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Whether it’s on the screen, on Twitter, or over Zoom, there’s a kindness in Paul Walter Hauser that’s impossible to miss.
Hauser’s star continues to rise in Hollywood, an ascension that began with I, Tonya (2017) and continued through BlacKkKlansman, Cobra Kai, Da 5 Bloods, and his show-stopping turn as the titular character in Clint Eastwood’s slept-on masterpiece Richard Jewell (legitimately one of the best performances of the last decade).
Even so, Hauser can be found online most days posting about his love of music, movies, and pro-wrestling, answering fan queries generously and honestly and generally sh**posting with the best of them.
Simply put, if Hauser isn’t one of your favorite actors working today, he soon will be. His latest effort, playing Horace in Cruella, is turning heads, as he provides some of the film’s best laughs, and a lot of the film’s necessary heart.
His co-stars love him too. Sebastian Stan, who appeared with him in I, Tonya, even put him as an easter egg in Marvel’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which someone recently discovered.
We caught up with Hauser to speak about the film as he’s on set of an upcoming Apple series in which he’s playing a real life serial killer about his current weight-loss journey, how that may affect his career, his desire to be taken seriously, and why empathy is perhaps the most important quality one may have in succeeding in Hollywood (despite what you may have heard).
Read (or watch!) our full interview with Paul Walter Hauser below:
Mr. Mullally, it’s nice to meet you man. Who’s on your shirt, is that [New Japan Pro Wrestling star] Okada?
Okada and Naito. How’s it going man? Everything seems to be going amazing for you, it’s fantastic to see.
Yeah, from a career standpoint, things are pretty darn good. I feel like a lot of actors have a checklist of the roles they really want to try out. And at the top of the list is like, courtroom drama, western, maybe a high-end horror film, and Disney is somewhere in the top five that everyone wants to try.
And I’m sure it means so much more considering I, Tonya (2017) was a breakout moment for you, and you’re able to build on your relationship with director Craig Gillespie here.
Obviously, we love working together, but I really didn’t think there’d be room for me in this movie. It’s just such a large scope film. What Craig and I did with I, Tonya was a $10-11 million budget character-driven indie movie. I was very, very happy and lucky to get invited on to this.
Did you have to audition?
He had me audition because Disney said we need to know that he can do the accent. We don’t care that he’s your friend. Make sure he can do a proper accent. And I guess I did a good enough job where Disney gave me the thumbs up and here I am.
Just don’t do a Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, I guess.
[Doing a Dick Van Dyke impression] No, don’t go too over the top. Don’t do that! No. I mean, at the same time, it’s a Disney movie. You know, we’re not doing Pride and Prejudice directed by Joe Wright.
It’s good to get the accent down, but I think Disney fans will be forgiving if it’s not perfect, if I don’t do a perfect Ray Winstone, you know what I mean?
The interesting thing for me is that you’re bringing to life a villain who is ostensibly a murderer of dogs, but at the same time, there’s such a goodness to these characters.
Did you intentionally try to bring that out, or is that just a natural effect of hiring some of the nicest people in Hollywood, like you and Emma Stone?
I think it’s the same as Bryan Cranston being cast from Malcolm in the Middle to Breaking Bad. He was this TV dad we all love who became this anti-hero. I think it is wise to cast your anti-heroes and potentially dark figures with people that have a sweeter, jovial, enlightened sense to them.
That’s perfectly said the way you said that. In terms of dog murderers, Disney of course loves dogs and we’re never going to make the scary, ugly, mean cruelty-towards-dogs movie. I don’t think that was ever going to happen. But at the same time, we can play with the edginess of that and play with the dark side within the Disney universe.
There’s a compassion that runs through all your characters. Richard Jewell is one of my favorite performances of the last 10 years.
Thank you dude, that’s really kind of you to say.
Where is that compassion rooted within you? Do you think it’s just the way you see the world, a natural thing, or is it rooted in your spirituality?
Um, I think there’s some elements of faith, or just loving people in general, and I think does come through. When you play a villain, whether it’s in a Disney film, or what I’m doing right now in a limited series, where it’s a little darker, and moodier, I think empathy is a big deal.
I think I think empathy is necessary to love the character. to bring it to life. And with the people I’m playing, I have played real people, or in this case of Cruella’s Horace, I’m playing someone you’ve seen in another iteration of the film, you do have to bring your own stuff to it, and your heart and your love and your empathy, to me is as important as anything.
I tell actors that when I sometimes get asked to guest teach, like a class or a workshop, and when I do it, I think they’re thinking I’m going to give them tips on acting. And it’s more like tips to survive life while you try to act. One of them is for sure empathy, which goes both ways.
Yeah, of course. And your love for film and you’re just genuine-heartedness is what you can kind of trace your entire career to in some ways, I’m sure.
Also taking people seriously, like Shawn Eckhart in I, Tonya, and Richard Jewell, and even in Horace. I think I personally fight to be taken seriously all the time, because of my appearance. And because of the characters I play. That’s like an insecurity, right? It’s an insecurity to want to be taken seriously. I find that most of the characters that I play are all trying to be taken seriously and kind of getting laughed at. And they have to rise to the occasion, for better or worse, you know?
I know Craig Gillespie leaves a lot of space for you to improvise. What was the improvisation like on this project, and did any of it make the final cut?
I think it was just kind of keeping it real and having the enthusiasm. It’s not about finding the most brilliant line, sometimes it’s just about the appropriate line. And then the appropriate line is so appropriate, it does get a laugh.
There’s a scene where I come down on a rope from the ceiling with Joel Fry. That was really us. We were suspended with a the high wire act, we’re doing that for 30 to 40 minutes, trying to play cool, secretly a little terrified.
Every time we reach the bottom, there’s a little bit of quiet where I got to throw in a line. And I think in the movie, I look at the guard who’s sleeping. And I say something like, “he’s a bit of a blanket.| or something like that. I call the guy a blanket.
Like, I don’t even know what that means. But in the moment, that felt like a thing to say, and it’s in the movie. So clearly our editor and our director thought it was the right thing to say. And that’s what I mean by being funny and improvising is about trying to be appropriate for the moment.
And the physicality you brought to the role of Horace is also really integral to the performance. When you’re done up in the wig and the dress and just rocking it is fantastic.
That was me taking one for Disney, man.
How did you feel to pull that off better than anyone else in that room?
Only you and my mother feel that way.
Craig was like, ‘I have this idea, and I need approval. I want to put you in a dress, and have you be one of the Cruellas’. I was like yeah man, let’s do it. I want to surprise people with a fun little turn, when you’re on the back of my head, and then I turn into the frame so you know it’s me.
You’ve said on social media that you’d love to play Chris Farley, for example, but you said that you have a short window because you’re trying to transform yourself physically. Could you talk a bit about the impetus behind wanting to transform yourself, and how you weigh your career considerations with that decision? Apologies if that’s too personal.
No don’t worry, it bleeds into work so I don’t mind that. I’ve always just wanted to lose weight and get healthy. None of these roles ever required me to be in good health. And recently, I got cast in a series at Apple where they want me to play a serial killer, which I’m in New Orleans shooting right now. But that’s a real guy I’m playing in a true crime scenario. So I looked at photos of him and I’m like…
Dude, I was 286 pounds at the start of the year. I’m probably 285 to 90 in Cruella. I can’t do this anymore. So I dropped 40 pounds to play this character in this limited series. I’m down to about 246 I think right now, and I intend to just keep doing that.
If they make Cruella 2, and they’re like, ‘hey, we need you to gain 70 pounds to play Horace again’. I’m going to politely tell them that’s not going to happen.
In terms of the Chris Farleys and the Ignatius J. Rileys, and the Rob Fords, all these guys I could play that could be hilarious and iconic and heavyset, is about a three-to-five month time window where those are going to have to show up. And if they don’t, I’m going to start to look a lot more Jonah Hill Chris Pratt than Paul Hauser.
Well if Disney can bring Grand Moff Tarkin back to life in Rogue One I think they can probably do something in post.
Aw man, between your T shirt in the Grand Moff Tarkin…you’ve had more coffee than me.
Great to speak with you man.
Hope to talk soon, brother!
Cruella is in theaters now across the Middle East
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