Interview With Ron Livingston, Star Of TULLY

Ron Livingston has been a part of some of the most significant independent and studio films of the past three decades. His first major supporting role was in Swingers, a huge critical success and pop culture phenomenon. However, nothing had quite the pop culture impact that Office Space did, one of the biggest cult classic comedies of his generation. Filmgoers may recognize Livingston in other features such as Adaptation, The Cooler, and The Conjuring, and on television shows such as Sex And The City, Band Of Brothers, and Search Party. His latest film role is that of mild-mannered working husband and father Drew in director Jason Reitman‘s Tully.

In Tully, Livingston‘s Drew is an emotionally supportive father, however, due to his demanding job, he isn’t around as much as he should be to take some of the load off of his wife, who seems to be the only one tending to their newborn. Acting opposite an always magnificent Charlize Theron, Livingston plays to his everyman strengths as an actor, while providing the film with some of the most emotional moments. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Livingston about the making of Tully, the raw talent of screenwriter Diablo Cody and Reitman, his durable everyman abilities, the lasting impact of Office Space and his dense career, and what projects the actor is currently working on.

Alex Arabian for Film Inquiry: Excellent performance in your new film, Tully.

Ron Livingston: Hey, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.

How did Diablo Cody’s script stand out to you when you were reading it?

Ron Livingston: I mean, she’s just such a great writer. She’s a great voice. She’s one of those people where you read her stuff, and it’s clearly her who wrote that. You don’t have to look at the bylines. Just, you can kind of feel her spirit in it. She’s sharp. It’s always a little edgy and subversive, but not poser-y. I thought it was great. It’s kind of unflinchingly honest while being funny, while being subversive, and while being just wildly creative. There’s things that happen in the movie that you would never guess what had happened, and [they] just rock your world a little bit. And it’s hard to find somebody who can do all those things.

Jason Reitman is a visionary director, and also very collaborative and inclusive. Did you have much say in the creative process or in your character in the film?

Ron Livingston: I’ll say that I had none – definitely not in the development of it. I came on, and I think I did a reading of it. And then I showed up to do it. So, I wasn’t at all involved in writing or anything. And it’s not the kind of stuff where – Diablo’s stuff doesn’t need [laughter] – it doesn’t need tweaking. It doesn’t need rewriting. It’s like the jacket that fits off the rack. But I will say, a great thing about Jason is that he’s got the confidence and the experience and the trust in his own talents and in his own decisions. He kind of lets you go do your thing. And he sort of trusts that – ‘I picked this guy because I think he’s got it in him.’ And he lets you go kind of find it and do it.

And I didn’t ever have the sense where he was like stepping in and trying to strong arm and needing to be a part of – needing to be the only guy on set that had an opinion that mattered. It’s effortless. It’s a fun set. And it makes everybody’s performance better, I think. Because everybody kind of feels looser and there’s not somebody breathing down your neck.

Were there elements of improvisation in Tully at all? Or did you stick to the script?

Ron Livingston: Pretty much stuck to the script as far as I know. I’m sure there were some things here and there. But it was pretty much the script. There was one scene that we reworked on the fly. And it’s in the hospital waiting room. But it’s the scene where Mark Duplass comes over – he’s my brother-in-law – and we sort of have this conversation at the same time as I’m talking to the admitting to charge nurse. And we had to do that, really, because we got to the set, and just the way the hospital that we were shooting in was, I could see him. He was right over there.

It was written as like he was in a different waiting room, and I was gonna go there later. But, at this point, like I could see him, and he was right there. And it felt really weird not to acknowledge that, and him get up and come over and say, ‘Is everything okay?’ and be a part of the scene. And it didn’t really change anything. I wouldn’t call it an improv. It was just a little tweak that I thought actually gave us a nice moment together that we wouldn’t otherwise have had.

Drew provides one of the most emotional scenes in the film. How did you prepare for your role, and what did you and Charlize Theron do to get into the mindset of a married couple?

Ron Livingston: Well, I’m married [laughter]. So, I don’t know what Charlize did. Like I know what it is to be married. And you spend enough time just in life, and you’re gonna find yourself in some hospital rooms. And you’re not gonna forget what that feeling was to be in those hospital rooms. That doesn’t ever go away. So it’s not hard at all. It’s almost just walking in there and having that setting. It’s right there, you know what I mean? It’s like you remember it. You always remember it.

You have built a steady career often playing variations of the everyman archetype, rivaling Tom Hanks in your ability to play somebody relatable to wide ranges of audiences.

Ron Livingston: I would have to argue – that’s high praise [laughter]. Thank you. But I don’t know if I’ve earned that, but I’ll take it [laughter].

How close are you to the characters you play? Do you see yourself as an everyman, or an average Joe, in real life?

Ron Livingston: The thing about an everyman is it’s a mindset. It’s kind of an anti-movie star. The whole point of a movie star is, this is somebody that is brighter, and shinier, and taller, and better looking, and funnier, and smarter than you are. And we’re gonna go watch a movie with that person, and you’re gonna be like – you’re gonna wish you were that person, and you’re gonna imagine that you are that person. You’re gonna walk out and maybe feel like you’re a little closer to being that person than you were before the movie. And so, you’re gonna feel better about yourself.

The everyman is a completely different thing. It’s more natural to me. I always felt like a fake if I was trying to do that other movie star thing. And it’s not that I didn’t try. You know what I mean? But there was something about it; I always felt goofy, or silly, or just felt like it was dishonest. I always wanna play a character that, when somebody’s watching the movie, they look at it and they can say, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s exactly what I would have done. I would never would have thought of it, but I can totally see myself doing that.’ Or, ‘Oh, my god. That’s just like my brother.’ So, I think that’s the qualities. You’re trying to connect the character’s experience to the experience of each and every person in the audience. And I don’t know, I just like that better. It’s fun.

You’ve starred in low-budget, independent films like Office Space, and more bigger-budget studio films such as The Conjuring. Which on set environment do you prefer?

Ron Livingston: Office Space was a much bigger budget than a lot of things that I’ve done. I mean, I’ve done things where you’re holding your own bounce card to shine the light on your face. It’s all great. You know what I mean? It’s really all great. But it’s different. And I think that’s one of the things that, when you say that I’ve kind of bounced around doing a lot of stuff that doesn’t look like other stuff that I’ve done, some of it’s just because I’m trying to not get bored. I wanna do it all.

I wanna chance of at least seeing what that one thing is like. But it’s different. If it’s a big thing with a lot of resources, there’s something– you feel like, ‘we have all the time in the world to get this right.’ So, ‘I can really take my time and be nuanced,’ and, ‘We’re gonna get this. We’re gonna be here all day shooting this [laughter].’

And then, on the flip side, when you have no budget, and you get maybe a couple of takes, and then you’ve got to jump to the next thing. And you’re running and changing your clothes. There’s a real freedom in that, too, in knowing like, ‘I can do whatever I want, and the director’s not gonna come over and say, ‘Listen, you can’t do it that way. You gotta do it this other way.’ Because he doesn’t have time. There’s sort of a freedom of having to work quickly; it gives you permission to go with your first idea or your second idea. Because you’re not gonna get more than [laughter] two or three cracks at it.

It’s been almost 20 years since Office Space, which became almost an instant cult classic and changed pop culture as we know it. Now you’re able to do a film and people don’t say anymore, “it’s the guy from Office Space,” they say, “it’s Ron Livingston.” I think it speaks volumes about your range as an actor that you’ve shed persona of Peter. Did you ever get sick of people coming up to you and quoting the film after it was released?

Ron Livingston: Thank you. I’m sure there’s a couple that still say, ‘There’s that guy [laughter] – that guy from Office Space.’ Or they might say, ‘Oh, look. There’s Kyle Chandler [laughter].’ Yeah. But, no, I think some of that is also just if you stick around long enough, it all adds up. You know what I mean? Like, I’ve been doing this for a long time now, so there’s a lot of stuff there, and people have had a lot of different opportunities to see it. But yeah, it is kind of cool. It’s kind of cool that – I will say – here’s the great thing about it. I don’t ever go into a role anymore thinking like, ‘I’ve got to do this right or my career will be ruined forever.’ You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Ron Livingston: It’s more like, now it’s like, ‘I can only change my body of work so much.” ‘Cause most of it’s already done [laughter].

Are you more comfortable as a leading man or in a supporting role?

Ron Livingston: It’s two different jobs. In both cases, you’re serving the story. You’re never really the leading man. The leading man, or the leading woman, is the person sitting in the audience, watching the movie. They’re the leading man. And so, you’re trying to serve that experience for them. When you’re playing the leading man, your job is to sort of be a place holder for them in the movie, [so] that they can feel good about you holding their place. And when you’re supporting, you are trying to be a place holder for somebody that they would run into, or come across, or have to have dealings with.

But ultimately, I think the best way to do either of them is – everybody’s got their own agenda. Everybody’s got what they’re trying to do. I’d say the dude that has one line in the movie – you know what I mean – needs to have an agenda with that line and something that they’re trying to do. So, as long as you know what that is, even if the audience never finds out what it is, it’s gonna come off better than it would’ve.

In 26 years as a film actor –

Ron Livingston: Oof [laughter].

– what’s your favorite role you’ve had the opportunity to play? And is there a role, type of character, or kind of movie that you’ve yet to play or star in that you’ve always wanted to?

Ron Livingston: As far as always wanted to play, I don’t have those. I’m not sure if I ever did. I like being surprised by what comes next. I like what comes next being different from what I just did. And, really, that’s the only requirement, is it just be different from the thing that I just did. But I don’t how it’s gonna be different, you know, in which direction. But of the stuff that I’ve done, a lot of them have had a big impact on me, for whatever reason. Swingers was big because it was kind of the first thing that people saw. Office Space was the first time that I was given a movie to sort of try and carry on my own. Band Of Brothers was extraordinary because it was just part of such a large ensemble, such a sprawling thing to try to bite off and do as a team.

And then I had to play Elvis Presley in this little indie film a couple of years ago that nobody’s ever heard, called Shangri-La Suite. And it was just a terrifying experience and something that I’ll always remember, and one of my proudest, just one of my proudest roles, really.

Wow. I’ll definitely have to check that out.

Ron Livingston: Yeah. Check it out. It’s, it’s, uh, it’s interesting. I don’t know if you’ll like it, but I had a blast.

Oh, that’s awesome. Are there any exciting projects on the horizon for you?

Ron Livingston: You know what? Hannah Fidell‘s got a movie, The Long Dumb Road, that I had a part in. Search Party‘s out there, which I love. I’m going back to Loudermilk, on the Audience Network, in July. I’m a part of another show called A Million Little Things. I’m really lucky in that there’s a lot of things percolating up. I feel like I get a lot of opportunities. I get a lot of swings at the bat at things. It’s a fun time right now.

That’s great. Congratulations. Well, Ron, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with me.

Ron Livingston: You got it, brother. Thanks for the time and thank you for the ink.

Film Inquiry would like to thank Ron Livingston for his time and insight.