It's a little strange to talk to Brian Geraghty over the phone after watching his new film, the indie gem Easier with Practice. In the movie, Geraghty (best known for playing the tremulous Eldridge in The Hurt Locker) plays Davy Mitchell, an insecure writer who blossoms after a random call from a strange woman turns into phone sex and then, something even more unusual and unexpected. Luckily, the film is based on a true story written by Found magazine creator Davy Rothbaart (and directed by newcomer Kyle Patrick Alvarez), so no matter how much Geraghty and I got along on the phone, the words "What are you wearing?" would probably never be uttered.
Still, the two of us found plenty of other things to talk about, whether it was the best way to shoot some hot and heavy phone sex, his thoughts on The Hurt Locker's Oscar chances, or his candid admission about The Subject was Roses, the play he's currently starring in opposite Martin Sheen and Frances Conroy in Los Angeles.
Did you love the fact that on Easier with Practice, you're not just in almost every frame, but the takes are long, sometimes even ten minutes?
It helps, you know? Man, it really does. It helps to have a theater background, and that's where I started in New York about 12, 13 years ago. I loved it, and we did it as well on The Hurt Locker. We'd shoot most of the action sequences in long takes, so we wouldn't stop and start and they'd let us experience the whole thing. Sometimes people want you to do pickups, and that's hard for me to do because I like to experience things from the beginning to the end. I was feeling right at home, you know?
One of those long takes is the first, pivotal time you get this call from the mystery woman, and you go from timid and lonely to raunchy and masturbating within the space of one long take. I read that you didn't rehearse that scene beforehand -- was that to preserve the spontaneity?
Yes, that's absolutely correct. You get a feeling about things, and if you trust yourself, which I've grown to do, I felt like I had a pretty good indication of how to play the role. From the first time I read the script, it was an organic reaction, and that's why I pursued the script, for sure. So I said, "Let's just see what it happens." It's one of those things where someone [might skeptically comment], "Oh, is that how you're gonna do it?" I didn't want anyone to screw around with what I knew I could already do. It's such a pivotal, crazy scene to do in a film that I'm sure everyone has an idea of how it's supposed to build, but I trusted Kyle. We did the first take, and he said, "All right, we can move on." Then a producer said, "Maybe we should do one more," so we did one more and they ended up using that one. If we did a third one, they probably would have ended up using that one.
You've worked with some very experienced directors, but are there some advantages sometimes to working with a first-time director like Kyle Patrick Alvarez?
If they're a good director, all there is are advantages. You're coming on to a project [with a director] that hasn't been proven yet critically, or by peers. Kyle has a certain confidence on his own, and a vision. After all these years, I'm starting to learn what a good director does, and I know what a good one does with actors: help us navigate finer instincts, help us when we're wrong, encourage us when things are great. But to have a vision, that's something I've started to understand over the past few years. To see Kyle before he's had any success...it's like, was I scared to go work with Sam Mendes [on Jarhead]? Of course, because he's what I always wanted to work with, so you kind of revere him when you show up to work. It took me a month to relax because he was my dream director, he was the guy. And now, like, I know Kathryn [Bigelow, who directed Hurt Locker], and all these actors are going to be freaking out, like, "Oh my God! Kathryn Bigelow!" Everyone's doing that now. It's great to get to someone so talented before they've got that exposure.
Even though the character has a different last name than Davy Rothbaart, it is, to some extent, based on him. How much did you use that?
They're two different guys, but yeah, it was exceptional to have him [to draw from]. We started working for a week or two, me and Kyle, and we were kind of doing rewrites at my house, and I finally started feeling like I was at a place where I could incorporate this real guy. I said to him, "Look, anything you say is between us, and I know it's a personal thing and I'm honored to play this role and have you here to help me." He didn't hold back, and we trusted each other.
The key element for me, was to figure out why Davy [Mitchell] is the way he is. You know, Davy [Rothbaart] has relationships, he can get women, that's not his problem. This story was more about that, and that's what I had to justify. It was like, "So why can't this guy get women?" He's not gay. That's open for interpretation, but I said that to Kyle, and he said, "I think you're right." That's how much freedom he gave me. Watching this guy try to connect, but he can't do it...it's very difficult.
Now, I just saw you play another soldier in The Subject was Roses at the Mark Taper...
What night did you see it, I'm curious?
I saw it in previews.
Oh, OK. You saw it in real rough shape, dude.
Oh yeah?
It's changed a lot, I think. Every day we're changing our blocking, trying to figure out stuff and reshaping it. Some of those shows were painful. [Laughs]
Did you just not have enough preparation time?
I mean, we had three nights on the stage with tech. It's a very big difference to get on the stage with real props and time it. It made a huge, huge difference once we got there. Saturday was probably our best night, that and opening night, we were like, "OK, we figured it out, we're OK."
Is it exciting -- or daunting -- to realize that even if you have one good night where you nail it, tomorrow's show could be a whole other story?
If I could nail it every night, I'd let my understudy go on, you know what I mean? It's what keep you young, it's what keeps you working, it's what keeps it exciting. Sometimes these magical things will happen. It's funny, the audience doesn't know when we're on autopilot -- how spontaneous and free we are is up to us. That's what I want, to go in there and forget about it and act opposite these two great actors, but it is daunting. I don't know how much longer I can do it for, this particular piece. It would be difficult to do this for a six-month run. [Laughs]
Between this, The Hurt Locker, and Jarhead, do you think you've done your trilogy of boyish soldiers now?
That's funny, I've never thought of that. Hey man, if the right role came along...I don't think I'd ever get typecast as a soldier. I'd get typecast as Davy Mitchell if I played three more of those characters. These are great roles I've gotten to play, all of them, and any actor would give his left arm to do a movie with Sam Mendes, Kathryn Bigelow. They're the best roles out there, and I'll take another one.
You know, I think about The Hurt Locker, and we made a film about three guys, three different looking guys with three very different energies. At the end of the day, I never thought about this while I was filming -- and this is the truth -- but with movies like that, you can be on location for five months and not really get one scene or get to really act. It's a lot of work. If you really want to act, you're better off doing a play in a black box in Burbank or off-off-off-Broadway. On movies like that, you could sit around watching other actors act and you just blend in with the shaved head, so to have The Hurt Locker was a very different thing. It would be hard to get me back to be in a platoon, you know what I'm saying?
And you made The Hurt Locker so long ago. When did it dawn on you that it's the Oscar frontrunner?
It still honestly hasn't dawned on me. Maybe it will when I'm at the Oscars, we'll see if it's the frontrunner or not. The past couple of weeks have been different -- people seem to be really seeing the film now and they're blown away. As far as the Oscars, I don't know. All I've been doing is working on this play, which is the greatest thing because I don't have time to read articles. I get sent things, and I've archived them but I haven't read anything, really. I know when people win, and we did go to the Golden Globes and the SAGs, obviously, but we don't know when it's going to happen...
So you didn't see Jeremy Renner singing on The View?
No, I gotta check that out. Jeremy Renner is a great person, a great guy.
And he's using that Hurt Locker heat to snag some good roles. Have you started looking at your next move yet?
You know, I've just started to look at things. Hey man, I don't know -- I hope I can get a job! It's tough times, man. Whatever it is I'll be doing, I hope it's the same kind of creative and collaborative process that I went through on this play, that I went through on The Hurt Locker. It's gratifying because I've had a process where the actors and directors really listen to each other, and it's been fulfilling. If people see them...hey, some people like the play, some people think it's dated. It happens. What are you gonna do? Can't win 'em all, you know?
Did you see that there's a movie blog out there lobbying for you to play Captain America?
Yeah, I didn't know that. Huh. I have a friend who just screen-tested for that. No, I never even read it, I don't know what it's about. He said it's like a comic book? I honestly don't even know. I feel like I remember a cartoon, but I never read any comics as a kid. I was deprived of toys and comics.
Isn't this the next thing that happens, Brian? You start going in for all the comic book heroes and villains?
Right. And then they're like, "Well, he's a little off," or they want you to come in and say, "You're perfect," then they love to tell you no. Listen, would I do a big, fun movie? Sure. There's only so much pain I can take. [Laughs]