jason schwartzman
“This is a guy who is given the choice to say or do the right or wrong things, and chooses to say and do the wrong thing every time,” says Jason Schwartzman of his character, a rising novelist, in Alex Ross Perry’s black comedy Listen Up Philip, which debuted in Park City to stunning reviews. Also starring Elisabeth Moss and Jonathan Pryce, the flm follows the talented author, who mishandles every relationship and career choice while on the brink of success. One of Schwartzman’s frst lines? “I hope this will be good for us, but especially for me.” (“Oftentimes I would say to Alex, ‘I can’t say that to somebody, that’s so not nice...’” says Schwartzman. “And he’d be like, ‘Yeah, he’s not nice right now!’”) Perry and Schwartzman bonded when, after their frst meeting in New York City, dinner turned into drinks and then a trip to the now defunct vegan ice-cream spot Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, in the East Village. He sums up their frst “date” as cinema vérité: “You know, like, in movies, when people go out, and they have one long conversation as they are walking along a bridge, talking, and then a character is like, ‘I don’t like tomatoes,’ and then it cuts to someone on a stairway saying, ‘What do you mean you don’t like tomatoes?’” Considering all of his early success at playing precocious misfts for the likes of Wes Anderson, Sofa Coppola, and David O. Russell, the actor is clearly an intrinsically polite and curious fellow. He relays a story about carrying around an Arthur Russell documentary for a month in case he ran into Humberto Leon of Opening Ceremony. Leon borrowed it and then cast Schwartzman in a fashion short for his brand, shot by the doc’s director, Matt Wolf. The two met, got on, and Schwartzman then became the executive producer of Wolf’s documentary Teenage, which was based on Jon Savage’s book and came out in April. It seems that when it comes to picking projects, scenes from the life of Jason Schwartzman tend to write themselves. kate branch Jacket band of outsiders s/s 2014 shirt ralph lauren Jewelry schwartzman’s own