Q: Is that what you did with “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” because of Sidney Lumet or did you read that script and say this is something I really want to do?

Philip: Well I had read the script a few years before Sidney was attached to it. I read it when it was attached to somebody else. That didn’t happen back then. I didn’t say I’d do it back then either but it also… So when Sidney approached me with it, I met with him and talked with him and he had ideas about it. I thought yeah. It was just one of those things where you’re like yeah. Like I said, the script was very appealing and it’s got these parts. It’s a pretty great script to read. But all of a sudden there I was going [clicks his tongue]… a lot of pieces being put together and thinking, “Yeah, I think I want to do this.” Of course he had a lot to do with that.

Q: You actually shot some of the scenes in real working retirement homes. Did you talk with any of the patients there? Were they aware who you were?

Philip: Sometimes. Yeah. We talked to them but not about the film. We just talked to them. I didn’t ignore them. Don’t talk to the old people. No, of course not. We would be hanging out and they’d be sitting there. If they said hi, I’d say hi and we chatted but we were working too so…

Q: Did any of the caregivers or workers give you any insight into your character or how your character should react?

Philip: No, because why would they? They don’t really know that? Why would they know how this character who has never been in a [retirement] home would react? That wouldn’t be any knowledge they would have. That would be knowledge no one would have because the person’s never been there and the person doesn’t exist. That’s my knowledge, that’s the thing I have to do.

Q: You’re also in a small independent movie coming out near Christmas, something with Tom Hanks?

Philip: Yes, “Charlie Wilson’s War.”

Q: Could you talk a little about that experience and working on that project.

Philip: It's great. They're great. Mike Nichols I've known for about seven years. He's a very good friend.

Q: Since The Seagull?

Philip: Seagull. Tom is everything that you would think he is truly. He's a mensch and he was also producer on the film. He's a wonderful actor and he really created a very wonderful environment to work in. Most of my scenes are with him. We hit it off. I really can't say enough about everyone who was involved on that film. It was a really good environment.

Q: What initially made that a project you had to be part of?

Philip: I don't know. Mike Nichols calls you and he's like, "Do you want to be in my movie?" You're like, "Maybe, Mike, maybe. Let me see, look at my schedule, I'll let you know." Like I said, I know him, he called me, he's like, "I really want you to do this." We have a relationship where I could have said no, sure, and been fine. We are friends in that way but I knew the book. I had read that book. Somebody had mentioned that book to me when I was doing Long Day's Journey Into Night and said, "God, there's this part in it if they ever make a movie of it." So it was funny that he was calling me saying, "There's this part in this book." I thought that was a bit serendipitous. Aaron Sorkin wrote it and he's a pretty fun writer.

Q: How do your and Tom Hanks' acting styles mesh?

Philip: I mean, style is a weird thing. Style is- - you have a style. A style is a person's personality. They act well and they have their own personal way of going about doing that. But he's got a great way with people and he's wonderful to work with. He really is wonderful to work with.

Q: How difficult is it to shift from characters? Can you leave them behind right away?

Philip: I'm able to leave them behind immediately. Sometimes it's hard to get the motor running again. But once I'm done with something, I'm done. It's as if it didn't happen in my mind in a way. But to get the motor started again is actually tough when you're working a lot. Kind of your body and mind is like, "Don't work. Take a break." But you have to get it, we all know that. It's just life.

Q: Does that affect your willingness to take on work?

Philip: It can be. It can be one of the things that goes into.

Q: When you're not working, what do you like to do?

Philip: God, my spare time really is about hanging out with my kids right now. If I have spare time, a good chunk of that spare time is going to be thinking about how to hang out with them and how to try to do nothing.

Q: How has the WGA strike affected your future projects?

Philip: Well, I know there were projects that needed to be settled before a certain date, not my settlement but I knew writers had to get their scripts in and all that happened. I know there's some of that material, some of those scripts have shown interest in me being in them but they haven't gone far enough to where I am. I know that's part of what's going on. I think ultimately for someone like me, once the strike goes on for a long time is when I'm going to see- - because after this next job that I have, if the strike keeps going on, there's not going to be any more jobs to have. I have a job now in the future that I have that I'm going to do but after that, if the strike's still happening, there might not be a job to be had That being said, right now the strike is affecting a lot of people immediately. But ultimately, if it goes on for a long time, it's going to affect all of it. We're all going to be out of a job. Everyone in this room is going to be looking for a way how to- - it's going to affect a lot of people, all of us.

Q: What is the project you have?

Philip: Doubt, the film of Doubt.

Q: Talk about the role?

Philip: Doubt? You guys know Doubt. It was a play on Broadway for like two years. It's a pretty famous play. It won the Pulitzer. Put me in there. "Phil said it's about a priest." It's about a priest who's being accused, a priest in the '60s in the Bronx, the nuns, superior nun accusing this priest at this school of sexual misconduct with a boy. He's being accused of it. That's all.

Q: You play the nun?

Philip: I play the traffic cop that lets the kids go across the street.

Q: Any thanksgiving traditions you'll be celebrating?

Philip: We're just trying to figure out what to do. It's a weird thing because I'm pretty busy. We've been moving around so much and trying to find a way to make as less amount of hectic energy as possible. So I don't know what we're going to do. We're trying to figure out what the hell to do that.

Q: Are you going to teach your kids about theater or acting?

Philip: My girlfriend's a costume designer in the theater. They're around it. My daughter's one so she's just, you know. She's the master of her own universe really. She is her own theater but my son comes with us to the theater. They're all going to be introduced to it just by the life that they're in. I don't think either of them are going to need any kind of classes or us literally teaching them. They're going to see it right in front of their eyes. They already have. They already see it.

Q: How much did you have to transform yourself for this role?

Philip: Well, when you look at roles, you're like, "What's similar between you and the character and what's not? What's dissimilar?"  The things that you don't understand, the things that are dissimilar, you try to use your imagination. I have siblings, I have a relationship with a father. It's all there and all stuff to call upon. There are aspects of him. He's a very intellectual guy. I think I am to a point but not like him. Like the way he talks, there's a certain distancing quality he has, somewhat of a scholarly, kind of professorial guy but not much. There's more context, relationships, all that stuff that I had to really think.

Q: Is there a role you haven't gotten to play?

Philip: No.

Q: Do you like switching between Hollywood and indies?

Philip: They're all a machine. It's all a big machine. Isn't it depressing? I'm exaggerating the point but I also mean that in a way meaning that whether you're working in an independent film world or the big budget film world, all the same problems arise. All the same stuff happens. One you don't have as much money, as much time and just not as many frills or whatever extras. Craft service might not be as good but ultimately, you're under the gun like anything. There's something that needs to be made, needs to be made in a certain amount of time and somebody spent a lot of money.

Q: Was the Capote awards circuit a fun experience? Did it affect your outlook on movies you take?

Philip: No, it didn't affect my outlook on movies that I take. Was it fun? At times. It's a very stressful thing. I think that probably is a very stressful thing but we had fun sometimes. I'm obviously grateful. There's no doubt about that. It's not a bad thing.

Q: Where do you keep the Oscar?

(Philip pretends to pull it out of his jacket)