Laura Linney and Philip Bosco in The Savages Andrew Schwartz/Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

Did this character make you really take pause and think a lot about your generation decades from now, your future, or [the prospect of] being taken care of?
Well, I'm not so worried about my getting older, as I am terrified about my parents getting older. I think most people are. It's sort of the inconceivable that will become conceivable. My parents are still very much alive, fortunately, but there are several people who I will be responsible for. I know it's my responsibility to help. So…I think it was after I'd made this movie, I sort of said to them: "Look, the greatest act of love you can do for me is to help me make all these decisions now, while you're still sane and I'm still sane. And it will be awkward and it might feel morbid, but at least we'll laugh about it." So there are files now and wills and codicils and wishes. All of that stuff has been sorted out a little bit more.

Another similarly themed recent movie is Away From Her. These are two movies that take on subjects that are a little hard for people to address. Was the attraction for you the sensitivity that is in the script, the drama with humor, or was it the cast that you were working with?
I would love to say it was all: the theme of the film and the issues about aging. And it wasn't. It was really the fact that it was the most actable script I had seen in a long time. For a script to be at that point so early in the process, ready to be executed into another medium, most of the time they're not. And I've been really lucky, cause there's been The Squid and the Whale and there's been Jindabyne and there's been You Can Count on Me and Kinsey. And they were all in good shape as well. And it jumps off the page immediately; you can see it the minute you start reading it. So it was really more about how much was there ready to go. As I was reading it, I was like: Oh, there's a lot in here. And there's a lot to actually do. There's a lot an actor can do to help fulfill the potential of the story.

What do you say to people who are reluctant to see a movie about dementia?
Well, I don't blame them. I can certainly understand that. Fortunately, I feel it's really a worthwhile and worthy experience. If it were completely sentimentalized, if it were completely harrowing, if it were unrelenting, that would not be a fun cinematic experience. I think that it's really a story about a brother and sister connecting. They're in a context which has issues that are unpleasant when you look at it, if it's just written down in a sentence on a page. But what they go through within their relationships, I feel is really worthwhile. And entertaining. I think they're so funny.