie in Canada because of this tax break they had up there. Back in the ’90s almost every movie was made in Canada, including the movie “Chicago,” which was in Toronto. But that’s changed now. LA’s actually making a big effort, and New York, and a lot of places. Less traveling.

 

End.