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Interview with Hope Davis
HBO
Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Hope Davis.
HOPE DAVIS
Good evening... good morning.
HBO
That was a funny scene today, by the way. What was making you laugh so hard?
Was it just him saying "vasectomy"?
HOPE DAVIS
Oh, my God, it was the whole thing. First of all, it's Paul playing Harvey. And
his eyes are bugging out and rolling. And he's looking all over the place. And then the
idea that these two people are meeting and rather than saying "How was your trip?" you
know, the first thing he says is, "I just think you should know right off the bat, I've
had a vasectomy." Before we go any farther, he is already talking about-
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
- the vasectomy. I mean, how? You know? It was just very humorous. Paul and I have
agreed to never work together again, because we can't even look at each other at this
point. As soon as we look at each other we start to laugh. He makes me laugh so
hard.
HBO
What attracted you to this role?
HOPE DAVIS
There were a few things. Good Machine for one. Good Machine always makes really
interesting projects. And I've worked with (executive producer) Ted Hope
before.
HBO
Had you read Pekar's comics?
HOPE DAVIS
Yeah. I read his stuff in college, you know, when your mind is really open and
you're not thinking about your career. The comics are so great. I love the whole idea
of them. The story. They're just everyday guys, you know? The tales. The first one that
I picked up and read again was the story of Harvey, just sitting in his house. He
doesn't know what to do, so he goes out. And he's hanging around the stoop, and nothing
happens for a few pages. And then he walks over to the movie theater and talks to
someone. And then he meets a friend, and they move a rug. And that's the whole
story.
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
There is something so, uh -- so mundane, and so beautiful. It made me listen to
conversations in the street in a different way. People just talk about the most boring
shit. But it's so lovely. And they care about what the other person is saying. And
that's what a lot of the stories are about; it's just the, you know, the washing of the
dishes. And yet it works -- the human relationships.
I watched this couple having an obvious first date out on the street. A couple
of weeks, right before we started, I was in Los Angeles. And you could tell that, you
know, they were really sitting down for the first time. And she was explaining to him,
she had her purse in front of her. And she was explaining to him how she has trouble
opening and closing her purse. And she was showing him the clasp. And showing him how
it opens and the problem.
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
And he was like, "Uh-huh. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm." It's like "Yeah, they're getting to
know each other." And they're talking about the purse.
HBO
Describe your character in the film. Is she a control freak, obsessed with all
things negative?
HOPE DAVIS
Well, that's what it says in the script, right? How to describe Joyce... She is
kind of different from the normal person, as Harvey is, you know? She is very
ambitious, and she wants to be a writer, but she's got a lot of depression and illness.
I mean, the real Joyce says she has chronic fatigue. And the fact that she can move
into Harvey's world, because he is pretty crazy and messy and horrible, and when she
first gets there, she walks into his apartment, which is covered with food, and crumbs,
and underwear, and clothes. And she says, like "It's OK."
HBO
But she seems to be the figurehead, especially when he gets cancer. She seems
to be the pillar of strength there.
HOPE DAVIS
Well, she is. She told me that what she really knows how to do is deal with
someone who is in a crisis, because she has done it all her life in her family
situation. And she really knows how to take care of somebody. She said, at one point,
when Harvey had cancer, they sent a visiting nurse to come and take care of him. And
the second the visiting nurse got there, Joyce had a fever of 104. And she just went
right over as soon as she wasn't needed to take care of Harvey.
HBO
What was your first impression, when you met Harvey, the real Harvey?
HOPE DAVIS
[SIGHS] It was really scary. We went over to his house. [LAUGHTER] And I had
been with Joyce; we had been talking for a few hours. And we walked in the house and
Paul Giamatti was there with Harvey. And just like in the film, the living room has
this futon in the middle of it. And you have to kind of walk around it. And he was laid
out on the futon, like on his elbows. And we were all kind of standing around, and he
was kind of just looking up at us. And he didn't talk at all. And his cats were kinda
jumping around. And we're just [LAUGHTER] standing there.
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
"Hi, I am... " you know? And he didn't talk at all. I think he wasn't in the
mood to talk.
HBO
Right.
HOPE DAVIS
And that was a little disconcerting.
HBO
Did you find it intimidating to play someone who is watching you play
them?
HOPE DAVIS
Oh, so much so that after the first day or so I asked that when I was doing my
stuff, I didn't want Joyce to watch, because, you just feel so ridiculous imitating
someone who is standing over there. And how well could I be her? I'm taking what's in
the story, which she says is not even who she is, and it's [LAUGHTER].
HBO
Hmmm.
HOPE DAVIS
So, it was bizarre, you know?
HBO
Most of the actors that I interview when they are doing a bio-pic, they usually
just say, "You know, I can't imitate her; I can just only try to understand the
behavior," kinda thing.
HOPE DAVIS
Exactly. And in this case the director said to me, "This story is Harvey
Pekar's story. You need to tell the story that we have written about the two of them,
you know?" So that's what I've tried to focus on. But it's a bizarre thing to do. And
what's really hilarious is when you have me standing next to her; and Paul Giamatti
standing next to the real Harvey; and the two Tobys. It's...
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
- it's just...
HBO
It's a mind fuck.
HOPE DAVIS
It's a mind fuck.
HBO
Yes.
HOPE DAVIS
Can we say that?
HBO
Well I just did.
HOPE DAVIS
- on HBO?
HBO
- what the hell.
HOPE DAVIS
OK.
HBO
What was it like working with (filmmakers) Bob and Shari?
HOPE DAVIS
It's nice. They are tremendously talented. They wrote the script. And the
script is so beautiful. That was the main thing that made me want to do it: the script
was so good. What's funny is when one of them will come and give a direction, and then
a couple minutes later the other one will come around from the opposite end, giving the
absolute opposite direction.
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
And I say, "You know, your husband just came, and told me to go...."
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
It's happened so many times. But then they agree. It's kinda nice to have a
team. You know, it's a hard job, directing a film.
I think they help each other. Definitely.
HBO
What do you think Joyce wants?
HOPE DAVIS
I think she's looking for what Harvey has; which is a kind of artistic
fulfillment, you know? She is very ambitious. And Joyce writes her own comics, and
says that hers outsell Harvey's. So she has her own thing.
HBO
Do you think that Joyce and Harvey are soulmates?
HOPE DAVIS
Absolutely. I think that they couldn't exist without one another at this point.
I mean, they really seem to complement one another. They take care of one another. I
think they love each other deeply. I said, at one point, I said, "Do you still love
him?" And she said "He has an amazing mind." And I think they kind of inspire one
another.
HBO
How has it been working with Paul Giamatti?
HOPE DAVIS
He is great. I mean, he has made it so much fun. And we seem to just be the
perfect pair. There is something so odd. He is hilarious.
HBO
But, you will never work with him again?
HOPE DAVIS
I will never ever work with him again, because I already have a problem with
laughing at work; laughing on the stage; laughing in front of the camera. Then
everyone's time and money is being wasted.
HBO
[LAUGHTER]
HOPE DAVIS
And Paul Giamatti has sent me over the edge with the laughter.
HBO
Yeah.
HOPE DAVIS
So, that's it for us. It's over. I can't deal with it. I am sweating. Every
scene we do, I am sweating.
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