The Look Book

Kevin Townley, Actor

"It’s really Diane Keaton chic."

By Amy Larocca
Published Sep 11, 2006

(Photo: Jake Chessum)

What are you doing today?
I’ve been taking a screenwriting class with Michael Showalter. A friend and I were at Barnes & Noble doing some reading for it. It’s a great class, but it’s made me realize that screenwriting is a huge, stressful undertaking, not just something you do when you’re not being cast. I think I’m going to just wait to be cast.

How’s that going?
I just had a small part in My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I played Eddie Izzard’s character in a high- school flashback. And I just finished a play, I’m in a band called Electric Fiction, and I perform with an improv group called Fancy Dragon.

Was My Super Ex-Girlfriend your first movie?
Yes. Ivan Reitman is still one of the great comedy directors. It was like going straight to Broadway.

How did you get into improv?
I remember seeing Waiting for Guffman and learning that the actors had only been given an outline. I was like, I could never do that. Except that maybe I could. I decided that it’s my dream to be in a Christopher Guest film and I’d better be ready if it happens.

Tell me about your style.
I guess it’s really Diane Keaton chic. When I saw Annie Hall, I was totally blown away, and I started dressing off-kilter right then. I decided to dress on the outside how I feel on the inside.

And how is that?
It’s mostly about layers. I had one teacher who told me that real intelligence is finding connections between seemingly unrelated things. That’s what I do with my layering.