Liberal Arts<\/em> and setting it in Kenyon, your old college?<\/strong><\/p>\nI went back to Kenyon to show my first film two summers ago. I was surrounded by all these 19 year olds and it was the first time I\u2019d felt old! I told my producer about it and said I realised that if I fell in love with a student there, it would be borderline inappropriate. He said, \u201cThat\u2019s a great movie.\u201d <\/p>\n
Are you a lot like Jesse, the protagonist? He can\u2019t move on from his uni days, which seems to be partially why he falls for a student there. <\/strong><\/p>\nIn some ways, he\u2019s me at 27, when I hadn\u2019t quite gotten over the college experience. After Kenyon, I went right into grad school, so when I got out I felt I\u2019d been kicked out of paradise. I was still wanted a little to crawl back into the womb of the meal plan, just think about ideas all day long and read books and drink. For many years I would think about college and have this sharp pang of sadness about not being there. I put that into this 35-year-old character. <\/p>\n
If you could sum up Liberal Arts<\/em> in five words, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s a movie about love, change, books and ageing. It\u2019s about growing up. <\/p>\n
So what were you like in college? <\/strong><\/p>\nWhen I was in high school, I was very focused on getting good grades. I kind of loosened up on the GPA obsession when I was in college. And what\u2019s true in Liberal Arts<\/em> is my excitement about the Romantics – I studied with one of the world\u2019s leading Keats scholars, Ron Sharp, and I would never miss a class. It felt like a borderline spiritual experience to be spending time with these poems.<\/p>\nSo far, you\u2019ve written, directed and acted in both of your films. Is that becoming a habit? <\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019m trying not to act anymore! With Liberal Arts<\/em>, I came close to losing my mind a few days because I was in basically the whole thing. <\/p>\nWhat was it like acting next to Elizabeth Olsen?<\/strong><\/p>\nA great pleasure. She\u2019s the rare young actor who\u2019s not overhyped \u2013 she\u2019s just really special. She obviously has to do photoshoots and red carpets, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s where the true enjoyment lies for her \u2013 she likes playing characters. She\u2019s in it for the right reasons. <\/p>\n
How did it feel bringing Liberal Arts<\/em> to Sundance London?<\/strong><\/p>\nLondon feels like a good city for the movie. It feels like it\u2019s a place that values literature. Liberal Arts<\/em> is really about books. It\u2019s about a love of books. You can enjoy the film without being a big reader but if you love reading, you\u2019ll enjoy it a lot more. <\/p>\nWhat\u2019s next for you? <\/strong><\/p>\nHow I Met Your Mother<\/em>\u2019s got one more season for sure, then I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re going to go beyond that. I\u2019d like to get back on the stage as an actor and do some theatre again, which is where I feel the most comfortable. I\u2019m writing a new movie and hopefully I\u2019ll find a way to keep myself out of it. <\/p>\nLiberal Arts will be in commercial cinemas from October 5th<\/em> \nWords: Zing Tsjeng<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Writing, directing and acting in your own feature film while starring in an Emmy-winning comedy? It\u2019s a miracle Josh Radnor, star of How I Met Your Mother, has any time to sleep. Wonderland talks to the triple threat about his touching coming-of-age drama Liberal Arts – which premiered at London’s Sundance film festival on Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9416],"tags":[494,54,559,50,2209,2210,1564,66,2211,1078,2047],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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