Quitting a band during its early stages could come back to haunt you. Dick Taylor, for instance, left the Rolling Stones before they hit it big, and returned to art school. Imagine how he feels 40 years later, watching his old pals still bringing in millions on a never-ending tour.
So when Jason Schwartzman quit as drummer of Phantom Planet to focus on a movie career, it could have been the biggest mistake of his life. After he hung up his sticks, the band gained a large following and opened for Incubus on a massive North American tour. They also reached a unique level of fame, as their song “California” was chosen as the theme song for “The O.C.”
Schwartzman, however, has no need to look back at what could have been, because he has blossomed into one of Hollywood’s most promising young actors. Soon after he left Phantom Planet, he starred in “I Heart Huckabees,” which was followed by a role in “Bewitched.” His latest film, “Shopgirl,” opens Friday in select cities, and sees him starring opposite Steve Martin and Claire Danes.
And while a return to Phantom Planet — or perhaps any touring band — is probably out of the question, he has plans to return to music in some form.
“After I quit my band, I definitely was so full, like I’m so full I could never eat again,” he said while in Toronto for the Film Festival last month. “I had that kind of feeling where the elements, like the touring stuff, were harder for me and I definitely felt fine not experiencing it again.”
Schwartzman’s working on material, but unless you are a fly on his wall, you may never hear it.
“I have never stopped playing music,” said Schwartzman, 25. “I still try to write all the time, play songs; I’m just not getting paid.”
Admitting he misses performing in front of a crowd, he said he may do it again one day ? sort of.
“I’m not going to say no, but I am going to say not yes.”
In “Shopgirl,” his character, Jeremy, is so devastated after losing Mirabelle (Danes), he becomes a roadie for a band.
The film is a half comedy and half tragedy, and amazingly, Martin does not provide the comic relief. That was Schwartzman’s job.
Attempting to be funny while comedic legend Martin — who also wrote the film — looked on, was intimidating.
“It’s an awkward and scary proposition,” he said. “I always tell people that to try to be the funny person in a Steve Martin movie is like getting a call that [The Who drummer] Keith Moon wants you to play drums on his record. He should be playing drums on his record. He’s Keith Moon.
“I was scared. It felt like a daunting responsibility to try to be as funny as Steve Martin, because God knows, to me, he’s one of the funniest people in the world. I had a slight confidence that the novel, the script, and Anand [Tucker, director], were three incredible ingredients that might help me out a little bit towards the possibility of being funny.”
Schwartzman said he was given the freedom to shape the Jeremy character in a way he felt comfortable.
The reason for that, Tucker said, was because the character of Jeremy was someone who needed an actor’s touch to bring to life.
“While the rest of the film was very structured and planned and meticulous, the work of Jason was a lot of improvising,” Tucker said. “Steve encouraged Jason to improvise off the back of what he had written so that Jason could create Jeremy.”
Now seven years after his breakout role in “Rushmore,” Schwartzman isn’t sure where his acting career is heading.
“I ultimately just want to live my personal life with a flair and hopefully that will filter into my work. I think it’s great to know what you want; I also think it’s good to not be too careerist,” Schwartzman said. “I still am so star struck and I am nervous. I have a hard time with, like, meeting Steve Martin. It’s not natural to me. It always feels like a blessing. It always feels like an honour. That is a true feeling.
“I’m just so happy to be here that I just want to keep rolling with it and going down the ski slope.”
