Jason Patric has had the opportunity to play a long list of characters over the past three decades. Most of those acting jobs have been fictional roles, but he has had the occasion to take on a part based on a real person, such as in the 2004 feature film "The Alamo," where he starred as Jim Bowie.
His latest work in the Lifetime movie "The Girl in the Bathtub" returns him to the world of reality-based characters. The New York native takes on the role of high-profile Philadelphia defense attorney Charles Peruto Jr., who gets caught up in a police investigation when Julia Law (Caitlin Stasey), his 26-year-old girlfriend and paralegal, is found dead in his bathtub.
The biggest difference in how Patric approaches a role based on a real person and fictional characters is his preparation.
Patric looked at plenty of news coverage of the 2013 case before filming started because of the sensational nature of the story. Peruto was part of the investigation, but it was soon discovered that Law had three lovers. That raised questions about whether any of them may have had a motive to kill her.
Most of Patric's scenes are with Stasey, whose credits include "APB" and "Reign." He describes his co-star as being very talented.
"The camera just eats her up," Patric says. "She's truly in the moment with an unpredictability and accessibility that makes people who act successful. It's why the social media phase of the movie works so well."
The story was big in Philadelphia, but Peruto never became so well-known a public figure to most of the world that Patric had to make sure he knew every gesture and voice inflection to play the part. Even Patric was not aware of the case before he was cast in the made-for-cable production. He did have to do enough research to be able to handle the direct-to-camera testimonials included in the movie. None of the actors were told what the questions would be and they had to improvise their answers while staying in character.
"I had no idea how real the other characters were but for me, I just did my best to play the character as real as possible," Patric says. "I did that because I thought this was a very important film because of the relevance it has with today's society."
Patric spends his time in front of TV and film cameras, sharing his acting skills through such efforts as "Speed 2: Cruise Control," "The Lost Boys," "Sleepers," "The Losers," "Wayward Pines" and "Entourage." He's also worked on Broadway appearing in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "That Championship Season."
Starring in the Lifetime movie, plus his work on the Fox series "Wayward Pines," is a big change for Patric as he has tended to work predominantly in feature films.
"It's all about the role and the movies aren't as strong these days," Patric says. "There was a time when we would get excited about a movie coming out and there would be this big buildup. Then the movie would come out. I am glad I was a part of that time period.
"Now, it's all about the big tent pole movies that come out and then there is another one. It's like a big conveyor belt."
The television he sees now is far more nuanced than what's going on with big blockbuster movies. He likes that TV is more long-form storytelling than he's seeing in movies. There also is far more interesting qualities to the characters in TV shows.
Patric also points out the lines between film and TV have blurred because both are being viewed on electronic devices, which evens the playing field as far as delivery systems.
"What I do is just try to find good work and do what I know how to do the best I can," Patric says.
