|
The article is
copyrighted to Eonline and the above referenced author/publication with all rights reserved.
No copyright infringement is intended. InsomniacFreak thanks
Moonstar and Tobeyonline.com for contributing this article to MMC's
archives.
Tobey Maguire is a rising young star who seems to maneuver Hollywood
without a trace of attitude. His irresistible combination of
laid-back, grown-up wisdom and boyish enthusiasm has attracted
directors and given his performances a startling edge of reality.
The 24-year-old who quit high school to earn his living as an actor
has left his low-rent past behind to live in the Hollywood Hills and
pal around with Leonardo DiCaprio. (They became buddies while
working together on 1993's This Boy's Life.)
This month, Maguire continues his nonstop string of big-screen
appearances with big-name talents and directors--having recently
been a Civil War soldier in Ride with the Devil and an orphan
haunted by his past in Cider House Rules--to costar with Michael
Douglas and Robert Downey Jr. in Wonder Boys. He plays a misfit
whose brilliant fiction writing is equaled by his ability to invent
his own life.
JW: James, the college student you play in Wonder Boys,
is one strange dude, to say the least. You're never sure where he's
coming from.
TM: I didn't really put a label on him myself. Some
people think James is gay. I don't really know what he is--I don't
know if James really knows. I think he lives in his own imagination
and hasn't let anybody in, even though he's really searching to
connect with people. He's also a bit self-destructive,
suicidal, and at the core of that there is a lot of pain. But I
think, underneath it all, James is a good kid who will come out okay
in the end.
JW: You make acting look painless, but does it put you
through a lot to play emotionally demanding roles like this one?
TM: Sometimes it does. But when things go well, it's
very rewarding. On Wonder Boys, it was wonderful going to work with
Michael Douglas every day, because he's so engaging. We both like
basketball a lot, so I would come to his trailer and watch some
games, and we would chat about basketball.
JW: What about Robert Downey Jr.? Is there a cautionary
tale in watching how he's spent his "wonder boyness"?
TM: I'm not sure. I think Robert is a great guy, and I
learned a lot from him on the movie. Whatever his struggles are,
they are his to have. I don't judge him at all.
JW: Do you ask actors like Michael and Robert for
advice, or do you just learn by watching them work?
TM: I just watch. Robert, for instance, is very
relaxed. He has a sense of freedom. He's not afraid to try
things--he's not afraid to fail. He really commits himself, and it's
just great to be around that kind of energy and courage and creative
freedom.
Michael just keeps coming. I think he must wake up 10 minutes
earlier than anybody else, and he does 10 percent more work. He
would have idea after idea on how to play a scene. I have an acting
teacher who says, "Never settle for the first five ways you think of
doing a scene." Most likely, those are going to be the conventional
ways. You have to break new ground, and Michael's just tireless in
that way. I would feel like, "I better keep up with this guy, or I'm
going to get left behind here."
JW: People keep labeling your acting as minimalist. Are
you comfortable with that?
TM: It makes me think of the furniture I'm buying for
my house more than acting. In The Cider House Rules, I was holding
back very much on purpose. I wanted Homer Wells to be a very
restrained person--and James in Wonder Boys is very similar in that
way. Both of them reveal only so much of themselves to other people.
It's not me, Tobey, being that way--it's the choices I made for the
characters.
JW: You and Katie Holmes are reunited in Wonder Boys
after working together on The Ice Storm.
TM: Yes, I think The Ice Storm was her first audition
when she came out to L.A. from Toledo. Right after that, she got
Dawson's Creek. Katie is great. She's become a very natural actress.
JW: I know you're a friend of Leonardo DiCaprio. Have
you learned anything about being famous from watching how he's dealt
with the media and fan frenzy?
TM: It's been beneficial watching him go through it. I
think he's handled himself very gracefully. A lot of the press about
him, he can't really control. You can't allow yourself to be
affected by that stuff.
JW: You've been getting lots of media attention
yourself. Doesn't dealing with fame change you?
TM: I think it can be whatever you make of it. It
certainly helps strengthen my character and maybe forces me into
positions where I have to help make decisions and set certain
boundaries. I try to view it as a positive in my life rather then a
negative.
JW: Your father was a cook, and you thought about
following in his footsteps. Do you get in the kitchen at all now?
TM: I cook a little bit--for myself at home, for my
friends or whatever. I make really strange food, because I'm a
vegetarian, and I like tofu and nuts--so I'll make pasta, and I'll
just start throwing nuts in there. It's strange.
JW: Do you really like tofu, or is it just because it's
good for you?
TM: Tofu is great, but only firm tofu, I don't like
soft tofu--the texture's really weird. I'm very particular about my
tofu, because prepared the right way, it can be very tasty.
JW: When did you first become a vegetarian?
TM: A little over eight years ago. I just never really
liked meat. I had a really tough time even eating chicken. I would
start imagining what I was eating and the life of the animals and
all that kind of stuff.
JW: Okay, enough about food. What about fun? Do you go
to movies and just have a good time?
TM: I'm getting better and better at it. There was a
time, probably five or six years ago, when it was tough for me
because I was so critical and very picky. Only the best stuff was
even worth being made as far as I was concerned. Now, I try to be
less judgmental and just sit back and enjoy movies for what they
are.
JW: Anything you wanted to do in your personal life but
felt that something held you back?
TM: I've always been frightened of dancing. I'd get out
on the floor and barely move my arms. Finally, I thought, "I'm just
going to go with the band and do it." I was dancing my heart out
and, afterward, one of my friends said, "That was great, but you
were really joking, weren't you?" I was like, "I wasn't joking--I
was dancing."
JW: So, I guess we can forget about seeing you in a
musical. But what drew you in to acting?
TM: When I was about 12, my mom gave me 100 bucks to
take drama instead of this home-economics food-preparation course I
was going to take. That was sort of my introduction to it. My mom
encouraged me to be an actor. The story is, of course, more complex
than that, but basically, my mother was urging me to do it, so
that's why I started.
JW: You've made no bones about the fact that you grew
up in a situation where your mom had to struggle to raise you as a
single parent. Now that you're earning big bucks, does your past
affect how you spend it?
TM: Yeah, definitely. For a while, I wouldn't spend
money at all. But it's weird to hoard it. It's actually like kind of
bad energy. I think that now I have a pretty good relationship with
money, and I'm finally learning how not to be worried about it. I
have sort of unlocked that little block in my mind that has said,
"I'm really poor." Now, I'm like, "Okay, I can drive a decent car. I
can buy some nice furniture." I eat at nice restaurants. I travel.
JW: How much does the size of the paycheck you're
offered influence the roles you choose?
TM: I haven't made any decisions based on money, at
least in the past few years. There were times when I had to do a
film because I needed to eat. I've been fortunate enough to get a
little bit extra so I can really have patience and take my time and
wait for the right role to come along. A big paycheck is tempting,
but it's just not that important.
© Jeanne Wolf, Eonline |
