Joey Magidson
Few in the industry do it better than Paul Giamatti. No matter what he’s in, you expect perfection from him, and to be fair, you basically always get it. His taste in films is A+, which is only an added bonus. The Holdovers is further proof of this, providing him not just with a movie built for him, but a character he can embrace whole hog, resulting in a ton of on screen fun. As you probably have seen, I’ve already spoken to director Alexander Payne here and cinematographer Eigil Bryld here, as well as co-stars Da’Vine Joy Randolph here and Dominic Sessa here. Today, Giamatti brings us home with The Holdovers conversations.
In my review of The Holdovers out of the Telluride Film Festival (here), I had this to say about Giamatti and his co-stars:
Paul Giamatti and Payne go together impeccably. All three performers are excellent, but Giamatti is the flashier figure. He’s exaggerated at times, but incredibly consistent. Some of his lines are absolutely hilarious, and you’re laughing with the character far more than at him. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is expertly deployed, allowing her subplot to never feel hemmed in, while Dominic Sessa is quite naturalistic. When they’re all together, they bring out the best in each other. The film soars when they’re all bonding. The cast also includes Tate Donovan, Carrie Preston, and more, but it’s about these main three.
Below, you can see my chat with Giamatti. I made sure to ask him about Sessa and their experience together, which led to some interesting and also funny bits. It’s sort of a vibes conversation, checking in with a master of his craft, focused in on how he’s still having a lot of fun doing this. Luckily, Giamatti is a delight, clever and quick to laugh, while also being very friendly. His work in The Holdovers is among his best to date and may well land him his second Academy Award nomination. Once you see the film, if you haven’t already, you’ll understand why the Oscar buzz is more than warranted…
Here now is my interview with The Holdovers star Paul Giamatti. Enjoy:
The Holdovers is in theaters now!
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