Dermot Mulroney‘s strong turn in August: Osage County will surprise many moviegoing audiences who are accustomed to seeing the actor in romantic comedies. In his latest film, he plays Juliette Lewis‘ fiancé who has a lot of swagger and flash, but also a bit of darkness.
The 50-year-old star talked to Interview about his heavy-hitting role in the Oscar-hopeful film about his genre preferences—comedy or drama.
“I love acting so much that I love it all. I struggled for years with the perception that all I did was romantic comedies. That’s what people knew, rather than the dramas. But I’d do a romantic comedy again in a heartbeat,” he explained. “I like doing character work in romantic comedies the most. About Schmidt is the one I’m thinking of—because Alexander [Payne] casts actors in such unexpected ways, really against their type. He sure did that with me.”
Mulroney’s clutch comedic scene in the dysfunctional family film involves the entire Weston family sitting down to a difficult dinner after patriarch Beverly Weston has committed suicide. It’s the actor’s ringtone from Sanford and Son that provides much needed levity in such a dramatic scene.
“It took four days to film. Meryl never once dropped a line, not a word. I’m the one at that table who nobody knows, and who knows no one. It’s revealed to Steve what he actually has walked into. Those four days were the most memorable I’ve had in 28 years of film acting,” Mulroney said.
A scene with Meryl Streep is always a good day at the office.
August: Osage County opens nationwide on Jan. 10.
