Matthew Goode's Leap Year
Photo: Artina Films
PAGE 5
JW: Tell me about your character in A Single Man.
MG: I play Colin's [partner]. Actually, it's funny because you read the script and I die on page 1. I was kind of like, "Is that it?" And a few flashbacks. There's a bit of an age gap between them. They meet after [World War II] is finished, and they end up being together for 16 years. They're the loves of each other's lives. Jim, who's my character, is just a really nice, lovely guy who deeply cares about George. Jim and George, George and Jim...
JW: You and Colin share a kiss in the movie. Is Colin a better kisser than Amy?
MG: They both kiss good. It's very easy, actually. It's amazing what you can do after a couple of vodkas.
JW: Your characters in Leap Year and A Single Man are both romantic roles. What attracts you to those kinds of parts?
MG: It's funny, really. This is my third gay character in a row. Ostensibly not—I'd done Brideshead Revisited, which is sort of not completely [out]. Then The Other Man Years, which is kind of a secret base laid in there; it's lurking. And [A Single Man], it's kind of like Ben Stiller—I went full gay. Hopefully, it worked out better.
But I had this luxury. When you know that Julianne Moore and Colin are already cast, you're like, "I'd be an idiot not to take it even though Tom's a first-time director." ... He just won me over so completely when we met at Claridge's in London. I was like, "He sounds like he's got it nailed down and prepared." And that's exactly what it was. It's not really a surprise now the film is generating so much buzz. He is a real, serious filmmaker. In the next 10 years he's going to have a great body of work.
MG: I play Colin's [partner]. Actually, it's funny because you read the script and I die on page 1. I was kind of like, "Is that it?" And a few flashbacks. There's a bit of an age gap between them. They meet after [World War II] is finished, and they end up being together for 16 years. They're the loves of each other's lives. Jim, who's my character, is just a really nice, lovely guy who deeply cares about George. Jim and George, George and Jim...
JW: You and Colin share a kiss in the movie. Is Colin a better kisser than Amy?
MG: They both kiss good. It's very easy, actually. It's amazing what you can do after a couple of vodkas.
JW: Your characters in Leap Year and A Single Man are both romantic roles. What attracts you to those kinds of parts?
MG: It's funny, really. This is my third gay character in a row. Ostensibly not—I'd done Brideshead Revisited, which is sort of not completely [out]. Then The Other Man Years, which is kind of a secret base laid in there; it's lurking. And [A Single Man], it's kind of like Ben Stiller—I went full gay. Hopefully, it worked out better.
But I had this luxury. When you know that Julianne Moore and Colin are already cast, you're like, "I'd be an idiot not to take it even though Tom's a first-time director." ... He just won me over so completely when we met at Claridge's in London. I was like, "He sounds like he's got it nailed down and prepared." And that's exactly what it was. It's not really a surprise now the film is generating so much buzz. He is a real, serious filmmaker. In the next 10 years he's going to have a great body of work.
Keep Reading
NEXT STORY
