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For A violent pimp in The Good German, a superhero
struggling for his soul in Spider-man 3…Tobey Maguire talks
exclusively about brutal noir, comic book carnage and why this
masked outing may be his last…
When it comes to being a superhero, clearly size doesn’t matter. The
man who embodied Spider-man when he swung vigorously from a comic
book’s matt pages and landed in glorious technicolour on a giant
screen stands a modest 5’8” in his scuffed white trainers. Wearing
an unruly beard, nondescript black trousers and a scruffy
button-down shirt, he smiles cautiously, shakes hands and slumps
into a chair in a Beverly Hills hotel room.
The body language says it all: conducting interviews was the last
thing a young Tobey Maguire had on his mind when he decided that
this acting lark might be a nice line of work.
“Not to be disgusting about it, but I didn’t understand that this
was part of my job.” He says, the disdain palpable. “Basically I go
and make movies, which I love, and the we’ve got to go sell the
movie.”
Which he clearly hates. Here to plug a significant if relatively
small role in Steven Soderbergh’s noir World War II drama, The
Good German, Maguire adopts of couple of well-rehearsed tactics
to minimize the pain of flogging the product. For one, he…talks…
very….slowly, thereby reducing the amount of time in which he has to
open up, therefore avoiding having to reveal anything too
interesting, or, horror of horrors, personal. The there’s the tactic
number two: he just doesn’t answer seriously at all.
This is demonstrated best when a peep into his private life is
suggested, Maguire and jewelry designer fiancé Jennifer Meyer,
daughter of Universal Studios president Ron Meyer, are the brand-new
parents of a baby girl, Ruby Sweetheart, So how does it feel to be a
father?
“My answer to that is everything is fantastic, we’re all doing well,
thank you for asking.” He says, as if reading off an autocue.
Everyone okay? Mother? Daughter?
“Everything is fantastic, we’re all doing well, thank you for
asking.”
With a playful grin, he’ll repeat his rehearsed line a couple more
times before our time is up, happy in the knowledge that once again
he’s managed to keep private all he holds precious: his life.
With worldwide interest in the lives of the rich and famous at an
insatiable high, and the means to beam not-always-accurate
information and not-always-flattering pictures far and wide in
moments, Maguire can be excused for keeping it low-key. Considering
the enormity of his fame – the guy’s Spider-man for God’s sake! – he
gets a comparatively easy ride in the gossip rags.
“You’re right, I do.” He says. “I don’t know how interested people
are in my life. I can’t account for that. But what I can account for
is not really talking about anything. I don’t really talk about my
political points of view, my personal life…I just talk a little bit
about my background and the movies. That’s pretty much it.”
Think about it. Despite being photographed on the odd night out with
close buddy Leonardo DiCaprio and recent pap shots of Maguire,
Jennifer and Ruby enjoying a sunny afternoon in a Beverly Hills
Park, how often do we actually see the sometime-superhero parading
around the celebrity circuit? His brief relationship with Spider-man
co-star Kirsten Dunst was so publicly low-key that even director Sam
Raimi didn’t know about it.
How much does anyone really know about Maguire? Relative to your
Bennifers and your Brangelinas and your Vaughniston’s, not too much.
At this point we probably know more about Britney Spears’ fear of
the gusset than we do about the man who fronts one of the biggest
movie franchises in Hollywood history, a franchise that has so far
grossed $1.6 billion world.
What we do know is that Tobey Maguire is a California native, born
in Santa Monica on 27 June 1975 to an 18-year old secretary named
Wendy and a 20-year-old cook named Vincent. Within two years mum and
dad went their separate ways, and Tobey spent much of his childhood
swinging between various family members in California, Oregon and
Washington. Before long he knew what he wanted to be: a cook. His
mother had other ideas, bribing him with $100 to swap home economics
for drama classes. With Maguire reportedly now getting more than $10
million per Spider-man movie, it could count as one of the
best investments in financial history.
However, multi-franchise, money-printing blockbusters weren’t
originally his stock in trade. After a short spell popping his
acting cherry in bit parts on TV shows like Blossom and Roseanne,
and a brief but starring role in his own Fox sitcom, Great Scott!,
it was his part as the cocky teen in the Oscar-nominated, “70’s-set
short Duke of Groove that got him noticed.
Ang Lee saw Duke and cast him as the Dostoevsky-loving
16-year-old in The Ice Storm; Lasse Hallstrom spotted Maguire in
The Ice Storm and cast him as the soul-searching orphan in
The Cider House Rules. Before long he was gaining a reputation
as a quietly understated professional, capable of holding his own
against the like of Michael Caine, Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver,
Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin. Such was his growing stature that
when Ang Lee came to cast the lead role of Jake in his (underrated)
Civil War epic Ride with the Devil, Maguire was a shoo-in.
“When I read the book, I knew Tobey was the one to play Jake,” the
Taiwanese director said. “For a while the studio was pushing for
DiCaprio, but that didn’t happen. And Tobey was always my first
choice.”
The quality roles didn’t stop: Woody Allen’s Deconstructing
Harry, Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,
Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys, Gary Ross’s Pleasantville…all
the time Maguire proving that subtlety and transparency were not
just the domain of more seasoned actors.
And then a certain web-headed crime-fighter came a crawling…
Maguire confesses to being “a little skeptical” at first about the
idea of playing Spider-man. “I had never read the comic books,” he
says. The big budget and $4 million pay packet were clearly an
incentive, but he wanted more before agreeing to squeeze into the
iconic red-and-blue leotard. He wanted it to actually be a good
film. “After I read the script and met with Sam Raimi, I saw the
film we could make and it started to feel right to me.” He
continues. “I really liked working on all of the little details and
Sam was so generous and encouraging and constantly asked me for my
ideas. It was the most input I had in any film I’ve done.”
The collaboration proved to be fruitful: beating expectations, the
first installment pulled in over $400 million at the American box
office. Now there was no stopping the franchise, but first Maguire
wanted to collaborate with Gary Ross again to play jockey Red
Pollard in Seabiscuit.
“Well, first of all, I loved the script.” He says about the true
story of a Depression-era racehorse that became the unlikely hero of
a downtrodden nation. “And the character was just wonderful, very
complex. I was excited about it.”
Seabiscuit went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, but while backs
were busy being slapped, negotiations had begun over getting Maguire
back into the Spider-suit. Here’s where things get fuzzy: Team
Maguire were claiming their charge might not be able to return to
the role because of recurring back trouble. This was seen by many as
a technique to secure a larger pay packet and rumours had it that
the studio responded by lining up Jake Gyllenhaal. As far as
Maguire’s concerned, the whole thing – inevitably – was a press
construct.
“It’s not true that I was fired – that was the invention of a
journalist.” He sighs, sipping a glass of water. “Basically I had
some concerns, as did the studio, because the level of stunts was so
much greater on the second picture. We were pretty close to
production, so I think things got blown out of proportion.”
Producer Laura Ziskin supports the back claim, saying that Maguire
has chronic problems which he’s always working on, his chiropractor
wincing at many of the stunts that they might ask him to do.
Whatever the truth, Maguire did suit up again for Spider-man 2,
upped his pay packet and ended with another giant hit, which grossed
in excess of $370 million.
What’s interesting is that, despite fronting such a juggernaut
franchise, he’s escaped the career-death typecasting that befell the
likes of George Reeves and Christopher Reeve. What’s more, not only
has he found diverse work outside this iconic role, but he inhabits
these other characters convincingly. Just look at his latest
release, The Good German, in which he plays Patrick Tully, a
nasty piece of work scamming his way through the ruins of post-WWII
German. It’s a juice role, but not exactly a huge one, as the film
undeniably belongs to George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.
Any reservations about signing up for a smaller part?
“I’m clearly fine with it.” He says. “I wanted to work with Steven [Soderbergh]
and loved the idea of working with George and Cate. I also was
excited about the idea of making this movie in black and white with
the feeling of a film noir. I thought it was an interesting movie
and what’s intriguing about the character is the really does have
some nastiness.”
Asked how he thinks he’d feel if he got sent to war himself, he
claims the Fifth Amendment.
“That’s a tricky question because then you’re getting into
government and politics and I don’t particularly want to have that
conversation.”
Do you have to maintain a neutral image because of the Spider-man
franchise?
“It’s not just that. I don’t want to become a spokesperson for any
type of point of view. If one day I choose to become a political
activist, then maybe I’ll do that.”
That’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. Maguire loves his job, loves
the movies, and feels grateful and fortunate to work with the people
he respects and admires. Income his much beloved Spidey team…
“We’re basically done with the third one,” he reveals. “I think it’s
going to be good…I think we’ve found a new, fresh approach on what
Peter Parker’s going through, a unique journey for the character
that doesn’t lose the essence of who these people are. It’s a new
angle on all of it. I think we tie up a lot of relationship and
story stuff from the first two movies in the third part.”
And it’s reportedly darker…
“Yeah, I think it’s a little darker! It’s definitely going to
be…well, it’s a lot. It’s big, it has all the things you’re supposed
to have. It’s got amazing action elements, the characters and the
storylines are all interconnected, there’s a lot going on and it
definitely gets a little heavier. But it should also be fun and
entertaining.”
In a surprising revelation, it may also be the last for Tobey. At
last – hold the front page!
“To me, naturally it’s a trilogy and I think – though I’m open to
hearing about movies beyond this – that naturally this seems like a
good stopping point. But you never know…”
Spider-man 3 opens on 4 May and will be reviewed in the June issue
of Total Film.
© Tony Horkins, Total Film April 2007 |
