The Big Picture

Paul Giamatti was drawn to The Holdovers because of the heartfelt relationships portrayed in the script, particularly the character of Professor Paul Hunham. Giamatti discusses his approach to preparing for emotional scenes and how his perspective on preparation has evolved over the years as an actor. The movie is described as a bittersweet story about found family, and Giamatti emphasizes the importance of living in the present moment since these bonds can be temporary in the film industry.

Throughout his career, Academy Award-nominee Paul Giamatti has proven his range in countless roles across many genres. One such example would be his 2004 collaboration with writer-director Alexander Payne for Sideways, which earned the filmmaker an Oscar for its earnest screenplay. Years later, they’ve reunited for another thoughtful feature with Payne’s period piece, The Holdovers.

In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Giamatti shares what it was about this script that appealed most to him when reading it. Unsurprisingly, it was the heartfelt nature of the relationships, and in particular, it was the character of Professor Paul Hunham, a role penned by Payne specifically with Giamatti in mind “from the get-go,” the director told Collider at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. In addition to Giamatti, The Holdovers cast includes standout performances by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa in his onscreen debut, set during the chilly New England winter break in the ‘70s.

Giamatti also talks with us about preparing to step on set for emotional scenes. While well-known for his comedy, he’s captivated audiences no matter the number of scenes he appears in, from 12 Years a Slave and Saving Private Ryan to Cinderella Man, which earned him an Oscar nomination. They also discuss which role proved to be the most nerve-wracking, what he thought about the Billions finale, and what’s next for him. You can watch the full interview in the video above or read the transcript below.

The Holdovers A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go. Release Date November 10, 2023 Director Alexander Payne Cast Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston Rating R Runtime 133 minutes Main Genre Comedy Writers David Hemingson
Read Our ‘The Holdovers’ Review

COLLIDER: Say someone has not seen anything you’ve done, besides The Holdovers, which you’re incredible in, what would you like them to watch first and why?

PAUL GIAMATTI: Oh, wow. That’s really interesting. That’s an excellent question. I’d be a toss-up. I would say this only because it’s a movie I really enjoyed. If I’m gonna cut out some of these other things, there’s a movie I did called The Illusionist that I really like. For some reason, I really enjoyed playing that character. I don’t know. I’ll just throw that out there. I’d say that.

Love that movie. Neil Burger did an amazing job with that.

GIAMATTI: Yeah, it’s a cool movie.

Paul Giamatti on That ‘Billions’ Season 7 Finale

Before I get into The Holdovers, which is one of my favorite films of the year, you are phenomenal in it, I watched every episode of Billions. I’m a big fan of the show, so I’m curious, what was your take on the final season, especially the finale and how it all ended?

GIAMATTI: The finale was fascinating to me because I think we all thought it was gonna be this bloodbath of everybody. Then we got this thing that was actually very measured and kind of sweet in some ways at the very end. So, it was almost like the biggest twist in that thing was that it didn’t end up in a huge bloodbath. I thought I was going to take him out, he was going to take me out, everybody was gonna get taken out, but that didn’t happen, which I thought was really cool, actually.

I thought it was a really good finale. It was for the fans.

GIAMATTI: That’s exactly what it was. I think it was for the fans.

My only nitpick of the show, and I want your thoughts on this, is that it’s amazing how all these people would just meet up in an office that takes like a four-hour round trip.

GIAMATTI: Please. Four hours round trip? It takes four hours to get from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. I was all over the place. And in one day, I was doing stuff that was like, “Oh, come on! This is impossible. I can’t get to Brooklyn that fast.” [Laughs] That kind of thing was very funny, and especially my character who was traveling all the time in a way that was just ridiculous.

[Laughs] That’s my only nitpick of the show because you have to put these actors in the same room, but I’m like, “This is a phone call.”

GIAMATTI: Ridiculous. The chronology of the thing was kind of kind of hard to follow sometimes for us. I’d be like, “How much time has gone by? How did I get here?” Yeah, there was a lot of that.

Jumping into why I get to talk to you, I love this movie so much. It feels to me – and I told Alexander this – like you guys shot it in the early ‘70s, and then they just forgot about it until now.

GIAMATTI: That’s awesome. That it was found again somewhere. That’s cool.

What Makes ‘The Holdovers’ Great
Image via Focus Features

Obviously, if Alexander calls you after Sideways, you’re probably gonna say yes, but what was your reaction to this script because this is a great character?

GIAMATTI: It was a great character, and the script was really great. All that kind of prep school stuff was really great, and that kind of movie, that it was sort of a little bit reminiscent of the settings in Boston and stuff like that. But the dialogue was so sharp. It’s one of those things where you’re just like, “I don’t have to do a whole lot of work, actually, because the dialogue is showing me exactly where to go.” The character was great. All the characters are great, and the relationships. And in my mind it’s a Christmas movie, and I like that about it.

It’s definitely a Christmas movie. So, hypothetically, you have a big scene on a Monday. It’s an emotional scene or a dramatic scene and it’s gonna be a little challenging. How soon before that day are you breaking down the scene or scenes and thinking about, “How do I want to play this?”

GIAMATTI: That’s a big question for an actor. It changes over the years, how much preparation. It’s always a game for me of how much preparation I should be doing. Overdoing it is not great, underdoing it’s not great. It’s finding that sweet spot. I think as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been a little bit more willing to not be so prepared walking in and not feel so like everything is broken down and just seeing what happens. I think when I was younger I was a little bit more worried about it, and I overthought it, probably. [Laughs] But it’s a constant challenge for actors sometimes. The most important thing is to be relaxed more than even prepared. So, it’s just a constant journey of finding where you can hit that sweet spot.

It’s also possible that through your career all that work has now made it so that you have muscle memory.

GIAMATTI: Yes, that’s exactly right. You can actually trust yourself more and more, which is hard. It was hard for me as an actor. Somebody like Dom looks like he already trusts himself a lot, and that’s great. He’s starting from a place of kind of relaxation, and that’s really important.

Paul Giamatti Says This Role Was “Nerve-Wracking”
Image via HBO

You’ve done so many roles. Do you remember what the role or performance was, whatever it might be, that you were the most nervous before stepping on set on the first day?

GIAMATTI: That’s a really good question. I think the John Adams thing had repeated moments, not just the first day. There were repeated moments in that show where I was like, “Oh my god, this is totally nerve-wracking and terrifying.” So, that had a lot of that going on just because there was so much that I had to do in that. It was the burden, it was the volume of it almost more than anything that was just like, “Oh my god, how am I gonna get through this?”

It’s also not like you were in every scene.

GIAMATTI: [Laughs] Exactly. It’s also like, I wasn’t the guy who never shut up either. I mean, I just talked constantly in that thing. So, that was nerve-wracking all the time.

Why ‘The Holdovers’ Is So Bittersweet

One of the things I really love about this film is that it feels like found family. There are so many moments between the three of you that are just so good.

GIAMATTI: That’s nice. Did you see Shoplifters? That Japanese movie? It’s a great movie, and at a certain point somebody has that classic line of, like, “Sometimes your real family isn’t the one you were born into, it’s the one you find.” It has that feeling of it. And what’s really true about this movie, though, that’s actually really poignant, is that it’ll break up, and these people will never see each other again. And so it’s like this moment is really important for them, but it’s gonna go away, which everything does, I suppose, eventually, but that’s poignant.

It’s weird you say that because when I’m in an Uber now or when I’m seeing people for the first time in a city or whatever, I’ll often end a conversation saying, “I really hope you enjoy your life because I know I’m never going to see you again.”

GIAMATTI: That’s intense. And doing what we do in film and stuff like that, you won’t. I mean, you form these incredibly intense bonds, and then they break up, and you really don’t see a lot of these people ever again. It’s a crazy way to live. It really is.

What’s Next for Paul Giamatti?
Image via Focus Features

So, the strike is over, and with Billions wrapping all of a sudden, your schedule is a lot more open. Are you looking forward to that freedom that’s gonna come from being able to have the time to do almost anything, or are you thinking about another TV show for next year?

GIAMATTI: No, I am enjoying the freedom, actually. I had a guy describe me once as I chain-smoke jobs. [Laughs] So, I need to quit for a bit. Not quit, but just cut back. So, I’m actually enjoying the freedom to sort of relax and pick and choose and see what happens. I’m enjoying that. I’m lucky to be able to do that. Very lucky.

The Holdovers is in theaters now in the U.S. Purchase tickets here.