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Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Jack, a New York limo driver, in his film directorial debut Jack Goes Boating.

Sep 27, 2010 Web Exclusive By Chris Tinkham

The Fall 2010 issue of Under the Radar includes a feature on Philip Seymour Hoffman, who has made his screen directorial debut with Jack Goes Boating. The film, written by Bob Glaudini, is an adaptation of Glaudini’s off-Broadway play, which was produced in 2007 when Hoffman and John Ortiz were artistic directors for the Labyrinth Theatre Company. Hoffman and Ortiz both starred in the play and reprise their roles on screen.

Hoffman plays Jack, an amiable, tongue-tied New York limo driver who plans to work for the MTA. Jack’s colleague Clyde (Ortiz) is married, and the couple set up Jack with Connie (Amy Ryan), a sales operator at the mortuary where Clyde’s wife works. Connie is awkwardly candid and has suffered recent adversity. As a timid courtship ensues, Jack begins to learn new life skills to enrich his time with Connie.

To complement Jack and Connie’s story, Hoffman selected songs by indie artists Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes and Cat Power for the film’s soundtrack, which also features songs from various other genres, among them Bill Evans’ “Peace Piece.” During the summer, before Hoffman could confirm that his next film role would be former Oakland A’s manager Art Howe in Moneyball, the Academy Award-winning actor spoke with Under the Radar about music and directing for the first time.

I wanted to start by asking you about the music in Jack Goes Boating, specifically the use of Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes. Were these bands that you had discovered prior to making the film, or were they recommended to you for the film?

Grizzly Bear was brought to my attention by Sue Jacobs, who’s the music supervisor on the film. After we had spent some time together and talked a lot, and I was sharing ideas with her, she said, “Why don’t you listen to this band?” And I did, and in a car ride, I must have listened to that album, their most recent album, about three times or something, and I just loved it. I thought it was just great, and it really spoke to me, pertaining to the film. And so we started playing around with that album in the editing room right away, before we even asked if they were all right with it. I just thought, “Well, if they don’t want us to use it, then we won’t, but it would be really helpful for us in editing.” And it was. And then ultimately we showed it to them, and they were cool with it, and what we were doing with it, and how we were using it.

Fleet Foxes, I actually was in a coffee shop like two years ago, and it was a song playing, and I was like, “Wow, what a great song. What is that?” And I think I Shazam-ed it, and it came up with this band Fleet Foxes. And then I downloaded the album, and it’s a great album. So when we were editing the film, again, I was kind of going through my musical tastes and the sounds of the movie, and the feelings of the movie, and that band kept coming to me. So I kept listening to that album thinking, “There’s something here.” And there was. So that’s how those two bands came into the film.

Did you end up using the song that you heard in the coffee shop?

I don’t know if I did. It’s hard to recall because it’s so long ago. But there’s an energy to Fleet Foxes. Their songs are different, but there’s a certain quality to them and what they’re trying to do, and that band, in particular, I think, spoke to this film. This one was a very small tale, and it’s about working-class people. It’s about the simple act of saying, “OK, I’ll be in a relationship with you.” It’s that kind of film. But because of that, it’s operatic. The emotions that your average-day person goes through in saying, “I’ll be in a relationship with you,” is an operatic moment to one’s life. It actually, in my opinion, doesn’t get much bigger than that, other than starting a family with somebody. Those are huge moments in people lives—falling in love, having a child. And so, there’s a quality to Fleet Foxes that is kind of operatic in its emotion. There are songs that they have that are really vast and full and colorful and exhilarating in their emotions—what I feel when I listen to them. And so, I think the film has that. In other words, I knew there were spots in the film where I was sensing that Fleet Foxes might work.

I read in a stage review that your character Jack loves the song “Rivers of Babylon.” That’s a holdover in the screen version, but I’m guessing that the rest of the music in the film is exclusive to the film. Is that right?

Yeah, the “Rivers of Babylon” is a character thing. He’s listening to “Rivers of Babylon” over and over again, just like a mantra. And I thought, ‘God, people are gonna read it and they’re gonna think it’s about some reggae guy who listens to reggae music everywhere,’ and it’s not. It’s not that at all. He’s got these dreads, but they’re bad dreads. He doesn’t even know how to make dreads. This is a guy who’s throwin’ stuff on the wall to see if it sticks in his life. And it’s not that that song doesn’t say something. That bathroom scene in the movie, you get to hear it crudely, and kind of in a funny way you get to hear the lyrics of that song, and you start to see, “OK, I see what that songs says,” and why he wants to listen to it.

There’s some stuff that’s composed in the film by Evan [Lurie], and it’s great, and that’s some of my favorite music in the film too. But then there’s just some musicians that I had heard, and I kinda just wanted to go with my gut. I didn’t want to control or be too typical about music in the film. I didn’t want it to be uniform. I didn’t want it to all link together. I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted music to come into the film when you didn’t expect it. And then when the music came in, you’re like, “What’s that? Why would that be—” And then to figure it out. I wanted it to have the quality of the human emotional experience, which is, it comes and it goes without really asking it. And Sue was on board for that. We really worked from that place, so we didn’t constrict ourselves. We really went with the emotions of the movie and had the music that spoke to us at that time. And then didn’t use music. I think it’s a unique thing. It’s not one kind of music you’re hearing in this movie; it’s many different kinds and many different feelings: composed music, band music and parts of their songs, and different kinds of bands and all that stuff.

You were an adolescent in the ‘80s. What kind of music were you listening to in your teen years?

I wasn’t that kid who had a big album collection or had a bunch of 8-tracks or something. I was a kid who listened to music through the radio from the back seat of the car. I was quite ignorant and quite inexperienced when it came to the whole pop/rock ‘n’ roll scene. All my buddies went to concerts. They all had their vinyl, my brother even. And for some reason, I missed that. Music to me was just about what I heard in my life. It really is. I remember my brother had introduced me to The Rolling Stones when I was a teenager. I remember him doing that, playing “Sympathy for the Devil” for me in our kitchen on an 8-track or something. And then I remember going to college, and my roommate had tons of tapes, and having R.E.M. blasting in the bathroom like every morning. And so I would vicariously experience music through other people, through what they were listening to on the radio. But I never owned any of it for myself. So it wasn’t till I got out of college that I started owning it for myself. So that’s really my experience. Because of that—long answer—I like a lot of different kinds of music. I’m really not snobby about it. [Laughs]

Before Jack Goes Boating, had you had any directing experience behind a camera?

No. I’ve directed a lot in the theater, and I’ve obviously been in films and produced films for 20 years. Because this whole screenplay came out of this thing I did with my theater company, and I directed a lot with them, it was kind of an organic extension of that. And I’d always thought about, “Will I do it?” It wasn’t something I was dying to do, but it was something that offered itself to me, and it seemed right. And I think it was right. It was a good experience. It was a great experience, actually, and I think everyone had a great time, and I think we did what we set out to do with what we had. And I learned so much. Film directing’s a great job.

You have the desire to do it again, direct a feature?

I do, but I’m not going to sit here and— I have many other things to do. I know that it will come again if it’s supposed to. I’m not gonna sit here and go, “OK, clear my slate. What’s the next film I’m going to direct?” I think that’s going to be what’s going to be, and I’ll find out. But I hope something comes along that makes me want to do it again, because I really like doing it. And I think next time out will only be better, and all that.

Is it true that initially you didn’t want to reprise the role and direct yourself?

Yeah, that’s a real thing. I did not want to do that. And when we were shooting it, I still didn’t want to do it. We couldn’t find anybody that was right, and then we finally found someone who was going to be great, but then he couldn’t get out of his other gig, which happens, and it was fall. And we had to shoot the film in winter, so if we didn’t shoot that winter, it would be pushed to next winter, and that meant that the film might not happen at all. So we were all stuck, so I just basically said, “You know what? I’ll do it.” ‘Cause in saying “I’ll do it,” that means that it will definitely happen this winter, and it had to happen. So that’s the deal.

How did the Jack character change in the time between doing the play and shooting the film?

The Jack character’s tricky. He kinda clears his throat a lot. He’s obviously a pretty solitary guy and a sedentary guy, sitting around in a car and a one-room apartment. So you kind of wonder, “Is there something wrong with him?” And I don’t think he was written that way. I just think he’s a guy that made some choices early on, and one of them was that being intimate with people is scary. There’s a risk taken and “I don’t know if that risk is worth taking” kind of thing. And that’s all I think is his issue. That’s one of the things he deals with, and why he is who he is. As I did it through the play and through the film, I made him less and less introverted. Because of that quality, that doesn’t mean he’s an introvert, kind of strange guy. I think he’s just that way, for all the many reasons that you can come up with, that all of us have in one way or another. So, he became less and less introverted to me. That actually he was a guy that was quite charming and had a quality about him that was likable. He really just hadn’t found the person that he felt he could trust not to hurt him. And I think it was kind of a simple thing for him, that being hurt— He remembered being hurt, and I don’t think he was able to really let go of that or want to go through that again, take that risk again. That’s what the movie’s about, this guy who meets this gal, who he thinks maybe actually won’t hurt him. Or if she does hurt him, will deal with it with him. And that’s what it’s all about. There ya go.

I read that there were extensive rehearsals prior to filming. As a film actor, would that kind of preparation be ideal to you for all your roles, or would that depend on the film?

You know, it depends on the film, but I think rehearsing’s a good thing. And I think a lot of people that are “I don’t want to rehearse. I want it to be fresh,” I’m like, “Well, rehearsing is about trying to find out what’s fresh, period. How to make it alive.” But some parts or some films, you don’t rehearse and it works out fine. But I found with this one, because I had worked with Sidney Lumet and he does a very specific rehearsal process, I kind of wanted to adapt that in a way that I could do it. What’s great about it is that I invite everybody, so through the two weeks of rehearsal—it’s, you know, a lot of rehearsal with the actors—but hopefully we know a lot of our locations. We tape out the exact square footage and the dimensions of the locations, put rough furniture in there. So then we actually start rehearsing in the place we’re going to shoot, in essence. So I had the DP in there. Sue can come. The first AD can come—and they did—watch. And so we’d all experience this thing that, eventually, we’re going to be on the day somewhere shooting it. But everyone could start getting ideas, not just the actors and not just me, but Mott [Hupfel], the DP, would walk around with his viewfinder and start to think about how to shoot it. And then we were able to talk about something concrete and real. And that was a good thing. And then the first AD would know so much. I just like that. It’s not just about the actors, it’s about everybody. I think it helps tremendously. We were prepared the best way we could for being a first-time director, and I knew that would help.

Can you talk about anything we’ll be seeing you in next?

I’m about to shoot this film Moneyball, which I think’s gonna happen. We’re getting pretty close, so I think no turning back. I don’t know when that’s coming out. But that’s gonna start shooting this summer. I don’t have any other films coming out. I haven’t acted in a film actually since Jack, which has been a while. So this Moneyball‘s the first time in like over a year. Yeah, and then I’m gonna go direct a play in Australia.

What’s the play?

True West. Yeah, in Sydney.

Can you reveal your character in Moneyball?

I don’t know, ‘cause I don’t know how they’re feeling about it. This thing’s purely like, I don’t care if you know, but I don’t want to stick my foot in my mouth or something before I shoot. But that’s the film I’m gonna do. You know my age, so obviously I’m not playing some rookie on the team or somebody. [Laughs]

www.jackgoesboatingmovie.com