Giamatti advances from sidekick to lead

LOS ANGELES -- He seems so easygoing as Martin Lawrence's goofy cop buddy in "Big Momma's House," Jim Carrey's prank partner in "Man on the Moon" or the aim-to-please orangutan in "Planet of the Apes."

Yet Paul Giamatti's steamed.

He gripes and glowers as if even the hint of a smile might ravage his flesh in "American Splendor," a film biography of the underground comic-book world's biggest grouch, Harvey Pekar.

Giamatti's mainly been seen as a modern incarnation of the classic Hollywood character actor -- a companionable crony whose comic antics and ordinary-schmoe looks complement the leading man without upstaging him.

While it was a big change of pace, playing sourpuss Pekar was closer to his own personality than doing the second-fiddle funny guy, Giamatti said.

"I actually find the kind of broad comedy thing much harder to do, so it was actually nice this time not to have to do that," Giamatti, 36, said in an interview. "The tough part about those comic sidekick things is, that's the task. You're just supposed to be funny, and that's it. I find that really difficult, so something where I can forget about having to be funny is really nice."

Written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, "American Splendor" is based on Pekar's autobiographical comic books of the same name, which he has published since 1976. Pekar, a self-educated jazz and literature connoisseur who calls himself "unheathily pessimistic," uses the comics to chronicle his grousing about work, money, social ills and the monotony of everyday life.

Pekar weaves in people from his life, including co-workers at a dreary file clerk's job he held for 37 years at a veteran's hospital in Cleveland before retiring two years ago.

'The perfect vehicle'

With "American Splendor," which won the top dramatic prize at last winter's Sundance Film Festival, Giamatti graduates from supporting parts to his first lead role.

"We thought this could be his 'Marty,'" Pulcini said, referring to the 1955 drama that catapulted Ernest Borgnine from the supporting ranks and earned him a lead-actor Academy Award.

"It was just the perfect vehicle for Paul to show what he can do. He plays the funny guy, the sidekick in a lot of movies, and he does it so well. But I always felt whenever I saw him in a film, I wanted more of him. Your eye always went to him in scenes."

Hope Davis co-stars as Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner. The unconventional film flits from narrative to pseudo-documentary as Pekar, Brabner, foster daughter Danielle and family friends step in occasionally to take over from the actors. Pekar also narrates, and his printed-page persona is captured in comic-book panels that punctuate the film.

The son of A. Bartlett Giamatti, the former Major League Baseball commissioner and Yale University president who died in 1989, Giamatti shares Pekar's love of books. After earning an undergraduate degree in literature and a master's degree in drama at Yale, Giamatti followed his mother and older brother into acting, starting with stage work before moving into TV and movies in the early 1990s.

Giamatti has landed a mix of roles in studio and independent films, among them "Big Fat Liar," "Saving Private Ryan," "The Negotiator" "The Truman Show" and the Howard Stern film biography "Private Parts." He was most recently seen in the crime romp "Confidence" and co-starred in Gwyneth Paltrow's karaoke flick "Duets" and Todd Solondz's "Storytelling."

Another lead role is in the works for Giamatti with "Sideways," from director Alexander Payne ("About Schmidt"), which begins shooting this fall. Giamatti also provided one of the voices for "Robots," an upcoming animated film from the makers of "Ice Age," and co-stars with Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman in this winter's sci-fi tale "Paycheck," in which he's back to playing the comic sidekick.

"He's an infectious, charming, funny, quick-witted and dexterous actor, whether it's a supporting or lead role or anything," Thurman said.

Though he does not resemble Pekar, Giamatti was cast in "American Splendor" because he embodies the "strange magnetism" that makes the unassuming Pekar such a compelling figure, the directors said.

That flatters Giamatti, though he questions how much magnetism he projects.

"I never would have thought of my magnetism at all. I would think I have very low-key magnetism, a very low charge, if I have any," Giamatti said. "I understand what they mean certainly in terms of Harvey. He does have a very peculiar sort of magnetic quality, which is effortless. He's not working it at all. He's just a strangely compelling guy.

"Maybe that's what people like to hire me for, a sort of unobtrusive quality. When I say low-key magnetism, I think I bring just enough to play the second-banana guy without overwhelming the other guy."