John C. Reilly: 'The Older I Get, the Less Interested I Am in Seeing My Movies'

When they tell you that they wrote this role with you in mind, that can be a nice compliment, but could it also mean that this is the sort of material you've already done before?

First of all, a lot of people say that they write things with you in mind, and they don't. Then they go to the next actor because you passed on it, and you're like, "Oh, I thought you wrote it for me?" [Laughs] But these guys really did, and I could tell what they were after. The qualities that this character had were things that they'd seen in one way or another in other things that I'd done, but it didn't feel repetitive to me. I've played romantic parts before, but not that often. It was interesting. This character's more mature than most other characters I've played before, and he more accurately reflected where I was in my own life in terms of maturity, as opposed to Step Brothers, where you're channeling your inner 12-year-old. I was allowed to be the age that I am.

If you just described the plot alone, though, it could sound like a comedy in the Step Brothers mold.

I think if Jonah and I are left to our own devices, I'm sure we'll do another movie someday like that where it'll be a lot sillier, but having Marisa there was a great balance. She has a really naturalistic style of acting and she helped ground it, and she's also kind of the pivot point for the two characters, you know?

You've improvised with a lot of actors in a lot of other films. What does improvising with Jonah Hill feel like?

He's similar to Will [Ferrell] in that you just have a great partner in the scene who's playful, enthusiastic, open to whatever you're bringing, and quick and capable enough to send it back. There's nothing worse than throwing the ball to someone and you see it hit their chest and fall to the floor. You throw the ball at Jonah, and as fast as you throw it to him, that's as fast as it's coming back to you. Jonah and I became pretty good friends on this movie, and that playfulness that we had off-camera really allowed us to engage in this battle on-camera without ending up with a real enemy at the end of it.

I would imagine actors are always anxious to see the final product, but especially on a film like this when you've given the directors so many different versions of the same scene.

Yeah! I was very curious to see how this one would cut together, because it was a lot of improv and a lot of struggling around for the scene... well, not struggling around, but just meandering within scenes and exploring different points of view. I thought it came together really smoothly, and they did an amazing job editing this movie. That said, the older I get, the less interested I am in seeing my movies when they're done. It kind of becomes more about the experience of making it. I've seen this movie twice -- once in the editing room in a rough cut situation, and once at Sundance -- and I think that's enough for me, you know? You take a lot more from the experience of making it than what the end product is.

Or how it does. Do you worry about box office and distribution very much?

Only as much as I'm required to. I feel bad if people don't make their money back, but that hasn't been the case too often. I think your job is to get as many people to see it as they can, and if they show up, great. If not, they missed a good movie. There are so many ways for a movie to fail that it's a miracle when the movie turns out great and the film itself is something that you love and you're proud of. Then, to have that movie you love get seen by people, that's like a double miracle. What people want to see on a weekend when a movie opens is controlled by a lot of different things -- not just advertising, not just how good the movie is, but what's going on in the zeitgeist. Hopefully, this summer, people will be craving a movie with a little more emotional honesty and real characters instead of just formulaic popcorn movies.

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