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1.) It’s our distinct pleasure to welcome to our pages an acclaimed actor and stand-up comedian bar none, Maxim Swinton; greetings and salutations, Maxim! Before we begin kicking the proverbial Q&A pumpkin down the Autumn pathway, how has the backend of 2022 been treating you?
The backend of 2022 has been treating me very well!
I have been very lucky to get to go to two premieres of one film at the Toronto International Film Festival and one TV show at Carnegie Hall of two projects.
And to celebrate the two shows, I got to pick two places to have celebration meals and I chose Le Bernadin for one, and Serendipity for another.
Meanwhile, this Fall, I have been swimming in my pool with my dad late into the fall – we just finally closed it this weekend! That’s super cool.
For Halloween I was a zombie landlord. I recycled my Zombie Einstein costume from last year but no wig and a watch. The zombie costume was made by Amy Andrews who won an Emmy for her costume design!! We were in Richmond, Virginia filming Raymond and Ray and she made it for me.
The watch was a gift from Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris two of the directors of Fleishman and I wear it every day. So I was wearing this zombie costume and I saw the watch – and I was like – ok – I’m a zombie landlord.
Also – I got to release my first songs on iTunes and Spotify. I recorded a small album called Songs That Made Me Happy. I recorded the music at a studio owned by Richie Cannata – the very famous saxophonist. I was very lucky that he decided to accompany me when I recorded New York State of Mind! You can hear that in my recording.
2.) Major congratulations and kudos for your work in the upcoming FX limited series Fleishman Is in Trouble which is set to premiere its first two episodes on Hulu this November 17! For those not in the know, what can you tell us about Fleishman Is in Trouble and how your character of Solly Fleishman figures into the proceedings?
Fleishman is in Trouble is about a divorced couple that has to handle dealing with the kids. The husband is stranded with 2 kids when his wife books a spot at a “spa retreat”, Solly is the straight man of the family to his sister who gets the punchlines. He is more of a comic relief character. He ties his family together through smiles and sorrows.
3.) Did you know as soon as you saw the script for Fleishman Is in Trouble that this was a production you wanted to be a part of?
Well my mom wouldn’t let me read the whole script (when you see the show you will know which parts those are) but I did love the parts I read.
My grandmother was reading the book and so was my grandfather so I think the story has a wide appeal.
I love that Fleishman is a story about a New York family. I was born in New York City and we pretty much have spent a lot of time there – I think I’ve seen like sixty Broadway shows. Starting from when I was two years old – I saw Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. I also loved that in Fleishman we were telling the story of a hot New York summer which always smells so distinctive. Funny fact – we filmed a lot of the summer scenes in the winter – that’s movie magic!
4.) How are you similar to your character of Solly Fleishman? How are you different?
Solly is a shy boy who is trying to navigate life while his parents are getting a divorce.
We’re the same when it comes to math and having an awesome dad who supports my math.
My parents are very supportive in general. I think Solly is having a harder time than I am in terms of the adults in his world being there and being reliable. I love how Solly works with his dad on the physics presentation – my dad and I have built a lot of stuff together too – he helped me with my Rube Goldberg Machines!
5.) You work alongside such a brilliant ensemble in Fleishman Is in Trouble, including the likes of Claire Danes, Christian Slater, Jesse Eisenberg and Lizzy Caplan. What was it like exorcising your own acting chops alongside this band of thespians?
It is quite fun to learn from their techniques. Like Jesse and Claire! Claire could cry within a second and Jesse always took a 5 second meditation period before he would start a scene. By that I mean he didn’t talk, I would tell him trivia or ask him a geography question before the directors called action to start the scene, and he would always wait to answer til the scene was over to respond. ‘
6.) What do you hope viewers walk away with after watching Fleishman Is in Trouble?
I hope viewers can understand that you are not the only person to have been a victim of a divorce, other people have also experienced it so you will be ok. I hope people will like Solly and be excited about physics the way Solly is. And also that life is about perspective. Not everyone sees the world exactly as you see it. Sometimes it is worth trying to change perspective to see what someone else might see. When I am acting, I get to try that out. I see the world as Solly sees it, which isn’t exactly the same way I see it, and I get to learn from Solly.
7.) Prior to accepting the role of Solly in Fleishman Is in Trouble, were you familiar with the novel from author Taffy Brodesser-Akner?
My grandma, Celia, loved Taffy’s book so I kind of knew about it. I met Taffy on the first day of set. She was great. She showed me her anti-spy phone. You can only see what’s on the screen if you are looking straight at it. She pointed me to the most important thing on set – where to find crafty – the places where all the good snacks are.
8.) Some incredibly gifted folks directed Fleishman Is in Trouble such as Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. What was your collaboration process like with this talented lot? Were they what some actor’s might refer to as “an actor’s director”?
Jonathan and Valerie were the first directors I met when we started the show. They directed one of my favorite movies – Little Miss Sunshine. They were very kind. They always took the actors’ suggestions – maybe it’s not where we ended up but they listened. I also liked how every take would be a little different.
Shari and Robert – I remember I met them in this house in Upstate New York where we were filming – they had us run around and play tag in Solly’s grandma’s house. They were always looking for the humor in the scenes. Shari and Robert loved kids and were super friendly. I felt very happy on the set with them – it really felt like playing make believe.
9.) On the heels of the release of Fleishman Is in Trouble, you also have two intriguing-sounding short films forthcoming: Edward and Kooky Spook. What can you tell our ever-lovin’ readers about these two productions and your roles therein?
Edward is a short film I worked on this summer by the up and coming director Minkyu Kang.
Minku is super talented and I think he will be a well known successful director. My sister Alexa Swinton worked on a short film with him called Reverb and she won the Best Actress award at the Santa Fe Film Festival. I saw a short he did and I really liked his style.
Kooky Spook is a project by my mom Inna Swinton. It is the story of the first Halloween of a nine year old immigrant from the Soviet Union to the United States in the 1970s. I play a mean kid who torments the immigrant girl.
10.) Your first work as an actor was in 2014’s While We’re Young. Any special memories of that freshman production?
This was really my very first movie. I got wheeled there in my stroller. I was 3 years old. I got to play with an iPad – my parents never let me as a very little kid use an iPad.
What’s odd about the projects is that I don’t remember much about most of the productions. You are in the moment acting. And the moment goes.
11.) What fascinates you about the craft of acting?
That you can be anything that you want to be – like you can be a superhero and you get paid for it! And you can play a billion different characters, but you get to add yourself to each of them. Fun to figure out which parts of yourself best complement the character.
You get to travel business to do a job that’s fun and is almost like not working at all. So far, my favourite business class in the USA is MINT on Jet Blue! I love travelling – so getting to explore the world while also working on a project makes it that much more fascinating!
12.) As we noted at the top, you’re also a well-regarded stand-up comedian. Can you talk a little about how you gravitated to stand-up?
My mom Inna Swinton is a standup comedian – she was always using things I said in her jokes – Like “I always tell my kids to dream big so my son said – mom – I dream big – I dream one day – you will make me lunch.”
Then she said – you know – Maxim is so funny every day – he can also say his funny things on a stage. So she started writing things down for me and then we would work on the jokes – like setups, punches, call backs, etc. Apparently you need something called good timing. And here we are.
A successful comedy duo
Making million dollars an hour.
Okay – not quite yet – but any moment now…
You can check out our comedy on YouTube at The Swinton Show
13.) You’ve got another star-turn in the upcoming October 21 Apple TV+ film Raymond and Ray where you act opposite Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor. What can you reveal about this new film?
Raymond and Ray explores a sad issue in a comic way. These two brothers who despised their father have had to dig their fathers’ grave. I loved working with Ewan and Ethan and Rodrigo.
We filmed the movie in Richmond, Virginia which was fun! I hadn’t been there before. I got to go to the great science museum there, and their history museum and art gallery – their gallery had a section about the civil war and a huge collection of Faberge Eggs!
14.) Final – SILLY – Question: Which one item of food can always be found in your refrigerator?
There will always be yoghurt in my fridge. Without my yoghurt, I get hangry, and nobody wants me hangry. Vanilla greek voghurt or Chobani Flips are favs.
