Inside Paul Giamatti’s Career: Sideways, John Adams and Black Mirror

Photographs document important moments in our lives, though only from one perspective: Faces are sometimes obscured, or details left just outside of frame. In “Eulogy,” a poignant episode from Black Mirror’s seventh season, they become literal gateways into a man’s memories. The main character, Phillip, learns of the death of a person who once played a significant role in his life. With the help of a cutting-edge piece of technology, he is able to step into old photographs to try and recall the details from a time he thought he’d long left behind. 

Phillip is played by Oscar–nominated and Emmy–winning actor Paul Giamatti, who was already eager to join the Black Mirror universe as a fan of Charlie Brooker’s anthology series, and especially excited to take on the lead role in this moving installment. “I thought it was one of the best things I’d read in a long time. It was like a two-person play,” he tells Tudum, referring to his character’s relationship to the computerized guide who narrates his journey into the past. “It particularly reminded me of certain kinds of Twilight Zone [episodes] that are more heartfelt, or gentler.” 

Giamatti’s work in Black Mirror is another entry in a decades-long list of career highlights. He led two Alexander Payne films, first as a wine enthusiast and aspiring writer in Sideways (2004) and later as a curmudgeonly 1970s prep school teacher in The Holdovers (2023), with both films earning Oscar Best Picture nominations. Giamatti’s Emmy came for his transcendent performance as Founding Father John Adams in the eponymous 2008 miniseries, directed by Tom Hooper and co-produced by Tom Hanks.

Giamatti has also brought humor and heart to a number of independent films, including Tamara Jenkins’ Private Life (2018), playing a husband navigating the painful, sometimes funny, often frustrating journey of infertility. Then, there’s Bruce Paltrow’s Duets (2000), in which he stars as a disillusioned salesman who hits the road and discovers camaraderie and joy in the art of karaoke.  

His output has been full of rich character work, incredible experiences with filmmaking legends, and creative relationships that have endured. We asked him to step into photographs from his own past — specifically, from projects he’s worked on over the years — and share his recollections of the moments that have made up a celebrated life in acting.

Duets

We were in the desert, outside of Las Vegas. We were shooting a scene where I first pick up [the character Reggie, played by the late Andre Braugher] when he’s hitchhiking. They had me driving the car a lot of the time and doing these really dangerous stunts that I remember thinking, ‘Is this normal that I should be doing this?’ But it was really fun. I remember this was the first scene he and I had together. I loved working with him. It was very special because the movie has these separate stories. And they filmed all of them separately, so it was like a series of little short films then edited together. It was two weeks of just me and Andre. He was a very serious and intimidating guy at first, but once you got to know him, very funny. It’s one of my favorite experiences working with another actor, and the stuff we got to sing together was so much fun to do.

Sideways

I feel like this was early on in the shooting of the film. We were in an actual winery. Tom [Haden Church] is uncharacteristically serious in this picture. It makes no sense because he was always screwing around. That’s [director] Alexander [Payne] in the blue shirt right there. The interesting thing here to point out is that Alexander doesn’t use a monitor, which most directors use. He’s always just standing right by the camera, and he’s never away from you. The thing I did was hang out with a couple of wine people to study what they do, to study the mannerisms and to just be around the people. I don’t know anything about wine. I didn’t know then, and I still don’t. Tom knew more about wine than I did.

The Holdovers

I look a lot older [than I did when we worked on Sideways]. [Payne] looks the same. It didn’t feel like 20 years had gone by at all. It’s always a very intimate feeling with him. That’s an old convent that was empty that was used for movies to film in, right in the middle of Boston. It was really cold. Freezing, actually. But the problem is the heating made an incredible amount of noise when they could actually get it going — the big, clanking pipes. I think they maybe even used that sound in the movie at some point. I can remember shooting this, and [Da’Vine Joy Randolph] was very surprised by where it was going and how he was directing her. And she’s wonderful in it.

John Adams

Wow. We’re obviously overplaying how excited we are. I can remember running into [Stephen Colbert] and it being problematic for our publicists, because every time I see him, we start talking about nerdy science fiction stuff, and they want to get us moving along. Yeah, that John Adams thing was great. I spent a lot of time with [producer Tom Hanks]; I remember he and I went to Congress to screen one of the episodes. They were all so excited to have Tom Hanks there. Nobody’s more American than Tom Hanks, and hanging out and watching an episode of John Adams being screened for Congress — it was a very interesting event.

Private Life

I think this is one of the best movies I’ve been in, and I always feel very sad that it didn’t get seen enough. That’s [director] Tamara [Jenkins] there, who’s amazing. Who knows what the hell we’re talking about. I’ve known her for a long time, she’s a friend of mine, so God knows what the hell she was telling me to do. It makes it easy [making a film with a friend]. You worry a little bit that maybe it won’t be, or maybe you’ll get in a weird fight and it’ll end your friendship. She was great, though, and she really wrote something sort of with me in mind, I think. So the whole thing felt very easy and smooth.