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Recently in Salon People

Nothing Personal
Analyze this multimillionaire
A chat with the shrink to TV's recently married moneybags; gay guys want to bed Madonna, Everett says; Renée Zellweger tattoos her caboose with whose name? Plus: Aaron Spelling is mad as hell!
By Amy Reiter
[02/18/00]

Nothing Personal
Courtesy flush, please!
Extra! Extra! Put the seat down! Senate reporters forced to use coed loo; "American Pie" man Don McLean gets goopy over Madonna. Plus: The descent of man continues -- Carlos Santana announces his own clothing line.
By Amy Reiter
[02/17/00]

Column
"Sex" and Synanon onstage
The Draconian sexual mores of Mae West's era and the curious past of former cult kid Deborah Swisher turn up the heat in New York theater.
By Cintra Wilson
[02/17/00]

People Feature
Who wants to marry a multimillionaire?
A whole buncha losers, that's who. Married's just another word for nothing left to lose.
By Carina Chocano
[02/16/00]

People Feature
Say uncle
The man who claimed to be Steven Spielberg's nephew had other fond wishes -- to be a transvestite porn star was one of them.
By Stephen Lemons
[02/16/00]

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The remarkable thing about this process is not the limited and predictable array of fates that awaits them but, rather, the ease with which some young actors seem to appear on the scene in the first place. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an actor seems to be everywhere at once: smiling down on us from newsstands, waving benignly to the paparazzi, escorting young starlets to award shows. It is not until much later that you begin to remember that it's the same face from a sitcom you liked in high school; or that comedy (what was it called?), playing somebody's brother; or an old McDonald's commercial. That's when you realize that the trail to overnight success is blazed in a pumpkin, not a coach, and that it almost invariably consists of at least 10 years of forgettable roles, near misses and mild humiliations.

Also Today "Boiler Room" Giovanni Ribisi tops a dynamite cast in writer-director Ben Younger's crisply told tale of young Wall Street bottom feeders on the make. By Stephanie Zacharek

They might as well call it the "Hollywood Steps." Ribisi's résumé reads like that of every up-and-comer-to-watch this side of John Travolta: A slew of sitcom guest spots (including a recurring role on "The Wonder Years" and appearances on "Married With Children," "Blossom," "NYPD Blue," "Chicago Hope," "Walker: Texas Ranger" and "Friends") and the humiliating, much-publicized megaflop (his role as Bandit 20 in Kevin Costner's monolithic failure, "The Postman").

"It was extremely useful to grow up in front of the camera," says Ribisi. "It gives the camera no significance. I think it helped me have perspective on things. The attraction that Hollywood can have, I feel like I'm over that. Instead I just concentrate on acting."

So they all say. What's interesting about Ribisi now is the way he has attracted the attention of some of the best directing talents in the business. He has appeared in Richard Linklater's "Suburbia," David Lynch's "Lost Highway," Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" and the upcoming Sam Raimi-directed, Billy Bob Thornton-penned production "The Gift," in which he stars opposite Hillary Swank and Cate Blanchett.

He is one of those rare young talents whose subtle intensity commands the screen, and his appearance in the upcoming "Boiler Room" proves it. In preparation for his role as Seth, a corrupt investment banker, Ribisi immersed himself in the greed-fueled atmosphere of real-life "boiler rooms."

"I came in completely naive, not knowing anything," says Ribisi." I sat with this guy who was literally on the phone all day. He was getting to work at 5 in the morning, leaving at 10 at night, making 500 or 600 phone calls a day. I met a guy who had worked in an illegal firm and he was still trading. His mentality was: 'If you're stupid enough to give me your money, then you shouldn't have it anyway.'"

Ribisi, whose character is struggling with his conscience, manages to portray inner conflict without relying on cheap dramatics. This is familiar Ribisi territory. Tapped by Spielberg for the part as doomed medic Wade and by Linkletter as the young intellectual struggling against the paralyzing ennui of "Suburbia," Giovanni's forte is the put-upon Everyman. His specialty is bewilderment, the baffled naif stumbling into chaos. This particular Ribisi nuance is taken to the extreme in his role as a retarded man in "The Other Sister" and in his recurring appearances on "Friends", where his innocence is transmuted into comical dimwittedness. Ribisi is capable of turning his bedroom eyes baleful and taking on an indisputable air of sincerity. This is especially useful in his narrative overdubs, where he manages to avoid the stiltedness and pretense of a device that many actors find challenging. In both "Boiler Room" and "The Virgin Suicides" his usually unremarkable voice takes on a deepened resonance and a soothing matter-of-factness that draw the viewer in.

"The thing I like best about voice-over is that it's personal," explains Ribisi. "There's a certain intimacy to it."

His upcoming roles include a turn as Nicolas Cage's brother in the auto-heist action flick "Gone in 60 Seconds" and a part in French actress Julie Delpy's ("Before Sunrise," "White") directorial debut, "Tell Me."

"I feel like I'm on a certain path," says Ribisi. "I'm trying to maintain that, to be more committed every time out and to learn something about myself. "

For Ribisi, whose first appearance was at age 9, acting is not simply a passion but already a lifelong career.

"I could almost say it's my religion," he says. "I guess that sounds pretentious, but that's true for me. I want to live and breathe it."
salon.com | Feb. 18, 2000

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