Owen Wilson
Interview By: Daniel Portnoy
Comedy. It's not as easy as you may think to make people laugh. Sometimes it's the script, but mostly it rests on the shoulders of the actor or actress. Fortunately for this Hollywood humorist, he has no trouble making people laugh. Owen Wilson and his unique, laid back brand of comedy has earned him the reputation of being one of today's top funny men. You can expect to see Owen often teaming up with the likes of Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell and of course Ben Stiller. In his most recent comedy, The Wedding Crashers, he stars along with Vaughn, both of whom know how to get a laugh.
In The Wedding Crashers, Wilson plays John Beckwith, a lawyer by day and a womanizer by night. With best buddy, Jeremy Klein (Vaughn), the two schmooze their way into weddings to cruise for lovelorn single females. Vaughn's character thinks and speaks at a mile a minute, making it challenging at times to allow everything to sink in. That's where John comes in. 'It would be my character who would have to be the voice of reason, except when you examined his reason and it didn't really make sense.' So needless to say the audience is faced with comedy at every turn.
Owen never initially saw himself as an actor. 'I don't think I ever had the idea that I wanted to be an actor. That would have seemed a little too far fetched.' It's a good thing he decided to pursue it or entertainment would be down one comic mastermind. In fact, a lot of the lines between Vaughn and Wilson were shot from the hip. 'A lot of stuff is improvised,' he continues, 'We did a lot of work on the script, including a lot of work on the structure.' In the end it paid off. Having seen the movie, I can say the dialogue was right on the money.
Many comedic actors today gripe over never getting a chance to show their dramatic side. Wilson, on the other hand is fine right where he is. 'I'm fine being in these 'fun to do' comedies.' There's definitely some perks to it to. Besides the fame, the money, and being able to do something you love, there's got to be something I'm missing. Oh yea, in The Wedding Crashers, Wilson gets to romance (for lack of a better euphemism) some very attractive young ladies. 'That was the one day I actually showed up early for work' on that day I went in early and I stayed late and demanded that we do as many takes as necessary to get that scene right,' he chuckles. Certainly not the most vital scene, but then again, it's the little things that count.
Speaking of women, some may find the minds of these men to be a little racy or even cruel at times. Like the way John and Jerry talk about approaching a woman, or talk about their sexual experiences. In response to this, Wilson brings up an interesting point, 'hearing the way women talk sometimes can kind of catch you a little off guard. So I think its ok for men in theses unguarded moments, like in this movie, to hear the way these characters talk, and there's also of course an arc because I [John] end up falling in love.' Very true, I mean look at shows like Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives; some of the conversations that take place will make anyone blush.
Staying on the subject of females and 'Weddings', has it almost come to the point where its time to settle down with some one' 'I am at that point, but I was at that point six years ago and it doesn't seem to have translated yet into me walking down the aisle to the altar. One of these days I'll probably get married, believe it or not.' Just keep doin' what your doin' Owen Wilson. Keep making movies and keep making people laugh; you can't go wrong with that.
