You know him as one of the guys of “Girls.” But this week, Alex Karpovsky is debuting two films, “Red Flag” and “Rubberneck.”
Karpovsky sat down with Michael Riedel for the Post’s Name Check to dish on his start in show business, what to expect in his latest work and his role as “the anti-stud” on “Girls.”
TRANSCRIPT:
Michael Riedel: Welcome to Name Check. I’m Michael Riedel of the New York Post. I have a very talented young writer, director, and actor with me today. Alex Karpovsky, you may know for from “Girls,” that hit HBO series that every woman in this town I know is watching all the time, Alex. He also has two films coming out this week, “Red Flag,” that deals with the fear of loneliness, and “Rubberneck,” which is the story of a workplace romance gone wrong.
Alex Karpovsky: Terribly wrong, yes.
Michael: Let me first ask you…Karpovsky, interesting name. It’s Russian, right?
Alex: It’s Russian, yeah. My parents are…
Michael: Parents? Parents from Russia?
Alex: Parents are Russian Jews, yeah. My dad is from Saint Petersburg and my mother is from Moscow.
Michael: Ah. What brought them to America?
Alex: Freedom, a different way of life. They’ve been wanting to get out since they were born.
Michael: So they got out when it was still Communist?
Alex: Indeed, yeah. When there was still the Soviet Union. Late ’70s, they got out, and they fought very hard to get out. They were refuseniks for a long time. They had a long road. They’re…When parents say they walk six miles in the snow, they…
Michael: They really do.
Alex: They really do.
Michael: How did you wind up getting interested in writing, directing, and acting?
Alex: Well, it took me a while to start it. I went to school for anthropology, I started a graduate program in anthropology, and I dropped out just because I started doing theater in college for the first time.
Michael: The old theatrical bug bit you.
Alex: It bit me very intensely. I got a big rash all over my body…
Michael: [laughs]
Alex: ...and I thought, “This is more interesting to me than my studies.” Then I went to school in England, I moved to New York, and then just started going down that way.
Michael: What was the play that you did in college that got you a little swing of things?
Alex: “Talk Radio,” by Eric Bogosian.
Michael: Oh, yeah. Sure. Well, I’m old enough to have seen the original production, with Eric in it.
Alex: Oh, really?
Michael: Yeah. [music]
Alex: Rachel? Hey! Where are you going?
Michael: Tell me about the movie, “Red Flag, Fear of Loneliness.” Is this a depressing movie? You know, bring a hanky?
Alex: Hopefully, it’s a comedy. But the reason I made it is because I didn’t want to be lonely. I made a movie a few years ago called “Woodpecker.” It was a small independent film. This organization put it on a tour of the South, sort of two week promotional thing. You’re kind of by yourself, your driving from city to city doing Q and As and presenting your film. It’s flattering to show your work, but it’s also very lonely, and I just didn’t want to drive around the South by myself.
The fear of loneliness sort of seized me, and I tried to make a movie while I’m promoting another movie. So, it’s a film about a filmmaker on tour with his earlier work. It’s a very narcissistic, self congratulatory endeavor, but hopefully there’s enough jokes to keep you going.
Michael: I don’t know. I think if I had a movie that I was flogging around the South, and going to universities, I might [clears throat] audition a few would be actresses there.
Alex: Well, OK. I can tell you some stories when we’re off camera.
Michael: [laughs] Ooh, I’ll stick around.
Alex: It’s interesting. One of the main plot points of “Red Flag” is the filmmaker, who I play, crosses paths with an ardent groupie, with whom he has a one night affair, a sexual encounter. And she becomes very fixated on him. That’s sort of where we catapult into the main thrust of the plot.
Michael: Very interesting. Now, “Rubberneck”, you said, the story of a workplace gone horribly wrong.
Alex: Yeah.
Michael: These are two people who are working together, they fall in love.
Alex: Exactly.
Michael: We all know that’s a dicey situation to be in.
Alex: It is, indeed. I think it’s one thing to have a tryst with someone and if she’s not into you, or vice versa…if you don’t see them very often, you see them at a party every blue moon, the scar tissue can form and you can recover. But if you’re forced to work with them and see them nine hours a day, every day, it’s like Chinese water torture. That’s sort of what happens. This guy becomes infatuated and he unravels. When a new man ultimately enters the picture a few months later and they start forming a budding romance, our scorned lover begins a sabotage campaign with very unsavory results.
Michael Riedel: Oh, wow. I’ve had a few workplace affairs in my day I must say. My rule has always… [crosstalk]
Alex: Any JPEGs?
Michael: No, no. [laughs] My rule has always been let’s keep it light and fun.
Alex: Have you ever been burned by that type of situation?
Michael: I must say I have not, no.
Alex: Any criminal proceedings filed?
Michael: No, no, no. The fact that it’s illicit adds that extra [inaudible 04:06] … [crosstalk]
Alex: Of course, that’s the charge.
Michael: …excitement to it. You could have the double entendres. You could say one thing in front of colleagues and they don’t know what the hidden meaning of it all is. But when it goes wrong, it’s a case where he’s more in love with her than she ultimately was with him and then…
Alex: He got lucky. She’s a beautiful girl. She was drunk at the office Christmas party. She doesn’t have any issues with casual sex. She’s liberated in every sense.
Michael: What’s her name?
Alex: Danielle. I can give you her email address.
Michael: If she’s available let me know. [laughs] Sounds like my kind of gal. Based on anything from your life? Autobiographical in any way?
Alex: No, but it is inspired by real events that did happen in Boston. A workplace romance that went horribly wrong. We kind of drew from the basic conceit, but then we add a lot of fun with the story. We inject a lot of dramatic elements to heighten the tension.
Michael: I have not seen “Girls,” so forgive me. Are you the super stud on the show? Is that the role you play?
Alex: Far from it. I’m the anti stud. This is your dog right? I’m the agitator. I’m the guy who sort of provokes and tries to inject a misguided and perverse perspective onto their lives. But we have a stud who hits it out of the park. His name is Adam. He’s Adam Driver, he’s playing a character called Adam Sackler. He’s one of the most interesting TV characters that I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Michael: Really?
Alex: Yeah.
Michael: How did you land the roll on Girls?
Alex: I worked with Lena Dunham, the show’s creator and star, on a movie called Tiny Furniture, two or three years ago. She brought me over with another actress, Jemima Kirke, onto the HBO mothership.
Michael: Well good for you. Now, we’re going to redo this interview all over again, but we’re going to do it in Russian this time [jokingly] . So, I assume that you speak Russian?
Alex: [foreign words]
Michael: [foreign words] [laughter]
Michael: Alright, Alex Karpovsky, thank you very much for being my guest on Name Check. Don’t miss his movies Red Flag, Rubberneck, and Girls on HBO. Thanks a lot.
Alex: Thank you.