NEW YORK — You’d mostly recognize Patton Oswalt’s face from stand-up comedy or a variety of supporting comedy roles on shows including “The King of Queens,” “Reno 911” and “Community.”
On Dec. 9, he takes on a different, dramatic role alongside Oscar winner Charlize Theron in “Young Adult,” written by Chicago native Diablo Cody.
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Q: A couple of weeks ago, I saw you as a naughty Santa in the “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.” Now, you’re co-starring in a meaty, serious role in “Young Adult.” What brought on such a change in direction?
A: Well, I got offered the script and it was so well written that I thought I needed to rise to the occasion, so I hired an acting coach to work with me for three months. This script is so nuanced. Charlize’s character doesn’t even walk a tightrope in this … she just kind of skips along it and you’re waiting for her to just go toppling off and she never does. I really wanted to serve that balancing act in my character so I worked with a coach to really figure out this guy’s background and why it is he relates to all this horror in the way that he does and what his approach would be.
Q: You seem to represent the Everyman in this movie. That the lives of popular and pretty people from high school don’t turn out the way they hope, but the Everyman winds up being more fulfilled ultimately.
A: That’s a testament to Diablo’s writing and especially to (director)Jason (Reitman’s). He takes a character like Mavis (played by Theron) who is so awful and so mean, but you weirdly root for her because there is something heroic in her trying to turn back time to something better. It’s sort of an insane heroism. But then there is a character like mine, who most people in real life wouldn’t give you two seconds for, makes everyone realize that this is you in real life.
Q: What was most impressive is that one day you’re in a silly Harold and Kumar movie, and the next, you’re in bed with Charlize Theron. What was that day like?
A: Yes, well just a typical day in my life. Actually, that day was nerve-racking. It was obviously so nerve-racking to be naked with Charlize Theron, but it was also because at that point in the filming, we had gotten to know our characters and their relationships so well and now it had come down to doing that scene. We’ve both been emotionally peeled raw — beyond words — we have nothing clever to say anymore, and that is what was most frightening. We didn’t have anything clever or snarky to say back and forth to each other.
Q: Actor talk aside, isn’t there a nugget in your head that you’re a guy in bed with one of the most beautiful women in the world?
A: It wasn’t a nugget, it was a boulder. A boulder on fire that you are naked next to Charlize Theron. Christmas came early, my friend.
Q: All for your profession, because you are a happily married man whose in-laws live in the Chicago area. Do you visit often?
A: I do. I was just there for Thanksgiving and not happy that Hot Doug’s was closed the whole weekend. I was planning on eating my way through the weekend. Still, Chicago is such a visually friendly city. Everywhere you look, there’s some amazing piece of architecture. It feels like there was an overall idea to the city, whereas in other cities it doesn’t really feel that way.
Travel expenses paid for by Paramount Pictures and WGN-TV. Watch my interviews 4 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on WGN-Ch. 9 Morning News. My radio show airs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays on WGN-AM 720 and wgnradio.com. You can also go to wgntv.com/deanslist.