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Judy Greer isn’t sitting next to me, but I can feel her friendliness and warmth radiating through the Zoom screen. It’s an experience similar to watching one of her many movies and TV shows, in which she often plays the supportive best friend or the trusted confidant: when you see Greer on screen, you know you’re in good hands.
Greet often uses the word “fun” when reminiscing about her turns in memorable rom-coms like “13 Going on 30,” “The Wedding Planner,” and “27 Dresses” during our conversation. But her latest film is a tonal departure, to say the least.
In “Eric LaRue,” the actor strips away her signature wit to portray Janice LaRue, a withdrawn mother who has the unimaginable task of trying to move forward after her teenage son shoots and kills three of his classmates.
In the drama, which is based on a stage play by Brett Neveu and is actor Michael Shannon’s feature directorial debut, Greer delivers the kind of dark, deeply emotional performance she doesn’t often get to showcase. Greer credits Shannon, whom she’s known for years and worked with previously, with motivating her to take on such a heavy role outside her comfort zone.
“I don’t get sent roles like this,” Greer said. “To do something that was challenging for me and stretched me as an artist and scared me as an artist, I thought was really important. And I think it makes me a better actor, too.”
For the latest interview in Business Insider’s Role Play series, Greer reflects on her first professional disappointment, the fans she loves the most, and how she ended up playing a re-engineered cyborg pig in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”
On her breakout role in the cult classic ‘Jawbreaker’ and her friendship with her ’13 Going on 30′ costar Jennifer Garner
Business Insider: “Jawbreaker” is one of your earliest iconic films. The movie has a cult following now, but back then it had a different reception. How did that affect you at the time, so early in your career?
Judy Greer: It was the first job I got in Los Angeles. I’d been here for two weeks, maybe even one week, when I auditioned, so it was a transformative experience.
There were so many teen scream kind of movies coming out and all the same girls were auditioning for all of them. We were all in waiting rooms of casting offices together all the time, so it felt like I got to do mine.
It’s interesting because when it came out, it wasn’t a box office hit. But also, it taught me early in my career that you do the work, you focus on the work, you focus on what you’re doing, and then you move on and you can’t wait around and expect something. You just have no idea what’s going to happen with anything that you do. The one thing that you think is going to be a massive success can sometimes just not really perform.
And then while you’re shooting that movie, you make your best friend and you’re like, “Oh, well, that’s why I’m there. I’m there to learn to act. I’m there to make friends. I’m there to make relationships with people and to tell stories.”
Speaking of friendships, you and Jennifer Garner are still great friends years after “13 Going on 30,” which is impressive. What do you attribute that lasting friendship to?
I think it’s hard, no matter what you do for a living, to stay friends for a really long time. Life can really get in the way of friendships, but I think with all friendships you have to work at them. I think with her and I — I know she has friends like this and I have other friends like this — if you don’t take it personally that you can’t return a phone call or text right away, then I think that you’re off to a really good start [laughs].
People get busy, we’re busy. I think it’s hard to maintain friendships, especially as an adult. And when you’re juggling work and you’re juggling kids and all the things, aging parents, moving, all this stuff, it’s just hard. You have to really focus on your friendships. And I think a lot of times it’s easy to take them for granted, but I’m here to say don’t.
On fake-slapping Katherine Heigl and her favorite raunchy fan interactions
Another one of your well-known roles is Casey in “27 Dresses.” What was it like playing the foil to Katherine Heigl’s type-A character, Jane?
It’s funny because I’m so much more type-A, I’m so much more like Jane than Casey. It’s always fun to be that character because your hair can be a little off and your clothes can be a little off. You don’t have to be so perfect.
Is there a standout memory from working on that set that you still think about?
Slapping Katherine Heigl across the face. I hate when I have to slap people. I’ve had to do it before and it’s really stressful, but it’s also scary. And in that one, I don’t think I actually hit her. It’s just really scary because you’re in the moment and you’re like, “Hey, what are you doing?”And then you’re like [imitates slapping sound].
There was one movie I did called “What Planet Are You From?” where I had to slap Garry Shandling across the face, and my director, Mike Nichols was like, “Just hit him. We have to shoot it. Just hit him.” And I was like, “Oh my gosh!” And I just smacked him so hard and everyone was like, “Oh!” You could see in the movie, his actual reaction, he’s like, “Huh!?” That was earlier in my career. So after that, slapping people has always made me really nervous.
But in that one, she sold it. I didn’t actually hit her face.
“Arrested Development” is another role of yours that always comes up, I’m sure. What was the best part about playing such an over-the-top character like Kitty?
It’s fun to just really be able to do and say whatever you want. I felt like Kitty was just a wild animal. Nothing she said ever made sense or was fair or probably even honest, but anything goes with Kitty Sanchez.
When we were doing those first three seasons, I felt like we were in a vacuum. When I would be out and about in the world or traveling and someone would come up to me and say that they loved me on “Arrested Development,” I felt like they were a real fan because it was like, who’s watching the show? And now it’s such a cult classic hit that it’s funny, I feel like everyone has seen it.
But at the time, I felt like if someone recognized me from “Arrested Development” or “Archer,” I was like, “OK, you really looked for my name in that.”
Do fans still flash you and say the classic line? Is that still happening to you?
Yes. And more, please. I love walking through an airport and having someone be like, “Say goodbye to these!” I’m here for it. It’s the best.
On playing a cyborg pig and making the jump to blockbuster movies
There was this moment where you were in a bunch of different franchises: “Planet of the Apes,” “Ant-Man, “Jurassic World,” and “Halloween.” Why did you want to do those big-budget movies, and what did you learn from doing them?
My takeaway is that just because it has a big budget doesn’t always mean that the catering is better! Sometimes it is, sometimes it’s not.
I was doing great. I was really happy with my career. And then I thought, just to take it back to “Eric LaRue” for a minute, these really important independent movies and these more interesting roles, I felt like I would have more access to them if I got my name out a little bit more in some of those bigger movies.
Those franchise films are incredible, and I learned so much and I had so much fun doing all of them. But I thought in the big picture of my career, getting an opportunity to work on movies of that scale could potentially — and seems like it’s working, knock on wood — get me access to different types of roles in smaller movies. And that was something that I felt like I succeeded in.
You’ve played not one, but two Marvel characters, Maggie in “Ant-Man,” and then also voicing War Pig in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which is so random.
It’s not random because I’m friends with James Gunn, so I was excited that he was like, “Hey, would you want to do this one weird thing?” And I was like, “Yeah!”
I was just about to ask, how did you come to play a re-engineered cyborg pig?
It was a bucket list item for me, definitely. When thinking about how many cyborg pigs are there to play and how many opportunities… I’m kidding.
I’m a fan of the movies and, obviously, the Marvel Universe, so I was excited to come in. I was not allowed to tell anyone, so it was also fun to keep a secret for a little while until the movie came out.
On wishing her acting school gave business advice and the role she’d love to revisit
You spoke about how certain jobs helped you later on in terms of understanding the industry, but what’s the best business decision you’ve ever made for your career?
I think when I was young, it was to keep auditioning. I think I was super open to anything out there. I wasn’t ever picky. And I think that did a lot for me at the time.
I think that we forget sometimes that auditioning is acting. And if you audition a lot, you get to act a lot. And if you act a lot, you get better at your craft. So, I try not to think of those auditions all the time as scary, but as an opportunity to act every day.
I also think from a business standpoint, saving my money was really smart [laughs]. It gave me the ability to be a little bit more selective now as I’ve gotten older and to do smaller movies that are really important to me, movies like “Eric LaRue.”
At my acting school that I went to, which I love so much, I always was like, “You guys need to have a business class for actors. You need to teach us what to do when we graduate, like how to live, because that’s not what we’re good at as artists.” Some artists are, but in general, I think saving my money, not buying stupid expensive cars and that kind of thing [laughs].
No splurging on your first big paycheck.
Like, to a fault. I did not do a lot of splurging in the early days.
If you could reprise any of your roles, who would you choose and why?
Oh my gosh. Amazing question. Probably Kitty Sanchez because, man, there was a lot of freedom in that. It was just so fun. She was so crazy.
I’ve heard there are these rooms where you can go and just break dishes, like anger rooms. Playing Kitty Sanchez felt like being in an anger room. It was very cathartic.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
“Eric LaRue” is now in theaters.
