He'll Take Manhattan By Pam Grady reel.com
Actor David Krumholtz strolls down memory lane as he revisits Sidewalks of New York. David Krumholtz has been grabbing the spotlight from his co-stars since the tender age of 15, when he made his film debut as an unhappy camper who pines after Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams in 1993's Addams Family Values. Since then, he's played Bernard, the head elf, in 1994's The Santa Clause; held his own with Alan Arkin in 1998's Slums of Beverly Hills; and declaimed memorably about the shabbiness of antiques in 1999's Liberty Heights. Recently graduated into roles, the 23-year-old Krumholtz steals the show once again in Ed Burns' new ensemble comedy-drama, Sidewalks of New York, as an aspiring musician who charms his way into coffee-shop waitress Brittany Murphy's life. In April, the San Francisco Film International Film Festival screened Sidewalks of New York as part of its Zoom Gala celebration, with Krumholtz in attendance. Reel caught up with him on his way out of town to talk about the film and what it's like growing up in the public eye. ------------- Q: How did you get involved with Sidewalks of New York? David Krumholtz: Ed had seen my work in a film called Liberty Heights. A lot of people didn't see it, but it was popular in [San Francisco], which is cool. It was important in those key states, like Washington or New York, but in L.A. it didn't really catch on as much as San Francisco. It kind of got lost, which is a shame. Ed saw me in that. That made me happy, because it's rare that you get work … everyone tells you that you get work off your work. I guess it's true … I mean, it is true. I got it off that movie for sure. It was the only thing he'd ever seen. He didn't even know that I'd made several other movies. Q: That's really surprising. DK: Which is cool. In that way, it was an honor, because it was so … that one performance was a performance I really enjoyed. So I jumped at the chance [to do Sidewalks]. It was the first part that I've ever been offered without having to audition and the biggest part in a movie I've ever been in, also. Q: How did you prepare for that part? Because when Ben's with Ashley [Brittany Murphy], he's very sweet, and then when he's with his ex-wife, he's a stalker. DK: Yeah, kind of. There are people I know who are like that, not to say that stalkers are sweet, but there's … I had a group of friends, in which there were … I think a lot of guys are desperate romantics. There are these idealist types that want a sort of utopia and when that shatters for them, that's when they become … Benny is that guy. He's on the edge and he needs a woman. That's the guy that needs a woman and without a woman, that guy's a wreck all over the place. Q: According the press notes, Ed Burns was writing every day as the filming went along. What was that like for you, as an actor, to have the story constantly changing like that? DK: We had seen the script. The script was always changing, but it didn't change much. He would change little things. He is a very smart guy. He knows how to run a set, and he had a generalship of his set, because he worked. He wasn't a bullsh***er. He just sort of worked all the time. He was very concerned with making the film. That was his top priority. You'd be surprised at how — not to say how rare it is — but it doesn't happen all the time. It's delightful when it happens. It's always sort of special. When you have a guy that's just like the champion of the film on the set, anything you talk to him about will relate back to the film somehow. We were talking about the movie; we were very conscious of what we were doing. He was lucky enough, I think, to assemble a group of actors that would all respond to the acting challenges in a positive manner. It was pretty cool. Q: He was using handheld cameras in this. Did you find that that made it easier for you? DK: For me, it makes it easier. I kind of liked that. I like doing handheld stuff, because there are not many cutaways. With a handheld, you can do a kinetic scene, a moving scene, obviously, but you can also … the camera can move and you can then get different singles all in one take or … do you know what I mean? I think that's really important sometimes, especially if you're doing either improv or something like this, which wasn't an improv, but was meant to be played with total subtlety. Q: Was there any extra pressure from filming on-location in Manhattan? DK: I'm sure there was, but, you know, we had Woody Allen's crew and those guys have a lot of pull. This guy, Richard Patrick, who is one of the producers of the film, is also Woody Allen's first [assistant director] and has been for Woody Allen's last five or six films. And he has a lot of pull in the city, so we used a lot of Woody Allen's locations. We used a lot of commercial, residential locations, locations on the sidewalks themselves. I always had the feeling that we were going to get shut down at any moment, but, you know, we had — he had power. It wasn't that much fuss. The city invited us. I think the city really likes Ed and he loves the city. There's this, you know, there's an element to the film that's a New York promotional vehicle. So I'm sure the city wasn't too upset about that. We weren't shooting people, you know what I mean? Q: Your character is an aspiring musician and anyone who has ever seen you in Slums of Beverly Hills belting out "Luck Be a Lady Tonight" in your underwear will never forget it. Do you have any musical aspirations of your own? DK: Yeah, you know. It's always a difficult subject, because, you know, it's borderline pathetic. [Laughs] I think the best I'd do is end up as lounge singer of some sort, although, you know, I have amazing range. [Laughs] I wouldn't try to do that. I will never try to become a singer. I might do a Broadway musical. Martin Short did that, which I thought was … I might do that. I think I have a good voice. In fact, my voice in this movie, they got a bad take there, because I know I sang it better than that. [Laughs] But, yeah, I rap also. Q: You've been working in movies since you were a child. You've literally grown up in front of the cameras. What's it like to grow up on-screen? DK: Oh, man. I don't put too much thought into it, because I kind of like to feel like people don't associate me ... You know, I did some little failed TV shows and I think if any of those TV shows had [been successful], I would have maybe grown up, but … that didn't happen. I've done four failed TV shows. It's painful. I'm not going to do that anymore. It's either movies or nothing for a little while. It's weird, getting recognized. It's so jarring. I'm not entirely comfortable or cut out, necessarily, to deal with that. Not that I don't like it. It's just … I don't really put too much conscious thought into that part of it when I'm doing what I'm doing. But I do get thrilled when people like stuff that I thought was funny or the singing, stuff like that. That's really nice. But you know what I get a lot of — which really bugs me, people come over [to me] — I think it's totally audacious. I get insane about it. I don't get upset with the people. I sort of wait until they walk away and then I grumble. They'll come over and ask me, "You're an actor, right?" I say, "Yeah." That's nice. But then they'll say, "What have you been in?" It's kind of interesting, because I've done such a wide range of movies. A lot of people don't know all the parts of my work. But I'll say, The Santa Clause or whatever. "No, no." And I'll get down to, like, the last thing that I've done. 10 Things I Hate About You, you know? It's like reciting my resume and people walk by. It's weird. I don't like being in that position. I think it's rude to come over and ask. It's embarrassing. It makes me feel bad about what I do. I think people, younger people — young people, my age or younger, tend to put more importance on fame than talent. That's why I get asked that question, because it's more about what I've been in. When I did Slums of Beverly Hills with Alan Arkin, he and I went out to eat one day and he went off on this run, this riff about how entertainment is taking over. And he got really passionate about it. He wasn't necessarily against it. He was just, like, almost prophetic. It sort of is true. There are movies being made it seems where there's more … there's less care as to what goes into the movies that are made than there was maybe 10 years ago. Or the '70s and early '80s. I think in time that'll change. There's a lot of movies out now I'd rather not see. I know there are plenty of scripts in Hollywood, good scripts that should be made, or at least should be workshopped and that's not happening. Q: You've only graduated to roles in the last year or so. Are you feeling good about the transition? DK: Yeah. It's really good, I guess. I'm doing pretty well. I sort of got over graduating into an a couple of years ago. I think about it a lot. I worry that I look too young, but my voice is kind of low, which is a weird thing. Then I sort of think that I'm a lot like Jimmy Baio. Remember him? Q: Jimmy or Scott Baio? DK: Yeah, Scott. I think I'm kind of like him and I don't want to be like him. So I try to mix it up a little, because I'd rather … I did a couple of New Yorker-like roles. I'd rather sort of mix it up. Q: Well, you've demonstrated your range. You've done romantic comedy. You did the ER where you played the young psycho … DK: Yeah. That's my goal, to make that my number-one priority, to do a lot of different things. I'd hate to get pigeonholed. Especially since I'm pigeonholed enough by the way I look. I couldn't necessarily come from the heartland, as it were, unless you suspended your disbelief. But I could play an Azerbaijani terrorist at any moment. I'm short, though, so that means I'm kind of not threatening enough. Q: With an Uzi in your hand, you'll be threatening. DK: I guess so. I got it in the eyes. People think I'm taller, too, on television or in the movies. I'm a short guy. // go back // |