Unknown to Hit

Absolutely.

But you're the guy from "The O.C."

It's somewhat silly to get on a high horse and say you're above the audition process. I'm always willing to read for something I care about. In some senses, an audition is a way of figuring out if you are right for a role.

When did you first read the script?

In the spring of '04. Or maybe, late '03. The movie came together in the last month or two [before shooting started]. We needed to get certain names--the financing is always tricky. These movies are viewed, unfortunately, as having limited box-office potential. But then we shot in the spring. It went to Sundance. After that, it was a great ride. It was pretty much immediately picked up and distributed and in between went to Cannes, which was great.

Did you get a gift bag?