JOHN CARROLL LYNCH
INTERVIEW BY JEREMY POWER REGIMBAL
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSICA HAYE & CLARK HSIAO
STYLING BY SCOTT FREE, ASSISTED BY NICOLE HOUSTON
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John Carroll Lynch never imagined himself getting into the film industry, as a master of the stage the thought of swapping live audiences for a camera crew never crossed his mind. Until one day when a fellow thespian recommended he audition for a role in a “little movie” that was filming in town called Fargo. The role was Norm Gunderson and writer/directors the Coen Brothers would change his career path forever. Fast-forward fifteen years and the seasoned ‘everyman’ is in L.A., at The Grove tucking into juicy smoked meat sandwiches with The Lab, telling us all about his varied and vast career in showbiz. Surrounded by larger-than-life movie posters and Hollywood madness, it’s easy to see how ungrounded an actor who’s worked with the likes of David Fincher, Martin Scorcese and Clint Eastwood could become. But that’s not John. The man who sends a shiver down your spine in Zodiac offers a rare and candid glimpse into the world of a hardworking actor, sharing his thoughts on his transition to film, the challenge of bringing characters to life and what he must do before he dies.
JEREMY POWER REGIMBAL—Right now you’re working on a Steve Carell movie. How far along are you on that?
JOHN CARROLL LYNCH—Started yesterday. The movie is being directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, they wrote Bad Santa and I Love You, Phillip Morris. The movie’s about Steve Carell and Julianne Moore’s marriage dissolving.
JPR—So it’s a comedy, obviously?
JCL—Oh yeah! [Laughs] And Ryan Gosling plays a guy who’s kind of involved with Steve Carell, who’s basically trying to return him to a sense of caring about his personal appearance and who he is.
JPR—Who do you play?
JCL—I play a friend of the family whose daughter is their babysitter, but I “break up” with Steve Carell’s character because my wife tells me to. He’s a character who’s lost all sense of personal will, like a completely domesticated animal. And he has no issues with this, he knows he’s the beta dog; it’s all cool with him.
JPR—Do you still do any theater work?
JCL—As often as I can do it. I like to do it. I’ve averaged typically about a show every three years, which is not enough.
JPR—Are the shows usually in LA?
JCL—I’ve been able to work three times on stage here in LA, once in Princeton, New Jersey and once back in Minneapolis, where I really kind of grew up as an actor. I got out of Catholic university in DC, and went to Chicago, ’cause it was a big, hot market at that time; it was right when Steppenwolf really hit so there was a huge influx of young actors who wanted to go to Chicago, and I really liked it. I was there for about eight months and ended up going to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for a job and then stayed there for eight years.
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