Paul Schneider
I first came across Paul Schneider in 2003’s All the Real Girls and I thought that this man was just that, a man. With our entertainment oozing with flamboyant hams, fashion-centric queens, and other dreary personas, it was exciting seeing a guy in a lead role. This refreshment to see an honest to god man, dude, regular guy acting is increased due to the fact that so many 16-26 year old males in the everyday life seem to aspire to be like the majority of leading men (the flamboyant hammy ones).
Since my first screening of All the Real Girls in 2004 and through today, Schneider continually makes great decisions on his projects. After managing scenes in Lars and the Real Girl (2007) alongside Ryan Gosling (another one of my favorite actors) he carried himself extraordinarily in one of 2007’s best films The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Since then, Schneider has been a key role of the ambitious yet prone to falter television series Parks and Recreation as well as this summer’s limited release Away We Go. Though these two projects haven’t blown critics or audiences away, you have to admit that these judgment calls are understandable. Working with the same creative team as The Office as well as pairing up with Sam Mendes are no-brainers for an up and coming actor.
Anyhow, keep your eye out for this rarity. An actual dude-man-guy snagging cool roles in Hollywood while leaving out the cheese, ham, gravy, schmooze, and other fraudulent gimmicks posing as charisma.
Related links:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117974415.html?categoryid=2816&cs=1