He's a pessimist, but I think he really likes people quite a bit. I don't 
Best known for playing Pig Vomit in the 1997 Howard Stern biopic Private Parts, Paul Giamatti has become one of Hollywood's most reliable supporting actors. That's largely thanks to memorable turns in The Negotiator, Man On The Moon, and Planet Of The Apes. All that could change, though, following his acclaimed performance as real-life comic book author Harvey Pekar in indie hit American Splendor.
Was it hard to make the leap from supporting roles to lead character in American Splendor?
I didn't really feel like I was the lead; it felt more like an ensemble thing. The biggest adjustment was the amount of time I had to spend on set. I'm used to popping in every now and then every couple of weeks, so after two or three days I was wondering when I got to go home! Then I realised I was going to be there the whole day, all the time.
Your character, Harvey Pekar, is a grouch. Did you find yourself becoming misanthropic?
I already am! I'm more misanthropic than he is. I don't think of him as a misanthrope, actually. He's a pessimist, but I think he really likes people quite a bit. I don't.
Were you worried about playing a real person?
The element of mimicry was very interesting to me - I'd never done anything like that before. It's still a character, though. I think you can get too caught up worrying about verisimilitude and looking exactly like him, when it can never be.
Why do you think Planet Of The Apes sucked?
It was a problematic movie. They hired Tim Burton to do it, then put every obstacle in his way towards making the film he wanted to make. The movie has got good things about it, but they were stupid to hire him - they should have got some hack to do it, it would have been a lot cheaper. But they wanted his name: his name attached to Planet Of The Apes was the big selling point.
What's it been like working with John Woo on Paycheck?
Now there's another example of where they shackled the guy a little bit, all because they were hurrying him so much. But it was a lot of fun to do - action movie, shoot 'em up, stuff blowing up. It was great!
