Canada's Jay Baruchel On Hollywood & Canadian Film Million Dollar Baby and Just Legal star talks with HNR October 27th 2005 10:40am | Posted by: Mark McLeod Interview by Candice Coughlin and Mark McLeod | HNR Contributing Writers Prior to the first screening of Fetching Cody at the Toronto International Film Festival, Mark McLeod and I were able to sit down with actor Jay Baruchel at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. Baruchel, who you may recognize as the lovable Danger Barch in Million Dollar Baby, is representing David Ray’s first feature Fetching Cody alongside the brilliant actress Sarah Lind. Fetching Cody is a courageous film that challenges the possibility of the chaos theory. This film looks closer at a neighborhood where most people have lost hope, and it brings us face to face with the discarded inhabitants. Baruchel is able to carry the film because he is incredibly vulnerable and is exceptionally brilliant at generating laughs from his spontaneity, distinctive quirkiness and effective comedic flare. Candice: Did you always want to be an actor? Is this what you could see yourself doing as a career? Jay Baruchel: Well, it is, but it is not my number one passion. It is the best job for someone my age really. I love it don’t get me wrong because I get to exercise my creative muscles and all that stuff. But long before I started acting- which was when I was twelve mind you- even before then I knew all I’d ever want to do is write and direct. Candice: So you’ve always wanted to be in the film industry. Jay Baruchel: Yep. Candice: How did you get started? Jay Baruchel: We moved to Oshawa Ontario which is a suburb of Toronto when I was five from Montreal and then we moved back there when I was twelve, but the time I was in Ontario is when I fell in love with movies and realized that no matter what I wanted to be a part of movies. So how I got started acting was I starting taking these acting classes when I was twelve like once a week at the bottom of the church basement in Montreal. And then I audition for a Concordia student film and then I got cast in it- and then some of the other actors on the student film had an actual agent and they recommended me to him. So here I am, eleven years later. Candice: How did you get attached to the project? Jay Baruchel: My manager sent it to me and said, while don’t you take a look at this thing, this is really your sense of humor, your really your sensibilities, this is the kind of movie you would love to watch. It’s a Canadian movie and I really want to work in Canada because since I’ve started acting in the States, for some reason I cant get hired in Canada for the life of me. So I knew it was a Canadian movie, it was independent, it was the sensibility of my taste- so I read it. I read it all in one sitting. I usually make a decision of whether or not I like something after 50-60 pages and I read this one the whole thing through. I told my mother right away, back and forth phone conversations with the director and it was almost going to be me, or someone much younger than me, depending which way they were going to go with this movie. And I was like, please let me be in this movie, so I put myself on tape for it like a schmuck. So I put myself on tape for it like in the hotel room in Los Angeles. They were good enough to cast me. Mark: Because Fetching Cody is a bit of a departure from your last role in Million Dollar Baby, do you prefer to work on big budget features or smaller independent films? Jay Baruchel: They each have their benefits and their drawbacks. The creature comforts on big budget movies are obviously much nicer. You’ve got fresh movies being made every ten minutes and all that sort of stuff. That’s all nice but it’s definitely way more fun to work on smaller fun. I’ll even go so far as to say it’s more fun to work on smaller movies in Canada than it is in the States. Smaller movies tend to attract younger crews, there is kind of a we’re all in it together kind of thing, no one gets involved in those movies to make money. The only reason anyone would get involved in a movie that costs half a million dollars to make is because they love what they are doing. And when it’s like that on every step of the way- the members of the crew read the script and they liked it- everyone knows it’s a creative environment so they feel free to pitch their ideas, try things out, when you factor out the big budget, people get a lot less stressed out and are a lot more free to try things. Which I think is conducive to better art in my opinion. Mark: Because there is no studio breathing down your neck. Jay Baruchel: Well exactly, but you understand why they are doing that because there is so much money that they are dealing with. When you make an investment you want to look out for it. But the fact is that is not good for art. And when all these decisions are being made by committees, there are dozens upon dozens of executives everyone trying to put their two cents in, it just takes the fun out of it basically. Mark: I think you should wear a blue shirt instead of a green shirt. Jay Baruchel: (laughs) Exactly. That’s exactly it. Mark: Oh no, wear the red one. Jay Baruchel: That’s exactly it. Candice: What were some of your biggest challenges with your character of Art in Fetching Cody ? Jay Baruchel: My only concern was to make all of my decisions and all the lines I have to say and all of the conclusions that Art comes to on screen realistic. I didn’t do a lot of research into junkies or child hookers or whatever. Candice Baruchel: So no method acting (laughs). Jay Baruchel: (laughs) Well exactly. I figured, if I play him as a guy who knows better than the situations he’s in, than he is definitely smarter than the environment that he’s found himself in, must of made a conscious effort to be there because he likes it there. But he is also a wide-eyed completely crazy innocent dreamer when it comes to his girlfriend- I figured if I nailed that stuff that would be fine. Anything else the director, who also wrote it, would tell me because he invented the character. So I had him to steer me along. Candice: Did you make an effort to have fun with your character? Jay Baruchel: There is a surprising amount of my own stuff that I contributed when it comes to Fetching Cody . The prominence of the word cock- cock is said so many times throughout the movie because I made it my personal mission. My personal mission in Fetching Cody was to make cock the new fuck. So I started saying ‘What the cock,’ or ‘For cock’s sake’ or ‘cock!’ exclamation mark, exclamation mark. (laughs) Candice: What’s next for you? Jay Baruchel: There is this new show Just Legal coming up. Mark: I wanted to bring that up- I’ve actually seen the pilot. Jay Baruchel: You did? What did you think? Mark: I liked it. I like Don Johnson, Don Johnson is always good. Jay Baruchel: Yes, so I have the T.V. how ‘Just Legal’ coming out. But what I am really proud of is the next movie called I’m Reed Fish with me and Alexis Bledel, Victor Rasuk, Schuyler Fisk, Chris Parnell, Katey Sagal- all sorts of great actors. It’s written by a guy named Reed Fish and I play Reed Fish so of course I am excited about this movie. Go see the movie ‘I’m Reed Fish,’ and someone asks ‘Who do you play?’ and I can say ‘Reed Fish,’ and that feels great. But again, young crew, small budget and really creative atmosphere. It’s just going to look beautiful- I’ve already seen what some of it looks like and it will either hit huge or no one will hear about it. It will either fall flat or do really well and I have faith in it and I think we made ourselves a really great movie. Mark: Is there anyone in Canada that you want to work with? Or otherwise? Jay Baruchel: Cronenburg. Neil Jordan. Gaspar Noe. The writers and actors who created Trailer Park Boys. If I could work with those guys in any way, that would be my dream come true. Mark: Undeclared was great. Jay Baruchel: So you liked the show? Mark: Yeah. It was great man. Jay Baruchel: Honestly, we all loved doing it as much as people loved watching it. A lot of jobs in television are just jobs, we’d all hang out and Seth and I would get together and watch undeclared and if people could only see what we do on our spare time. I wouldn’t say that about most casts, or about most shows. Candice: Is there anything that you want people to know about you? Jay Baruchel: I am a proud Canadian, number one, that’s the biggest thing. All I want to do is make independent movies in Canada. And that the Montreal Canadians are going to win the Stanley cup this year. Source: HNR In: Interviews |Visit the HNR Forums

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