How difficult was it encouraging Paul Giamatti to play “himself”?
Actually Paul liked very much the idea of playing himself. The idea was to be playful with the audience. As an audience we think we know actors and they belong to us because we spend a few hours in their company on screen. Whether they like it or not, actors have a persona. Did that present any problems, for example, if he thought he wouldn’t behave in the same way as his character in the film does? Not at all, that was part of the idea to create a character called “Paul Giamatti”. Paul was actually encouraging me to create a character and not to try to incorporate details from his personal life. He is a very modest and humble guy. He once told me: “If I have to play myself it won’t be interesting. I’m not an interesting guy…” Paul Giamatti and the low-tech Soul ExtractorHow much of that character IS Paul? Difficult to say! I would say that Paul Giamatti and the character share a certain vulnerability and sensibility. Paul comes across as the quintessential neurotic New Yorker. But in
