Patrick Wilson

Interview By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

When you think of most big-name Hollywood actors, you tend to think of Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt or Adam Sandler. Patrick Wilson is a name that does not hit the tip of the average American's tongue like those other names to be sure, but that is not his ambition.

Wilson has long made his stride in theater, reaching the heights of Broadway with roles in The Full Monty and a revival of Oklahoma!, both garnering Tony award nominations, along with Barefoot In The Park. He has also begun to make headway onto the recorded medium, with roles in the HBO TV miniseries Angles in America, The Alamo, The Phantom of the Opera, and Little Children.

The 35 year-old actor's latest on-screen role is as newlywed Chris Mattson in the thriller Lakeview Terrace, which stars Samuel L. Jackson. When we first asked Patrick what first motivated him to do the film, the opportunity to work with Hollywood's famous 'bad-ass motherf***er' was not far from the actor's mind.

'He's exciting,' Wilson recalls, 'That's why I took the job. That's why you grow up memorizing so many of his movies. And then you go back'one day, we actually tried to stump him on the movies that he was in. I thought, there's no way he could know, so I IMDB'd him, which of course, was a foolish thing to because, of course, he knew.'

'He's had a huge career and I think the intimidating aura that he has is astounding and great to be around,' he continues, 'The thing that completely makes him one of the great actors is the other side of it, his humility. I think just seeing him as a dad in those first few scenes, just seeing him, I love that. Just look at the work and the work he did with Spike Lee. He's just totally awesome. He really can go there, but as a force, it was very exciting to jump in.'

In Lakeview Terrace, Wilson's character Chris is the husband of Lisa, who's African American, which puts him at considerable odds with Samuel L. Jackson character Abel Turner, a hard-boiled LAPD cop who appoints himself as the neighborhood watchman. Patrick explained to us how he managed to stack up his character against one embodied by such a larger-than-life presence as Jackson's.

'I think, for me, it really just starts on the page,' he believes, 'You know, if it says he struggles with being a dad, then, the guy struggles with being a dad. My feelings don't really matter. I'm a father. The great thing about the script was that everything was there on the page. And if it wasn't, we talked about it and made it clearer and we added it. We tried to add little lines about our history so that we weren't just some young newlywed couple who just met each other and are amazed that someone could find an interracial relationship crazy. You know, that's just a little foolish and na've.'

'So even little lines about our history and we've been through this before,' Patrick adds, 'And trying to gather, so they've been in college together and dated for a long time. So they didn't just become this'I mean the racial issue is such an obvious issue, so it was about so much more than that. But you know, it's not for me to judge if the guy's having trouble being a man and not really wanting to be a father, yet not even acknowledging that till he's sort of faced with it. I guess as an audience member watching it, it's hard to take, especially when you're a dad and you think how are you anything less than joyful, but that's who he is.'

We asked Patrick if he himself had any neighbor horror stories of his own like his character experiences in the film.

'It doesn't come up,' Wilson replies, 'Well, how many neighbors do you really know' A lot of the times, you don't, whether it's in New York or L.A. or the middle of the country, whether you are separated by a wall. I mean, I lived in New York for 13 years, I can't tell you'now I've finally know my neighbors because my neighbors have kids. But most of apartments that I lived in, I never knew them. I heard them every now and again. But certainly, in the suburbs, you have this idea of a neighborhood and this sort of very open culture and everybody being together.'

'And I think what is very interesting in this movie and what intrigued me as an actor is that you have these homes and that is your domain, that is your world, that is your set of rules, your set of values, that is how you raise your kids and twenty feet next to you is a completely different view,' he adds, 'So you have this suburban myth that everybody gets along in the neighborhood and yet, do you really know your neighbors, do you really know what goes on' So that's what interested me.'

Another plus for Wilson, he says, of doing a high-profile film like Lakeview Terrace is how it works as both a great character piece and as simple, thrilling entertainment.

'It's funny,' he notes, 'Every time you do something that involves the human condition and relationships, whether it's about marriage or neighbors or brothers, that always comes into the fray, how much do you love this person' Or is it how much do you love yourself' That's one of the amazing things I love about the movie is you could get a heady group of people to talk about all the socioeconomic, racial, and cultural issues that are dealt with in the movie or you could get people that just want to go, sit back, and watch a really cool thriller with Sam Jackson in it.'

'And those are completely valid answers and you want both those audiences,' Patrick continues, 'That's one of the things that interested us about the movie. You could have this drama and deal with love and all these things and yet some of my buddies just want to go in and say that's cool, man, and that's great, so. And if you can hit both audiences, that's great, because you're not just making movies for those of us who love it and do it for a living. We're doing it for all people.'

Patrick Wilson's star undoubtedly will continue to rise as he garners the role of Nite Owl in the hotly-anticipated film adaptation of the popular 1980's British graphic novel Watchmen, due for release in March of next year. However, the actor insists that he has no bid whatsoever for the glitz, glamour, and lucrative earnings of Hollywood box office superstardom.

'You're not going to see it,' Wilson says, 'I will tell you something, ten years ago, I did an off-Broadway play and the reviews were terrible and I was the lead in the show. And someone very important said to me I'm sorry that you did not get the attention that you could have got from this. I just sort of think, I don't know what I was supposed to get in the first place, so why are you telling me what I'm missing out on''

'And really, I guess what I'm saying is you get told'I could look back on at least five cases where somebody said this, my friend, is going to be the difference maker,' he adds, 'And there's no doubt Watchmen is going to be my biggest movie, but I could really care less. I hope it does well, but nothing's going to change me. I'll live my life. I got my family. I'm 35. It's not like I'm going to go club-hopping now.'

His next move as of now will be a role in a new Broadway limited run revival of the play All My Sons, which has garnered an unusual amount of attention in the press after actress Katie Holmes jumped on board. Wilson shared with us what he felt was the fringe benefit of choosing All My Sons as opposed to more opportunities to work in Hollywood.

'Because it was a part that I had to play and you rarely get that opportunity to play, which I think, along with Tennessee Williams in the same league, is a work by one of the greatest American playwrights,' Patrick believes, 'And the fact it's about war and the capitalism and the money and the war machine and how painfully relevant that is, for the reasons of being in Iraq, so that's the reason I did the play.'

'I had been looking to do a play for a long time because I also live in New York, so the family side of it is the only time we can stay in the same place for five or six months is if I get a job in New York,' he continues, 'Otherwise, a job could take me away. I didn't know Katie Holmes was a part of it.'

While he has no desire to make a strong superhero bid with his role in Watchmen, Patrick was willing to share with us the unique experience of playing one.

'I felt empowered and then I drive my son at night,' he says, 'He didn't really have a frame of reference. When I'd go into costume, I'd bring him in there with me, so he saw me go into it. He really wasn't frightened of it, but he really doesn't know that.'

'He's a little over two so,' Wilson adds, 'but he did thought it was pretty cool and spongy and odd, but the other day, he put on a red headband and walk around and go, 'I'm Superman!' And I'm like how does he even know who Superman is, so, they start early.'