Eugene Levy never saw himself as leading man, but he gets top billing in ‘The Man’
Although Eugene Levy never saw himself as a leading man, he’s glad that someone else did. The 58-year-old performer receives his first above-the-title billing in “The Man,” a PG-13 comedy that producer Bill Straus developed for the comic actor.
In the fish-out-of-water comedy, Levy plays a mild-mannered dental supply salesman who is mistaken for an international arms dealer while attending a Detroit convention. His character is then forced to maintain that false identity so he can help a cynical undercover federal agent (Samuel L. Jackson of “Pulp Fiction”) apprehend some culprits.
Levy, best known for playing the loving-but-bumbling father in the “American Pie” trilogy and for stealing scenes in the Christopher Guest improvised comedies “Waiting For Guffman,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Best in Show,” didn’t picture himself as the star of a buddy picture with plenty of action scenes.
“I’m a character actor,” Levy said at his Philadelphia hotel during a publicity stop for “The Man,” which opens Sept. 9. “I’m not a physical guy. I relate to good talking scenes.”
He readily admitted that sharing the screen with an acclaimed actor like Jackson initially seemed a frightening concept.
“I work with funny people mostly, and this was the first time I worked with someone of his stature,” said Levy, a native Canadian who began his career in 1976 on the comedy series “SCTV.” “I’d place Samuel L. Jackson as one of the top five actors working in Hollywood, so I was intimidated until I got to know him.”
The only thing he found more intimidating than sharing the screen with Jackson was trying to perform some of the stunts required by the action comedy.
“I can barely count the number of films I’ve even had to run in,” he said, “but it (the stunt work) made for funny situations.
“I did learn that stunts are demanding.”
Levy felt a different kind of pressure when he was offered the father role in “American Pie” (1999), which he followed with two sequels, “American Pie 2” (2001) and “American Wedding” (2003). He wondered if some of the raunchy gags might go too far, and credited Chris and Paul Weisz, the filmmaking brothers who co-created the “Pie” pictures, with preventing the sexual material from ever becoming offensive.
“I knew the moment I met Chris and Paul that they were bright and intelligent,” said Levy, who is married and has two children. “I felt safe with the (potentially tasteless) material in their hands, because they knew how to present the good side of bad taste.
“The original could have been a disaster, but they cast it well. They also let me change my character from a one-dimensional dad who was crass to a father who really cared about his son.”
Levy, who will next be seen in “For Your Consideration,” a spoof of awards shows directed by Guest, teamed with pre-teen favorites Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in “New York Minute” (2004). He walked away extremely impressed by the sisters.
“Thanks to their sitcom (ABC’s “Full House,” 1987-95), I think the twins were in front of a camera before they could talk,” Levy said. “They’re great girls.
“They have parlayed what they do into an industry, and yet they are grounded and mature.”
Does Levy have a dream project?
“I’m tempted to say I’d like to play Hercules,” he said with a laugh. “I’m also tempted to say ‘Hamlet,’ since I’m a character actor and I’m always looking for a good role.”
‘Proof’ adds up for Madden
For John Madden, working with stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins made the prospect of directing “Proof” a happy one, but the filmmaker admitted that the math elements of the picture also proved very appealing.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway drama by David Auburn, “Proof” follows a daughter emotionally devastated by the death of her father, a brilliant but mentally troubled mathematician. She fears her parent’s mental state may be hereditary.
“I thought the characters were complex, rich and contradictory,” Madden said at his Philadelphia hotel during a publicity stop for “Proof,” which opens Sept. 16. “I found the idea at its core – that someone who has lost a grip on her own identity and is not just in the state of bereavement but (mentally) lost in time and space – was provocative.
“Also, I found the play intriguing on an intellectual level and the math (elements) interesting. I’m not a math person, but I have an affinity for it. I know that math people apply words like ‘elegant’ and ‘beautiful’ to mathematics.
“It’s not a world I can race into due to its complexity, but I find mathematics fascinating.”
Madden originally worked with the 32-year-old Paltrow on “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), which won an Oscar as best picture and for its star as best actress. When approached to direct a British stage version of “Proof” in London long before the film version began production, Madden invited Paltrow to star in it, and she accepted.
“It was quite brave of her,” said the 56-year-old filmmaker, who will next direct the thriller “Killshot,” based on the novel by Elmore Leonard and starring Diane Lane (“Must Love Dogs”), Thomas Jane (“The Punisher”) and Mickey Rourke (“Sin City”). “There was a chance of a backlash, because she was an American actress (on the British stage), and you don’t want to be accused of stunt or glamour casting.
“When we did ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ I said to Gwyneth, ‘You should really do stage work.’ I felt it was essential for her to know (that experience), because she’s such an instinctual actress and never had an audience confirm what she was doing.
“I thought she was incredibly perfect for this role in ‘Proof,’ because she’s immensely responsive and I don’t have to say very much to her.”