SXSW11 Podcast: Tom McCarthy Talks WIN WIN
Our next SXSW11 podcast is with actor/writer/director, Tom McCarthy (The Visitor, The Station Agent), on his latest film, Win Win.
Our next SXSW11 podcast is with actor/writer/director, Tom McCarthy (The Visitor, The Station Agent), on his latest film, Win Win. The film stars Paul Giamatti as counseling attorney Mike Flaherty, who's a high school wrestling coach on the side. He meets a runaway star athlete Kyle (Alex Shaffer, in his first professional acting role) through a bad decision he makes in order to support his family. Just as things start going right in his life for a change, the boy's mother (Melanie Lynskey) shows up straight out of rehab and looking for money, which causes all the good things to suddenly take a turn for the worse. The film also stars Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale and Burt Young.
In our interview, McCarthy discusses the impetus of the screenplay and why he wanted to make a film about "good people making bad decisions." Topics we also discussed: the importance of tone in writing the screenplay and how hard it was for him to maintain it through the rewriting process; his casting process and why he went against type for some roles and his discovery of Alex Shaffer, who plays Kyle in the film; and his advice to up-and-coming screenwriters.
Trailer for Win Win:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbe33D59euY
Joshua Stecker is a freelance entertainment journalist based in Los Angeles. His bylines include The Hollywood Reporter and Death & Taxes Magazine. Stecker is the former west coast/web editor of Script Magazine. He's also the co-founder of the Modjeska Playhouse theatre company in South Orange County. Follow him on twitter at @joshuastecker.
