Jason Schwartzman: “In order to work, you have to be unafraid to be terrible”

Jason Schwartzman is back on the big screen with another of Director Wes Anderson's films, Moonrise Kingdom. The film has had rave reviews and even though Schwartzman is only in it for about 10 minutes, he does leave his mark on the film.

jason-schwartzman-moonrise-kingdomJason Schwartzman is back on the big screen with another of Director Wes Anderson‘s films, Moonrise Kingdom. The film has had rave reviews and even though Schwartzman is only in it for about 10 minutes, he does leave his mark on the film.

The actor said that  working with Anderson has made his acting choices a lot less difficult. “It makes it a lot easier when you have the ability to work with someone you  know,” he told Collider. “On the first day of work, you’re meeting new people and there’s a little bit of nervousness in your body, because in order to work, you have to be unafraid to be terrible.  And that can be embarrassing.  But Wes, for instance, I have been so bad in front of Wes—bad acting, bad mood—that there’s no expectation anymore.”

“For instance,” he went on to say, “on [Moonrise] I was on hiatus from Bored to Death, and I literally drove overnight—I worked until three in the morning on Bored to Death and then drove straight to the set at 6:30 in the morning on Moonrise Kingdom, put on the boy scout outfit, walked onto the set and started working.  I think, maybe I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I didn’t know [Wes.]  There was no fear.  Wes and I have so many shared memories.  He can be like ‘Remember that guy who sold you that black licorice at that place…’”

Schwartzman has not only tackled movies and TV, he was also the drummer for the band Phantom Planet, proving the actor’s wide range of creativity.  He said, “I think that movies and music, basically—it’s the only thing I love so deeply…I never thought that I would be an actor.  But I think that, for some reason, the weird way that I got into acting and how quickly it happened…I still kind of carry the weird jolt.  I am happy to say that I work with Wes, who’s a guy that I love.”

Moonrise Kingdom is currently in theaters.

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