Some of the cast and crew of the film I Love You Phillip Morris sat with the press to answer questions and talk about the film. Phillip Morris is based on a true story that follows con-man Steve Russell (Jim Carrey) as he falls in love with fellow prison inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). You can read Josh’s review of the movie here.
One of the things that was discussed numerous times at the press conference for the film was that I Love You Phillip Morris isn’t so much a “gay movie” as it is a movie about two people falling in love. “I don’t think it’s a gay movie,” Carrey said, “From my perspective…. From the perspective of my character, it really is about the lengths we go to for acceptance and love. If you feel like you haven’t been accepted in life… you’ve been, in fact, rejected, you tend to be a little more extreme in your approach.”
When asked how they felt playing the roles of two men having a romantic, homosexual relationship, Ewan McGregor said, “When you’re an actor, you’re always looking for interesting stories and interesting people and the fact that these characters are gay is what makes it interesting.” Jim Carrey went on to talk about the role and what it meant to him as an actor, “I think if I were to be honest, there were a few people in my world who were like ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ and that still exists. I said ‘Absolutely’ because sexual proclivity aside, it’s a story about human beings that’s so compelling, and so interesting and so different that it’s just about humanity. It’s really about, ‘you love who love’ and love is love and that’s it. That’s the bottom line. If I were to be really honest, there’s a homophobic voice that rises up inside me, you know? And goes ‘gee, this is kind of scary. First of all, what will people think? And second of all, will I like it? (he laughs), Will I like kissing Ewan? How will that affect me? And… Jenny?” Carrey joked, causing everyone in the press room to laugh. “Those are honestly the thoughts that go through your head,” Carrey added.
The humor as well as the story were discussed. Ewan McGregor went on to talk about his thought process when looking at the story for the film and his decision to do the movie in the first place, saying, “It was important to me as I was reading it that none of the humor came out of the fact that it was two men. I was conscious of thinking that when I was reading it and at no point did I feel like it was, otherwise I wouldn’t have wanted to do it. The joke wasn’t that it was a love story about two men.”
Check out a video snippet from the press conference below, to get a vibe for how Jim and Ewan feel about their on screen romance:
