Interview with Paulo Costanzo from Everything"s Gone Green
Page 2
Have you gotten to shoot much in Canada?
“Yeah, my career started in Canada and I've done now two features in Canada. The other one was shot in Calgary and Montreal. Why do you ask?”
Because Road Trip was GA, Joey was LA.
“Actually, come to think of it, Josie and the Pussycats, 40 Days and 40 Nights, those both shot in Vancouver as well. I've shot a lot in Canada. In fact, I'd even go as far, I've shot more things in Canada for sure.
Even the American projects.”
Does this film have a wider release in Canada?
“Yes.”
What's the reaction been like?
“They like it. Vancouver audiences love it. And Toronto, it's been received well in Toronto as well. It was received incredibly well in New York. The New York Times and the Village Voice both really liked it and I think the LA Times we got a good one as well, in the LA Times. It's being received really well. A small movie like this though, it's hard to get it out to the bigger theaters because there's just so little money involved. But it's a charming little movie.”
Have you experienced Hollywood money changing your life?
“Not that much. No. Not really.”
Have you seen it with friends?
“Yeah, I have. I've seen people's personalities change and just they get… Yeah, I have. Not so much though, frankly. Maybe it's because I hang out with a lot of levelheaded people. The other half of them are just poor actors and artists.”
When you started out, did you imagine being a comic actor?
“I didn't really plan anything, really.
I kind of just jumped in knowing that I wanted to be an actor I guess. I enjoy comedy. I guess I'm kind of more interested in drama though. It's kind of ironic that comedy is where I excel most at. But we'll see.”
Was there a point you realized you excelled at comedy?
“People have always told me that I was funny. I don't know. I don't know. You're talking about myself, I don't know.”
Are there any unaired Joey episodes you shot?
“Oh yeah. We shot an entire second season that never aired.”
Is there closure when it finally comes out on DVD?
“Absolutely. The last episode was absolutely the end.”
They gave that show a chance. What were your feelings?
“Well, for me it was pretty obvious what was happening and yeah, at the end, they were floundering. But I think the time had come.”
Would you try TV again?
“Sure, if it's a good show. There's a lot of really good shows on TV right now.”
Are you reading scripts or fielding offers now?
“Both. I'm being very choosy right now because I want to do something different than what I've done before.”
Do you have more opportunities available now that you've been in the business a while?
“Yeah.”
Is it any less of a struggle?
“Yeah, I mean, as you cultivate more of a name and blah blah blah you get more offers and things like that, but as far as getting the parts you want, I think that's always going to be somewhat of a struggle. Like I think every actor, even big names, if there's a part they really want, there's probably four or five other big names out there that want the same part so you have to fight for the really good ones.”
Do you have any great stories about Everything's Gone Green that we didn't talk about yet?
“Well, the one thing that was cool, Vancouver always stands in for different cities. It's Hollywood North, they shoot movies there because it's cheaper. So there's a huge film industry there and the crews are all Canadian. They're all Vancouverites and there's a big film industry there. They're very competent and they're good at what they do. But rarely if ever do they get to actually work on a movie that takes place in their hometown. They're so used to having it be like America somewhere, like Seattle or New York, that they all got really invested in the project because it was about Vancouver.
Everyone on the set had read the script so it was unlike other movies that I've ever done. There was this huge sense of camaraderie on the set. Everybody was into it. Everybody knew the script. Like during a scene, I could turn to the prop guy and say, ‘Hey, what do you say? Do you think I'm nailing the romantic undertones here? Am I underplaying?’ He's like, ‘No, you're doing great, no, you're doing great. Remember in Scene 67, you've got to pace yourself. Scene 67's where you gotta let it rip.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, you're right.’ Everyone had an authority about the script that was really cool.”
And it's got a subplot about a character dressing Vancouver for American movies. Did that ring true?
“Of course. Yes, everything I've shot in Vancouver always, if you're going to shoot exteriors, you're constantly dressing it to be somewhere else. You're covering all the Canadian things. All the Canadian actors have to cover their accents. This is one of the first times many of these people have worked on a feature in Vancouver without having to mask their ‘aboots’. I had to bring back my ‘aboot’."
You had to lose your accent early in your career?
“Absolutely. Even working in Canada. Even just working in Toronto, they have a continuity person being like, ‘No, you can't say aboot, what are you talking about?’ I'm like, ‘What the hell are you talking aboot? I don't say aboot.’ ‘Oh yeah.’"
How hard was it to get back?
“Easy. You stay in Canada for a week, you get it back. The first week you're there though, everyone sounds like freaks. They're like, ‘Hey, let's go over to my hoose.’ (Laughing) ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, now.’”
When did you move to LA?
“Three or four years ago.”
How do you like the lifestyle?
“It's good. LA, if you know how to utilize the city and use it to what you want to do, it's great. It's not an easygoing town though. You've got to really forge your way through it. But once you do that, everything's here. You can do whatever you want. You can do whatever you want. You want to take a kite surfing lesson, go tomorrow down to the beach. If you want to learn how to shoot a sniper rifle, you probably could if you really wanted to. There's everything here. There's restaurants of every type of flavor. It's a pretty amazing place to live.”
Did you try kite surfing?
“I haven't but I'm doing it next week. It's on my list.”