The quiet man

“I hardly ever meet journalists, so I’m not very good at it,” offers Richard Jenkins apologetically.

As one of the more distinguished guests at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, the 61-year-old seems a little old to be a novice interviewee. But such is the way of the character actor. Vanishing into a role, it would seem, can sometimes mean that you vanish altogether. How apt that the part which has done the most to make Jenkins a household name was Nathaniel Fisher, the dead patriarch from HBO’s Six Feet Under.
Jenkins’ Midwestern deadpan, in determined evidence today, has, over the years, made him the straight man of choice for most comically minded directors. He was Woody Allen’s doctor in Hannah And Her Sisters. He has also worked on several projects with fellow Rhode Island residents Peter and Bobby Farrelly and appeared in two Coen brothers films, The Man Who Wasn’t There and this year’s keenly anticipated Burn After Reading.
“The Coens are interesting to work with,” says the actor. “You always know exactly what they require from you but they seem to impart that information in an enigmatic way. At one time I didn’t think I’d get to work with them. I had auditioned for them in the past but nothing had come of it. Then one day Ethan called me up and offered me a part out of the blue.”
A careful, quiet fellow who has been married to the same woman for decades – indeed, today, she’s sitting not far from us – you can easily see how Jenkins inspired Thomas McCarthy (who previously directed The Station Agent) to write the careful, quiet fellow at the heart of The Visitor.
“Tom called me up and said ‘I’ve written a script for you,’” recalls Jenkins. “I thought he had made a terrible mistake. I immediately wondered who in hell was going to finance a movie starring me. But I also immediately understood this man.”
The man is Walter Vale, a lonely, widowed professor of global economics who has never been anywhere. In a drama played out through small, delicate movements, Walter’s existence is slowly transformed by the discovery of two illegal immigrants squatting in his little-used Manhattan apartment.
“Walter has a very precise comfort zone,” says Jenkins. “I liked that about him. He’s like me. I won’t even try a new restaurant unless my wife forces me out the door.”
A sleeper hit at the US box office, The Visitor marks Jenkins’ first time as a muse and leading man. It has also brought the actor his first taste of celebrity.
“We’ve been touring the film around film festivals and suddenly people are talking to me,” he says. “I’ve done more interviews this past few months than I have throughout my entire career. I’m someone who works and has two grown up children. So it’s very strange and new. I keep looking over my shoulder to see if they’re talking to someone behind me.”