ShareThisWhen the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed actor Richard Jenkins in April, he had just finished working on "The Visitor," an unassuming feature film in which he starred as a burned-out college professor suddenly trapped in the middle of a chaotic immigration battle.
Jenkins called it "the part of a lifetime."
That turned out to be quite an understatement coming from quite an understated guy. Jenkins has since been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. We checked in with him by phone from LaGuardia Airport in New York, where he told us he was slightly embarrassed to be still wearing makeup from an appearance on "The View" that morning.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: You weren't kidding about this "part of a lifetime," were you?
A: I know. I loved this movie from the moment (the director) Tom McCarthy told me about it. He said he wrote the character's part with my voice in his head. That helped me feel even more comfortable in the role. To get a role like that and to get the nomination at this point in my life is really cool.
Q: How did you find out that you received the academy's nomination for Best Actor?
A: I was in my living room having a cup of coffee when my son-in-law's father called me and said: "Way to go." I said: "What? I was nominated?" He said: "You're not watching?" That's how I found out.
Q: Did you watch the Oscars ceremony last year?
A: I watch them every year. I'm a member of the academy. I love the history of cinema and the way the academy preserves that part of Hollywood. This is the first time I'll be attending. I never had a reason to go before.
Q: ... (W)hat does this nomination mean to you?
A: I've been asked that a lot lately. I don't have a good answer, and that really aggravates me. I've come to the conclusion that I really love film. I love the history. I love walking on a soundstage at Warner Brothers and seeing the list of every film shot on that stage. Guys like Jimmy Cagney and Errol Flynn. The academy is a huge part of Hollywood history. To be a part of that now is really humbling.
Q: What's the most absurdly false thing you've seen written about you?
A: They had my birth date wrong by about 10 years on a bunch of Web sites -- in the younger direction. All of my friends kept calling me up and said, "Hey, what's the deal with this and who are you trying to kid?" I sent an e-mail to one of the Web sites, I can't remember which, and they wouldn't believe it was me. For the record, I was born May 4, 1947. I finally got one of the sites to fix it, and now I think they're all correct.
Q: What's the worst advice you've ever received?
A: Most advice you get is not very good. That's the truth. I was told I had to live in L.A. Then I had to live in New York. I had to do this. I had to do that. I have found that no two actors have the same story.
(E-mail Delfin Vigil at dvigil(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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