EXCLUSIVE: Jason Schwartzman Chats Joining the Cast of ‘Asteroid City’
Asteroid City is now in theaters and we got the chance to hear from one of the stars of the new film, Jason Schwartzman. During the chat, Schwartzman talked how he got involved in the project, working with director Wes Anderson, and so much more. Check out what he had to say below.
On when he got involved with the project: “It was July 11th, 2019, actually. I know it was my anniversary and I was going with my wife but Wes [Anderson}} was calling, so we pulled over. And he said, ‘I’ve got an idea for something. I’m working on it with Roman [Coppola]. I can’t tell you much, but we have an idea for you for something. And we’re gonna work on it and we’ll get back to you when it’s more completed. But you should be excited.’ And that’s a nice thing to get. It really carried me through for a while because that was just the very beginning.”
On what he values when he works with Anderson: “It’s rare to know someone for a really long period of time, and to be able to work with him is a really rare and special thing. I think the one thing I value the most about our relationship is that it seems like it’s sort of as it was when we first met. The second we met we started talking about music. And I think that over the years, we’ve been through so many different things. And it’s fun to come back and to share the things that you’ve experienced with someone that you know and love. It’s about going off and having adventures. It’s like kind of like Halloween, like dumping out your stuff, seeing what you’re interested in. So when I read a script, I’m catching up with my friend in a way too. I think fundamentally, the idea of just enthusiasm and curiosity about something else being out there, that’s the fundamental thing of our relationship, and I think any good relationship is let the other person grow and then bring it back.”
On discussing the theme of grief on set: “I’m still learning, that’s one of the great pleasures of working on a film like this is sitting here with everyone and someone will say something and it’s a totally beautiful, new. But I think with grief is there’s no wrong way to feel if you’re grieving and that if you don’t feel sad when everyone else is sad, that’s okay. It’s worse to feel bad about not feeling a certain way that everyone else is feeling. So you just feel the way you feel, that’ll be okay. Just trust that. And to me, I didn’t think about that while we were doing it. But when I saw the movie and Adrian Brody’s character says, ‘Just keep doing it.’ To me that’s what it is, don’t feel bad about, don’t worry about how you’re feeling. Just feel it. It’s okay. Just keep going. It really kind of hit me when he said that.”
Who is planning on seeing Asteroid City this weekend?
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Photo credit: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features