Jason Schwartzman got noticed by Hollywood and most audiences when, at 18, he starred as the lead in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. Since then, he’s been steadily working as an actor, screenwriter, and musician (Phantom Planet, Coconut Records). He’s also part of the Coppola clan, as he’s the son of actor Talia Shire and producer Mark Schwartzman.
As an actor, Schwartzman is sweet, charming, and goofy. He can look like someone who has a happy-go-lucky attitude, but in many roles, he has shown hidden anguish and a prickly demeanor that can give his characters many more dimensions and layers. Schwartzmann has an eclectic career that mixes all kinds of projects. He can be the lead (Spun, I Heart Huckabees), he can play role characters (Marie Antoinette), he can be a voice actor (Klaus,Neo Yokio), and, in the last decade, he’s also been part of some amazing tTV shows (Fargo, Mozart in the Jungle). He has played many characters, but for us, these are Jason Schwartzman’s best performances, ranked:
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6 The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Three brothers travel across India by train, attempting to bond with each other. That’s it. That’s the story of The Darjeeling Limited. But, the film is so much more. It’s a story about bad tourism and fake experiences during travel. It’s a story about the memories we have of our fathers. And, especially, it’s a story about brothers, and how even as adults, they keep having the same dynamics and arguments as they did when they were kids. The film also is about the strange love-hate relationship between them, as they know each other too well.
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Schwartzman wrote the script with Wes Anderson, and his cousin Roman Coppolla. He plays Jack, the youngest sibling, and writer. All three brothers are a mess, and his character is no different. Still reeling from a breakup (shown in the short Hotel Chevalier), his character is lost, while trying to find common ground with his brothers. His performance is understated and gets us to empathize with him.
5 Listen Up Philip (2014)
Tribeca Film
Listen Up Phillip is a movie about a novelist (Schwartzman) whose own success has gone to his head. The buzz for his still-unreleased second novel is not good, and he’s feeling anxious. Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce), an older writer and Philip’s idol, offers him his isolated summer house to relax where he can think about his life, actions, and relationship with his photographer girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss).
As Philip, Schwartzman shows that his charm can be weaponized, as he becomes a narcissistic, neurotic, insufferable, snippy, guy. He pulls it off brilliantly. According to Complex, Schwartzman explained why he ended up playing this prickly character: “That was kind of exciting to me, that it felt like a different thing. I felt like I was reading something… that felt more uncommon.”
4 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
Universal Pictures
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a bass player without much ambition, until he sees Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in his dreams, and falls madly in love with her. Unfortunately, her exes want to destroy him.
InScott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Edgar Wright delivers a mesh of genres and formats that combine comic books, indie music, and video game fights. It’s so unique in style that there’s going to be an anime series about the movie. Schwartzman plays, in video game parlance, the final boss. He’s Ramona’s most insufferable ex-boyfriend, and the last obstacle for Scott to defeat in order to win her heart. Schwartzman has a lot of fun being an awful person and toxic boyfriend, that’s all fake-smiles and is comically evil (his fury as he just swallowed gum is still one of the biggest laughs of the movie). The cast had such a fun time shooting the film that they did a table read reunion for the 10th anniversary.
Here’s Every Edgar Wright Film, Ranked
3 Bored to Death (2009)
HBO
A struggling writer decides to moonlight as an almost private detective, following the methods he has read in his favorite detective novels. He’s not very good at it. He’s not cynical, but sweet, prefers rosé to bourbon, and has never been in a fight.
This procedural-literary-detective-comedy was Schwartzman’s first role on TV. He played Jonathan Ames as a sweet, goofy writer who prefers the idea of being a detective to his real life. Bored to Death was a weird show that had a lot of heart. Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis acted alongside him. The trio were so fun together and complemented each other’s energies so well that we’re still hoping for a new project for the three of them to reunite.
2 The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
20th Century Fox
The Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of the best stop-motion animated movies ever, and Wes Anderson’s first entry into this world. In the film, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) has promised his wife that he’ll stop stealing. But, his past follows him everywhere. This animated gem might be Clooney’s most imaginative caper film (and that’s saying a lot).
The voice cast is stacked, but it’s Schwartzman who stands out the most as Ash, Mr. Fox’s son. His empathetic performance, full of enthusiasm, and quirky line reading make his character the heart of one of Roald Dahl’s best movie adaptations.
All 10 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked
1 Rushmore (1998)
Buena Vista Pictures
Max (Schwartzman), an over-achieving, ambitious, sincere student, falls in love with one of his teachers. As he’s still young and all that feels new, he asks Herman (Bill Murray), the father of some schoolmates, for advice on how to win her attention. The movie becomes a competition between both to win the teacher’s heart.
Rushmore was Schwartzman’s first role, and it’s still his best. In it, he shows he can be sweet, romantic, and lovely, but also obsessed, mean, and furious. A whole buffet of emotions to draw from, and he nails every one of them. Going toe-to-toe with Bill Murray is not an easy task for anyone, and even less for a newbie, but he succeeds. It may be in part because he was very much like the character. In Dazed, Schwartzman explained that he got to audition because they were looking for someone who was a playwright and in love with an older woman, and at the time he was both.
