Jason Schwartzman will think about working on 'Megalopolis' with Francis Ford Coppola 'til the day I die'

You know Jason Schwartzman.

It might be from any of his seven appearances in Wes Anderson's movies, from his film debut as enterprising teen Max Fischer in 1998's "Rushmore" to 2023's "Asteroid City," in which he took on a meta role as a war photographer in a play, and the actor playing him.

Or it could be from his three-season run in the HBO series "Bored to Death," where he plays a fictionalized version of creator Jonathan Ames.

Or maybe it's from his delightful turn in the cult classic "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" as Gideon Graves, and his perhaps even more delightful reprisal of the role in last year's anime revival.

In person, Schwartzman is affable, gracious, and present. On screen, he elevates any project in which he appears, whether he's playing a smarmy student or a man who's hit rock bottom.

Now, the actor is starring in "Between the Temples," a comedic and cutting Nathan Silver film about a grieving cantor (Schwartzman) who takes on an adult bat mitzvah student (Carol Kane) who's coincidentally his old music teacher.

Despite his family film pedigree — he appears in his uncle Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis," due later this year — Schwartzman wasn't trying to become an actor. When he first read Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson's "Rushmore" screenplay, he was a drummer (then of the band Phantom Planet) who didn't think to picture himself in the film.

Over two decades later, it's hard not to be grateful that he took the leap.

For the latest interview in Business Insider's "Role Play" series, Schwartzman looks back on the beginning of his relationship with Wes Anderson, appearing alongside improv legends in "Walk Hard," and why he's still mourning "Bored to Death."

On working with Carol Kane in 'Between the Temples'

You and Carol Kane have such a rapport in this movie — did you start with rehearsals or just dive into filming? What was it like creating the dynamic between Ben and Carla?

We actually had one rehearsal before filming. And before that, we had never met in person until the day she got there. We'd had two Zoom calls: one to meet and then one later to rehearse, once I was there in upstate New York and she was in the city. It was also just to check in to say, "It's great here. Everyone's wonderful."

But really, the first scene, that was really the beginning. We just kind of went into it. And I know people say this kind of thing like, "Oh, that person's the reason," but she is just a mesmerizing person, and just started doing these scenes. And there really was no other way to do them. It was like, "She's making it possible. She's facilitating these moments."

On falling in love with acting in Wes Anderson's 'Rushmore'

I want to go back to the beginning of your career with "Rushmore." Wes Anderson is obviously famous for writing very specific screenplays. What was it like encountering one of his scripts for the first time?

That was the first script I ever read in my life. I wasn't an actor at the time. I wasn't reading it even picturing myself in the movie.

I was just reading it going like, "I relate to this so much. This is so many of the ways that I feel, articulated for me." You know what I mean? Like someone had the vocabulary and the style to channel a lot of these really weird abstract things that I was feeling and thinking into this way that I'm like, "Oh my God, yes, I get it."

His scripts, everything is to the letter. And it took a while afterwards for me to realize, "Oh, all scripts aren't like that." And I feel that whenever I work, I try so hard to never think of the way I did something before. Because I feel like that kind of gets you into a slight agitated state.

If you're like, "Well, gosh, before on this other thing, I had a cold water all the time. And now there's no cold water." And it's like, "Yeah, well, because this is this thing."

But the one thing I will say that I really have been inspired by with Wes is this sense of joy with which he makes films. When we made "Rushmore," I remember there was a day we were doing the go-karts, and he was like, "Let's jump in and then go." So we jump in, and we just take off and leave the crew behind. We just went for five minutes racing around the suburbs of Houston, and he was so happy.

Whatever that feeling is, that's what is there on every movie we've done together. This sense that there's nowhere else he wants to be.

You were part of a pretty stacked cast for a first film, with Bill Murray, Brian Cox, and Olivia Williams. As a young actor, what was your approach to watching them work? Did you seek out that kind of experience down the line as well?

Brian Cox — he was a really special person for me. He would have dinners with me all the time. He's an actor with such experience, even at that point, and he's sitting with a 17-year-old kid from Los Angeles who's never acted before, talking about acting and asking me questions.

I would notice in the morning Brian would — I don't know if he still does this — but he had at the time some form of routine…before working that was a relaxation routine. And I had never seen anyone do that. He's like, "Yes, I do this because it helps me preserve my energy."

There were all these little things you're picking up. But also, I wasn't trying to be like, "OK, remember that, remember that, remember that." I didn't think I was going to work again [after "Rushmore"], so I didn't think I would need any of that information.

I thought that was going to be my only experience with a movie, so I was just trying to basically return the vehicle that I rented in the same condition or better than I borrowed it — just try not to ding it.

On working under Francis Ford Coppola on 'Megalopolis'

"Megalopolis" is obviously on the horizon. What does it feel like to be directed by your uncle and work with members of your family?

To work with my uncle, the things that I got to watch and learn are things that I will literally think about 'til the day I die. If I make it to his age and I'm still working, I can only hope to approach each day with the same sense of wonder.

Every day he was adapting, and he was making stuff, challenging himself. He wasn't doing things like, "Oh, I've done this before." Every day, he was trying new things. And I just always hope that if I can keep working, who knows if you ever do, but if you can, I hope to always approach every day of work with that same feeling that you want to learn and that you've tried something you've never tried before.

Even when you're one of the masters, there's still room to keep pushing yourself.

I won't get into the details, but I remember one day he did this thing. He had this suggestion of how to do a scene, and later, I said, "That was such a cool way to solve that puzzle. Is that something you do all the time?" He was like, "No, I've never done this in my life."

He said, "I saw an art piece in the late '60s or early '70s where someone had incorporated this type of thing, and I'd always thought that would be a cool thing to try on a film. And it just seemed like that was the only way to make this scene work, given the circumstances and the blocking and everything."

I was just like, "Well, there you go. So when you woke up today, you did not know you were going to do that?"

And he's like, "No."

"And you've never done it before?"

"No."

Well, that's why I'm here. That's what it's all about.

On his 'Walk Hard' cameo as one of the Beatles

You had a very brief cameo in "Walk Hard," where you played Ringo Starr with Jack Black, Paul Rudd, and Justin Long playing Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison. How did you get brought into that, and what was shooting that scene like?

Maybe I got an email, a text from the director the night before or the day before, two days before maybe: "Hey, there's a scene with the Beatles. You wanna?" And I was like, yes, but I was so nervous.

I am not comfortable working with all these geniuses. I'm pretty intimidated by these people. I've never been in a situation where I'm like, "Well, there's all these people who are top-level actors, who all also are top-level, improvisational actors and comedic actors."

If you could make a different equivalent: I've had dinner with a person like that, but I've never been to a buffet, a sit-down dinner with 12 people. So I was really nervous. How does it work? Is one person the person who leads? When everyone's this talented and funny, when you're a fan of all these people; I was so nervous. Like, how is that going to work?

I'm not, by the way, putting myself with these people. I'm saying as a person who's a fan of these people.

It was such a cool experience. I just remember Justin Long being — he's an incredible mimic, and him really helping me. Because I'm a huge Beatles fan, but when you really start to get into it, he was the guiding light for me.

On playing Jonathan Ames in 'Bored to Death'

"Bored to Death" was your first and longest-running television role. It was very particular, too, because you were playing Jonathan Ames' fictionalized interpretation of himself. What did it feel like to get to settle into a role like that?

It was crazy. I had loved Jonathan's books, and so we had this opportunity to meet, but it wasn't about "Bored to Death." It was about just one of his other books. He said, "I'm in LA, I have this idea for this short I wrote that I'm trying to turn into a television show." I said, "Can I read it?"

It was the greatest honor, really, in the world. Because I was just like, "I just want to do these words." You know what I mean?

I still mourn [that cancellation]. I truly think about it all the time. Even when we finished it, you don't necessarily think you're going to get renewed, but at the same time, I didn't necessarily say goodbye to it in a proper way. It just kind of was over. And I didn't get to complete it in my body.

But it was a life-changer. It was the greatest experience.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

"Between the Temples" is now in theaters.