This Tuesday, on the 44th floor of the Trump Soho Hotel in downtown Manhattan, the director and three cast members of the new film, Win Win, met with the press. Read the review of the movie here. Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Alex Shaffer and director/writer Tom McCarthy talked about all different aspects of the production from Alex’s bleached hair (he auditioned that way) to the chemistry between Paul and Amy.
At one point the director, Tom McCarthy spoke about how the title, although seemingly sports-oriented, isn’t at all. “When do you go to a sporting event and yell, WIN! WIN! ?”
Tom McCarthy has been friends been Paul Giamatti and Bobby Cannavale each separately for over 20 years and this was their first experience working together. The two got along famously and in fact, that is really one of the key attractions of this film, the relationships. Bobby improvised a scene in the movie on their first day of shooting that would go on to define the on-screen relationship between Paul and Bobby. Paul and Amy spoke of how they really connected from their first meeting and joked between takes and on set.
Alex Shaffer, who plays the high school wrestler, Kyle, is a first time actor who, when asked how he likes acting, responded, “Love it. It’s sweet.” He’s an actual championship wrestler from New Jersey and his friend encouraged him to go out for the role. When he auditioned, he had bleached hair and apparently, his entire wrestling team all bleached their hair for a match.
The story is perfectly paced and you may have an idea of where it’s going, but there are so many lovely surprises along the way. Director/writer Thomas McCarthy is perhaps best known for playing Dr Bob in Meet the Parents, but I will now remember him for this and look forward to his future projects.
Win Win was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and opens in limited release on March 18th.
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