Owen Wilson’s new film, Bliss, made him think of living in a simulation

Unlike the people profiled in the new documentary A matrix failure, actor Owen Wilson does not believe he is living in a simulated reality. Most likely. But your character Greg at Amazon Studios’ happiness – Wilson’s first film project since 2017 – it’s a different story. Greg finds out at the beginning of the film that the world around him is not real. This revelation sends him on an adventure with a woman played by Salma Hayek, who informs him about the situation and takes him on an increasingly fragmented and twisted adventure.

It was an unusual challenge for Wilson, who is more used to playing realistic and relatable characters. His extensive work with his former college roommate Wes Anderson has put him in a series of films where incredible events take place around him – in Bottle rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, among others – but he is usually the most grounded character in the mix. He often brings a little bit of cool face and arrogance to his roles, whether he’s an inadvertent time traveler in Midnight in Paris or giving voice to the racing driver Lightning McQueen in the Pixar Cars movies.

But director and writer Mike Cahill (Another land, i origins) pushes Wilson’s limits with happiness, which makes him play a disconnected and disintegrating character trying to come to terms with a breakdown in reality. Polygon recently connected with Owen Wilson via Zoom to talk about simulation theory and to try to find consistency in a character who lives in unfounded realities.

This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Do you have any good tips to prove that you are not living in a simulation?

Owen Wilson: I do not! I wonder what would be a good tip? It is a difficult thing to prove. I had never heard of the idea that we lived in a simulation until a few years ago. The Matrix makes that idea, of course. But the idea that we could be in a simulation didn’t land on my radar until, I think, Elon Musk said something about it. And then there was something in the New York Times about that.

Since this idea was presented to me, I have been able to start finding a lot of evidence that we are in a simulation, especially last year. Yes, you could make a very good case. Who knows, maybe we are? But every day we have choices that we make and things that we decide to believe. Your entire life can change in those little moments.

You and Mike talked about this before, either about people who believe in simulation theory or in previous films like The Matrix or Vanilla Sky who has caught them before?

We talked about it. Mike has a background in physics and science that I don’t have. Sometimes, he was almost unable to follow some of his ideas, with him talking about Plato’s Cave. But what I was able to keep up with was the feeling, the emotion. The idea of ​​someone like that character who is dealing with substance abuse and a mental health crisis. No one would choose that for themselves, but the reality that he is experiencing is very different from what most people around him are experiencing.

You can interpret it in several different states of mind and states of reality. What was the backbone of the character for you? What kept you consistent?

For me that was the challenge of the film! Just the uncertainty I had about how to play. As many of the situations were unbelievable or unusual, I was unable to associate them with any type of reality in my own life. So, I was relying on the director and the other actors to tell me that I was about to be credible.

The film leaves some ambiguity about some of the fundamental truths of the story. Did Mike ever speak in terms of a specific truth that he wanted you to interpret? Or was it more about what is the truth for Greg in a given scene?

Sometimes it was kind of hard to get that out of Mike, because he hesitated to say anything critical. I think the way he approaches things is more: “Oh! The way you are playing is not what I imagined, but now that you are here, it has its own validity. ”I think that kind of mind is probably what allowed him to create this story and deal with that kind of ideas. He has a real humility in his opinions.

So, how do you prepare to play a character that is this variable, and in this state of flux?

Just rehearsing with Mike. I’m trying to think of something that would be interesting to say about the way we prepare for it. In fact, it was just Salma and me talking. I think acting is more of trying to find the parts of your own personality or your own life where you can create connections with the story and the characters, identifying them and then relying on them to create an emotional truth.

Where were you most able to identify with this character?

I think that as I get older, my relationship with time has become more surreal. You can start looking back on your life and thinking, “It looks like it was in another life ago, when I was doing this or when I was living there.” So the uncertainty, at times that I can have now, seems funny, perhaps, to say “What is real?” But the past may start to have a dreamlike quality. Sometimes I feel it in my life, both in good and bad ways.

Fundamentally, this is a film about a man who changed all his ways of thinking. Are there any projects you’ve worked on that you identify as thought-provoking or that change the world in this way? Functions that helped to change the way you think?

Yes, this film obviously does, just for the reasons that we talked about – there is so much uncertainty, and not knowing very well what is real, the world of Bliss or this ugly world we live in. Where should he stay? That is Midnight in Paris, who had my character exist in a Paris in his mind that seems more real than the life he finds himself in. Sometimes, if I watch a really great movie or TV show, or a great book, I can feel this character – you know, Tony Soprano, he looks as real as the people I met in real life, you know? It is existing. That’s what makes the show so moving and moving. Fiction can be a kind of mirror hall at times.

What about the people you worked with and who gave you new ways of thinking? Someone who stands out in particular?

Well, there are people who live their lives in a way that you can admire or find interesting. I remember working with Jeff Goldblum. He’s doing a show at National Geographic right now. He’s just a very positive person. Even “positive” is not a strong enough word. You see it as a child at school: sometimes you bond because of shared aversions. Like, “I don’t like the food in the cafeteria! Yes, neither do I! And I don’t like homework! ”And then, sometimes, you become an adult. But sometimes you find people who are not interested in creating bonds of shared aversion. They just want to connect because of things that excite them, not indulging in any negative things. I remember this about Jeff, although we didn’t work much together – I just appreciate what he looked like.

And then my good friend Woody Harrelson. I think he lives his life without worrying too much about what people think. And I think it’s a liberating idea for many people, not to be so concerned with the judgment of others.

happiness will be released on Amazon Prime Video on February 5.