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Were you at all apprehensive working with a new director?
JENA MALONE: I think you have a certain amount of apprehension because every director works differently and you don?t know if a new director is going to be really strange. I think what Kevin Spacey brought to the film was a certain amount of respect, just because he?s always making really classy decisions. He?s really, really wonderful and I really respect what he does - as a producer and as an actor.

So knowing that he had trusted this director enough to give him space and to say, ?Listen, you create the story and you make your film and I?m just going to create a safe creative space for you to do it in,? allowed us as actors to do the same. Any questions we had or concerns went straight to the director and not to Kevin as the producer because he gave Matt the power. And I think initially, it was just the script that brought me to it. I mean, it was beautiful, very truthful and honest and unique and there was hope, and it addressed really important questions. Then after meeting with Matt, he was very protective of these characters and protective of the story and he?s very sensitive to what he wants to make. I knew after meeting him for the first time that he was the person that needed to make this film. If he didn?t then it?s just gonna be misunderstood, I thought.
Chris, are you trying to break out of the ?All-American Boy? typecasting?
CHRIS KLEIN: I don't think that?s a conscious thought.

I think more important than that is going after material that is striking and that is unique, and also really looking for acting challenges. This business as an actor presents some unique challenges and one is that a lot of times, producers and directors and studios want to put you in a box that you fit nicely in and categorize you. They categorize everybody in their peer group in nice, neat categories. ?This is what this person?s capable of.? To me, it?s just always to challenge yourself and to continue to work with great people that are going to elevate your performance. When something like this comes across to you, and this kind of material doesn?t happen all that often, then to have wonderful actors all want to be a part of it, really believe in this very, very specific vision that Matthew had, it was a tremendous environment to work in.

Was it a conscious decision to get out of the spotlight and take a step back over the last couple years?
CHRIS KLEIN: No, I don't think so. I haven?t done one of these [junkets] for a couple of years, but I?ve been doing other things. I went and did a play in England, which was a tremendous acting experience and again, another way to challenge myself and get better and grow.

Jena, why do you always play serious roles?
JENA MALONE: I think that even though this is a very dramatic film, there?s a lot of hope in it. In a sense of just being honest with how people actually are instead of giving false fronts, manipulation, very stereotypical characters, it?s actually allowing people to make mistakes and make good choices and there is some humor in it. It?s just sort of like life and that?s what I?m drawn to more than dramatic characters. But there?s a film coming out in May called ?Saved? and it?s a dark comedy set in a Christian high school. There?s a lot of humor and there?s a lot of comedy, but there?s also a lot of truth. There?s a lot of mistakes being made and things being figured out for a young person, so I don?t try to go out and do dramatic things. I just try to find truthful characters that actually depict young people the way I know people. I just hate going and seeing movies where I?m just like I don?t even know these people and they?re actually my age and I should relate to them, but I just don?t.

Why do you keep ending up in religious-themed movies?
JENA MALONE: I don't think that I do, but maybe I do. I don't know. I think it?s chance, just in the sense of reading a script, being moved by it, and wanting to work on it and not really being like, ?Oh, well, this theme was in another film that I?ve done and that?s sort of similar.?

CHRIS KLEIN: It?s material-based. I?m sure we?d all love to sit here and say, ?Oh yeah, we make conscious decisions to step away or step back in and we make conscious decisions on this script and that script because we have so many.? Really, it?s finding material that you?re drawn to and bringing what you feel you can bring to it and hoping that everybody else on the team does, too. When that happens, you?re going to have a very organic process and that?s really what you look for.

PAGE 3:Acting, Athletics, and Choosing Roles

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Interviews with Ryan Gosling / Kevin Spacey & Matthew Hoge
"The United States of Leland" Photo Gallery
"The United States of Leland" Movie News, Credits, and Websites