William H Macy

Interview By: Damaris Olivo
DamarisOlivo@TheCinemaSource.com

William H. Macy has managed to secure himself a spot on the Hollywood A-list, with his middle-American, everyman persona. With his purposely awkward sense of humor and his brilliant character acting he's proven himself to countless audiences.

After winning the Academy Award for Fargo, Macy has starred in countless films, among them Pleasantville and Seabiscuit. The thespian also won two Emmys in 2003 for the made for television film Door to Door, which he both starred in and wrote. Having been nominated for his roles in ER and ABC's Sports Night, there's no question that William H. Macy is one of the most sought after dramatic actors in America. So where does his newest project, the comedy Wild Hogs, starring John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen fit into his artsy resume'

'Oh that art, its way over,' jokes the star, who also appeared in the 2005 film Thank You for Smoking. In Wild Hogs, the 56-year-old actor plays Woody Stevens, a middle aged romantically-challenged man who goes on a motorcycle trip with his three friends. In the film, we see a side of Macy we've never seen before: his bare backside. He jokes of a scene in which the four men go skinny dipping in a pond, 'It changed my life, all of ours.' And what will his father think when he sees the seasoned actor's naked heiny on the big screen' 'He'll be very proud,' says Macy in a dignified manner. 'I put my ass on the line.'

So did Macy have any spills riding the Harleys in the film' 'I rode bikes when I was a kid in college, and I had a bike the first time I moved to LA. I had a Honda, and I got around on that, but I'd never ridden Harleys so I went to Harley school,' immediately confessing, 'Not really, but we learned how to ride Harleys for about a week, a couple of weeks before we went there.'

So were there any trips or falls' 'I dropped the bike once, just because we had to pull in and put the kick stand on and climb off very quickly, and I did all of that except the part about putting the kickstand down.' Although the actor is being too hard on himself when it comes to his motorcycle mishaps, maybe it's this self-criticism that's help him become one of the biggest stars in the business. So does he feel like the film is an accurate depiction of the self-doubt that comes along with a mid-life crisis'

'I don't think the films about four guys having a midlife crisis as much as four guys who are trying to regain something,' says the star. 'I think it's four guys who just are tired of being afraid. They're afraid of saying the wrong thing, of not being there when they're needed, they're afraid in their jobs, they're just afraid.' He continues, 'One of the things about the whole Harley, motorcycle culture is that it's a little bit renegade, and it's a little bit dangerous. Then it gets intensified when they run afoul with this other motorcycle gang, and they stand up for once in their lives. So it's not about the midlife crisis as much as 4 guys who need to sort of plant their flag.'

Macy also talks about how he feels men express their feelings to other men. 'There's a couple of homophobic moments in the script,' says Macy, 'and we talked a lot about it. Especially after marriage and kids, women are better at staying in touch with their friends and guys have a tendency to isolate. One of the things I love about it is these guys adore each other and they don't know how to say it, they don't know how to express it, and because they face this danger together it never has to be stated, but its more palpable at the end of the film.'

The star also seems to have cultivated some real-life friendships. 'I'm a personal friend of John Travolta,' he jokes. 'I was at the Superbowl, we were in a box. It wasn't raining where we were. We had shrimp.'

As far as any memorable trips of his own the classy actor's answer was short and sweet. 'I went on a road trip right out of college. It was uneventful. We didn't get laid.'