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Matt Damon may be one of Hollywood’s leading men, but he remains equally selective about the work he chooses. Currently treading the boards in London, Damon delivers a complex performance in the cerebral thriller The Bourne Identity, as a man trying to figure out his identity while being hunted by the CIA. Damon talked to Paul Fischer.

Paul Fischer Did you and Ben Affleck compare spy notes?

Matt  No, we did not. The characters are in different fields, so they would not cross paths in Washington.

Is Bourne tougher?

Oh, without a doubt.

Is that movie’s CIA more real than this movie’s?

I can’t give you a real educated idea of what day to day life at the CIA is. Ben actually went there and visited, spent a day there. I think my character is certainly not the guy who ever spent any time in Langley anyway. I think this is someone who’s more freelance.

Do you feel like James Bond?

 No. I think it’s very different from that style of movie. Doug wanted to make it feel more like a European movie stylistically and a little more real than the Bond movies. [Those] are fun because they’re so outrageous and he’s constantly topping himself whereas this is-  Doug really wanted the action to drive the story and never be gratuitous, whereas the Bond movies, the fun of them is that the action is gratuitous. Suddenly he gets thrown out of a plane and he doesn’t have a parachute, but he figures it out anyway.

How much stunt work did you do?

 All of it. No, I’m just kidding. Did you guys ever see Ronin? I think one of the coolest parts of that movie is this whole car sequence that they did. There’s this great car chase sequence and the guys who did that, the French guys who coordinated that did this chase sequence. There is actually one shot of me driving the car and what they did was they had this guy who was one of the premiere stunt drivers in the world and they put a camera and Doug was squeezed in in the back right seat and the steering wheel was on the left and I was up front and he was shooting at me. The stunt driver, the car had two steering wheels and the stunt driver was in the front really steering the car. we went at breakneck speed with all these stunt drivers coming at us and like 360s and going all over the place. Part of it’s in the movie and that was the highlight of my driving experience. I was turning a fake wheel and pretending not to be scared.

Did you have to learn the languages phoentically?

I didn’t know any of them. We ended up doing some in post-production, the ones that happen off camera. There are a couple lines I say off camera where we’d have somebody come in. This guy, Olivier, comes in and starts to speak French and I try [to copy him]. If they ever played the whole tape, it’s me just fumbling, trying to get it and then I’d say one thing and he’d go, “Zis is correct.”

Have you ever discovered you could do something you never thought you could?

Probably not to that extent, no. Doing a live performance of something is like that. It’s like skydiving and there’s a moment before it happens that you think you’ll never be able to do it and then you do it. That was always my experience from the time I started doing plays when I was 14 years old. There was always this terrific fear right before the event, I mean horrible, horrible fear. Then it all seemed to work out and you go back to wanting that fear again.

Are you a fan of spy books and did you read this one?

Oh yeah, I’ve read the whole series and I like them, but I don’t think I would have done this movie if Doug weren’t directing it. I think it was a combination of a script that I thought was really, really excellent. Tony did an incredible job with the script and a director who didn’t just churn movies like this out and had a different take on it and a sense of what he wanted to do stylistically and was coming out of the independent world. I thought that combination would make it really different. There was no reason to do it if it was just going to be ordinary.

Will you do the sequels?

I’m not contractually obligated to, but if Tony wrote another great script then yeah, sure. I really liked everybody who worked on the movie. We worked really hard on it. We were in all these interesting places and had all these adventures together. I’d do it again.

Would the pressure of amnesia be gone in future stories?

Yeah, well, they’d have to take it pretty far afield anyway because the whole Bourne Identity, the book is all about Carlos the Jackal and he’s chasing Carlos the Jackal. My recollection of the other two, and I read them 10 years ago, was that it was a continuing unfolding of his saga as he’s hunting this man. So, to do another one would just basically keep the characters of Bourne and Marie and figure out something else, some other trouble for them to get mixed up in.

 Did you think about Three Days of the condor with the Marie relationship?

Well, we thought about it. In its success, we thought this movie would seem like a ‘70s movie. But, having said that, that was one of the problems I always had with Three Days of the Condor. So, we went back and forth in this with the whole haircutting sequence and when she eventually kisses me, we had these huge, epic conversations about to what extent are we weakening her character if she kisses me first or if I kiss her. Then Franka said, [German accent] “No, I will kiss him.” And that was the end of the conversation.

 Did you cut her real hair?

She had a wig and we had one wig, so her hair in the first part of the movie is a wig that she’s wearing and her hair is the way it is in the second half. It’s short under it. So, I cut the wig and we only had one wig. They just kept rolling.

How did you get into physical shape?

I was in probably as good shape as I’ve ever been in because I was boxing and doing martial arts and all this weapons training. I really went overboard because I had a few months, I had like four or five months. Also, because of the way we talked about him, Doug said he wanted him to walk like a boxer with the directness that a boxer walks with. He wanted him to move just in a very efficient way. When I first saw Doug, he said, “Pull up your shirt.” And I pulled up my shirt and he said, “Oh God, oh God.” I said, “No, in three months, don’t worry. It’s going to be hard as a rock.”

 What fighting style did you learn?

Cali, it’s a Filipino style. It has a lot to do with clubs and knives and it’s a trapping technique is actually what they call it. To watch these guys do it is beautiful. It’s like if somebody throws a punch at you, there are these destruction movies. Where I do it is with the pen. When I take the pen out, that’s kind of what this style is, which is rather than go directly for somebody’s throat, you just slowly take them apart. Each of those hits to the guy are designed as that’s in the bicep, that’s in the triceps, that one’s in the forearm, that one’s in the hand. To those guys, they like that sequence because they think it’s true to their style.

If you could fight anyone on Celebrity boxing...?

I wouldn’t. I would never. But, in a dark gym, just me and the guy? I don’t know. I don’t have any anger at any of those people.

Who would you like to see in the ring?

I don’t know. I saw the coverage on the news of the other one and it just seemed so sad. It just seemed like we’ve finally reached the bottom of the barrel. I’m just waiting for the world to blow up.

Wouldn’t it be great if big stars did it?

Why do you want to see these guys fight? It’s just sad. It’s pathetic.

What is your natural high?

I like exercise. Doing this play in London has been great. The routine of it is very different than doing a film because we know exactly what we need to do every day. We show up for work for four hours a night, or a longer day if we’re doing a matinee, and the routine of it is something that I wasn’t used to at all. You go to a movie set and you might have a gut-wrenching scene or you might be sitting doing a crossword puzzle all day. But that fear, that element of danger in doing live theater is great because different things happen every night. It’s a nice feeling.

How did that go?

I knew before I took the job that I had to come here.

What’s the name of the play?

It’s called "This is Our Youth".

How long is it running?

It’s running ‘til June 15^th, 2002 and I’m gonna go back. They’re adding a show on Friday the June 14^th, 2002  so I’m going to go back and do four more shows in a couple of weeks.

Why have you worked so much in Europe?

All the good work is in Europe. It’s been absolutely coincidence for me but it’s just worked out that way. I don’t know if it’s writers, if they start to get precious about their material, they immediately set their piece in Europe. I don’t know what it is, but I guess with Ripley and Bourne Identity and Private Ryan, I spent a lot of times in Europe.

Do you get homesick?

Yeah. Generally when I get homesick, I miss my nephews because they’re young and so a couple months away from them is a big deal. I mean, they’re going to go through a lot of changes. That was the hard part about taking this play because for them to come over for a few days, from Boston to London with the jetlag, it’s just too much for little kids to deal with.

How many nephews?

Two.

Do you want to be a father?

Not yet. I mean, nephews are enough for me. But someday I definitely would, yeah.

Are you helping Ben through age 30?

He’ll be fine.

Any birthday plans?

Yeah, well, all his friends from home, we’re going to get together and try and figure out some fun thing to do for his birthday. We’ll probably just have a big party for him.

Did you hit the nightlife in Prague?

It is pretty cool. Yeah, we were shooting six day weeks, so on Saturday nights, the whole crew would go somewhere. These city bars or clubs seemed strange. I’m not much of a club goer, so that kind of THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP bananananananana and people with glow sticks, it’s like what is going on here? Am I in Hollywood or Prague? But it was really lively. People seemed to be having a really good time. We actually were staying at the Prague Marriott and Hart’s War was there too. So, all the actors from Hart’s War - so, it was me, Franka and Doug were the young representatives of our group and then suddenly these 20 GI’s show up with their shaved heads, so you could find those guys in the bar every night. We’d come home from work and they’d be - because only half of them had to work on any given day so the other ones were just like I don’t have to work tomorrow.

What’s happening with Project Greenlight?

We just got picked up. We’re going to do it again and hopefully launch the contest in July.

Will the next one be different from Stolen Summer?

It depends on the material. We’re doing another one. Brendan Murphy, who was one of the runners up last year, we really liked his script so Ben and I put up half the money, Miramax put up half the money, so he’s shooting his movie right now. We’re excited about that because we didn’t want just one person to get their movie made last year. So, it kind of depends on what we get but we think because so many people saw the show and there were a lot of writers who went on the site and said, “I was skeptical about this. I wanted to give it a year to see what it was.” So, we think we’re going to get more submissions. We had 7500 last year.

What did you think of the HBO series making it look like a train wreck?

I know the actors said that too later. They said that they didn’t like the tone of it. We don’t want the two things to be at odds. We don’t want the TV show to have to create drama where there is none, but at the same time, the documentarian doing the TV show could say, “Those people said those things, those things happened and I captured them.” So, it’s a tough one and we do want people to feel comfortable in front of the [cameras] and not that they’re gonna get [misrepresented].

That was our thing going into it. Any EPK stuff you see is so micromanaged by the studio, by the marketing people, you end up just seeing, “I loved being in this.” When you really get a camera in there - Coppola did that on the Rainmaker. His wife made a film about behind the scenes which was more in depth, and obviously she made one way more in depth with Hearts of Darkness. That’s what we were hoping for is kind of the Hearts of Darkness. We thought these things weren’t mutually exclusive, that they could both live and they could both be a primer.

Will Stolen Summer open wider?

My understanding of it is they have 40 prints and they’re moving them around the country. I heard it was already in Boston. My mother called me and said, ”I missed it.”

How will the conspiracy of Bourne play in the current climate?

I don’t know. I certainly think if you look at the history, it’s easy to go along with the central thesis of the film, that that in fact governments are capable of doing this because obviously we have in the past. But, at the end of the day, it is entertainment so I think it will probably be accepted as that. It was never an issue movie the same way it was never an illness movie. It’s not Rain Man. It’s not an amnesia movie. Doug said that very early on. He said, “Don’t go researching amnesia. It’s a plot device.”

Is the scene at the American consulate outrageous?

No, actually, I really like that scene still because that’s one of the reasons I did the movie. I really liked the central character having these three things at his behest. Starting with a gun, throwing that away and getting out with the map and the radio, I always thought that was just a really cool thing. In the other action movies, a guy goes running out the front door with a gun. This guy is smarter than that. I just loved it when Doug described the sequence and he’s never running in that scene. He’s walking and he’s calm and it’s the person who can kind of maintain their poise and do the right thing. He doesn’t even know why he’s doing it, but oh wait, there’s a map. All right, I’ll need that and okay, oh, a radio, now I can hear what these guys are doing. Where am I going? Second floor. That’s the movie to me.

What would your catch phrase be?

I don’t want a catch phrase.

Was there one you refused to say?

Yeah, there was a debate, and it’s in there. I just didn’t want it to be over the top. It was the one when I look at Franka and she’s screaming going “Oh my God, oh my God.” I turn to her and say, “That’s not gonna happen.” There were two different lines. One was “I won’t let that happen” and one was ”That’s not gonna happen.” I don’t know what they used in the final movie but the argument off camera with Doug was I said, “I am not going to turn to her and go [grizzled] That’s not gonna happen.” He’s like, “No, no, do it like that.” No, that’s terrible. We’re better than that. This movie’s better than that.

 You speak French  very convincingly in Bourne Identity. How did you manage that when you don’t speak the language?

Yeah, you know, learning phonetically you know and using a lot of it with French actors.  They’d say a line to me, I’d say it back and then we’d go back and forth, back and forth for about an hour until finally I said something in French. (Laughter)   Do you want to do this movie because of the kinds of attitudes that you are going to play actually the hero of …

No, it wasn’t actually, I had not great kind of impetus in acting.  It’s just more of I’m a big fan of movies in this genre but I’m constantly disappointed by them because they don’t seem smart enough that they can get integrated enough.  But the acting seems gratuitous and, uh, yeah, I mean it just seems like you know you can kind of set your watch to connect explosion, you know, four minutes go by, some ships going to blow up and then it does and it doesn’t really, you know, I’m constantly disappointed so I really like the strip and the fact that Doug was directing it.  You know, he’s from the independent world and tends to think outside the box a little bit, gave me hope that there was going to be a unique for this genre.

Do you work out for this?

Yeah, quite a bit, yeah.

You do?

About five months of this, we had a demonstration of martial arts and they got to this form called Caulie, there was this Philippino guy, there was a lot of like in fighting and really kind of vicious stuff and he never really seen a movie before so Doug jumped up and … said what’s that one called and they said it’s called Caulie and I pointed to him and said go off with these guys and so five months later, I knew that, uh, and also Doug said he wanted a character that could walk as a boxer, uh, and kind of look at other people, you know, the same way boxers look at people.  I guess trying to do acting without too much weight put on … box for the same amount of time for a couple hours a day and then I get all this expensive firearms training and really went over the top of me.  I did hundreds of hours of it and I don’t hold it in regard to much in these movies, but uh, but I want it to really be second nature when I shoot.

Joe, do you think that, I was wondering how you would have with … how do you keep sharp and …

Well, there is this famous story I heard in the 80s when Bruce Springstein and Michael Jackson were at the height of their celebrity.  Michael Jackson couldn’t leave his house and Bruce Springstein you might just see at a bar right around the corner.  And, uh, someone told me that and I believe it and my experience is to believe it because you know celebrities kind of walk around with ten body guards then you’re going to get treated that way.  I mean, I live in New York, I walk down the streets and have no problems at all, I have never had any problem.  I’m doing a play in London right now and I walk around.

What about the pressure of being just in the public attention or public eye?

Well, I think the attention, I think that’s another falsehood.  I think because you know, I, there’s that little strange burse of attention say at a premier or something like that.  But if you just compartmentalise it and say, okay I’m going to the premier of the movie I did and there is going to be ten minutes of madness and then I’m out the back door and I’m back to my normal life.

Do you have duties or, you know, duties …

Duties?

Yeah.

Like what?

(everyone talking and laughing)

No duties, like you mean, duties like appearances or …

Yeah, I mean something you have to do while you are playing at … that you have to do while you are being …

Oh, okay.  No, no I mean there’s desk job, uh …

Production, even if … give me your best agenda where you, you being the A league, you have to keep the audience at a high …

No, I think to do that, I think the thing that they care about is that the box office performance of the movie is … perhaps constant attention, you know, remaining in the public eye might help that.  But, I’m kind of convinced that if you make your choices to make the movies, the movies are that people like them, that means that people go see them and I make money and then they’ll let you make more movies.

What about the feeling in your …what’s the best place to be.  France, London …

I mean yeah, I’ve had great experiences you know, initially I was in Italy for a time for about six months, I was in Paris for five months, and Prague for three months.

What about gets you the greatest attention, I mean do you get more attention right now than what you are getting in …

No, I get very little attention.  I get attention at the stage door, but again that’s like a pre-set place that people …

People actually don’t mistake you for Ben Affleck or anything?

No (lots of laughter)

What is it when you are in London right now, I mean when you are doing a play and when you work together, you know each other, you are friends, do you see each other on a day off like on Monday nights or something like that?

Well yeah, we had the exact same performance schedule and she started her play a week after ours but we end on the same day.  So, unfortunately, for our cast that means that we can’t go see Ruth in the play that she’s playing.  But she, before she started performing, she came and saw our play and we seen her a few times after that.

What is the form for you to do the plot, to do this play, I mean why was it important for you to return to the theater?

Yeah, I mean, sure, sure, it’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of you know, it can be, you know, you can’t tell if you, it’s a lot of work and it’s a daily routine.  You have your … so maybe that’s ground, I think I did it more just for the self … the reason that I wanted to push myself as an actor.  I guess that … I think it really does that.

I heard a story, I believe it’s really not true, but did you get turned away from London by …

Someone else asked me that today.  No, I don’t know where that came from.  I’ve only been there once, but we went to meet Tim Lonergan, the playwright, we had dinner with him and was just discussing the play and …

And so you ate in there?

  Yeah.

What do you think about all those stories that we read about you and the pictures, they have no truth.  Do you actually laugh about it still?

Yeah, when I hear about them.  For instance, I would have never heard about this if I hadn’t come for the press junket so … I don’t really know.

Speaking of stories.  Should we stay **** because we **** …

I heard that.

Ben said that because of drugs, you are going to lose your best acting stand.  Does that make sense to you or … ?

Oh that is was a joke on him, or what …

I’m going to make bad assistant because people were asking (laughter) why you were …

Yeah, yeah.  That’s a joke.

  You have been seen together, you do have …

Yeah, well yeah, but she is not in London right now.

So how do you …?

And, I’m here.

  Have you been seen together, was she not with you?

Uh, well yeah, but she’s not in London right now.  I’m here.  I’m going to go back, I have to stay here like another week, I have to go city-to-city and do more press and then I go back.

So, how does that work?  I mean, they are all waiting for you, the show …?

The understudy is doing it right now.

Lucky him.

Yeah, lucky understudy.  And when I took the job, I knew this was going to happen so I almost didn’t take the play and I called them a few weeks before the play and I told them what the situation was and they said, well we’d rather have you … we have an understudy who is already understudying with Gretchen now, so we’ll be fine during that time.

So, how do you, in essence you move from city-to-city?  It seems completely contrary to the film?

  Yeah, I think to a certain extent when you do this job, any aspect of it, anywhere a film is being produced, the actor lives a little bit like a gypsy.  Um, and you have to be okay with that, moving around a lot and I just haven’t really become attached to any worldly possessions that may accrue.  I have to be on a plane at short notice and be some where.  I mean when I took this play, I got back to, I had been bitchin’ about not having any time in my apartment in New York and I got back, sat down on the couch, Casey handed me a copy of the play, I read the play, and six hours later, I was on a plane to London to do the play, so I mean, I thing I’m probably just restless by nature.

(Lots of background noise, coughing, etc.)

I think it’s just, I think I just enjoy doing this, and I’m kind of a material boy.  If I can get a good piece of material, I’m, I’ll jump on it. (Lots of laughter and talking)   I was wondering is it difficult to, um, I’m focusing once again on just not, just go back to how it was, I mean you get boggled every day?

I gotta tell you, I really don’t.  I really don’t.

Doesn’t it make it difficult trusting meeting a new group of friends and …

Well, sure, I’m probably a little more wary than I used to be.  But, I also have so many friends, you know, I still have the same group of friends that I’ve always had, so, it’s rare for new people to come in to my life.

What is the best aspect of what you do?

The best is actually what you said.  So, besides the scripts and the work, um, you see all I’ve been doing for the last few years is working so I’m, you know …

So you’ve had no down side?

I really, I don’t, there really isn’t that much of a down side.  There’s not something to really complain about, I mean, I, you know, cause like I said, I really do get around pretty easily.  I haven’t been to the smaller cities, which would probably be a little bit more difficult, but I think because I live in New York and, um, you know, I’m doing a play in London and if I’m not doing one of those things, I’m in a movie set and that’s when it …

How does the British press react to you being in the theater, because I know the British are really very guarded about who’s on there, who appears on their stage.  Have you ever had any problems dealing with the British press as far as that?

Not at all.  I mean, I haven’t read the reviews because I think, you know, I’ll read them for me because it’s over, you know what I mean.  But I think it’s dangerous for the play that even subconsciously you could start to incorporate some of the criticism that you, you know, so probably when the whole experience is over I’ll read them and then I’ll have some problems with the British press.

You’re going to, you’re going to joke a lot.  Are you going to change the way you are approaching your career?

  I’m not trying to open as a sequel, I’m not …

Are you going to sign up?  Are you going to have to do 25 movies then.  (Lots of laughter)

I don’t think I’ll, I don’t know I think I’ll keep doing it the same way I’ve been doing it.  I like to do it this way just going from script-to-script and not having all of it being so specific about my selection and responding to material.

Well, you seem to have avoided the commercial connection.  You’ve gone after the more … is that been your only avenue or have you just rejected it?

Um, I’ve rejected it.

Do you seem to benefit?

No.

I know, but how do you feel about wanting to become a dad and settling down at 31?

Some day, yeah, but I’m not in any rush.  I mean, I do feel like, you know, as you pointed out earlier, that kind of lifestyle I lead, it’s nice not to have the responsibility of children for me right now.  But is something I definitely want some day, I also like the freedom to move around and do a play on short notice or you know, take a movie on short notice.

Do you think you’ll work in theater, too?

Yeah, I would like to.

Well, what plays would you like to get parts in?

Well for one, you generally get better in theater and uh, so, I think the opportunity that I’m getting, they are very good.  On stage, you are responsible to tell the entire story.  When you are doing a film, it’s the director’s job to conceptualize what you are doing, so you don’t have to worry about that.  So, that presents certain challenges, but also just the chance to kind of re-visit the material, you know, if you choose to do a play, you obviously love the material and there is a chance to kind of explore it and read it every night.  It’s great.

Did you give up smoking, did you manage to give it up this time?  You tried a couple of times, right?

Yeah.  I mean I quit for two years ago and then …

Did you do it through therapy or …

No, I haven’t done anything like that.  It actually, I think, it takes almost all your attention and energy to do it when you smoke as much as I do.  Uh … I mean, uh, yeah, exactly so if I focus my attention and energy to it, I could quit smoking.  But my attentions and energies is how am I going to lose 40 pounds or this or that, I mean, you know, I want to quit smoking so I know I will at some point, it’s just a question of when I can marshal by internal forces to kind of fight that battle and those forces have been all through fighting other battles so … it really takes undivided attention to quit this habit.

Can you quit smoking when you are …

I’m just going to have to stop working in Europe. (Laughter)   How did you like shooting in Prague?  Did you have any worse experience over there?

Loved it.  Uh, I didn’t have any bad experiences in Prague.  Prague was great.  They are really a cinema-friendly city.  You know, they have great stages, great crews in place over there and they do a lot of movies and they really want the business and so, uh, so it’s easier to get permits to shoot there, it’s just, it’s also, it has such a look that is very flexible.  It looks like in the cities in Germany and Switzerland, you know, and it doubles as all these other places so from a practical standpoint, you know, St. Marshall would say, because as a producer obviously you are looking to limit the number of locations, it costs so much money to move, that you want to try to shoot everything that you can in one of two locations.

  Did you like nightlife over there?

Well, I didn’t get much and I was off one day a week, but … there’s great beer in Prague, definitely.

Did you and Ben start competing with each other because you are both coming out about the same, I mean, his was out and you ever talk about that?

We talked about it the other day just because it was just another surreal moment to kind of, you know, I mean, you can’t walk through an airport without seeing a Clancy novel and a Ludlum novel next to each other and playing those types of characters.

Has he seen you in the play yet?

Yeah, he came over two weeks ago.

When you and … first started having trouble, do you blame the fame on that …?

My friends?

She’s talking about Ben being …

No, no, I mean many of his friends, do they have problems …

I don’t, I don’t really blame anybody, I mean, you know, whatever, you know, we dealt with whatever it … I think that whatever, there are a thousand examples, I mean, you just watch a VH1 Behind the Music and you can see how fame can affect people in a bad way …

Have you had any type of fun experience from being in a natural, someone just, uh, have you had a weird experience with them?

I’m sure I have.  Yeah, here’s a good example of what we are talking about fame and … Ben and I after winning the Oscars, the next night we flew out to Pittsburgh because we were doing Dogma with Kevin Smith.  And uh, we were in the middle of rehearsal, so we had to get back to rehearsal.  So, we flew the red eye from here to Pittsburgh, we got off and there were all these people at the terminal which we really, was weird for us that there were people waiting at 7:00 in the morning at the terminal and they were cheering when we got off the plane and they were taking pictures, and suddenly became a, they were grabbing at us and it was really weird.  And we were like, all right hold on, we’ll sign, you know, so we signed everybody’s autographs and there were probably 30 people.  And then, you know, there’s this whole hysteria.  And so the Pittsburgh airport is set up where you have to take a terminal, you have to take a shuttle or a tram between the two terminals.  So then we all walked and got on the tram.  By the time we’re halfway through the tram ride and nobody was saying a fuckin’ thing, right, and so it was like, I think the whole situation, we were kind of going what we were talking about … it is what you make them, if you are a totally normal person in those situations, you can just disarm them immediately.  Because people realize that they are really not that interested after all.

  Do you have a really good childhood … I mean …

Yeah, a lot of them, yeah he’s a terrific father.  He used to work on my baseball game on third base with all my friends and all my parents and, uh, not only would he like bring everybody to the park and set up the whole baseball game and, but he would also go way out of his way to make sure that I won.  So, that was the one day a year that he looked the other way and then, you know, make sure if I had control …

So how do you gain control of your temper?  How do you …

No, I figured out my temper when I think I was around 12:00.

How did you do that?

I think it was years of working on it, I’ve been working on my temper for years, but I have rule over it now, I have to say … I was like the Tazmanian Devil.  I would freak out at the drop of a hat …

 And this business doesn’t make you, uh, bad temper, I can’t believe you were mellow and sedated.

I mean, no, there are moments obviously.  The things that need to get to me get to all of us when you are working on something and you have a lot of investment and a lot of your passion is involved in it and, uh, it’s being hurt by kind of outside forces, for instance, All the Pretty Horses, the movie that we did but they never released, it makes you mad, you know, and that hurt me.

Was that pretty disappointing?

A huge disappointment, it’s easily the most disappointing thing that has happened to me professionally.  Because so many of my feelings were wrapped up in that movie.  Uh, so, that’s an example of something that, yeah, that bothers me deeply.

How does the movie … have confrontational situation thinking.  Are you the kind of person that acts like that or are you tend to panic in situations that …

I don’t end up in many situations like that.  Uh, (laughter) … but yeah, no, I think I’ve had a couple of really bad plane flights and things like that and I tend to get quiet when things like that are happening and freak out later.  And I think a lot of people are like that, under extreme duress, it’s like you body almost just shuts down, it just does what it needs to do and then you can go to therapy afterward.

Are you going to work in a movie or you going to …

No, I have no movies lined up.  When I finish the play in mid-June, I am going to come back, stay a little while, see a couple more plays in London, and then I am going to come back to New York and probably.   I may do some hiking and backpack.  My father is turning 60 this year and he’s always talked about wanting to go, so we’ve been talking about getting this done.

Filmography:

The Third Wheel (2002)

Release Date TBA 2002
Synopsis: Movie blind dates never go well, and this one's no exception. What starts out as an enchanted evening with a beautiful girl (Denise Richards) becomes a date from hell when Stanley (Luke Wilson) accidentally bumps his car into a homeless man (Jay Lacopo) and then can't get rid of him.
Starring Luke Wilson, Denise Richards, Jay Lacopo, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Greg Pitt, Marilyn Staley
Directed by Jordan Brady
Written by Jay Lacopo
Studio Miramax
Genre Romance, Comedy
MPAA Rating PG-13 - sexual context/dialogue and brief drug use
Filming Location(s) Los Angeles