When Luke Wilson was a child, he always tagged along with his two older brothers. “I think that definitely informed who I am,” he says in his slow Texas-inflected drawl.
“My mom has these really funny pictures of me when I was a kid of 3 or 4, and my legs would be covered with chigger bites. That was because I’d have to stand or sit in the grass while the guys played. They had games I was too young to play, so I’d get eaten up by chiggers.”
Wilson has always been shy. “When I first came out here to go to college at Occidental, I was beyond painfully shy, and couldn’t meet anybody. Forget meeting a girl — I couldn’t even make a friend. I’d been brought up (to think) my brothers’ friends were my friends.
“I went to one school for five years and another school for eight years, and knew all the same people. So when I got away from those people, I didn’t know how to (be social),” he says during an interview in Pasadena.
Wilson’s brothers are actors Andrew Wilson and Owen Wilson. “I never would’ve been called a shy kid up to that point, but I think having two older brothers and being a part of that kind of pack, I became a good athlete. So I could be around those guys, (and) I could get picked for a team,” he says.
“I started trying to be funny and maybe get those guys to laugh. And if I could imitate (some) guy and they thought it was funny, they’d keep me around.
“It’s kind of the same in this business,” he continues. “If (I) do a good enough job, they won’t mind if I’m around. I just kind of wanted to be around those guys.”
Wilson has been hanging around, acting in movies and shows such as “Enlightened,” “Old School” and “Legally Blonde.” He says his latest role — playing the backstage tour manager of an arena-level band in Showtime’s “Roadies” — reflects a part of his own life.
“The funny thing about ‘Roadies’ is the familial aspect of a crew. That’s one of the things that’s kept me acting. I enjoy being around crews and enjoy seeing what a cinematographer is doing, or a good production designer or another actor. It’s kept me occupied for over 20 years now,” he says.
Wilson, 44, is not sure he truly belongs where he is. “It’s something I think I have a natural ability to do, and there are other aspects of me that think, ‘Wow, I’m just winging this.’ I know who Stanislavski is, but I certainly haven’t studied him.”
It wasn’t a passion for acting that made him long to work in Hollywood. It was his keen interest in film.
He says, “What I spent my time doing was going to movies and reading about movies. I would’ve been happy being on a crew. I really like movie stars. I love Jack Nicholson, and Di Caprio seems like a movie star to me. I loved character actors — guys like Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton. I feel more kinship with those guys because I don’t feel comfortable being the center of things.
“Look no further than my own brother, Owen. I can see the pressure (with) even something like ‘Zoolander 2.’ You feel for guys like him and Ben Stiller because they’re operating at a level where the stakes are so high. They’re at the forefront of a huge company, a lot of pressure. I wish he could have more bombs like me. Then he could relax a little.
“I just think I’ve been able to work on things and do a good enough job to get hired for other things,” he continues.” But as I get older, I do put more thought into it. I like the idea of doing (“Roadies”) for four months and nine more episodes,” he says.
He didn’t have to audition for the role in “Roadies,” which premiered June 26 (10 p.m. Sundays). “I’ve known (creator) Cameron Crowe since I first got to town. He was working for James L. Brooks, and me and my brothers and Wes Anderson were working on our first movie, ‘Bottle Rocket.’
“So we’re in the same building. We know Cameron is the ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ and the ‘Say Anything’ guy, which we loved. …
“And Cameron said, ‘Hollywood’s great. This is going to be incredible, just great people!’ And then you find out, well, it’s not all great people. But to be in this one building with these great, great guys that we were already fans of. … So Cameron and I … would see each other over the years, and I remained a fan of his movies.
“I think he knew that music was something I spent my spare time reading about. It was just what I like to do. I like to read about musicians and bands, directors and artists. And it’s one of the few things that I kind of knew a lot about.”
