Patricia Clarkson and Chris Cooper in Married Life Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Were there any adjustment problems going back and forth?
The two production companies worked out a schedule where I could fly up from Arizona to Vancover when I had any time off on The Kingdom to work on Married Life. And I was very fortunate that on those trips back and forth, I was able for the first portion to concentrate on working with Pierce and the second time to work with Patty and then Rachel. It was an unusual way of working, but it worked. But I really like to do one job at a time and then I like to go back home, be with my wife and recuperate before I find another project. That makes sense to me. I don't like doing one after another or combining.

Being so cautious about scripts, what are you looking to jump out to you as you're reading them?
It's both the story and the character. I've been labeled as this big character actor and that's fine. I certainly do not want to virtually repeat myself time after time. I guess there are actors whose general make-up you want to see time and time again because they are just very entertaining but, you know, I don't feel that comfortable. I guess I suffer from the insecurity of thinking that perhaps I wouldn't be that interesting playing myself time and time again. I like the challenge, for instance, of a film like Seabiscuit, where this guy was 15, 20 years older than me. I know who the studio first approached and those guys are 15 and 20 years older and fortunately, for whatever reason, it came down to me after they passed on it. Very scary, but a great challenge. And if I'm going to spend this much energy and time in a production, away from home, away from my wife, I want it to be worth my while.

Is it just coincidence that you've played so many military men?
I have a military background — I was in the US Coastguard. But that whole thing is just how the industry works. Go back a little while, when I was doing October Sky with Jake Gyllenhaal — for six months or a year after that, all I got offered was these "mean father" roles. After The Bourne Identity, it was CIA or FBI guys. As far as the military thing, it's just what comes my way. With Jarhead, Sam Mendes just gave me a call and asked if I would help him out. That was really only two scenes, maybe four days worth of shooting. [My character in Jarhead] is a pretty stereotypical military guy, but it was at the last minute and I was just helping Sam out. I understand that they call it show business and that people are hesitant to take a chance, so they rely on what they've seen before.

But the role you won the Oscar for, John Laroche in Adaptation, was quite unlike any you'd ever played before.
I will be forever grateful to Spike Jonze. He really went out on a limb for me. The audition process for that was so interesting. I loved that script and that character so much and I saw so many possibilities in the way I could play him, that I did about an hour and 45 minutes audition with Spike, pleading with him to give me the time to show him different interpretations. It was one of those scripts where I just saw too many possibilities. With most auditions, you're lucky to get a second reading. But we worked on four or five scenes and I gave him three or four different interpretations for each and he had it all on video. I think that was one of the more… not comical but there was a dry humour to the character and a quirky side to him that, for a piece that I've received the most recognition for, none of my other characters are like that.

With Breach, some bigger names tried to muscle in on the project. Is that a problem you've had on other films?
No, it's not a problem, it's just in that particular instance, I got the script early and whether it was in the trade papers or whatever, talking about how good the script was, I knew that bigger names were going to try and jump on it. I'm not a person who calls, but in this case I did. I called the head of Universal who was at that time Stacey Snider and I said to her, "I know the bigger names are knocking on your door and if you choose to go with a bigger name, just understand that I understand." But she stayed with me and [director] Billy Ray had a voice in it and he said, "No, I want to work with Chris."