Rhys Ifans, the comic Welshman best known as Hugh Grant's insane roommate in Notting Hill, just does not play by the rules that govern other emerging movie stars.
Born Rhys Evans, the son of two teachers, he eventually changed his name to Ifans to be a rebel with a Welsh cause. As the original lead singer for the punk band Super Furry Animals, Ifans, 33, also showed a propensity for pushing the envelope of what others might consider good taste.
So it is no surprise to find him in Michel Gondry's feature film debut Human Nature, a movie written by Charlie Kaufman, an American screenwriter who is making up his own rules in movies such as Being John Malkovich.
Ifans' own human nature skews to extremes, the actor admits happily. "Yes, I think so," he tells The Toronto Sun in a telephone interview from Los Angeles just before he jets off to Australia to star in The Rise And Fall Of Danny Deckchair, the story of a Sydney man who attaches weather balloons to his deckchair to escape his humdrum existence in the city.
Music is a good clue to a man's mindset, Ifans says. Music people are all over Human Nature. The director Gondry is known for his videos, including shooting Human Behavior with Icelandic star Bjork. One of the co-producers of the movie Human Nature is Spike Jonze, an American video master who was also director of Being John Malkovich.
"I'm sure," says Ifans, "if you look at Michel Gondry's and Spike Jonze's and Charlie Kaufman's record collections -- and mine -- they would all be pretty similar."
In his case, you would find everything from The Sex Pistols to what Ifans calls "strange German cabaret."
"And no Britney Spears?" I ask.
"Oh, I don't know," Ifans answers with a snort and a laugh. "I could find many uses for a Britney Spears record, other than throwing it really hard and slicing her head off."
Regardless, the absurdism of Human Nature was appealing. He found it in a pile of scripts that tumbled into his living quarters in Hollywood on a stay-over (Ifans is based in London, in a modest one-bedroom apartment, with girlfriend Jess Morris).
"This script just leapt out of the pile. It was original, refreshing and very exciting. I just thought: How the hell did this one slip through what can often be a very conservative Hollywood net? I just thought: I really want to be part of this project."
Ifans enjoyed the comic tone of Human Nature, which he found to be nimble, light-hearted, and yet savage when it needed to be. But it was never too obvious, too heavy.
"It's not my favourite kind of comedy when comedy is used as a bludgeon as opposed to a tickling stick."
Human Nature also disturbs viewers with its barbs, butt not in an obvious way, says Ifans.
"I just think that's indicative of Charlie's work. It's provocative and it's subversive. So it's right up my street."
Ifans calls Human Nature an antidote to the kind of fare that wins Oscars.
"It doesn't have the arrogance of a serious drama that tries to answer serious questions. This asks a lot of questions, but it doesn't stand on a pedestal and say: 'This is what human nature is!'
"And it's just so well-timed now. You saw at the Oscars that you need more films like this. What I like about it is that it isn't 'worthy'."
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