Frank Mackey is so vile at first. There’s a wild scene where you do a lascivious routine in your Jockeys in front of a female TV reporter. I took my shirt off, and Paul [Thomas Anderson] said, “All right, why don’t you take your pants off?” I said, “What?” You’re on the set, and you feel comfortable, so you go, “Really? You think?” He says, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’ll be funny.” So I just started playing. I took them off, and I did the Batman/Superman thing. Then I did the back somersault… Paul’s extraordinarily talented, and I loved working with him because he took me places that I hadn’t thought of. You just kind of give yourself over to the character in the film and you just go, man. You just go.
The Village Voice seems to suspect you had a prosthetic in your underwear–like the large one Marky Mark used in “Boogie Nights.” (Laughs) Well, I don’t know whether to be insulted or feel complimented. Look, let’s clarify. It is not Marky Mark, and I am not close to that area of uh, of uh–what he was carrying.
People may be shocked by what a departure “Magnolia” is for you. But I’ve been hearing that for years–ever since “Born on the Fourth of July.” Before it came out, people were saying, “What is the matter with this kid? He’s ruining his career!” And “Rain Man” was supposed to be a disaster. I’ve always looked for different characters. I did the Hollywood Foreign Press, and they said, “Why haven’t you done something like this before?” I said, “Please tell me when, in the past 15 years, [I’ve been offered] a character like this?”
