Thanks to the phenomenal success of CBS’ The Big Bang
Theory, Simon Helberg is a familiar face in millions of homes around the
world. As Howard Wolowitz, the luckiest
engineer in the world (he’s married to Melissa Rauch’s Bernadette Rostankowksi
after all), the actor has been able to hone his comedic timing and amass a
small fortune while starring on a television mainstay that shows little signs
of slowing down.
In addition to all this, the show has afforded Helberg opportunities
that would not have come his way if not for the success of Bang. The actor was able to write, direct and star
in a small independent comedy “We’ll Never Have Paris in 2014 but perhaps his
biggest professional opportunity came his way in 2015 when he was presented
with the script for “Florence Foster Jenkins.”
Directed by English filmmaker Stephen Frears (Philomena, High
Fidelity), the film tells the story of a New York socialite who sings in
self-produced revues with the intent of ultimately performing at Carnegie Hall.
The only problem is, she can’t hit a
proper note to save her life.
With Hugh Grant also in the cast, as Jenkins’ husband St.
Clair Bayfield, Helberg realized he’d be foolish to pass up this opportunity
and signed on to play the heiress’ accompanist Cosme McMoon. On a recent stop in Chicago to promote the
film, I was able to sit down with the actor, sporting an unfamiliar beard and
natty sweater adorned with small surfers. I asked if he did any research on his
character in order to get some insight on what made him tick.
“He was a real person but there was so little information on
him that it was rather liberating,” the actor said. “His name in itself was
such an insight. But the script that
Nick Martin wrote was so brilliant.
Because I played the music I just had to delve into the world of
classical music and talk to opera singers about accompanists. They tend to be
rather odd fellows. Cosme’s job is to
make Florence shine and that tells you something about him. There’s an innocent,
a chaste quality that I saw in him that I tried to bring to the screen.”
The actor succeeds wonderfully in fleshing out a fully rounded
character despite little background information, punching up many scenes he’s
in with well-timed humorous reaction shots.
This is familiar territory for Helberg, but what proves to be a
revelation is his prowess at the keyboard and his ability to sell a poignant
moment. Having begun playing the piano
at age seven, he appears relaxed and natural as he accompanies Streep on
screen, while his education at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts holds him in good
stead, when he’s required to share scenes with the Oscar-winning actress in two
quiet, touching moments late in the film.
Working with Streep and Grant paid its own dividends as
Helberg came away with a new appreciation for their talent and picked up a tip
or two on the craft of acting along the way. “I eventually learned they’re
human and that was a good moment when I learned that and with that again a
sense of vulnerability and the willingness to expose that,” recalls the actor.
“That can be scary and I think we all felt a little scared, which was kind of
nice. But I really learned, especially
with Meryl, the willingness to surrender in front of the camera and live in
that moment. You can do all the work and do all the preparation, but when you
get to the set, your job is to be alive there and not do what you did at home
or thought you should do. She’s
brilliant obviously, she’s alive and every take is different. There are no
mistakes, you’re just alive, you’re floating when you’re working with her.”
So much of Florence Foster Jenkins is about having the
courage to follow your passion, to risk looking like a fool while pursuing
something you believe in. Helberg knows
about this all too well in making “We’ll Never Have Paris.” I asked him about how he overcame any doubts
he might have had before embarking on that film and how it might relate to his
current project.
“It’s a vulnerable feeling,” he said. “To make that movie put me in a very
vulnerable position. It was about my
wife (actress Jocelyn Towne) and our experiences with a disastrous
intercontinental break-up. Then we
directed it together which was unnerving in a way. But being an artist and like Florence, what
humanizes the experience and makes it inspiring and hilarious is when someone
really aims for the stars! She aims for
Carnegie Hall and she gets it though she has no ability whatsoever. That makes it very human and that brings out
the joy instead of the snarkiness.”
I pointed out that there must be little
trepidation on the set of Bang, what with the show entering its tenth
season. He responded with a good-natured
bit of sarcasm aimed at his co-stars saying, “I don’t look up to any of those
people, I mean what have they done?” He
continued with a laugh, “What’s strange is this movie was a collaboration. Everyone weighed in fully, whether it was
about dialogue or about certain moments and even though these are some of the
greatest people working, it felt very even. Everyone’s ideas were welcome. And on “Big Bang,” we’re handed the scripts
and they’re incredible and we all do our own part. It is like a family but it’s
a different experience, one I hope never ends.”
This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2016.
