2, Neil explains that the best part “is trying to get
inside the head of such a conflicted and morally
ambiguous man; to find his angels and devils.
Peter’s motivations are fairly liquid in nature; he
is a bit of an opportunist and he justifies and
rationalizes a lot of his behavior. He is jealous,
ambitious, disloyal and filled with resentment. He
also has a great capacity for love and tenderness,
but is equally cold and calculating, and capable
of horrific acts of violence. “Folding all these
elements into one man and finding a way to
understand and inform all his choices in order
to love him from within, is a deeply gratifying
challenge-“ a challenge that Neil is more than
ready to surmount. By identifying with all his
characters, he is able to not only portray them
to perfection, but learn things about his own
character and the inner workings of his mind.
“My job is to find those aspects of myself that are
relevant to a particular character and to access
and highlight them. I have played some sweet
and loveable characters, but I also play some
morally reprehensible cats. I like to think I fit more
into the sweet and loveable category as a person,
but it would be an incomplete picture if I did not
recognize the less warm and fuzzy elements of my
psyche. I need to see and recognize myself as a
whole. To quote a Tom Waits song, ‘If I exorcise
my devils, my angels may leave, too’. What is
important is making sure it is the angels who are
running the show (even though for a role, I may
need to hand the reigns over to the devils…).”
eil may play some morally reprehensible
people, but as evidenced by his
interview with us, we know the truth, that
he is a sweet and lovable guy, who has figured out
how to use his incredible talents for good. And
speaking of Tom Waits, he just so happens to be
one of the five (living) people in the world that Neil
would love to have dinner with if provided with
such an opportunity-Tom made the cut, as Neil
said that – “I love his music and his poetry, and he
just seems like such an interesting character that
it would be great to just sit there and listen to him
tell stories.” A good narrative is another reason
for one of his other dinner companion choices,
Jon Krakauer – “I am a big fan of his books. I am
always interested in documentary stories, and he
brings to it an engaging narrative style.” His other
three picks being: “Noam Chomsky - I would love
to pick his brain about the state in which we find
our world today and what he thinks we can do to
save it. Sarah Silverman - Well, because she is
awesome and hilarious and smart as hell. Paula
Jean Hixson - Because I cannot have dinner
with Jon Krakauer AND Sarah Silverman and
not invite my wife! #GroundsForDivorce.” And
if that was not the sweetest thing you have ever
heard, wait until you read what his response to
the question of what the best thing that has ever
happened to him was. “The single best thing that
has ever happened to me? That would be that
my best friend and greatest ally agreed to marry
me. Having my wife, Paula Jean as my teammate
makes all the joys more profound, and all the
obstacles seem merely like challenges to be met.
And we laugh. We laugh a lot.”
Laughter is the best medicine, and the best
way to know you have found your best friend,
which Neil clearly has. The likeable actor also
admits that he has a great respect for those
people who put their lives at risk to help others.
“For deeply personal reasons, if I was not
an actor, I would hope that I would be a firefighter.” Admirable indeed, and that’s not the
only way Neil helps people as he is also actively
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