Gotham nominee for Outstanding Supporting Performer Glenn Howerton received widespread critical acclaim for his role of Jim Balsillie in the independent film BlackBerry. Directed by Matt Johnson, the film tells the tumultuous, Icarus-like story of the once prominent mobile device’s creation, celebration, and ultimate destruction. It’s a wild, often very funny, and always compelling story anchored by a volcanic and brilliant performance from Howerton as RIM co-CEO Jim Balsille.
Here, in an interview with Awards Daily, Howerton credits the great script Johnson and Matt Miller and the work it did to truly reveal Balsille’s essence. He also talks about his unusual process in getting to the root of a character through the script and beyond. He also takes a moment to express his immense joy and gratitude on the film’s warm reception. He hopes that the new miniseries version on AMC and AMC+ (airing over three nights starting tonight) helps more people see the project — even though he hasn’t seen the new version himself yet!
Awards Daily: What was your process in getting into the mindset of Jim Balsillie?
Glenn Howerton: This is going to sound really obvious, but I start with the script. If it is as good as this script was, then it makes my job a lot easier because it is all in there for me to find. I think that an actor’s job is to first and foremost serve the story. So I have to know the story really, really well. I’m a big fan of reading the script over and over and over again, but I do something that a lot of acting teachers hate and say that you’re never supposed to do. My north star is the first impression that I get when I read the script. Most say you’re supposed to read the script first with a very neutral mindset and then read it over and over and let the story slowly inform you. But I found that doesn’t work for me. I have an initial gut response to material, especially when it’s really well written, and I find real value in that initial response. My performance is never based on that first reading, but it becomes a guiding light for me.
So really it starts with the script and then doing as much research as I possibly can and having a lot of conversations with the director to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of tone, as well as knowing what the character really wants over the course of the film and in general as a human being. Finding what the character’s engine is and what drives this person.
Awards Daily: What kind of outside research did you do?
Glenn Howerton: Reading the book (Losing the Signal) on the history of the company. But there’s not a tremendous amount of information out there about it. I know that Matt Miller and Matt Johnson, who wrote the script together, did a lot of research outside of the book. They interviewed people who had worked with the company who witnessed the day-to-day of the company. It was my understanding that a lot of the movie came from that, while the book was just an accounting of what happened. Which is really not a dramatization, so most of the drama and the tone of it came from a combination of their sensibilities as filmmakers combined with the information that they got from the people they interviewed.
Awards Daily: I saw in a YouTube video that Jim Balsillie himself said that he didn’t find the characterization of the film accurate but he also thought your performance was brilliant. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Glenn Howerton: I hadn’t seen that, but I did read an interview that he did after he saw a copy of the film they sent him before it came out. He didn’t say quite that, but the implication was that the drive was there and the intensity was certainly there and the anger. But he thought that he had more of a sense of humor and was a little bit more fun to work with than was written on the page. My job was to play the character written in the script and there were a handful of moments of levity for the character that I was really glad was in there. I think they pointed to sides of his personality that didn’t get explored through the movie. So I can see that and I think it’s fair. Obviously you can’t show every side of a person in a film. You have to make choices. You only have 2 hours to tell the story, so choices were certainly made. But it is my understanding that some of those parts of his life that we shot may be in the limited series that is coming out. I have not seen the limited series cut, but I think it does expand upon my character a little bit.
Awards Daily: Well, that kind of ruins my next question because I was going to ask if there was anything you could tell us about the new limited series cut of the film.
Glenn Howerton: Yes, I know very little. I texted with Matt Johnson a little, and he offered to send it to me. But I think it’s already been delivered and it’s ready to go, and I can’t really watch it and say hey, can we make this change? So I’ll probably just watch it with everybody else.
Awards Daily: Are you excited that’s going to be put out in this new format?
Glenn Howerton: I just want people to watch it. I think it’s a great story and a really well-made film. I think Matt Johnson did a phenomenal job directing the film. I think Jay (Baruchel) was fantastic, I think all the performances were really great. So I’m just excited for people to be exposed to it in whatever form it comes in. I am just a little bit nervous because I haven’t seen it and they added sixteen minutes. But I have grown to trust Matt Johnson and Matt Miller. I don’t think they would put anything in there that wasn’t good or didn’t help tell the story.
Awards Daily: I was curious what it was like getting to play a jerk on set towards your director as Matt Johnson was playing Doug.
Glenn Howerton: Well, Matt is extremely self-deprecating, he does not take himself seriously at all. He is talented and truly dedicated and hardworking, and I don’t know if he slept more than four hours a night the entire time making the film. He, Matt Miller, the cinematographer Jared Raab, and one of the other executive producers, Jay (McCarrol)–that whole brain trust of filmmakers that Matt likes to work with, they actually all stayed in the same house during the filming of the movie. So they could watch dailies together and discuss the next day and just all be on the same page. So obviously he takes it very seriously, but he doesn’t take himself very seriously. I think he’s actually been quite shocked and blown away by the response the film has gotten. I think in his mind it’s I don’t know how me and my friends talked these people into giving us this much money to make a movie. We just went and did our thing, the same thing we’ve been doing for the last ten years. He is learning that he’s a better filmmaker than even he thought he was. He doesn’t take himself seriously, but he works with a lot of confidence. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. But the tone on set was not serious; everyone was laughing and joking. I was less so because I was trying to stay in character, but it was a really fun set.
Awards Daily: You are up for a Gotham Award, and this part has in general gotten you a lot of acclaim. What has the journey been like for you with this film?
Glenn Howerton: It’s wild! I suspected we were making a good film; like I said, the script was great. I could tell that Jay was going to be good in the film just from working with him. I felt like their performances were good and I felt like I was doing what I was trying to do. I didn’t know if it was going to work or not, but I felt like I was pulling off what I was trying to pull off. So the suspicion we were making a good film was always there, but you never know if something’s going to catch fire, if people are really going to watch it, even if it is good. I think I’m used to working in a bubble. I do work with friends a lot, and a lot of things I’ve done I’m really proud of, but they have been ignored by the mainstream Hollywood crowd. Always Sunny in Philadelphia and even A.P. Bio have been well received by critics but never got any awards or things like that. So that has been surprising and wonderful. It’s a nice thing but I will never base my sense of worth on it because I think that’s a dangerous thing. However it is quite affirming to take a big swing with a role like this and have people really enjoy it and be up for awards. It’s an affirmation of the work I’ve been doing for the last twenty years.
Awards Daily: Any final thoughts?
Glenn Howerton- I’m very grateful that people are watching the film and enjoying it. It strikes a very interesting tone that even I was surprised by. I love that it plays like a thriller, a drama, and a comedy all at the same time. I think it’s also informative and interesting to learn about the company but also highly entertaining first and foremost. I’m grateful people are watching it and I hope more people watch it. It is a really fun ride, the two hours go by so quickly, and anything we can do to get more people to watch it I am on board with.
BlackBerry: The Limited Series premieres as a three-night event starting November 13 on AMC and AMC+.