All of that would be fine, but for the fact that it was an uncommonly cold day. Being Angelenos, we’re all unused to that to begin with. Couple that with the fact that we were expecting to be inside, and no one had bundled up to fight the raw, foggy air that was drifting into the giant bays and enveloping us. Oh, and then the noise. Did I mention the noise? There were giant trucks thundering around the lot, and basically parking directly by our stage and making their best attempt at sounding like a construction crew. In short, it was not the best atmosphere for a junket.
However, Bill Pullman, who plays the noir-ish detective Max Mariner in Nobel Son, was completely game. He is every bit as delightful and nice as you would expect him to be, and as you can see, was actually actively worried about us being too cold during the junket. He is an absolutely lovely guy. And funny. You will also note he mentions that Eliza Dushku says she has a crush on him at the end of our interview; she verified this fact—with gusto—when we talked to her shortly thereafter.
Nobel Son opens in select theaters in December 5.
Question: We have the loud room, also.
We have the warm corner of the warehouse. Unfortunately not where you’re sitting.
I’m the dumb one.
They could get you a coat. We’re not important.
That’s very generous of you. I think I’ll soldier through it, though. Now, did you make this before you made Bottle..Shock?
It’s just so different. We did the junket for Bottle Shock and then I see this and I go, ‘I can’t believe this is the same people who made those movies.’
I was going to say Bottle Rocket, and I’ve said it before.
But isn’t that just a play on words?
Isn’t that just an intentional pun?
It is. It captures everything, I think.
Of course we do.
Uh. Oh.
Seems like a different movie, to me. Maybe, like, the sequel to Secretary.
That makes sense.
How did you get to know Randy? Was this the first film that you’d done with him? Did you know him before?
More than your character? You got more hooked on the story and the place?
Did you get a lot of input in your character? Ad lib?
You had a nice chemistry with all the people that you worked with. Is it nice to come back and work opposite the same people again?
[truck noise becomes very loud]
So, it’s cold, there’s no real food, and now, noise. (laughs)
You know, on Bottle Shock, we got wine.
PULLMAN: This is probably better for this movie, this kind of back of the warehouse…
So you were working on Broadway…
And what show were you doing?
PULLMAN: I was doing The Goat, which was a play by Edward Albee. It was great to meet him there and great to see him again on this, so that by the time we were doing Bottle Shock, we had a lot of things in common.
[truck noise crescendos with a huge thud]
I think that was a dead body that just fell.
That was a big dead body. That was a car.
This is the most entertaining junket we’ve done in a long time. So what is Alan like to work with? Does he go in and out of character?
[more truck noise]
This must be all the elephant guy’s paraphernalia. This is like his cell phone, which had to be big too. Really.
How much could happen in one morning? This is insane. This must be why they usually do it at the Four Seasons.
Your character brags about being able to cook scrambled eggs and toast. You remember that scene? But from my perspective, he just sticks in the toast and pulls the lever down. Was there any secret beyond that, or was he just coming up with lines to hit on Mary’s [Steenburgen’s] character?
I’m flabbergasted. It actually sounds a little too complicated for me, but I’ll give it a shot. Oh, they’re coming back.
Have any of the cast tried your cooking?
[another huge thud, more giggling]
You’ve done a lot of big films, and these are smaller independent films. Is it more interesting for you to do these because there’s not so much time to think about the character? Do you find that maybe more comes up to the surface that surprises you when do you do something like this?
This has weird jags in it, and I always want to know how do you make that part of the character? I did The Bonnie Hunt Show yesterday and had a clip from it with me and Shawn Hatosy and I say something about ‘history repeats itself’ in an odd moment. How does that part of this warning to him—it’s the kind of line that would be cut from another thing, and you’re curious to see how it would work.
I think you’re in an environment where you’re going faster, but the process of how you get to it is, I think… you do the same work. It’s the same work. You’re life is on the line. It’s not like, ‘Oh I’m going to do half the job because I’m getting half the money.’ You’re thinking, ‘That was embarrassing today. That was so embarrassing! I can’t have another day like that!’ You’re going through the same rigors because you’re a trained animal and you’re used to giving it all. It is a moment where I think, ‘God, I never thought I’d have to do the junket on this movie.’ (laughs)
And here you are.
It’s a nice role, though. It adds dimension to the film. I think.
What was it like working with Eliza [Dushku] this time around? You had a scene with her where she was quite funny giving her testimony on the main character. Were you in any of the antics? Did you come up with any of it with her on that? Did you rehearse?
Did she actually tell you that she had a crush on you years before?
It’s like they took the whole cast from this and said, ‘Let’s do this film now’
PULLMAN: Yeah, which is pretty rare. It’s pretty rare. People get…oh they shoot the movie. For actors, oh you think it’s nice to be used again. But you shoot the movie and then they’re editing with your mug there for another year. They want to sign up for another run with ya? It’s amazing that they’re like that, these filmmakers.