Jason Ritter
Interview By: MarkPlante
In the new film Happy Endings, star Jason Ritter portrays a closeted gay man who is being blackmailed by a woman who wants money from his father. In the film, his relationship with his father is practically non existent. They are two strangers living under the same roof. In reality, Jason Ritter is the son of the late John Ritter, famous for his Emmy award winning role on the television series Three's Company; and they were anything but distant.
Though he always found laughter from his father, he was not scared of the comic genius that the man became. Ritter did not become an actor simply because of his late father, despite the fun that he experienced from his on set visits growing up. He did not feel fear of comparison either, like other children of famous parents might have.
'I really liked it. Personally I felt a pull towards it. It was what I grew up around. It felt inevitable to me.'
He enjoyed so much the opportunities to visit any set that his father was working on. It was only later when he became an actor himself, that he realized that the fun he experienced was because of what his father brought to the set.
Many kids are embarrassed by their parents, but Ritter was always laughing too hard to get upset.
'My dad knew when it was appropriate and when to do it, even when it wasn't appropriate to make a joke,' laughs Ritter.
'He would go so far to make us laugh in public that it went beyond 'ohh my god this is embarrassing,' to the point where you were laughing your head off anyway. He would walk down the street all the time and say ' 'pretend you don't know me.' And he would walk down the stairs, stick his chest out, and mumble to us and to himself. People would be looking at him like that man's crazy!'
Ritter had to find the appropriate tone himself for his portrayal of this twenty-something gay man struggling with the possibility of living a life without his own happy ending. Ritter found the love scene between costar Maggie Gyllenhaal to be very challenging.
'Oh yes, those are very intimate scenes. You're basically doing it with someone you're friendly strangers with. It was so much easier to focus on the comedy and not having to prove to the audience that I was a fantastic lover,' Ritter says with a laugh that really brings his resemblance to his father even more apparent. 'The thing about those macho scenes,' he continues, 'is people take themselves so seriously and it's so funny to me.'
Ritter was happy to show another side for the audience.
'I was happy to show a slightly sadder version,' replied Ritter. 'It was definitely unlike any other scene I've ever worked on or done before.'
He did have a musical background before his role as a drummer in this film. He played bass guitar and guitar. He took drum lessons to have a more well rounded understanding of his character.
'I love drums so much. I wish I was a good drummer. The only thing stopping me is the period of time you have to go through where you are a bad drummer,' he says. Jason used to have a band in middle school and no matter how hard he's tried he cannot coordinate the simultaneous movement of any more than two limbs at a time. 'I can do one arm and one leg, or two arms' any combination' just not more than two at a time,' he smiles.
Now, having been part of an acclaimed ensemble on the television series Joan of Arcadia, Jason is certainly no stranger to the added bonuses that come from ensembles projects.
'Everyone feels free to play their part. No one feels the weight of the movie on their shoulders. I understand the idea of focusing on one character and having a lead role. I just hate when I see a movie about a group of friends and you can immediately know who the lead is,' he says. 'That's not what it's like in life. I love the idea of everyone being a human being and no one being more important then anyone else. I think it's the most faithful to life.'
Ritter speaks openly, the inflection in his voice suggests a man who is not afraid of what people might think of him, maybe a voice that is a bit of a rebel and unaware of where his career might take him.
One thing is for sure, he has certainly inherited his dad's charm, comic timing and overall appeal of just being a really great guy. Whatever the future may have in store for him, we're sure that he is going to enjoy success both professionally and personally as just a fantastic person to work with and to be entertained by.
Mark Plante@TheCinemaSource.com
