By Fred Topel | Image property of respective holders.
As Miles, the techie friend in Perfect Stranger, Giovanni Ribisi has to have all the computer lingo down. He handles the tech talk and types like a mofo, but the most peculiar thing about Miles is the way he eats eggs. In a breakfast scene, he dines on a nice scramble with a pair of chopsticks.
Giovanni Ribisi on Perfect Stranger
"Hey, that was one of those things," said Ribisi. "The character was written as being this guy who was sort of frumpy and introverted and overweight and the classic computer geek. I wanted to go the complete opposite direction and try to make him witty and charming and really winning over Halle’s character or just thinking that he can. That was just part of that. I didn’t know it was going to be that obvious at the time. I guess this is one of those times when people use the word ‘quirky’ and Giovanni Ribisi in the same sentence."
Perfect Stranger was a total acting job in that Ribisi actually doesn't know much about computers. "In this way, the computer hacker thing, that’s just on another level. I had three or four weeks to get ready for the film so it was just about concentrating on the character and all the different masks the characters have and the relationships they have with each other."
The film didn't even give him a free laptop, so he hasn't even practices computers since. "I asked about that but they were stingy. I don’t type fast enough. It’s kind of embarrassing. I’m not up to date. I’m old-fashioned with a cell phone. I think that’s one of the things. I like that human contact and I think that’s important."
Perfect Stranger
Perfect Stranger
As Miles' efforts on behalf of Berry's character reveal more and more about his intentions, Ribisi found some meat he could sink his actor teeth into. "This guy is like a character actor but he wants to be a leading man and he wants to get the girl and he fails and it’s just tragic. I think anybody, to a greater or lesser degree has felt that infatuation or that obsession with somebody. And, the story, generally, as a whole isn’t good versus evil or black and white. Everybody is a human being and it’s about how far people will go to get what they want or to cover something up and I think that that’s interesting."
A bit of an obsessive, that part of Miles was easy for Ribisi to capture. "Maybe this is really narcissistic, but if you can’t [relate to obsession] then you’re really not living life. I think it’s also about power and who she is. Who is she? She’s famous, she’s got money and a really nice apartment."
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