When Bryan Greenberg first saw the script for A Short History of Decay, opening this week, there was one thing about the project that immediately caught his eye.
“The script came to me, and when I saw it was produced by Milos Foreman, I knew it was something I should look at,” the actor says with a laugh.
Luckily there was plenty more to keep him interested. The Michael Maren-directed film stars Greenberg as Nathan Fisher, a down-on-his-luck New York writer—though what he writes seems to change daily—who finds himself on an extended vacation in Florida, visiting his sick, aging parents.
“Nathan’s someone we can all relate to,” Greenberg says of the character, who is viciously dumped by his girlfriend (Emmanuelle Chriqui) just hours before he learns his father (Harris Yulin) has suffered a stroke and his Alzheimer’s-plagued mother (Linda Lavin) needs Nathan’s help caring for him. It’s a stark look at the aging process, sure, but the film’s also loaded with humorous moments and allows Nathan the chance to find a new, less stunted version of himself. Greenberg says he can relate—sort of.
“After [my series] How to Make It In America ended, I had my share of downtime,” he recalls, but he never felt quite as lost as Nathan. “I’m not like that,” he goes on. “I like to keep busy, whether it’s working or making music or spending time with friends.”
Busy’s an understatement. In the coming months, Greenberg will appear in a number of high-profile projects, including Vice—alongside Bruce Willis—and working with his fiancée Jamie Chung on a series of projects. In fact, on the day DuJour spoke to Greenberg, who’s also started producing films, he was about to leave for Hong Kong to film a romantic comedy alongside his real life partner.
“I leave tomorrow to film It’s Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong,” he says. “And when I get there, it’ll be the next day already.”
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