Several Questions with Hugh Dancy, Star of 'Adam'

Getty Images.

Don't Miss:

• Pictures of the 'Adam' Cast at Sundance
  
• An Interview with Max Mayer, Writer & Director of 'Adam'
  

British actor Hugh Dancy (also known as Claire Danes' fiancé) plays the title character in Adam, a sweet, honest film about the connection between a young man with Asperger's Syndrome and his new "neurotypical" neighbor, Beth (played by Rose Byrne). The film maintains a truthful warmth as it explores the struggle to make connections when we can never fully understand what others are thinking.

This film is undoubtedly going to be described as some sort of “unlikely pairing” film, as pretty much every semi-romantic film usually is. How unlikely was this pairing to you?
I think there is an unlikeliness to it, in the sense that Adam has a particular and a genuine obstacle to overcome when it comes to making any kind of contact with people, in particular a romantic connection. Therefore by default, so does Beth, in trying to reach out to him. The “unlikely pairing” is a good way to describe it…

It’s also the "lingo" for a lot of romantic comedies…
It is, I think that’s absolutely right... I think that the reasons for a pairing to be unlikely have diminished a great deal. There is no longer really such a rigid class system that works as a barrier to romance. Particularly, there aren’t the racial divides...I’m not sure that anybody ever made that romantic comedy, but you know, they’re just not there. They’re kind of fading away. So when they’re kind of invoked often nowadays to make a romantic comedy, it feels a little forced or formulaic, and therefore you get the  quote unquote “Romcom.” In this movie, Asperger’s serves as a natural, genuine, and convincing obstacle to romance, and therefore [it's] a genuinely unlikely pairing. And in that sense, Adam fits the description in a pure way, of romantic comedy, in that it’s character-driven. But yet beyond that, it’s not a description that I think sums up the movie. Not in that boiled down, genre way, no.

 
To prepare for this role, you did a lot of research online, reading first-person accounts about what it’s like to have Asperger’s. What was the most surprising thing you learned in your research?
It’s a remarkable and rich area; there was never a point that it stopped being surprising. I think the most central and valuable lesson that I had to learn, or rather, relearn I suppose, is that within this “bracket” or beneath this description of Asperger’s and that label, the variety of people that I met and the variety of personalities was just vast. And I had to get beyond the point of learning about all the shared qualities—which was also an important thing for me to do, but I had to be able to move beyond, to start thinking about Adam individually, and to do credit to Max’s script.

Was there any Asperger's consultant that you had on the set of the film?
We didn’t have anybody on set, no. There’s a group called Adaptations in New York which works with people with Asperger’s, and I was able to connect with them and meet people through them. But no, when it came time to shoot the movie, we did not have somebody there. And I think that’s a good thing, actually.

The person I had at my side all the way through was Max. Max was my support and… thank God it was him, personally as well, ‘cause he’s such a great friend now. And that was a little odd, as well, because it was kind a of little private conversation going on between us—I mean not literally, we didn’t go huddle in a corner by ourselves, but we had this shared language that  was kind of unique to us. It was really rewarding.

You've mentioned your love of Max's writing several times. Are you a writer?
No. I’ve not sat down to try and write an original screenplay. I’ve got more confidence now than I used to in my ability to present useful notes on other people’s work, to think that bringing my voice to bear on a project can actually be productive and positive. And I suppose beyond just, you know, saying ‘I think this sentence would work better,’ but a broader comment... but that’s very very different. That’s not the same as originating material, and not something I particularly think is my gift.

 
I also wonder which process is more grueling for you: promoting the huge-money blockbuster, or the indie film?
In a way, promoting a huge money blockbuster is logistically easier because you sit in one place and everybody comes to you. You rarely end up in San Francisco, because people go to LA, you just sit in a hotel room, which takes less time but is more tedious. There’s also less to say, let’s face it.

“Do you like shoes?”
Yeah, really. While promoting Confessions of a Shopaholic, I couldn’t tell you the number of people that asked me if I "spoke Prada." There’s only so many times you can respond to that with any kind of warmth. Or even a lack of hatred.

When did you decide to pursue a career in acting?
It happened kind of in the recesses of my mind. I started acting in school when I was about 13 or 14, and when I was about 17 I realized that I had to start thinking about a career, and my peers were thinking about their careers, and as soon as I thought about it it became clear to me that I’d already made up my mind at some point. There was no conscious moment that happened, but I realized there was nothing more to think about.