Owner of the most carbuncular schnozz since Jimmy Durante, Owen Wilson's stoner persona hides a canny mind that has helped him conquer Hollywood on several fronts. As co-writer of "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums", star of "Behind Enemy Lines" and Ben Stiller's comic foil, he's a likeable actor who can jump effortlessly between offbeat indies and mainstream products. Now he's back with Jackie Chan in "Shanghai Knights", the sequel to their hit martial arts western, "Shanghai Noon".
Jackie's been known to injure himself while performing his own stunts. Did you ever fear for his safety while shooting "Shanghai Knights"?
I don't worry about Jackie making it through - he's made it this far. Actually, I look forward to the stunts being as elaborate and drawn-out as possible, because it gives me a chance to catch my breath. The outtakes at the end of the movie are pretty revealing though, because you usually see Jackie getting hurt or something going awry.
You do get to do one stunt though, being dunked in water upside down...
I grew up near the ocean so I'm pretty comfortable in the water. And even though I don't think of myself as particularly great at the action stuff, I would give myself credit for that one scene where I felt I was a little stronger than Jackie.
How does working with Jackie compare to working with your regular collaborator, Wes Anderson?
People talk about how these movies are very different from the stuff I wrote with Wes, but in some important ways there are similarities. Jackie's character has a real sense of innocence to him, and the comedy isn't mean-spirited or "cool". And I'd say that's also in "Tenenbaums" and "Rushmore".
What's next for you and Jackie?
Jackie's getting ready to start working on "Around the World in 80 Days" with Steve Coogan. My brother Luke and I might do a cameo as the Wright brothers. Then I'm doing "Starsky & Hutch" with Ben Stiller.
Is there a third "Shanghai" picture on the cards?
The next one will be "Shanghai Dawn", and we're talking about going to Egypt. It's like Hope and Crosby - you can put these characters into different situations and genres and know how they're going to behave.
