Jason Schwartzman Talks Shop

Jason Schwartzman is descended from Hollywood royalty (Nicolas Cage is his cousin and Francis Ford Coppola is his uncle). He put in his prerequisite time as a rock star with the band Phantom Planet. And, as if that weren’t enough, he made his feature film debut opposite Bill Murray in Wes Anderson’s cult classic Rushmore.

The Deadbolt caught up with Jason on the eve of the release of Shopgirl, where he plays the immensely likeable Jeremy, an amp logo designer who woos Claire Danes’ Mirabelle away from Steve Martin.

The Deadbolt: Tell us about Jeremy.

Jason Schwartzman: Well, what makes a character special has to do with the other characters and their balance. I think part of the reason why you would want to root for Jeremy is because you also want to root for Mirabelle. I think that he’s not contrived as a character or strategic as a human, he doesn’t over think things, he speaks right from his heart and his gut and I think he’s sincere and I think it’s hard to fault his sincerity. One of the great things that Steve talked about is that Jeremy only knows what’s in front of him; he doesn’t have too much peripheral vision. His trip in the movie is like pulling the curtains away from the sides of his eyes. He sincerely loves Mirabelle and cares about her and you want her to get what she wants. And part of what she wants is what Jeremy is working towards offering her.

DB: How was it working with Claire Danes?

JS: Amazing. I wouldn’t even consider it work. It was just like being with Claire Danes. I had known her before we started shooting. We were actually really good friends and I was nervous about working with her because she’s great, but I swear when they said "action" for the first time it never felt so little like acting or working in my whole life. It just felt like being with her. She’s great and natural; it’s like playing [music] with people who are better than you.

DB: How about working with Steve Martin?

JS: He spent so much of his life with these characters and with this story and I, of course, wanted to do it right for him. He would come to the set and he was not possessive or protective of the words. I don’t mean 'possessive or protective' in a negative way, it’s good to be protective of your words, especially if you put so much into them. He’s someone who has put so much thought into getting it right. I was blown away by his willingness to experiment. He’s like a creative scientist and he gave me this amazing blueprint.

DB: You made your screen debut in one of the most celebrated movies ever. How does it feel?

JS: Great. That movie was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me in my whole life. One giant moment, where the river went left and it totally changed my life.

DB: Did you always want to act?

JS: I wanted to act as... like, a pipe dream. Growing up we used to go see movies all the time and from a very early age I can remember doing scenes for my family and playing all of the characters. Just that kind of stuff, you know? I didn’t want to be in commercials and do head shots of me as a cowboy. I was really into playing baseball and eating pizza and then at [age] 9, I got my drum set and that was kind of it, because acting is in a lot of ways something otherworldly or magical and drums are a stairway away. You just go downstairs and hit them.

DB: Are you ever going to go back to being just a rock star?

JS: I was never a rock star so I don’t have anything to go back to. I’m certainly not going to go towards it. I think I’ll just always continue to have this love affair with music, but I don’t want to be professional anymore. I love music, I need music, and I can’t live without it.

DB: What are you listening to right now?

JS: I’ve been listening to a lot of old music, a lot of George Gershwin and Gene Kelly records. I was listening to Elvis’ Hawaii record, it’s really good and This Year’s Model, the Elvis Costello record, My Aim Is True... The Beatles, Beach Boys and then the first Dinosaur Jr. record.

DB: You’ve starred opposite Bill Murray and you’ve worked with Steve Martin. How do you top that?

JS: I don’t. I feel so blessed because when you don’t expect anything it’s like everything is a total shocker. So, I’m always constantly not expecting anything. I feel like this is where I belong.

DB: If you’re not expecting it, then how do these great opportunities fall into your lap?

JS: It doesn’t fall into my lap by any means; I put my lap on it. I'm definitely on top but I don’t know where I go next, I just want to keep doing it. That’s the thing I was saying about acting and music, you’ve just go to do it, there’s no other way. You can’t be an actor and not work. I don’t consider it work because I love it so much. I just need to keep working, keep looking for characters that I think are interesting and people that are interesting that I could work with. It's never a 'fall into my lap' situation. I have yet to have that, really, but it’s always a really great fight. I’m glad it’s that way because I feel it’s bad when things fall into your lap, almost like using a credit card. You fill you car and you don’t think of the price, but when you have to pay in cash it’s a lot of money. So, I’m just hoping to always have good credit.

DB: You’re also a writer.

JS: Yes, I’m writing right now.

DB: Are you hoping to write and make your feature debut?

JS: Let’s hope.