COLLIDER: Simon Baker Talks MARGIN CALL, Occupy Wall Street, THE MENTALIST, and His Thoughts on DOCTOR STRANGE
by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub
October 20th, 2011
Opening this weekend, in limited release, is writer/director J.C. Chandor’s Margin Call. Starring Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley and Simon Baker, Margin Call is a very smart economic thriller that revolves around the key people at an investment bank during the 24-hour period before the 2008 financial crisis. As the film unfolds, we learn who knew what and when, and what lines people are willing to cross to stay ahead. While Hollywood often glamorizes or exaggerates real events, Margin Call makes you feel like a fly on the wall and it never feels forced. Definitely recommended. For more on the film, watch the trailer here.
A few days ago I did a phone interview with Simon Baker. During our extended conversation, Baker talked about making Margin Call, his thoughts on Occupy Wall Street, and what’s coming up on his very popular CBS show The Mentalist. In addition, he talked about his favorite actors and his favorite films, if more people know him from The Mentalist or The Devil Wears Prada, and I asked him his thoughts on comic book movies as I’ve seen some online folks saying he’d be a good Doctor Strange.
DOWNLOAD AUDIO INTERVIEW
A brief excerpt:
... Q: I want to ask you about pranks on set. Have you ever been a part of a great prank or have you ever had a great prank played on you?
Baker: "Robin Tunney has done it a couple of times when we have guest actresses. She always tells them to say, “My grandmother loves the show. I need to get a photo of you for my grandmother.” It’s just a gag that she does for some reason. We have a really cute girl working on the show and she comes in to the guest actor and always says, “Can I take a photo of you for my grandmother?” I always say, “It’s always the grandmother…” but I didn’t realize that Robin would put them up to it. But pranks I don’t really have that much time for. There is enough stuff that happens by accident that I don’t need to actually put the effort into making things happen..."
The Mentalist airs Thursday at 10/9C on CBS.
Margin Call opens in theaters Friday, October 21, 2011. Cast includes Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore and Stanley Tucci.
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