By Tonisha Johnson

Law and Order, Ally McBeal, 100 Centre St, Happy Endings, The Night Listener and Haven; with an impressive television and film career thus far Bobby Cannavale takes on a more serious role in Fast Food Nation.

Playing Mike the slaughter house supervisor, Cannavale expresses how this films subject matter hasn’t made him into the watch dog for his circle of friends but he does inform his family to make better choices on were they dine on their next meal.

Basically, with every movie that you do, your character becomes more and more of an asshole. Are you at peace with that or are you looking to do another level?

Bobby Cannavale: It’s good for me because you know; it sort of lets me improve on something. It gives me a certain opportunity to stay in a certain lane, I guess. I don’t know. But I think all the parts have been different. I don’t think I’ve ever played anything like this before.

So you’re shying away from the nice guy thing?

Bobby Cannavale: Not consciously at all. I read this book [Fast Food Nation]. It sort of changed an aspect of my life and then on top of that he wanted me to play a desperate guy. So I’m like… perfect.

How long ago did you read the book?

Bobby Cannavale: When it came out actually. I used to eat a lot of fast food. I didn’t touch it after this book.

How long was it before you could eat meat again?

Bobby Cannavale: Oh that I had no problem with. Not that I had NO no problem with it. I mean, I’ve never been in a working slaughter house before. It took me by surprise because the first time we had shot in there [working slaughter house] was the first time any of us had seen it going. And we knew we only had a couple of hours. I think they only had enough cows for 3 hours and that was in another country. It’s not like here [America] where the line doesn’t stop. It goes all day. I said I needed like a half hour before we start shooting cause I play the guy who runs this place. Like I couldn’t believe it… when I saw the skin being pulled off I was like whoa! It took about a second and then I was like oh. It’s like when people are putting autos… cars together. It’s a job. Like nobody is getting a thrill out of it. It’s like assembly line work. And that’s how we went there like that. And that whole idea was like wow.

The smell must have been incredible?

Bobby Cannavale: Yeah. It was really awful. We had to put like … Vix up our nose.

Did you feel your part was informing the general public of what’s really happening?

Bobby Cannavale: Not at all. Just because the book was one thing for me and the movie was another. For me really, I read the script… I got over the whole initial shock of ‘I can’t believe I read this book’ and that went away real quick. I remember reading this part in the script and saying this is the best part in the movie. I just loved the part. Again, it was always raw. Semantically and that kind of a person was just interesting to me because I didn’t see it as any part of a device for the movie. I didn’t see the guy as being a bad guy. I saw the guy as being a desperate guy. Like I said, when I got there that first day at the slaughter house and I saw these people working after the initial shock of the cows getting ‘done’, I couldn’t keep my eyes off these people cause I was like wow, imagine… it’s like any job where people are under paid. Like a cop or a fire fighter; these people… we need these people but look what they’re doing all day. It must affect them somehow to be doing this all day.

Where was the slaughter house?

Bobby Cannavale: In Mexico. They wouldn’t let us shoot anywhere in this country.

Did you talk to the workers there?

Bobby Cannavale: I talked to a couple of them.

What did they think of you guys filming there?

Bobby Cannavale: They didn’t care about the politics or what it was about. They thought it was the most exciting thing.

How much time did you have to prepare for this character?

Bobby Cannavale: A lot of time. They asked me to do it at least 2 or 3 months before we started shooting.  We had rehearsal in Austin for a couple of weeks. What was interesting about this part for me was that… we shot 90% of it in Mexico. Nothing we do has anything to do with any of the other stories going on around us. So we were just shooting our own movie there. It was all contained. Very low budget and it was gorilla style. It was great. We really had a comrade there.

After being involved with this film project and reading the book, do you find that you are the only person within your personal realm that encourages others not to eat fast food?

Bobby Cannavale: Naw. That’s not my thing. I’m not a vegetarian you know? I tell my family… don’t eat there. Cook food. Go to a restaurant. I like knowing what’s behind everything. I know you can’t control everything that you know; but what I’m putting in my body. I’d like to know.