[Interview] Michael Stuhlbarg

Last week I got the chance to participate in a roundtable with Michael Stuhlbarg, the lead actor of A Serious Man. The main focus of our conversation was on the themes and ideas in the film and thankfully Michael had some very interesting things to say. It’s an incredible film that ranks amongst the Coens’ best works. When the awards season comes around expect A Serious Man and Michael to be picking up more than a few nominations. The film is currently in a limited amount of theaters and will be expanding today.

Warning: The interview contains spoilers.

Just like most Coen brother’s films they seem intent on torturing their protagonist. I presume you would agree that’s the same case with Larry?

Michael Stuhlbarg: (laughs) Yeah, absolutely. He’s like the quintessential tortured Coen brother character. That’s all he sort of goes through in this movie, but lovingly — so I’d think they’d say on their part.

Yeah, you can tell they love their characters.

Michael Stuhlbarg: Absolutely, but they were always thinking, what could we do to Larry next? (laughs)

It’s also similar to their other films in that it starts with one mistake which escalates to a series of horrible events. That’s pretty much what happens to Larry.

Michael Stuhlbarg: Sure, it’s sort of one thing after another. Larry shrugs it off a little bit at first, but then he just can’t shrug it off anymore.

Do you think if none of these events ever happened to Larry that he would keep living this life without questioning and taking things with simplicity?

Michael Stuhlbarg: Absolutely, my guess is that if none of this happened to him then he would never ask these questions about his life. Maybe one day he would wake up and look around with his life being completely different. That’s sort of what happens to him, but I think he would still live that life.

It’s kind of sad though that he really gets none of those questions answered.

Michael Stuhlbarg: No, he doesn’t. His journey is unfinished.

One thing I find funny about the opening is how it seems to be a parallel to the rest of the story since it starts with something simple and then turns into a downward spiral. The Coens have said it has no meaning in the movie, but they seem to be fibbing.

Michael Stuhlbarg: Well, I think you can find connections. I think that the quote at the beginning has a resonance with both parts of the movie. That situation was complicated and it became more complicated… Let me be clearer, the wife Dorah complicated that situation even though it didn’t necessarily needed to be complicated. So it has some resonance, but I don’t know. Some people have said those were the Gopnik ancestors or something like that. People have come up with all kinds of things and I’ll take them at their word when they say there’s no connection. Although someone has said they saw a photo of the couple in one of the rabbi’s office. So I’ll have to look for that next time.

Another thing interesting about Larry is that he has no goals and doesn’t aspire for much in life while everyone else around him does. With Sy wanting to get with his wife or even how Larry’s daughter wants a nose job, but Larry doesn’t seem to want much.

Michael Stuhlbarg: Well, I think his next big goal is getting tenure. When that becomes in jeopardy he hopes that it will work out instead of pursuing it. Yeah, his only hope is to keep it together (laughs). He psychologically wants to keep it together, but yeah that’s interesting.

I loved the dream sequence because it seemed as if Larry looked up to Sy even though he screwed him over to say the least. It was as if he thought he was better than him since Sy was acknowledged as being a serious man. What do you think that dream represented?

Michael Stuhlbarg: I don’t know what the dream represented. I think when he hears public acknowledgment from a third party that Sy was considered this thing then maybe apart of that scene is Larry asking for help. That of course doesn’t happen.

Whenever you see a Coen brothers interview they’re very coy about their ideas or themes they try to express in their films. Are they like that on set or do they let you know what they’re trying, going for?

Michael Stuhlbarg: Well I don’t know, but maybe they’re just true to themselves in that way. I think they are tickled at what people find in what they create. I think that’s part of taking a private story open to the public and seeing how they respond. You know people say the darnedest things (laughs). Perhaps they do mean something, but they’re not going to let you know.

I don’t know if you know this but Gopnik in Russian is slang for someone without a meaningful opinion.

Michael Stuhlbarg: That’s fantastic! They must’ve known or maybe they didn’t. There’s a writer for the New York named Adam Gopnik so maybe that’s where they heard it first. Uh, that sounds kind of perfect for this guy. Seriously, it really means that? I love it; you’ve tied it all together. I love it.

As I said earlier I’m very excited for Boardwalk Empire and I’m wondering why did the pilot take two months to shoot?

Michael Stuhlbarg: A little over two months, but I think they just wanted to set the tone right and they allowed themselves the freedom to do that. Its a really ambitious project and I think its very important for HBO to give Mr. Scorsese enough time since he was also making Shutter Island at the same time. It’s huge and I wouldn’t be surprised if he really needed that amount of time to finish it, because there were obligations that he was under. They let him have free reign and it was like shooting a film for him. They set a really solid groundwork for it and now each episode will take eight or nine days. At least that’s what I’ve been hearing, but they’ve found their locations that were really difficult to find. I think they’re off to a really good start.

Is that planned to be a series or a miniseries?

Michael Stuhlbarg: A series, but we’ll see what happens.

I’m sure it will do very well.

Michael Stuhlbarg: We’ll see.

Since you’re used to stage work was it a challenge working out of sequence?

Michael Stuhlbarg: Absolutely, that’s always a challenge. You don’t get to bring with you what the character has been through at any particular time. You just gotta show up and be ready — it’s a challenge and fun in some cases (laughs).

Was it great shooting in Minneapolis and having real locals work as extras?

Michael Stuhlbarg: Yeah, absolutely. Many of the locals were characters in the film and they really made it easy for those who weren’t from the area to find ourselves within their home town. They made our transition from trying to represent that side of the country all the more simple. A lot of them have had tremendous careers from theater work to film work.