We recently joined Academy Award winning best actor Kevin Spacey to talk about his new film “Shrink” which opens nationwide on Friday. The comical drama stars Spacey as Henry Carter, a best selling author and therapist to the stars in Hollywood, who finds his own problems beginning to shine through amid his joint-laden self-medicated therapy sessions.
Carter has to confront his own issues when he takes on a pro-bono case for a young high school student and aspiring filmmaker played by Keke Palmer.
Kevin Spacey said he did have a brief experience with therapists as a child, and has many friends who have gone to therapy, however, as an adult he said he never sought them out.
“The only real experiences I’ve had with therapists were the ones who were working with me and my family while my mother was ill … And they were incredible at what they did. They were very, very helpful and generous.”
“And I have had friends that have gone to therapy a lot, not quite as much as Woody Allen, but quite a lot. And then I have had friends that have gone to therapy for one specific issue. You know … I am going solve this one thing on this issue and then they go and they work on that … and then they say I am done, that’s the issue I want to grapple with and I have grappled with it.”
But in preparing for the role of Henry Carter, Spacey dug into his theatrical performer side and stuck to the script, adding that he didn’t seek out or spend time with any therapists in the hopes of soaking in the attributes of their profession.
“I didn’t really meet with any psychologists, in the same way that I didn’t meet with any studio executives or heads of studios for [my role in] “Swimming with Sharks”… there just seemed to be enough in the script.”
“And you also weren’t seeing him at his best ... in therapy sessions. You were seeing him quite often self-medicated in his therapy sessions. And as I say, its only this girl who begins to force him to come to grip with the things he is experiencing and going through.”
Spacey went on to say the story jumped out at him and that the cynical humor tied with drama of the script is what made him want to jump on board.
“It made me laugh …. It made me laugh about the narcissism that is Los Angeles. It touched me because of the relationship with Keke Palmer’s character. I just thought that there was something so genuine about that girl and the way in which she came into his life ... and the things that they end up helping each other get through and the similarities of their grief.”
Palmer, star of the Nickelodeon sitcom “True Jackson, VP” followed up her groundbreaking performance in “Akeelah and the Bee” in an equally exceptional performance as Jemma, Henry Carter’s patient.
Spacey praised the 15 year-old Palmer and the experience of working with her.
“Keke was for me so cool to work with and we had such a great time and she is a great example of someone [who] is really talented and got her feet on the ground.”
Carter has to confront his own issues when he takes on a pro-bono case for a young high school student and aspiring filmmaker played by Keke Palmer.
Kevin Spacey said he did have a brief experience with therapists as a child, and has many friends who have gone to therapy, however, as an adult he said he never sought them out.
“The only real experiences I’ve had with therapists were the ones who were working with me and my family while my mother was ill … And they were incredible at what they did. They were very, very helpful and generous.”
“And I have had friends that have gone to therapy a lot, not quite as much as Woody Allen, but quite a lot. And then I have had friends that have gone to therapy for one specific issue. You know … I am going solve this one thing on this issue and then they go and they work on that … and then they say I am done, that’s the issue I want to grapple with and I have grappled with it.”
But in preparing for the role of Henry Carter, Spacey dug into his theatrical performer side and stuck to the script, adding that he didn’t seek out or spend time with any therapists in the hopes of soaking in the attributes of their profession.
“I didn’t really meet with any psychologists, in the same way that I didn’t meet with any studio executives or heads of studios for [my role in] “Swimming with Sharks”… there just seemed to be enough in the script.”
“And you also weren’t seeing him at his best ... in therapy sessions. You were seeing him quite often self-medicated in his therapy sessions. And as I say, its only this girl who begins to force him to come to grip with the things he is experiencing and going through.”
Spacey went on to say the story jumped out at him and that the cynical humor tied with drama of the script is what made him want to jump on board.
“It made me laugh …. It made me laugh about the narcissism that is Los Angeles. It touched me because of the relationship with Keke Palmer’s character. I just thought that there was something so genuine about that girl and the way in which she came into his life ... and the things that they end up helping each other get through and the similarities of their grief.”
Palmer, star of the Nickelodeon sitcom “True Jackson, VP” followed up her groundbreaking performance in “Akeelah and the Bee” in an equally exceptional performance as Jemma, Henry Carter’s patient.
Spacey praised the 15 year-old Palmer and the experience of working with her.
“Keke was for me so cool to work with and we had such a great time and she is a great example of someone [who] is really talented and got her feet on the ground.”
