Reid Scott Talks 'Venom' and Last Season of 'Veep'
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Thursday, 04 October 2018 15:54
- Published: Thursday, 04 October 2018 17:07
- Written by Lupe R Haas
"Veep" star Reid Scott is happy to be playing a nice guy in VENOM. CineMovie sat down with the VENOM actor who reveals Tom Hardy's funny side and describes what it was like working out scenes with Hardy and Michelle Williams.
VENOM opens October 5, and Scott feels Venom fans will get a kick out of the movie. The self-proclaimed nerd is also revealing to CineMovie which superhero costume and underoos he often paraded around in as a child. And of course, we have to ask him about shooting the last season of HBO's hilarious political comedy, "Veep" with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.
CineMovie: So congratulations. What does it mean for you being in this kind of a film? I don't want to call it a superhero film because it's sort of the anti hero movie.
Reid: It's awesome. I grew up a legit comic book fan as a kid, so to finally be sort of inducted into the comic book world is pretty cool. My inner child is very, very excited.
CineMovie: Were you geeking out on set?
Reid: Yeah, at first. And then you know, it's a job too, but it's fun. I think the movie is going to really make Venom fans very, very happy. So I'm really proud to be part of that world.Interview: Venom Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Tom Hardy's Comedic Timing
CineMovie: Yeah, I enjoyed it a lot. I was surprised.
Reid: Yeah, it's cool, right? It's different.
CineMovie: It's a mix of horror, but it's also, funny.
Reid: I'm a huge fan of Ruben Fleischer from before, so when I knew that he was directing, I was like, that's the right guy for it to bring that darkly comic and I'm a huge horror movie nerd, probably even more so than the comic books. So like for me to be involved in this particular one and it was pretty cool.
CineMovie: So I love your character because he's not the usual boyfriend. He's not the nemesis.
Reid: Totally.
CineMovie: You're actually cool.
Reid: Thank you.
CineMovie: You're a very confident man.
Reid: He's not a dick, which is a huge departure for the rest of my career. Finally playing someone who's not an asshole. No, he's cool. Yeah. And when we talked about that in early days of rehearsals for it, I wanted to make him like... he was always written as a good guy. He's a doctor. He helps out, but I didn't want him to help out reluctantly. I didn't want him to be that classic, sort of like new boyfriend who was just complete squared off against the Eddie Brock character. We talked about it and I liked the idea of that he's legitimately a fan of Eddie Brock. So when he sees him it's sort of like, 'oh, hey buddy. Oh Wow, this is so cool.' I'm like, 'you guys have a past, that's fine by me. We're all friends. We're all adults.' Because he's a doctor and he's got that sort of that surgeon's confidence. So I think he's an unflappable guy so he's not threatened at all by Eddie. If anything, I think he would love to grab a beer with Eddie and be buddies with them. So I think there's more comedy to mine from that kind of relationship than the classic two meat heads butting heads.
CineMovie: And what was it like working with Tom and Michelle. They're are obviously great actors.
Reid: Awesome. I legit had a blast. I was huge fans of both of theirs before. It was great because the way they attack scenes is the way that I like to attack scenes where it's like you strip it all down and then build it all back up, find some nuance. What other layers can we peel away here? There's, there's something more to say than what is just written on the page and through the relationship of all that. They were way down to dig really deep on this stuff. We had some long conversations about how to like pump some scenes up and a lot of physicality between the three of us. Like how do we get that just right? But then on top of that, it's, they're just wonderful people. I really had a great time and Tom... he's a tornado man. He comes to set and he's got so much energy and he's so laser focused and he brings it at like an 11 every single time, which is really hard to do with the stuff he's doing. Michelle, the same way, and it's infectious when you have a cast it's like all approaching it, like really trying, not white-knuckling it but like really trying to just muscle it up. It's fun, it pumps you up and it gives you a lot of energy and that's what you need on.
CineMovie: When you were working out the scenes, did you do it in rehearsal or on the set?
Reid: Both. We had long read throughs trying to get scenes just right and tweaking things here and there. We'd show up to set and work it out and work it out, work it out, work it out, work it out. That's part of the fun is just working to get it right and you get to know people pretty well when you're trying to solve a problem. And that was one of the fun things is that everyone was really open to that and it wasn't just one person's way. It was very generous between the director and the cast and everything. And we got to laugh a lot. Michelle is just like the sweetest human of being in the face of the planet and I don't think people quite understand how funny Tom actually is.
CineMovie: He's always in serious roles.
Reid: He is, but Tom's a fu**** riot. He's great.
CineMovie: Did he stay in character as far as the accent because he's got this New Yooork thing going...
Reid: He can go in and out. It was freaky. It was freaky. Like he's got his east end kind of accent and when we're just sort of talking in-between takes and like action, and bam he drops right into it. It was pretty cool.
CineMovie: And what you think about superhero fatigue?
Reid: I get it. I get it. I mean we're in the age of the superhero and it's everywhere. It's not even just on the big screen. It's on television too. I think this particular movie, in this particular character is coming along at the right time in that he's not your typical superhero. He's not even really a hero. He's just a giant head-biting bad ass parasite. Who happens to like, get steered in the right direction by the human being who he's inhabiting, which is kind of cool. I wouldn't be surprised if it starts a different trend. I don't know if that's going to be going to like the darker universe stuff in the superhero characters or do they mine some of the darker characters that are out there that maybe have never quite gotten there their marquee moment. But it was refreshing for me to be involved with this kind of superhero instead of just a do-gooder.
CineMovie: Yeah. We were tired of the do gooders...
Reid: ...just wearing their underwear on the outside and just like, their teeth are always perfectly white.
CineMovie: When you signed up for the role, was it your typical three picture contract. What was the discussion with you about the longterm?
Reid: There was a bit of that. I mean the plan is obviously the people like it so much that they do more. I'm have no idea what the plan is at this point. I think we'll have to just wait and see. But yeah, if people love it and they do more, it would be wonderful. I'm really excited to see where all the characters can go.CineMovie: Yeah. I'm hoping for another one.
Reid: Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too.
CineMovie: And so since you said you're a comic book fan, is there a superhero like maybe as a child that you wanted to be or play?
Reid: I was a superhero nerd. I'm sorry. Superman nerd. Huge Superman nerd. Yeah. Every Saturday, Sunday I'd put on my underoos, I had a red onesie sleeper, a zipper from the toe to the neck. I'd put on my blue undies over it and wrap my little blankie around my neck and I just run through the house, jump up all the furniture and terrorize my parents. And my mom had to play Lois Lane because she was, I loved it, I loved it. I grew up with the Christopher Reeve movies. My Dad was a comic book fan so he introduced me to Superman, Spider-man, Batman, the Flash at a fairly early age. The super friends were on TV at that time. So yeah, I was legit indoctrinated from a very early age. Superman was my guy.
CineMovie: As long as you didn't play out a window that happened in the seventies.
Reid: I jumped off the roof a couple of times. Well, I grew up in upstate New York. We would get these giant snowdrifts. So I would find a way to like climb up...
CineMovie: ...in your underoos?
Reid: Well, no, in my snowsuit... my Superman-themed snowsuit, my freaky freezy gloves and I liked to jump off a tree or jump off the roof into a snow drift and stuff like that. I have two young boys who someday they're going to see this movie and they're going to try to bite my head off. So it's like the circle will be complete.
CineMovie: As a viewer we're sad to see "Veep" in the last season, but how are you feeling as an actor on the show?
Reid: It hasn't been quite kicked in yet? We're in the middle of shooting it and we talk about it. We all know that the tears are going to come at the end of the season. Yeah. I think we're going to wrap some time in December, so we're getting there, but it feels like the right time for the show to bow out. It's been an incredible run. I legitimately love everybody that I've gotten to work with on the show, but I think it's time for the regular politics... the comedy of reality to give them a chance for awhile and let them look like the idiots that they are.
CineMovie: We thought this thing was fiction, geez... it came to life. It's your fault.
Reid: I think Julia said that in one of her acceptance speech, she like, 'we apologize for changing the face of politics and allowing people to become such morons.' Yeah, we're having a blast doing it and it will be tough to say goodbye in the end. But, you know, I have no feelings. I'm completely just all concrete inside so I won't shed a tear, I'm sure.
CineMovie: We'll see. How's Julia doing?
Reid: She's doing great. She's a magical unicorn of a human being. The only person in the world that can get diagnosed with breast cancer take a year off, beat cancer, come back, look fantastic. And it's like we haven't dropped one pace. The show is going to be just as good as it always is.
CineMovie: Glad to hear it. Thanks so much.
Reid: Thank you.