Aging like a fine Camembert
Geeks have been good to Levy 35- year career slow and steady
Toss some popcorn in the microwave and gather ’ round the TV. Eugene Levy’s next movie is going straight to DVD. And that’s exactly the way he wants it.
In fact, he insisted.
American Pie: Band Camp
is the fourth instalment of the hit teen comedy American Pie; it was filmed this year in Los Angeles with an otherwise entirely unknown cast and directed by Steve Rash, best known for 1987’ s Can’t Buy Me Love.
“ For me, honestly, it wasn’t a lot of work and it was a fair amount of money,” the bushybrowed actor concedes with a smile. “ But I had a clause in my contract saying it will not go theatrical.” No worries. The father of two — married since 1977 to film writer Deborah Divine — will be back at the multiplex this weekend, starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the action comedy The Man.
Here’s the setup: Levy is dentalsalesman Andy Fidler. Jackson is federal agent Derrick Vann. A case of mistaken identity brings the two men together to pull off a sting operation and solve the murder of Vann’s former partner.
“ Midnight Run is the movie that I had in my sights as a role model,” the Hamilton, Ont. native says. “ That was the star we tried to follow.” Though set in Detroit, The Man was filmed in Toronto, Hamilton ( at St. Eugene Elementary School) and Oakville. Nobody was happier about the commute than Levy, who attended nearby Westdale Collegiate.
“ I spent a good part of my life not working in Toronto,” he says. “Now in the past three years, I have been able to get at least one feature there every year.
“ It is really nice to be able to go home at the end of the day like normal people instead of going to an empty apartment with a bad TV.”
Recently, Levy has been working in the communities of Aurora, Guelph and Burleigh Falls on the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen, due in theatres Dec. 21. He also has three other movies in various stages of production, including an animated version of Curious George and the latest collaboration with Christopher Guest, titled For Your Consideration.
“ It’s about the movie business and what happens when the magical word ‘ Oscar’ gets bantered around on a film set,” he says. So far, there have been no Oscars for Levy. But he did pick up aGrammy Award in 2004 for his musical contributions to A Mighty Wind
and earned two Emmys for writing on SCTV. “ He’s the funniest actor I have ever worked with,” says Troy Miller, director of last year’s comedy, New York Minute.
That’s big praise for a guy who started out studying sociology at McMaster University. “ I wasn’t doing well ( in classes) because I was always doing plays,” he says. Levy struck up a friendship with up- and- coming filmmaker Ivan Reitman ( Ghostbusters, Stripes), who gave him his first job — coffee boy on the 1971 feature, Foxy Lady.
Three decades and 40 features later, Levy is still chugging along, turning in fine and even remarkable performances, but always staying just under the Alist radar. And that, too, is just the way he likes it.