Fast Chat: 'Forever' man Richard Jenkins

Richard Jenkins is one of those performers referred to as a "working actor," meaning he's always been working, but never really been a star. Until 10 years ago, that is, when the then 54-year-old copped the plum role as the dead father in the HBO series "Six Feet Under." He followed that up six years later with an Oscar nomination for his performance as the widower who finds two immigrants living in his apartment in "The Visitor." Now a familiar face - and name - Jenkins has appeared in a slew of films, including "Eat Pray Love," "Let Me In," "Step Brothers" and his latest, "Waiting for Forever," opening Friday. Lewis Beale interviewed the late-blooming star by phone from his home in Rhode Island.

You've played all sorts of parts, from a dead man in "Six Feet Under" to a gay lover in "Flirting With Disaster" and a sort of aging sexual mentor in the upcoming Farrelly brothers comedy "Hall Pass." What criteria do you use for choosing your roles?

A character who goes somewhere. I played many characters that are just there to move the plot along, but I look for someone who is struggling with something. When I say struggling, somebody dealing with something.

You grew up in Illinois. Your mom was a housewife and your dad a dentist. How did you get into acting?

I never saw much theater, but my parents took me to see "Bye Bye Birdie" in Chicago when I was a kid. I saw an understudy rehearsal, and I was enthralled with that. I went to the movies every Friday, and I saw the world through film, didn't care what I was watching. I wanted to be an actor for a long time, and when I got to college, I saw "Hamlet," and I thought that was amazing.

Was there any particular low point in your career?

No. Once I started, it never occurred to me not to do this. I have no other skills. It just was what I was going to do, whether I was successful at it or not. That's true of most actors. And I was fortunate that I did work, ever since I got out of school.

You were 54 when you got the career-changing role as the father in "Six Feet Under," 61 when you received a best actor Oscar nomination for "The Visitor." What was it like "making it" after such a long time?

I'm grateful it took a long time. I wasn't ready to handle it when I was 25. I'm a slow learner. And I wasn't very good, I had to rethink who I was as an actor. My mother, who's the most optimistic person, she called me up here at Trinity when I was a first-year actor, and she said they went to a party, and there was a man who could predict the future. And she asked "Will my son be a successful actor?" And he said "Yes, but it will take a very long time."

You've appeared in four films directed by the Farrelly brothers and are in their latest, "Hall Pass." Why do you like working with them?

I started with "Something About Mary." I even built a house on the street they grew up on. Those two guys realize how fortunate they are. They don't take it for granted, they live their life and have fun, and it's great to do a movie with them, because they always have fun.

You've lived in Rhode Island for years. Any disadvantages living there in terms of your career?

There aren't any disadvantages. Although sometimes you feel "I'm here, hey." We thought about moving, but we've been here 40 years, our friends are here. I was told I couldn't do it, but my manager said "I don't care where you live, but if I call you, you have to come into New York the next day." I did that for years and years, but it was my choice.

Do you still have to audition for roles?

No. I never minded it. If you do it and they hire you, you know they're getting what they expected.

How did the Oscar nomination for "The Visitor" change your life?

Things changed, they did. It was an amazing time for me. It was a little overwhelming, it kind of exploded. But God, it was fun. We were going nonstop, and I complained about it one time, and my wife said, "If you can't enjoy this, you can't enjoy anything." And I stopped.