The script forThe Heart Machinecalled for his quality to ride a wheel around New York City ’s East Village , but John Gallagher Jr.—Tony Award - winning actor , star ofThe Newsroom , and inhabitant of NYC — had never ridden a bike in the city . " My comfort level of twit a bike without a helmet was definitely a subject of discussion , " he state . " They extend the helmet , but I did n’t know if the character would necessarily do it . " Ultimately , film set are more controlled than the typically disorderly and dangerous New York City street , and , as Gallagher points out , " It ’s tough to pensively ride a cycle look for your online girlfriend in NYC with your helmet on and not total across as a swot . " So he live on helmetless in the movie , which premiered at SXSW and opens today . Gallagher act Cody , a author who meets a lady friend named Virginia ( Kate Lyn Sheil ) online . Soon , they ’re officially fellow and lady friend and in love , despite the fact that she ’s doing a fellowship in Berlin . Or is she ? Cody ’s doubts lead him on a search for the true statement .
We sit down with Gallagher to babble about behave over Skype , the one song everyone should have on their iPod , and what it was like to meet Bill Murray .
The movie is very relatable — it find very much a movie of this particular time , becauseeverybodydoes at least a piffling on-line stalking . Is that what made you want to do it ?
Absolutely . One of the things that I think was interesting aboutThe Heart Machineis the fact that it ’s very much about the way that we live now . But at the same time , the root are very timeless and inherent to a lot of humanity . What it comes down to is relationships and insecurities , and trying to frame your best self and make that for your partner or for yourself to sense beneficial at the goal of the day . It was very relatable in all that sense . And I loved that it boldly tackled a very mod subject and a modern way that we touch to each other .
Because this is a movie about an online relationship , there are a number of Skype scenes — and you even audition via Skype . Did that serve groom you for filming ?
It was actually pretty funny because I had FaceTimed before on my computer using the FaceTime app — maybe once or twice . I had never download Skype . I was in Los Angeles filmingThe Newsroomwhen I got sent the script forThe Heart Machine , and [ writer / theater director Zachary Wigon ] lives New York . I love the script and my agent was like “ We want to set up a Skype for you and the theatre director , " and I was like , " Can he FaceTime ? " And they were like " No . ” So I had to download Skype to Skype with Zach . I commented as we were talking that this was the first time I had ever Skyped , and it was n’t lost on us that we were Skyping an audition and utter about the script essentially for a plastic film that was all based around Skype . It was entirely meta .
The Skype conversation were filmed in real metre . Is it hard to act with someone via a screen as react to having them in the room ?
frankly , the harder part was really just defend a stable Wi - Fi connection . It was very much like veridical living — it would block in the midriff of the take , and I would be talking for a minute without realizing that Kate ’s end of it had gone idle and that her simulacrum was just freeze on the screen .
[ Otherwise ] , it really was n’t awful different from doing a panorama with your partner right there . We got to rehearse for about four days before we go filming . Kate , Zach , and I went into a room and we take every picture confront to face with each other and did a circumstances of extemporise , try on different versions of every scene in front of each other . And then a lot of the Skype scenes we really saved for the goal of the shoot . So in a way , at that point , we had really construct up this dynamic and chemistry for when it arrive time to really do those Skype scenes , so we were able to fall into this easiness with it . And Kate is just such a peachy actress and so realistic — you bewilder anything at her and she ’ll go with it .
We would do a lot of takes as write verbatim with the script and we would do a band of takes where we improvised and what ended up in the pic is kind of a bit of a mish - mash of that . The playscript is very present throughout the film — we did n’t do anything extemporize that sent us in any way that would get any co - writing credits or anything or like that [ laughs]—but Zach give us a lot of freedom and a lot of way to play .
I had this idea when I got the part that I was going to be really method about and I was going to refuse to encounter Kate Lyn Sheil . Like , “ I will not cope with her I will only do the scenes on Skype and then we ’ll do the scene where we meet in person and it ’ll be the first time I ’ve seen her ” and , you know , it did n’t work . And I ’m beaming it did n’t shape . I do n’t consider the film would have been closely as compelling without us being able to build up that sort of character chemistry .
Your character kind of becomes a detective — an extreme , muck up tec . If you had to compare him to any of the majuscule pop culture detectives , who would you pick ?
Well , he ’s surprisingly skillful — and at the same time , not very full . I would liken him to somebody along the lines of the secret detective character in Jonathan Ames’Bored to Death . Private police detective - ry — that ’s not even a word . Detective - ing ? Detectivery . Detectivating [ laughs]—is a theme that he habituate as a writer , call off from Dashiell Hammett and those great novel about private detectives . But then at the heart of it , you have Jason Schwartzman playing this neurotic somebody who fashions himself as this slick and flowing private eye , but he ’s not as perfect as the way he frames himself . So somebody like that , like a Jonathan Ames character . Somebody that has a more grandiose fantasy variant of himself as this topnotch sleuthhound type of individual .
Cody just dig himself deeper and deeper . One affair that I ’ve learn about it by look out it at SXSW is — and this is actually a great relief — is that people were laugh at it . Thediscomfortof look on this person just ceaselessly set about the edge and reject , or be unable to keep himself , from going further . There ’s something very relatable about that in this daylight and eld , knowing that it might really not do you any good to snoop any further , but it ’s a bit of a drug in a common sense , once your adrenalin take over like that .
Speaking of detective : You ’ve been on threeLaw & Orders . I have my favorites , among those three , but can you rank them ?
Oh , good ! Do you wanna go first or should I ? I ’ll go first !
It ’s arduous to argue with the original , despite the fact that I was only in one short scene . I was about 17 year old , I mean , and my picture were with the recent , peachy Jerry Orbach , who was just a gentleman and a great man , and even though I only satisfy him very , very briefly , he was very sweet . And then Jesse L. Martin was on the show at the meter as his partner , and I — much like many nerds of my contemporaries — was ghost withRentas a teenager . So meet him was very exciting .
I just remember he sang a spate between takes — a deal of Lyle Lovett , andPontiacis one of my favourite records . I remember have got this moment of standing there in a high school day in Harlem where we were filming and think , “ Wow , who would have thought — here I am with Jerry Orbach and Jesse L. Martin , and he ’s sing Lyle Lovett , and I ’m onLaw & Order . ”
So that has kind of a slap-up seat in my memory , phone number one . Number two , Special Victims Unit . I had a great fourth dimension doing that — make for with Mariska Hargitay was very exciting . And being tackle by Christopher Meloni and Ice - T as my character attempted to kill BD Wong is a career high spot that I ’m still trying to outstrip . I think that it may be inconceivable , but I had a really undecomposed prison term doing that .
And then , Criminal Intent . Not to say that there ’s anything less about that experience — it was pretty incredible . Getting to figure out with those great player … Kathryn Erbe is a great actress , and Vincent D’Onofrio — I mean , get on . I was so excited to get to foregather him and have scene with him . And John Savage played my stepdad , and that was really exciting becauseDeerhunterwas credibly one of my best-loved moving-picture show of all sentence .
Each show was very different , very exciting . But only one clock time did I get to be the killer , and in a way , he gets rent off the come-on because he has a mental insufficiency as a result of child abuse and also eat up steer as a tike . I had to eat a pencil inSVUand we had to do about 10 takes of eating this marzipan pencil . But marzipan ’s outstanding — very cherubic after you eat it a while , though . I was about to go into a diabetic comatoseness .
So that ’s , flop now , my prescribed ranking — just going on my experiences work on them . As a fan , I would have to give it more thought . What ’s your favourite ?
Criminal Intent , no question . Vincent D’Onofrio isso upright . OK , next motion : If you only had to rust one food for thought for the rest of your life , what would it be ?
pizza pie is kind of a wearisome answer , but I think I might go with it because itisversatile . you may put a mess of things on it , you may throw off it up . Is it tenuous impudence ? Is it mysterious dish ? Is it vegetarian pizza so you could feel like you ’re being semi - decent to yourself , or is it like gist lover ? I palpate like pluck pizza think of you ’re under a safe umbrella .
Wait a minute , can I alter my answer ? Cobb salad ! Cobb salad is the gift that keep on giving , really . Is there a Cobb salad pizza pie ? Does that exist ?
It should ! On Twitter , you ’ve been recommending a revulsion movie a day for the whole month of October . If you were in a repugnance movie , and the killer was descend after you , would you go up the stair , out the front door , or into the basement ?
Up the stair , because I like the people who are brave in their attempts to escape . I would be the one who run up the stair and climb up out the windowpane . peradventure I hurt my peg , maybe I do n’t . Maybe I can shimmy down a drain pipe . perhaps I can get up to a point on the roof where I can hide or obnubilate them . I feel like front door is severe because it ’s too safe . unremarkably you ’ll think you ’re all right , but then you ’ll open up up the front room access , and there ’s the killer . The basement is just a death ambush , let ’s face it . It ’s hard to outsmart someone in the basement . The basement would require fighting back , which I do n’t think I would be honest at . So I would go up the stairs and hope that there ’s a window I can go out of .
What ’s one song everyone should have on their iPod ?
Since I brought him up , permit ’s say " If I had a Boat , ” by Lyle Lovett .
You ’re in the HBO miniseriesOlive Kitteridge . Bill Murray is also in it . Please tell me you have a dependable Bill Murray story .
We do n’t have any scenes together , but I met him one time , on his last night of shot before he left . I just about died . We had a trivial assembly at this streak to say goodbye to him when he wrapped . I had just get off the train — I was in Salem , and [ the cast and bunch ] were all half an time of day away in Gloucester , and the costume designer texted me and was like " get to Gloucester , because it ’s Bill Murray ’s last night and you wo n’t get to meet him ! " I was literally in bed because I had to shoot the next twenty-four hours and I got up and I was like " Where ’s my rental car ? " and I drove to receive him . He was so nice and warm and genial to me . He asked me what my background was , and I told him I ’d done a pile of field of operations — and he give me a hug and said , “ I ’m so sorry . ” [ Laughs ]
