GVK: I am
going to try to ask some questions that you have not been
asked a million times already - I am sure you get tired of the
cookie cutter-remarks.
NV: Thank you.GVK: Lets start off with Second City - what
years were you there?
NV: I was there from 90 - 95; almost 96 - I was there with
Rachael, Draj and Tina who are on Saturday Night Live now. We
were a really strong group of actors and it was the best time
in my life. People were fired all of the time and that forced
us to create really good material and it was great training
for L.A. When I got to L.A. and could not find a job, I said,
"ah, I am Greek, I know this stuff," so I got on stage and
starting speaking about what I knew. This gave me a lot of
confidence.
GVK: There has always seemed to be a pipeline between
Second City and Saturday Night live. What is your take on
this?
NV: Yeah, I was never there when Lorne Michaels came in to
audition; it was like I was not meant to be in that show. I
normally do not believe in those sort of things, but it seems
as if I was destined to take another path and meet Tom Hanks
and Rita Wilson. Oddly, I would take my vacation and my
understudy would be doing the show, and Lorne would come and
hire a cast member. Or, I would be shooting a commercial on
the day he arrived and it is unbelievable how he never saw me,
so it was not meant to happen. I am not sure I would want to
do a show like that though, as with live TV, every
ex-boyfriend you have ever had is watching you live.
GVK: I recall the story of John Belushi and how he would
work four days on Saturday Night Live, then fly to Oregon
after the show, film "Animal House" for three days and then
fly back and do it all over again. It was said that this is
what started him down his destructive path.
NV: Yeah, it is a really crazy schedule and a lot of flying
by the seat of your pants but I learned to be tough and not to
be sick. If you are in a bad mood, tough - just use it in the
show and this was really good training for me.
GVK: I bet all of your improv work was a great benefit for
when you were doing the stage show.
NV: Yes, I never re-wrote when I was doing the stage show -
I did the material, got up read it and I started with 40
minutes as I knew my set points, which is how we did it at
Second City. I would recall a story and toss it in - my mom
would call me and say something hilarious and I would toss
that in as I knew how much time I had to spend on the
courtship process. The last time I did it was in Montreal at
the Comedy Festival and it was an hour and twenty minutes. Can
you believe it? I was sick of my own voice by that time. I
drank three large glasses of water during the show.
GVK: Then you met Rita after a show, then Tom Hanks, and
the rest is fate as you said.
NV: Yes, they were so great.
GVK: It just goes to show that often the funniest things
are the real things as real-life often transcends the best
comedy writing at times.
NV: That is true as the funniest things in the movie are
the truest things the more bizarre the Incident; the more
likely it is to be true.
GVK: Like what for example?
NV: The Windex, the lump on my Aunt's neck, totally true.
People think I am brilliant for coming up with it when it was
just my dad and my Aunt.
GVK: I have to ask, did the film tick any of your friends
or relatives off, or did they say you portrayed me in a bad
light?
NV: No, thank God, my family is such hams - they kept
saying Hey, that's me.
JC: Hi, I am going to lay, listen and talk if that is ok -
can you believe the view of that mountain out there?
GVK: At least it's not quaking now so that helps.
JC: You think it's going to rip one day?
GVK: They have been saying it will for 120 years now and it
hasn't yet so the odds are with us.
JC: That would not be good - public works would be out
cleaning in Seattle for weeks, that's for sure.
GVK: You were up here in Roslyn for your time in Northern
Exposure.
JC: Yes, on Sex and the City - we wrote in characters as
Northwest quirky dudes.
GVK: How is it working on Sex in the City?
JC: It's great, though I only work with Sarah Jessica
Parker.
GVK: You do not get to meet the cast?
JC: Oh, I meet them, but I do not get to work with them.
It's cool to do that, but I work about 8 months on the show
with just one other actress.
GVK: What are you doing now?
JC: I just did a pilot called "Lucky" for FX that was just
picked up.
GVK: What is that about?
JC: I play a game named Lucky who wins a million in Vegas
and loses it all in 6 months - his wife, everything, so the
show picks up with him in Gamblers anonymous as he try's to
get his life in order. Its good man.
GVK: When does it air, in the fall?
JC: We are hoping to follow up "The Shield" when they enter
their next season.
GVK: I can't imagine the demands on your time - when you
are not in front of the camera, you are looking for work or
doing p/r for a film correct?
JC: True, you never stop auditioning; you have any idea how
many people tried out for a film like "Minority Report"?
GVK: I hear they narrowed the list to about 500 and start
from there?
JC: It's crazy, do you know how many people try to get in a
film like "Fight Club" or you have experienced and known
actors like Benjamin Bratt who are always having to audition
for roles.
NV: I was amazed when we were casting for the father - it
makes you wonder if you ever get to a point where you do not
have to audition so much. It sucks that so many good people
are looking for a job - we had such a selection and all would
have been great. Michael Lerner - he was nominated for an
Oscar, let's cast him, wait, he is good as well. But when
Michael walked in, we knew he was the guy. He walked in with a
vest and when we looked at his headshot he was wearing a vest.
When we got to Toronto to shoot, he was asking where he could
get a vest.
GVK: That reminds me of something Michael Dorn of Star Trek
said to me once - the worst thing you can do for an actor is
give them a job. When you are out of work, all you do is moan
about not getting work and how badly you want it. He said he
was going through that and he got a call asking him if he
would do 4 seasons on "Deep Space 9". He jumped at it, but on
the first day he was saying, 'I hate getting up this early, I
hate the hours of make up', and even though he got what he
wanted you can still complain, but not to pass up chances and
jump on opportunities.
NV: It is totally true.
JC: It is hard to diversify yourself when you are doing
someone's work.
GVK: How do you manage the battle of being creative yet
having to do it the way a director, then producer wants you to
do the scene and they call the shots?
JC: I am ok as I am flexible. I see myself as a spoke in
the wheel - if parties are not seeing eye-to-eye, then they
need to work it out and tell me. As once you place that wall
up and say, "I am not doing it that way," you are only hurting
yourself. I like to bend and give them what they want.
GVK Do you prefer to give your input?
JC: I read the scene and know what it is. If you want
something else, I need to think about it and make the
adjustment. The scene is there when you read it.
GVK: Where did you study acting and what were your early
roles?
JC: I did not really study; I took a few classes and
watched movies. I saw a movie and thinking that I could do
that, and before long I was.
GVK: Were there any parts that you really wanted but did
not get?
JC: There were many, but I learned not to name them as they
can come back and haunt you. I will say this - I wanted the
role that went to Chris Isaacs in "That Thing You Do" and our
producer did not let me do it. I was ticked and wished a few
bad things.
NV: You're joking.
JC: Nah man, I wish bad things on all the movies that do
not cast me that I wanted to be in. (Laughs)
GVK: I remember watching "Almost Famous" and thinking how
well you would have been in that film.
NV: Yeah, the Billy Crudup character - he would have been
great in that. He is a great actor and you should hear his
voice.
JC: You remind me of Kevin Costner.
GVK: Is that good or bad?
JC: You got the Costner thing going on, especially the eyes
and nose.
GVK: There was a time that was a good thing - I am not so
sure about now.
NV: Young Costner, that's not a bad thing. (Producer takes
a picture of me at this time, we all laugh) Producer, we have
you on file, come see me or Tom if you get to town and we
won't give you the part, (All laugh).
GVK: What did you see of the summer films?
JC: I saw "Minority Report," "Attack of the Clones," and
"Spiderman". I liked "Minority Report," but not so much the
others. I rented "Made" the other day and that was great as
well.
GVK: Do you find that the big studios are less anxious to
do a character-based film like yours in an age when it seems
that studios think the notion of more effects and action is
needed?
NV: The film about the two cops who don't get along - then
do at the end or one of them is a dog? I have not seen that
yet. I do not know any big studios, so it would be hard to
say.
JC: I did "Volcano" for a big studio and it was one of the
worst experiences I had. There were five studio people who
could not decide on how my shirt should be buttoned. I always
picked my own wardrobe and this experience made me turn off
big studio films.
GVK: How has your family been in the time since the film?
NV: They are great - there were 49 of them at the premiere
and now they are e-mailing me ideas for my next script. I had
to come and listen to your uncle and I talk we are funny
story. I was like, ok kill me now and save me the trouble.
NV: I would go to parties and talk about my family and do
my cousin Nicky on stage at Second City, and I finally
listened to the people who said to do things about your
family. The great thing was that I never felt rushed during
the six weeks of filming. I never got the 'we cant have this
scene' as we need to save money. It was very nurturing,
especially for a small-budget film.
GVK: How long after you met Tom and Rita did it take to
start filming?
NV: Two years, I had a year for the script and then we had
pre-production and financing. I had the script done when I met
Rita, so I gave her one. I had three offers prior for it, but
it was the old we will buy it and you are not involved. I said
ok, you couldn't have it then. I recall the fourth one where I
go into the door and they said, "Here is the writer" - I was
stunned. I asked what have you written and he said that he was
the writer's assistant on the movie, "Mr. Wrong". The producer
said that he grew up in a Greek area. I asked what else have
you written and was told nothing. I figured with all of my
work at Second City, I had written more than him and figured
out I was doing this all wrong, went home, and wrote the
screenplay.
GVK: I have to ask, is there any talk of a sequel?
NV: Sure, if you have five million we can start shooting
tomorrow. I was in Greece recently during a boat strike and I
found a wealth of material.
GVK: How much input did your husband have in the film?
NV: He was the one who helped me keep it together when I
had to worry if it was going to happen or not, or if I was
going to be replaced in the movie.
GVK: How did you handle all of your family trying to get
parts in the film?
NV: That was fun, we gave my father a speaking part that
was eventually cut but he got a dressing room, and he would
lorded that over the family. He would go down to extras
holding and do the old "is this the only food you had, I got a
hot lunch". I was like Dad, shut up. When I told him his scene
was cut, his face dropped but he looked at my mom and said "ahh,
its ok".
GVK: You can always add it back for the DVD version and use
that to get your way.
NV: (Laughs) That's is funny. I will have to think about
that one.