BeatBoxBetty Interviews Ryan Phillippe on The Way of The Gun!

Written by BeatBoxBetty
September 2000

We were introduced to him in "One Life To Live," drooled over him in "54," and were painfully turned on by him in "Cruel Intentions."

But in "The Way of The Gun," we see a different side of Ryan Phillippe; that of an actor stretching his chops to play yet another, likable but terribly flawed character.

Here's what Ryan had to say about filming this dark action caper and his thoughts on being a daddy and looking a hell of a lot like 'NSync's Justin Timberlake...

Photo by Christina Radish

Q: What influences your decision about what movies you decide to do?
RP: It starts with the script. If you start out with a script that's got trouble, the whole rest of the production will follow suit. You need that foundation. And also, beyond that, it's just filmmakers -- the group of people that are assembling, you know. With this one, Chris McQuarrie [director] and Benicio [Del Toro] were already involved so, to me, it was an easy decision.

Q: This movie could not possibly be any more different than Cruel Intentions was. Does this mean you're done with that whole genre of teen audience movies?
RP: You know, I'm almost 26 now. I don't feel like a teen too much, especially having a wife and child. I'm just getting older and so, as you get older, the parts get more interesting, I think.

Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro in The Way of the Gun
Photo by Artisan Entertainment

Q: Your daughter is going to be a year old?
RP: Right. Yeah, in a week and a half.

Q: How has this year been for you?
RP: It's been amazing. One of the best years of my life because of all the great things that have happened, the big things that have happened.

Q: Is it more challenging than you thought to be a dad?
RP: Not really. It was a pretty natural transition for me to make because I grew up around a lot of kids and a big family.

Q: What's your favorite thing to do with your daughter?
RP: Sit and read to her. She loves reading and I love the fact that she gets so excited about reading.

Q: She reads and she's a year old?
RP: Well, no. She loves being read to, that's what I mean. But she actually is bilingual, which I'm actually also impressed with. She's learning Spanish at the same time she's learning English.

Q: So, Reese must have been pregnant during filming then?
RP: Yeah.

Q: Could you talk about that?
RP: Yeah, I mean, it was strange. There were definitely times where I'd have to focus, you know, and kinda forget about what was going on back there, but she was great through it and her mother was with her a lot of times, so I didn't have to worry too much and I would fly back on the weekends.

Q: One more silly question before we go back to talking about the movie. Justin Timberlake from 'N Sync gets mistaken for you all the time. He's gotten to the point where he introduces himself as Ryan. I was wondering if you had a comment on that.
RP: That's funny. Not really. I wouldn't know what to say.

Q: Have you ever met him?
RP: No, I haven't met him. (Laughs)

Justin Timberlake from 'NSync
Photo by Christina Radish

Q: How was it hanging out with Benicio on this film?
RP: He gave me a lot of music and introduced me to a lot of different stuff... We had a lot of good nights making the movie; sitting around listening to albums. I'm into Latin jazz, Willy Bobo, Cal Jeter and people like that, and also Buena Vista Social Club and all that, I love.

Q: Got a big CD collection?
RP: Huge, yeah. Music is an obsession of mine, so we definitely connected in that respect.

Q: Do you have a big DVD collection?
RP: Actually, yeah.

Q: What's the last DVD you just bought for yourself?
RP: The latest one I bought was the Jaws reissue, which was great.

Q: What happens...do you read a script and already have an idea of how to play it?
RP: I read it solely as an actor and felt like I had a real understanding. I read it twice in a row, like back to back, and I had felt like I got a really good understanding, and also knowing Usual Suspects and that kind of thing.

A lot of it was in the work that Chris and Benicio did in trying to keep these guys original and, even though they're kind of the people you follow most throughout the movie, kind of find ways not to be cliché and to make sure that we weren't doing silly one-liners and unrealistic action. It was more about trying to keep everything simple and real.

Q: Even though you're a married man now, you still have a lot of young female fans. Can you talk about some of your more bizarre experiences meeting them?
RP: One bizarre experience during the making of this movie was [when] I came out of my hotel room and found like 10 people in the vestibule between my hotel [room] and the hallway which shocked me.

It was like eight little girls and two grown men, or something. There are times when strange things like that happen. I really had just opened my door and there was a group of [people].

Ryan with director Chris McQuarrie
Photo by Artisan Entertainment

Q: Your name comes up in the gay communities as well. Is that something you're comfortable with?
RP: Absolutely. Whoever responds to you for whatever reason, you've gotta appreciate it. That's why you're putting yourself out there. You know, the more support you get, the more films you can make that are closer to the kind of films you wanna make. So, whoever responds to you . . .

Q: You have this dual capacity of being not just a movie actor, but also a pin-up idol in certain ways. Are you comfortable with that capacity?
RP: Yeah, although I try not to indulge it too much. There are times where you'll do the odd photo shoot here or there that plays to that end, but beyond that, it doesn't affect my life in any sense. Certainly, doing a movie like this, I'm not crying out for that.

Q: Hey, how are things with Reese?
RP: Great.

Q: Do you get to spend a lot of time together now that the movie is finally done?
RP: Oh yeah. Yeah.

Q: How do you spend your time? What kinds of things do you get to do?
RP: That's personal. I don't talk about that stuff too much . . . We travel. We spent a vacation down at the beach with our families and that kind of thing this summer, which was a nice thing to get to do. But, it's pretty average. I guess that's why I'm remiss to talk about it just because I feel like it's the same shit anybody else does, in a way.