na ture vs. A beret-sporting prep-school playwright vying for the attention of an out-of-his-league teacher; a desperately heartbroken short- nur story author with a faltering sense of reality; an incredibly lost environmentalist amidst an existential crisis within a cooperate ture American setting… As an actor apt to playing the lovable loner By kevin friedman photos by with flawless conviction, Jason Schwartzman’s characters have daniel field grown into a physicality that seems to exist more in reality than Schwartzman himself. Many of them we know and love and in turn we know and love the man who embodied them. So it’s strange to imagine Schwartzman living as anything other than an outsider; taking meetings, auditioning, getting recognized on the street, speaking confidently to women, or even eating and drinking out with friends. Normalcy seems unbecoming. Rather he should exist in our minds, movie theaters and television sets because anything else might compromise his creations.

ut as it goes, just chilling with introduced to the world as he crossed swords with for Olivia Williams’ affection. He Schwartzman’s extended family collaborated with Anderson on the screenplay for , in which Schwartzman would offer enough names to fill also had a lead role alongside and Adrien Brody. He played opposite Lily Tomlin an A-list manager’s Rolodex: his and in I Huckabees and as Steve Martin’s rival for Claire Danes in Shopgirl. mother is , who played He starred as Louis XVI with in Sofia ’s Marie Antoinette and can be seen Adrienne from the Rocky movies; his uncle as a snarky C-list actor in ’s alongside and Seth Rogen. is one of the most storied And now he’s starring with in , a new HBO series based on a story film directors of all time; his cousins Sofia and by and about . And if that doesn’t seem an impressive C.V., then you are clearly are respected directors in their running with a faster crowd than the rest of us. own rights; and cousin Nic Cage has become Before his acting career took off, Schwartzman played drums with the sun-soaked L.A. rock somewhat of a household name. It was in Wes outfit and helped pen the tune “California,” which later became the sing-along Anderson’s Rushmore that Schwartzman was theme for the spoiled-teen drama The O.C. In 2004 he left the band but not music and has since

64 . FILTER FILTER . 65 released two solo albums under the moniker character that he is able to forge such strong instruments. The instruments became a big adventure. There’s something beautiful about together?” So, he gave me this beautiful list of a half years to write. I was working on Marie Coconut Records. There he exhibits influences bonds with his creative partners. It’s never part of the record because they have their own that. I think it’s an archetype, like a superhero. words and ideas and thoughts and sentences that Antoinette in Paris and I invited him to stay ranging from the likes of Leon Russell, Paul been more clear that Schwartzman’s lovable sound an