Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.

I was just about to write that Tom McCarthy first came to fame as an actor, but that's not entirely accurate. Although McCarthy has been acting in smaller parts for TV and film projects for 15 years or so (I first remember him from the first season of David E. Kelly's "Boston Public"), it was as the director of 2003's THE STATION AGENT where his talents as a writer and director came to light. That modest story of three dedicated loners finding each other struck a chord with its casual but immensely heartfelt storytelling anchored by a star-making turn by then-relative unknown Peter Dinklage.

Since THE STATION AGENT, McCarthy's star as an actor began to soar with supporting roles in FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, ALL THE KING'S MEN, SYRIANA, and YEAR OF THE DOG.

Most recently, he was one of the key actors on the final season of HBO's "The Wire," playing the Baltimore Sun reporter who makes up facts and quotes when the truth isn't interesting enough for his editors. It was one of the most memorable characters the show has ever had.

If you don't blink, you can also spot him in an opening-scene, first-date with Tina Fey in BABY MAMA, which we discuss.

Just as McCarthy the actor seem to be on a major roll, he also managed to write and directed his STATION AGENT follow-up, THE VISITOR, an even more impressive effort that had phenomenal per-screen average on its opening weekend, more positive reviews than just about any other film so far this year, and probably one of my three favorite films to date in 2008.

At the core of THE VISITOR is an absolutely note-perfect performance by Richard Jenkins, and if this film was coming out at later in the year, I have no doubt he's be a strong underdog awards contender.

Here's Tom McCarthy...

Capone: Hi, Tom. How are you?

Tom McCarthy: Good. How are you, man?

Capone: Good. I must confess right off the bat that I'm a fan of yours from way in your "Boston Public" days [McCarthy was on the show's first season].

I watched that show religiously, and in the couple of times when I've come into contact from someone with that show, I always want to tell them that. I dug that show.

TM: [laughs] That's funny, I was just talking about that show this morning with Haaz Sleiman, who plays Tarek in the movie. You do a year on television, and it allowed me to basically go make THE STATION AGENT and not think about money for two years. Because as you know, we make the big money in independent cinema. That's the great thing about television.

Capone: I've heard nothing but good things about the money you make in indie films.

TM: [laughs] It's hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Capone: Since we're talking about television, let's talk about your role on "The Wire." I was born near Baltimore and I'm a schooled journalist, so the final season of that show really hits close to home on a couple fronts and floored me.

Obviously, you worked very closely with the guys from "The Baltimore Sun" when you did that show, how did they feel about having a character like you representing them--this guy who creates fiction and passes it for fact?

TM: I think anybody in our business, we know cool guys in the movie business and we know guys that we just loathe; they're out there. They get away with it a lot. It's funny, I was doing an interview with "The Baltimore Sun," because THE VISITOR opens in Baltimore this weekend. As I'm doing it, I get an e-mail from ["The Wire] creator] David Simon: "What's up? How's it going?" He's in London, so he hasn't seen the movie yet, but he's like, "I'm reading great things. It's awesome. Congrats!" And I sent him an e-mail back saying, "I'm on the phone with 'The Sun' right now." That was pretty funny.

But they guy who was interviewing me really liked the character. He's like "We know guys like that. I know some of the guys they were referencing." It's a funny time to do a press tour because every reporter watched that show and wants to talk about it. It's pretty amusing.

Capone: My second confession of the day is that I didn't realize that Tom McCarthy from "The Wire" was the same Tom McCarthy who directed THE STATION AGENT and THE VISITOR.

TM: A lot of reporters haven't figured that out until I walk in the room, and they're like, "Oh, Scott Templeton." [laughs] That's a pretty common thing with my career; I like the fact that people keep them separate.

Capone: Probably not for much longer. Both of your films seem to be about this socially stagnant men who are drawn out by these very outgoing people that they come into contact with, are initially resistant to. But these are very real, strong friendships that develop very quickly. Why do you find these types of people so interesting?

TM: I don't know, that's a good question. I finished the script, and I said, "Huh, maybe it's time I see someone about my socially stagnant side." I think it was interesting point. I think with these two characters, they're sort of very different. I always looked at Fin [Peter Dinklage from THE STATION AGENT] as a profession; he's like a hitman; he's like very, very fine with being alone. And that's how he'd lived his life up to that point.

And I think with Joe [played by Bobby Cannavale], we had someone who was like this really, really over-the-top guy aching for friendship, aching for some kind of connection. I feel like with the two characters of Walter [Richard Jenkins in THE VISITOR] and Tarek, it's sort of different. Walter's a guy who has lived a full life, had a family, a career, he's got this whole thing going on, but he finds himself in this late-life rut after his wife has passed away.

And now he's disconnected from his work as I think anyone does who does it for a lifetime and doesn't achieve a certain level, and I don't think Walter has. I don't think he ever became the outstanding scholar that maybe a lot of us set out to be early in lives, whatever the career may be.

That was one thing. And I think with Tarek, we really talked about a guy who was much easier. He's a musician, he lives in New York, and he's just one of these guys who floats very easily from world to world. I think if Joe met Walter, he would have dismissed him much as Walter dismisses Richard Kind's character in the movie, and a lot of other characters.

But there's something about the ease with which Tarek operates and the sort of laid-back quality of his personality that Haaz grabs so well that is one of the few personalities that can get through to this guy at this point in his life.

Capone: Being forced to share living quarters probably forces the issue too.

TM: Yeah, yeah. Being that close and that burgeoning interest in some sort of musical connection that he has. So it's one of those fortuitous things that happen a lot in New York City; I know it happens a lot in my life.

You know, you're having coffee one day and you're talking to a guy, and they next thing you know you have this kind of degrees of separation or a really interesting personal interest. I've always been fascinated with that. I travel a lot and spend a lot of time out and about, and I find that if you're a little bit open to it, it's amazing how many interesting folks you can meet along the way, especially folks that can impact your life in some way, maybe ways you don't expect.

So I think that's something I've always been interested in, these chance connections with people and how they affect our lives.

Capone: You mention that when it happens to you in real life, it happens almost without you realizing it, and I've found that both of your films are structured in a similar, very casual manner. We're just watching people meet, get to know each other, and without realizing it, a story has actually developed.

The immigration issue that comes up in THE VISITOR makes us realize, Oh wait, there's a story being told here in addition to hanging out with these great characters.

TM: I think that was the fun things about this screenplay. I started playing a little bit on where THE STATION AGENT left off thematically and took it in a very different direction. Truthfully, the immigration angle on this screenplay came in late in the research.

It was important for me to do that, but I'm not the kind of writer who likes to make "topic movies," you know? It always starts with the characters, these more personal human themes and then out of that, when this more political storyline started to develop, I got pretty excited about it.

Capone: That being said, it's been frustrating for me reading some of the write-ups and reviews of THE VISITOR, which are treated it like a message film about how infuriating the immigration policies are in this country. But I always got the sense that wasn't really your intent.

TM: I think that says something about the state of our country right now. Anything that touches on one of these nerves--and there are many--people kind of get… It's like at a dinner party, and people say, "Don't talk about religion or politics or the election or anything." I find it interesting too. I will say that screening it around the country, it's always fascinating because most of the questions, first and foremost, happily for me, have been about the characters. "What happens to Walter and Mouna [Tarek's girlfriend]? What happens to Tarek when he gets back to his country?" And that's always exciting.

But inevitably someone will bring up these angles. "Is that really what the detention centers look like?" It's really like Immigration 101; it's just the basic kind of things that's happening everyday. And it's not an indictment on the system; it's dealing with it as a point of life. I think most of the review, obviously, we've been very happy with, but then there are the couple of anomalies, where people refer to it as white liberal propaganda.

I don't even know what that means. Because I'm white? I find that kind of interesting, and I think those people read into it in a very certain way and it obviously touched a nerve with their own personal politics or feelings. If it sparks debate and gets people talking about it, then great. As a filmmaker, you want people to walk away dealing with different aspects of the story, whether it's character or politics.

Capone: Your characters are always so strongly written. In my head, I always imagined that you wrote the characters, or somehow came up with them, before you even decided what story they would be a part of. Is that in any way accurate?

TM: I think that is accurate. I think many times I do. I'm attacked to characters who maybe aren't characters we see very often. And I had this character of Walter kicking around in my head for a while, and though traveling I'd come across many people who remind me of Tarek in spirit and origin.

And I thought, ‘Wow, this is a character I haven't seen; I'd love to find a way to bring this character to the screen’. And then I start piecing together the story. So yeah, I usually do start with characters.

Capone: Can you talk about some of the specific elements that went into the character of Walter?

TM: I know a lot of people of all ages, and I think that's why that character resonates. It's just at point in their lives where they say, "Okay, I've been doing this. I don't really care that much about it anymore." And we kind of end up sleepwalking through our careers and through our lives a little bit. And literally, that can happen at any age, that kind of searching. I started with the idea of this older guy taking piano lessons; it's like, why do people do that?

People do that because they're looking for a new avenue in life and something new to connect to. Especially in Walter's case, he's connection to his wife and his past. But I think it's signifying a guy who's searching a little bit. I kind of respect him; he's not a guy who's sitting on the couch and eating ice cream and watching bad TV. He's out there and trying to find something new, and failing at it. And I know that's a difficult things for a lot of people.

More and more people today are questioning ‘What am I doing with my life? Where am I at?’ And even when they're doing that, they don't know quite how to change it.

Some people get lucky and fall into things or meet people who guide them or meet people who push them, and that's something that Richard and I talking a lot about, that possibly when his wife died, he's lost that social connection in his life and that woman dragging him into situations.

I know Richard said that's something he really connects with. He said, "I'm very slow to try new things; I'm very much an old dog that way." And a lot of times it's his wife who says, "Let's go, let's try this." And he said, "Usually I do it, and I'm happy as hell I did it, but it takes me a lot to get me there." I think we all have those people.

It happens a lot in New York. I live in New York; I love this city. I'm out and about all the time, but someone will come visit from another city or another country, and they want to do certain things.

And I start to see the city that I'm in everyday in a slightly different way and I get very excited by it. "Let's walk down to this, and let's check this out." I usually float with that because it often opens my eyes to something I've started to take for grated. Or even in my own way, you get in your own track in New York sometimes, and you literally walk the same routes, see the same places, see the same people, especially if you've got a lot going on in your life.

Occasionally these people stroll into your life and be there for a weekend or a day or an afternoon or a week, and say, "Hey, let's do this. Have you been up here?" And you'll go, "Okay, I'll got up to Central Park with you. Geez, I haven't been up here in three years.

Funny that it's 60 blocks away, and I haven't managed to get up here, and it's beautiful." I think kind of the fun things about how that happens sometimes. It certainly influences me as a writer; it's certainly how I work. I tend to float and observe and wait for things that are outside of my normal every day that kind of inspire me.

Capone: Speaking of music lessons, the hippies have given the African drum a bad name in recent years, so I'm glad that you put it back in that jazzy, Afro Pop setting where it belongs.

TM: [laughs]Yeah, I had a couple of musicians come up to me in Dallas, they were black, and they said, "I can't believe it took a white man to use Fela in a soundtrack. What's going on? Good on you for finding Fela and putting it out there." I think there's been a little bit of a resurgence in Fela as a result, which is great.

Capone: How did you decide that drum would be the device that would draw Walter out of his shell?

TM: That's a good question. I think I started, again, with the idea of this older guy playing the piano. And then when thought of Tarek, a lot of the guys I met when I was in Beirut specifically were artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians. And I was searching for something that would give them a connection beyond the obvious, beyond simply sharing the same space.

And to me, I quickly arrived at music. What's the opposite end of the spectrum of what Walter has been trying and failing at? And that's what I loved about the drum, that's what I liked about it. And there's something about playing that drum that is immediately satisfying.

As you as you can let go just a little bit and just start banging on the thing, it immediately becomes sort of a release instrument, whereas the piano, at the beginning, is a very intellectual instrument. And I just liked the idea of making Walter drum, making him physically do it, just loosens him up in a way because you can't play the drum and be stiff. You've got to start to feel it.

And it's been fun to watch with audiences, they really dig when he starts to bob his head a little bit, just the subtle things that Richard Jenkins does so well that audiences start cracking up at. You see this guy getting his groove on a little bit, and I think it's amusing to a lot of people.

Capone: Was there a particular role you'd seen Richard Jenkins in that made you sure he'd be right for Walter?

TM: No. I mean, I've known Richard's work for so long. I think every actor has a lot of respect for him. All of these character actors, and there's a short list of the very good ones who are called on again and again, and it's because they have a great way of coming in and taking control of a role and bringing a history to a character. I think all actors have a lot of respect for the really consistent and powerful character actors, because it's a difficult thing to do.

It's easier to be the lead sometimes because your whole arc is there, everything's there. And when I started to come up with this character, I came up with a short list of actors who I liked. And I thought, Wow, I haven't seen this actor do this type of part. I always get off on using actors like we haven't seen them before. And Richard was on that list.

And one time, we found ourselves in L.A. at the same time, and we had dinner. And I think by the end of the dinner, I was like, "Wow, this is great. I'm into this guy, and I know I can write for him. And we just kind of hit it off as friends and then as collaborators. As soon as I gave him the script, it was funny, because we had lunch in New York where I officially wanted to talk to him about it and offer him the role, and he was like, "I would love to do it; I don't think you'll ever get the money for me if I do it." And he understands the economics of how difficult it is to make a movie, but we were fortunate enough to get the money.

Capone: I was going to ask you about that. Did you find that by casting such a strong character actor in this lead that it threw off the entire foundation of what casting is supposed to be?

TM: I think it does in a Hollywood sense. I know that people who have seen the film, and the response to the film has been so great. I think a lot of people respond just to that. It's so great to see this actor who you just believe as this guy. You don't see this super charming, handsome leading man playing the average American. I think people really get lost in the story for that reason.

One things that's for sure, people across the board have been raving about his performance. I think that's all a part of this is something we haven't seen before, and we're all looking for that in stories, and I think people get really excited about that. It's almost like discovering a guy who has been around for 40 years.

On the marketing side, it's hard, right? You don't have George Clooney's picture to splash all over the thing or any of these true American movie stars who just attract a lot of attention to projects. It's difficult that way, so we have to do it the old-fashioned way, which is make a good movie and get it out there and get people to see it and talk about it. It's definitely a more challenging route for marketing a film and having success with it. But as a movie-going experience, it's very satisfying for audiences.

Capone: You had to have the same experience with THE STATION AGENT.

TM: It was. It was a similar kind of thing. I think the difference was, with Peter Dinklage, he was really new at that point; he hadn't done that many things.

With Richard, people know him from so many things. They guy has had such a varied career. People know him from the big broad comedies or the smaller indie films or television--"Six Feet Under"--they know him from so many things. It's a different kind of celebration.

I know specifically in the industry, a lot of writers and actors and directors have send me so many e-mails over the last couple of weeks who think it's awesome and they just dig seeing him in that way, and dig the fact that the guy had the opportunity. I think we all root for guys like Richard because he's so good and so consistent and such a great guy.

Capone: You mentioned George Clooney a second ago--another actor-director you've made a few films with him [GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK; SYRIANA; and a voice appearance in MICHAEL CLAYTON]. What's your relationship like with him?

TM: We're friends, and I have a lot of respect for George, I love working with him. I think the guy is a true original, and he's got an incredible amount of integrity. He's one of those few stars who can really back it up, not only in his work as an actor but just in the work he creates. I think his movies are always taking real chances, and I have a tremendous amount of respect. I mean, he's a busy guy, so I don't see him that often, but he just sent me a really nice e-mail.

He screened THE VISITOR the other night for some friends, and was really crazy about it. It's great to hear from people like that, people you respect and people you hope to continue working with on some level.

Capone: Let's talk about a couple of things you've got coming. You're in Tony [MICHAEL CLAYTON] Gilroy's next film.

TM: Yes, he cast me instead of George actually, which caused a little bit of friction. [laughs] George and I always go up for the same parts, I don't know if you know that.

Capone: It does seem you'd be suited to the same roles, yes.

TM: It's a great project, and I'm really excited about it. I think Tony is a great writer and director, and it's a really good cast [which includes Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Tom Wilkinson, and Billy Bob Thornton]. We're filming tonight and over the next couple of nights in Times Square. We're been filming as I've been doing press for THE VISITOR, so it's been a hectic time but a pretty satisfying one.

Capone: I'd also heard you shot a little part for THE LOVELY BONES.

TM: Yeah, I just did like a week on that. Peter [Jackson] called me, I'd met Peter before, and he had this small part, and he said, "You want to come do this? It'll be fun, and it's funny, and I think you'd be right for it." And I said, "Yeah, sure." As someone who does a few different things, it's always fun to be on set with other writer-directors and see how they're working with the crew and the actors. It's a nice crossover opportunity.

Capone: Who do you playing in that film?

TM: I play her principal at school, who keeps riding her. I forget the character's name off the top of my head; I should remember it, but we're going back into the fall when I did that. Me and the young girl who ends up getting killed have a number of run ins before that actually happens.

Capone: Did I imagine this, or did I spot you in the first scene of BABY MAMA?

TM: You know what, those guys called me up and said, "We have this one little scene. Would you come in and do it?" Because I was in New York, and I know Amy [Poehler]. I didn't really know Tina [Fey] that well, and my scene is with her, but I'm a fan of hers.

I did it in an afternoon. But it's so funny because everyone's like, "I didn't know you were in BABY MAMA." What you see in the trailer is what you get. I'm just very "trailer lucky" that way. And I haven't even seen the movie, but I thought it was a funny script. Like I said, I like those guys a lot, so I just sort of jumped on board.

Capone: I'm guessing now that you're in a position where you're getting asked to be a director for hire.

TM: Yeah, that happened after THE STATION AGENT, so that's nothing new. I mean, the week after THE STATION AGENT came out, you start getting those offers. It' always the same, once your movie comes out, people are responding to it and people get excited because both movies have gone over pretty well. I'm always open to it, it's just a matter of finding the right material.

Capone: I guess that was my question, Would you ever direct someone else's material?

TM: I would. As a writer, I'd probably do my pass on it and work with that person to make it more personal to me. But yeah, if something came up that really connected to me. And like I said, I get sent stuff all the time, and I kind of look at it. It's a difficult thing to gauge what's next.

Capone: Would you ever allow someone else to direct a screenplay you've written?

TM: I do sometimes…like I'm doing a rewrite on something for Shawn [NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM] Levy right now. Shawn works on a totally different canvas than I do, and I kind of get off on that too because it's fun to write for other people and try to understand how they're approaching material and filmmaking. I thought it was a pretty good script to start with, so I'm helping those guys get it into shape so it can be Shawn's next film [presumably after NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2].

Capone: Have you done that sort of work before?

TM: Yeah, I did that for Jay Roach, I've done one for Paramount. I'll do one or two of those a year; it's a way to supplement my hundreds of dollars I make doing independent movies [laughs].

Capone: You joke, but I've talked to John Sayles before, and I know there's money to be made in the script-polishing game.

TM: He's like the master at it. A lot of writer-directors do it because sometimes you're between project and you don't have anything burning that you're writing everyday, and it's a nice way to keep writing and work with other folks and mostly to make a little coin.

Capone: Tom, thanks for doing this. It was good to see how strong the per-screen average on THE VISITOR has been.

TM: My pleasure. Yeah I hope people keep talking about it and spreading the word, and I think we'll be alright. Thanks for your time.

Capone