Five years ago mainstream America wouldn't have a clue who Johnny LaMarca was. No one pays much attention to mediocre success or the boy in the giant bubble. Now it's hard to escape the Cheshire cat smile of Johnny LaMarca. A relatively short walk to Starbucks and LaMarca's face is on some of the biggest billboards, smack dab in the middle of Times Square. Now I have to wait for LaMarca for almost two hours. Finally he arrives, a grand entrance, swiftly walking through the doors like he owns the place. He offers an apologetic smile, the kind that's been flashed across the screens in I HEART HUCKABEES and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. "I'm sorry, I guess hangovers and planes don't really mix well with me. I'm still new to the scene." New to the scene has been the 27-year-old's game since he first dropped out of nowhere in 2001 with the widely panned BUBBLE BOY, a film that he describes as, "A Hitler-esque experience, minus the branding.. sort of." For years the high school drop out just got by on nothing roles and C-list movies, but in the last three years Johnny LaMarca has proven to have the midas touch and has dodged the shadow of his academy award winning aunt, with six big writing credits to his name and roles both critically and publicly acclaimed. The hyper active "little guy" that used to eat lunch in the boys bathroom has now successfully redefined the new age of comedy, and is breaking Hollywood's leading man persona one budget buster at a time. INT: This will be our last interview together. JL: Hey paly, It's bittersweet that we get to meet face to face now after all of those phone calls. It's a Meg Ryan/ Tom Hanks throw back. INT: You're a busy guy these days. How do you keep up with writing films and acting in them? JL: Well the awesome thing is that I have a writing partner who's willing to keep me under a heavy dose of Ritalin so I can concentrate enough to write. Actually, when we first started out we weren't getting any bites so we would wake up at three in the afternoon, smoke a bag and then write until our eyes bled. By the time people wanted to give us the time of day we already had three scripts in the can. INT: You don't seem to have a preference over any genre of film, do you? JL: I don't know about that. I mean, I do. I absolutely have preference it just doesn't have anything to do with genre. To me genre isn't important as an actor. As a performer that's kind of separate from your job. INT: You've done a lot of outside of the box characters, Scott Smith (MILK), Saul Silver (PINEAPPLE EXPRESS), Ray (IN BRUGES). So what kinds of characters interest you? JL: I mean, I'll never be a card board cut out leading man, it's just not my bag but that doesn't mean someone else can't make a respectable job out of it. People I like, characters I love wouldn't exist without someone else to bounce off of. I like the common day man. Someone that can blend in. Basically anyone I can get away with playing without a heckler calling bullshit. INT: You favor mostly ensemble pieces, is there a reason why? JL: It's harder to be the sore thumb in ensemble pieces. No, what I mean is-- okay, I like ensemble pieces because you have room to breathe. You're not working six days out of the week and if you are then it's a great collaborative process, and there's a lot of cool people to bounce off of, at least that's been in the case for me. In FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL I only had to work a few days tops but it was great. I came in and fucked around with all of my friends for hours. It was like having a real high school experience but much better and without the spitballs. INT: You said recently that you love to screen test. Most actors hate that. JL: I don't think everyone hates it. I mean, I can't speak for anyone except myself but I like the process. Testing six times up against people who are better looking than you isn't the funnest thing in the world, but I'm a Brooklyn boy. I like to earn my place and work for a role. You also get a good sense of chemistry out of screen tests and that's better than signing on to a film and feeling like a fish out of water for the first two weeks. I think I might have a complex too. I never got a fair chance to duke it out in high school so I guess this is my chance to prove I can put up my fists. INT: With all these quirky character roles do you ever worry about being typecast? JL: Not at all. Isn't that an industry thing? I try not to worry about the business aspect of my job because I'll probably get an ulcer or end up with a bad case of IBS. When I audition for a role or when I'm writing, I go after the characters that appeal to me. If I think I can't do the role or of someone says I can't then that fires me up even more. INT: Do you favor writing or acting over the other? JL: I don't think I favor either. I didn't make the move to LA thinking I was going to pen all these movies and shit. I enjoyed reading comic books, I still do, but by any means I don't consider myself a writer. I just write down real experiences that come from the heart and throw a bunch of dick jokes in. It's probably nothing that you can't pick up in English class. I think acting and writing go hand in hand. You have to be self aware to a certain extent to survive. INT: What has been your favorite role to date? JL: Working alongside Gus Van Sant I think I had the shits for the first four days, but I really enjoyed that. I hadn't played a real person before so if I fucked up or did something out of character I was screwed. It was like trying not to get hit in the gut during dodge ball. It was an honor to emulate? Is that the word? I don't know. It was a great time trying my best to bring notoriety to a giant in the gay community. That probably didn't make any sense.. INT: Before you moved to LA you were living in Brooklyn with your parents. You've been on countless of billboards in the city but does New York still have a place for you? JL: I sure as hell hope so. I was counting on selling dirty water dogs after this business cashes me out.