Julianne Nicholson on Hideous Men, John Krasinski, and the Eccentric Jeff Goldblum

It's an odd feeling to be interviewing Julianne Nicholson so soon after watching John Krasinski's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, because there's a distinct sense that the tables have turned. As the movie's lead, Sara, Nicholson interviews a series of dark and intriguing men in order to get at the root of why her relationship with an elusive ex (played by Krasinski) feel apart. Now, though, it's Nicholson who has to submit to questioning during the Brief Interviews press tour; fortunately, the actress was game to talk yo Movieline about Krasinski's unconventional ideas, the difficulty of balancing motherhood and a career, and the cast exodus from Law & Order: Criminal Intent (where she starred until recently as the partner to Jeff Goldblum).

So I feel like I got to know the back of your head pretty well in this film!

I know, right?

Was that really you in those interview scenes, where the camera is on the other actors for so long? Or were you like, "Hey, this would be a perfect time to use my stand-in!"

Every time you see the back of my head, it's really me.

So what were you doing in those scenes that we didn't get to see? Were you supplying the actors with emotional cues?

I wouldn't say "emotional cues," but I did really just try to listen and be with them and go from there, which is not always easy. Some of those monologues were rather lengthy, but each actor was so different from the next that it was always interesting to show up and see what would happen that day. At some points it is hard when it's just the back of your head, to have that energy, but I tried to do that. If I was successful at it, you'd have to ask the other actors!

Do you feel like you learned a little bit more about your character by how all these men were reacting to her?

I guess so, yeah. I actually never thought about it like that, but I guess that probably did happen!

Well, they're so confessional around her, but we don't see much of the conversational windup before these monologues. What do you think it was about her manner that was so ingratiating to these guys?

Right, you don't see her drawing them out. I don't know, maybe it's just having a good listener there, somebody that wants something from them but doesn't have the slightest idea what they're gonna say. I think also, maybe they're looking for a place to talk - it's Ben Shenkman's character that says, "This is for science, right?" It's a safe place to do that because it's for quote-unquote "science" and it's not personal.

Had you met John before he cast you in the film?

No, I didn't. He had his people call my people.

That's got to be flattering to be singled out like that. Do you know what it was that made him go to you?

Um...[Laughs] I was just about to say something stupid, but I always say stupid things and then they look bad in print. Maybe I don't have that kind of personality.

Feel free, Julianne!

No, it always looks bad! My jokes sometimes don't translate. I know John had seen some of my work although I don't know what exactly, but we both had small parts in Kinsey. Not together, though. It was incredibly flattering! You do your work and I always feel like no one watches or cares or remembers, and then you realize every once in a while that someone does. When somebody does the same thing, acting, it's even more flattering.

How revealing did John want your performance to be? There's a certain mystery to your reactions, a certain opaqueness.

I think it's fair to say that we discovered -- or he discovered -- while we were filming that it was better to do less with my face. For instance, in that last scene with [John] and I, I was listening to what he was saying and found that story he tells very moving and upsetting. The breakup of these people, that there are two different takes on what the relationship was, I found it very upsetting. So that was all happening off-camera, but when we turned the camera around [on me], he really wanted me to give nothing away, actually. He wanted me to be still and not show anything, and for me, it's hard to watch. I'm like, "Am I even doing anything?" That's when you trust your director, and I think it was the most interesting choice.

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