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Jeremy Sisto
Over-processed pop culture is being force-fed to us in our theatres, on our TVs and through our radios. One can't even go to a movie with out having to sit through a commercial. Talentless and out of touch children of the ultra-wealthy get meaningless reality television shows, and we're taught to strive for bigger, faster and more. It was refreshing to sit down with the seemingly humble and balanced actor Jeremy Sisto. He was thoughtful and intelligent and appeared to be grounded and honest in his opinions and desires of his craft and the world today. Jeff Markey: Let's get the business out of the way first. What have you been up to? Jeremy Sisto: Well, I have a film—One Point 0 (Sundance 2004)--that I helped produce and starred in. It's kind of Kafkaesque, so it's at times abstract but it's based in very real fears where our society could be going--where corporations are running the show and distributing the power and becoming a force that is dictating how the rest of the world is living... anyway, it's about this young man who unwillingly becomes... wait. I'm not supposed to give something away. I gave something away last time. But I'm glad to be part of it. So, I did that and it was a dark film and dark experience shooting it in Romania. Then I went back to Romania to do Method with Elizabeth Hurley, which is this kind of psychological, sexy, horror, thriller. It's unfinished so I can't tell.... JM: You can't tell us about that either? Man…. JS: (laughing) Yeah, I know. Before that I was doing Six Feet Under (HBO) and then before that I did a film called U Boat with William H. Macy. Before that I did Thirteen and Wrong Turn and that brings us up to date. My producing partner (Padraic Aubrey) and I are excited because One Point O is the first film we put our names on. You know, I want to be part of good films. I feel really lucky to be in this business at all, especially with the head start I was given by chance. JM: In Grand Canyon (1991)? JS: Yeah, I had been acting for a long time but I was given a break. I had to come out to this strange world and try and make it on my own without any history or without any awareness, which is what a lot of people have to do. Which is very difficult. Anyway, I feel lucky. It's a great business, but it also can take itself way too seriously. To me it's this: there's great opportunity to be able to spend your life telling these stories, but to be the one actually doing it is more of a privilege than anything else. Because there's struggles within it but compared to a lot of the struggles around the world it's nothing. JM: You played a recovering drug addict in Thirteen, a mentally disturbed young man in Six Feet Under and then you've played these historically giant figures, Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar. Do you approach all these characters the same way? JS: I won't go into specifics but the ones I felt I did okay at were the ones where I (he starts to chuckle) pretended I was the person. The ones where I tried to be the other person, who I thought he might be, didn't work out so well, in my eyes. It doesn't really matter one way or the other what I think. It's not just me, it's also the director pushing the performance in a certain way. I'm learning this more and more because I'm getting into producing. A writer spends a long fucking time, if it's a good script, really understanding this stuff, and the director comes to see it his way and the producer adds his touch. As an actor, it's really important for me to know what I can contribute so I don't get in the way of other people's work. I don't remember your question, what was your question again? JM: I think you answered part of this but are you more internally or externally motivated when looking for clues into your character. JS: Each thing is different, and it's different for everybody because there are no rules, necessarily, that go into giving a good performance. I think it's a little bit of outside influence but mostly internal. I think to give a good performance, for me… It's most important for me… it's most important… (laughing) wait this sentence is making no sense, it's confusing even me. JM: Someone is going to have to punctuate this. JS: Yeah, that's your job buddy. It's most important for me to understand the scene and feel it, even if it may be different than I would feel if it was actually happening to me. JM: How was it working with Holly Hunter? JS: Amazing. I hope I get to work with her again. She's such a beautiful person. We laugh about the same things and she works really hard but doesn't take herself too seriously. She's exactly what you want a great actress to be and so was the director, Catherine Hardwicke. People say really nice things to me about what I did in that movie (Thirteen) but I really didn't do anything. I thought about it, worked with Catherine, we came up with some stuff. And once you do that you really try to come and not be busy with something extra, you truly try to be there. Because nobody cares about how much work you did, it's just some strange vanity. The truest matter is adding yourself. Listen, I'm just glad I'm in the game at all. I think about these families all around the world and then look at my life and it's just absurd, it's strange. JM: Yeah, I saw these crayon drawings made by children from elementary schools in Iraq. There were jet fighters flying and helicopters blowing up buildings and stick figures massacred with blood spurting out of them. They're having a very different upbringing… JS: Yeah and because we're aware of that it becomes more and more important for these mediums - film, TV, music, literature, painting - to be teachers of children and adults… Because if we can get a little more enlightened point of view on life in general, I think that is a positive thing. And therein lies a responsibility for those doing it (creating such mediums). How about you, how did you become a writer? JM: By accident, really, I had a small role acting in an independent movie and the director, Paul Williams, was kind enough to think I was talented. He said I should create my own project. JS: A film project? JM: Yeah, I ended up writing a script, a modern adaptation of Dostoyevky's, The Idiot. JS: What's going on with that? JM: Well, it's being set up by one of the producers of MONSTER and we're looking to cast our version of Natasha Filippovna. It's an extremely complicated role. We're excited though, there aren't many roles like this for women out there. JS: Keep me posted. JM: I will, definitely. Okay, you just got back from shooting two movies in Romania - tell me a little bit about that. JS: Romania is fascinating place. I was staying across the street from The Peoples Palace, which is the second largest building in the world, per square footage, next to the Pentagon. It was built by this guy, Nicolae Ceausescu who reigned for decades and was finally revolted against and eventually came to trial and was shot and executed with his wife in the streets by the people in 1989. He was murderer and a horrific and sadistic leader… It's a dark place, I could still feel the ghost of Ceausescu… But, I did find the people to be warm and intelligent in general. JM: How about cyber travel or internet expeditions? JS: Recently, I signed onto Friendster.com and I check my email… I use the internet more and more to do research. JM: One more question. Is there anything you'd like to share with the planet? JS: In general, to the planet Earth? (long pause) I'd say, sorry. That would be a good thing to share, sorry. But I'm sure it doesn't care much. As far as a message to the world, I think that's way too much responsibility. People speak. People let the world know what they feel about things when asked. I think, and I need to tell this to myself more often, get involved and let the world know how you feel. I'm actually thinking of a documentary I saw recently about an actress named Beah Richards, who won an academy award nomination for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Two weeks before she died, she was looking into the camera and saying, "the world wants to know what you feel about it." I think that's a great message. It was really inspiring. It's important for all people, regardless of their upbringing, to feel okay and important enough to state their opinion and point of view. |
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