Absolutely.
So, why shouldn’t he be able to do this? If you saw the name Spielberg or Scorsese, or whatever, on the poster, you’d see the movie, and you go, “What a great change of pace. What a beautiful movie. And it’s really funny. It’s, like, so profound.” You wouldn’t even stop. You wouldn’t hesitate to say, “This is a masterpiece. This is gonna be a classic movie that people will watch years from now and love just as much as now.” But because it’s Farrelly, they’re going, “Did he really do that? Is it a fluke? What happened?”
That’s a great point.
People should give it up. He deserves all the credit in the world for the screenplay and his direction. It’s a really well-put-together movie.
You and Mahershala Ali have fantastic chemistry throughout the film. Were you able to prepare together?
Well, fortunately, about nine, ten months before, the year that he won the Oscar, and I think lots of other prizes, for his work in “Moonlight“–awesome job, and a great movie– I was nominated for my work with Matt [Ross] on “Captain Fantastic.” And I dutifully attended all those events and applauded through them in my chair [laughter]. And we had a lot of fun. We didn’t have the pressure of having to talk about anything. But I met Mahershala at one of the events that we were going to. It was a luncheon thing for, I think, the Independent Spirit Awards, where the nominees got to meet before the event. So, it was a nice, collegial thing. But when you stick that many agents and publicists and whatnot in a room, you’re just having a 30-second conversation here and there. “How are you doing? What are you working on now?” And that’s it.
At one point, I took my son with me as a sort of “bodyguard” [chuckels] as an excuse to make it fun so that he could see this crazy thing firsthand. And we found ourselves in a corner near the bathroom door, quickly. And so, I went through one edge of the crowd, and I was like, “Okay, we’re gonna have to work our way out of here, eventually, and go find the car and get the hell out of here. But let’s take a little break, here.” And so, we were just talking about stuff and all of the sudden I see Mahershala. He’s standing in front of me.
And I immediately just complimented him on his work on “House of Cards” and, of course, “Moonlight” and other stuff. And he said nice things about “Captain Fantastic” and other stuff that I’ve done. But then we quickly left that behind, and for the next half-hour, we talked about family, [my son] Henry [Mortensen], and then he was about to be the father of a baby, days from then. And he was most concerned with that — which I found healthy and positive — and not so much about these nominations that he was having, and these awards he was winning. And we talked about family and life and stuff for a good half-hour — an incredibly long conversation. You call that a week talking with someone in a place like that [laughter].
And so, that was it. I saw Mahershala win awards later; then I didn’t talk to him again. And then when Pete Farrelly cast me, my first question was, “Well, who’s playing Don Shirley?” Then, when I found out it was gonna be him, I was relieved. I said, “Pete, you’re gonna be so happy you cast him.” He’s smart. He’s a gentleman. And we know he’s a great actor, so we’re on our way now, for real. And then you’ll see why.
Last question, what do you think about “The Lord of the Rings” Amazon series that was announced, and would you appear in it as Aragorn if you were offered a chance to reprise the role?
I don’t think the producers would come to me. They’d probably need a younger person to play that part, but [laughter] I’m sure they’ll do a good job. I hope they will. Otherwise, there’s a lot of Tolkien fans out there, as I learned with making the trilogy. And if they’re not happy, they’ll let you know. So, good luck to them [the showrunners].
“Green Book” is now in theaters.