Paulo Costanzo Plays Slacker in Douglas Coupland-Penned Film

(andPOP) - Paulo Costanzo can't say no to a good film.

The 28-year-old actor is quickly becoming "that guy," after having memorable appearances in Road Trip, 40 Days and 40 Nights and Josie and the Pussycats. Oh, and Joey, but everyone can be forgiven.

But with his latest film, Everything's Gone Green, which opens in Vancouver today and in Toronto on April 27, Costanzo is front and center.

In one of his first lead roles, he plays Ryan, a slacker in search of meaning in this film, written by Douglas Coupland (Generation X, JPod).

"Douglas is an intellectual," Costanzo tells andPOP. "I can't follow half of what he's saying."

In Coupland's first screenplay, Ryan finds himself living with his parents again as he approaches 30 after he breaks up with his girlfriend and is kicked out of their apartment. He loses his job, and, to add insult to injury, celebrates with his family when they think win the lottery – they didn't.

He accepts a job with the lottery bureau. A money-laundering scheme is presented to him and all of a sudden, he turns from someone without direction in his life to a wealthy young man.

Costanzo plays Ryan in such a way that it doesn't seem like he's a bad guy. He's robbing people of their money, yet his choices seem natural. There's never a point where it's apparent that Ryan has crossed the line from good to evil. It's subtle.

"I had it in mind that I should never play him as a bad guy," Costanzo says. "He's a human being that thinks that he's justified doing what he's doing.

"I'd like to say that I played him in a way that would make anybody think that if they were in his shoes, they'd do the same thing."

Coupland says that blurred line of when exactly the character becomes evil is the essence of the age we live in.

"No one's quite sure who does what anymore," Coupland says. "We get so wrapped up in this artificial bubble. You get wrapped up in this postmodern dialogue with relevance and movie and irrelevance."

Costanzo says he isn't exactly like the character – he probably wouldn't get himself involved in such a scheme – but he could immediately relate with him.

"As an actor you read scripts and you either connect instantly, or, there's a disconnect," he says. "But this one, the second I read it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Everyday I got closer to shooting I would add other things."

Director Paul Fox had seen Costanzo in several films playing a supporting role, and appreciated his mixture of comedy and intelligence.

"It was important to have the comic chops but you could also you can see the wheels turning," Fox says. "You need to like the guy and go with him and believe him. He's a very appealing screen presence."