WGTC: You and Jeremy played brothers really well. How did you prepare for that?
Walton: You know, it’s funny, the only way I can describe it is it’s just the chemistry you have with a girl you sit down with or a buddy. Why do you become fast friends with some people and with other people you just know that you’re never going to be tight? I can’t put my finger on it, I never can, but I’ll just say from the moment Jeremy and I started hanging out it was nothing but laughs and comfort, being very open.
I know I respect his work enormously and I think he respects mine. Ultimately we just had a good time right from the get-go, so by the time we were rolling on our scenes, we had that rich friendship already.
Brothers spend their whole lives together. For me, I have brothers and sisters so it’s easy for me to tap into the anger and annoyance of having those siblings. The love is the hard thing to generate. I think the reason we look like brothers is you can tell we care about each other and love each other despite not acting that way.
WGTC: You’ve got this coming out and About A Boy on TV, are you worried about being type-cast as the guy who 11-year-old boys think they can be best friends with?
Walton: I’m very worried about that. I’ve always dreamed as being type-cast as the 35-year-old who has inappropriate relationships with 11-year-old boys. I would say that two is maybe a pattern, but three… If another script involving a friendship with an 11-year-old boy comes along, my agents are going to advise against it.
WGTC: I don’t know if there’s much of a future keeping that going, but I did think one of the best parts of the movie is Josh’s character’s relationship with you guys. How was it working with him?
Walton: He’s one of a kind. There is nobody on Earth who could pull off that role like he did and make it seem so real. It’s a weird, very blunt kid who cuts right to the truth of things. He’s super smart and a little bit ambiguously effeminate. It’s all those things that make his character so funny.
Josh is just a super talented, super smart kid and he’s the only one in the world who could pull that off. He’s a wild man, so sometimes you’ve got to rein him in, but every day we would look at each other going, “Holy cow, we’re lucky.”
WGTC: With About A Boy, I saw the first episode, I’m a fan of the movie too, and everyone’s always nervous when there are adaptations and remakes. Were you hesitant going in because of that?
Walton: You know, I wasn’t, because my first impression was the script and Jason Katims nailed it. It does distill the whole movie into 20 minutes and it simplifies things. You don’t have time to really get into the darkness of my character, and there’s a lighter moment and you don’t have the build-up, but leave it to Katims, in only 22 minutes to tell a story that really moves people and gets you locked into wanting to know what these characters are going to do next. That’s the key and I think that’s why our ratings went up in the second week and why people are talking to their friends and saying, “You’ve got to check out this show.”
It’s good, old-fashioned story-telling. It makes you feel, it makes you laugh. It’s not all about showing off writers’ jokes, because there’s not a ton of jokes at all. It’s just all about real relationships, the humor that can come from them, and real, emotional impact that good story-telling can have.
WGTC: There are obviously pros and cons to both, but do you have a preference between movies and TV?
Walton: I love movies. I’ve been a lot of shows that haven’t lasted, now they’re starting to live on the web which is cool, but part of the reason TV was always a bummer is you work really hard and then they just disappear if they don’t succeed. My first series, I wouldn’t even know where to get a clip of it. It was called Cracking Up. It was on FOX in 2004.
Movies have this timeless thing. Like, I can show my grandchildren this movie. There’s something really special about that which I like. But really, good writing, good characters, whether it’s TV, whether it’s theater, whether it’s film, that’s all you have to have.
WGTC: Anything else coming up?
Walton: Think Like A Man Too comes out in June. That’s an all-out comedy. Then we have three more episodes to shoot of About A Boy, so I’m excited about that. Get ready to hopefully come back for a second season.
That concludes our interview, but I’d like to thank David for taking the time to talk. And be sure to check out Break Point!