Interview by Elisa Leonelli
Paul Giamatti, finally free from the television series Billions, that had kept him engaged for seven seasons from 2016 to 2023 in the leading role of New York’s Attorney General, accepted the proposal of director friend Alexander Payne, with whom he had already worked in Sideways (2004) where he had played an English professor, to play the protagonist of The Holdovers, another professor, in this case of classical literature, in a Massachusetts’ preparatory school, whose name is in fact Paul – since the role had been conceived for him. Disliked by the principal, he gets stuck with the responsibility of acting as supervisor for the students forced to remain at the school during the Christmas holidays. When only one is left (newcomer Dominic Sessa), the two enemies end up developing a friendly relationship that helps them both, in un threesome with the head cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), in mourning for the death of her son in the Vietnam war. The movie is set in 1970.
Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham in The Holdovers (c) Focus
Why was this professor so hated by the students?
Paul takes a delicious pleasure in coming up with elaborate insults, he is pleased with his own intelligence and chuckles, he is a repressed man but with a sense of humor. He resembles Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser from the novel by Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol.
When you were attending the private high school Choate in Connecticut,
was there a professor who inspired your interpretation in the movie?
I was definitely aware that I thought of this biology teacher of mine in 10th grade, who was a very similar kind of guy. He was difficult, sarcastic, but, even as a kid, I realized that underneath he was actually a good teacher, not nice, but kind.
How did you behave when you were a student?
If I wasn’t interested in a subject, I didn’t work very hard. I did not understand math and to this day I have nightmares about math class, because I can only count on my fingers, and even that is difficult for me. But I was good when a subject interested me.
What were Paul’s problems that are revealed little by little during the movie?
As a professor of Greek and Latin history and literature, Paul appreciated the stoicism of the ancient Romans, it was important to him to always maintain his cool, or at least appear to, and even if he lost his temper several times, he would regain it very fast. He had built this elaborate facade around himself, with the bow tie, his insistence on moral rectitude, and all this bullshit, but he did it to protect himself. That school is the only place in the world where he feels functioning and safe, but little by little this mask starts to fall away, even if he immediately puts it back on.
In what ways do the grumpy professor and the rebellious student help each other to overcome their emotional difficulties?
They discover a real relationship and realize many things, and this change does not make them completely different people, but they become capable of going forward. The professor starts to realize that he desperately needs a relationship with other people, and especially with this student who reminds him of who he was at that age, and for whom he has an almost paternal feeling, that I find very moving.
How would you explain the ending of this Christmas story?
Paul sacrifices himself for another human being, he makes a selfless gesture that causes the implosion of his protected life in this private school, where he not only teaches but also lives; he has to leave and we don’t know what’s going to happen to him. For me this is not necessarily a bleak ending, but a gesture of extraordinary generosity.
Why do you think The Holdovers has received such praise from the public and the critics?
Because in the movies by Alexander Payne we see a basic humanity, real people we can relate to. The message of the movie has to do with connectivity, empathy, family, warmth, intimacy, taking care of each other. It’s really beautiful to feel these feeling in a deep way, in this crazy world of today, watch a simple drama about three people who discover each other.
Paul Giamatti (c) Golden Globes
The 300 international journalists who vote for the Golden Globes, founded by the Hollywood Foreign Press 80 years ago, chose Giamatti as best actor. He said, accepting the golden trophy: “Everyone in my family is a teacher, for generations. Teachers are good people, I respect them, it’s a difficult job, so this award is also for them.”
Read Alexander Payne-The Holdovers