Giovanni Ribisi finds 'Hemingway' in Cuba

Giovanni Ribisi is one of those actors who just seems to pop up in everything.

OK, maybe not everything, but he does have 90 acting credits to his name, including “Saving Private Ryan,” “Ted” and an Emmy-nominated stint on “My Name Is Earl.”

His latest role is playing a journalist who befriends Ernest Hemingway in “Papa: Hemingway in Cuba,” which opens Friday, April 29.

The cast traveled to Cuba to make the film — the first Hollywood production shot in the country since the revolution of 1959. Ribisi, 41, talks about the experience.

Question: What was shooting in Cuba like?

Answer: I always wanted to go to Cuba growing up. It was this fascinating, forbidden country that seemed to have a lot of politics and folklore and history behind it. It was definitely one of the reasons I was so interested in doing the movie, aside from the fact that we were shooting at Hemingway’s house.

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Q: Was it surprising?

A: I don’t want to say culture shock, but you have no idea what to expect. I think all of us really embraced it.

Q: Visitors talk about the people there being so warm and open. Was that your experience?

A: Oh my God, yes. For me, that was the most rewarding facet of being there, the culture and people, just understanding their value system, or glimpsing their values being so diametrically opposed to what we’re used to in America. I think they’ve been so deprived of the worldly possessions that we place so much value on. There’s a certain joy in family and life that was refreshing. It was illuminating, really.

Q: Hemingway is still an icon there, right?

A: Sure, around that area. His house is located just outside of Havana. It’s preserved as a museum, so a lot of the original possessions are there. That was amazing. Being able to go and work in Cuba was one thing. But also to be in the house, it was really extraordinary. And to be making this film on the actual location, I’ve never done that before.

Q: Did that help you get into character, being in his actual home there?

A: Yeah, of course. It was also just this sense of being able to explore on a very intimate level this person that I’ve always adored, obviously, and learned from and read. It’s not just that but that era, that era of revolution. … There is an aspect of it that almost felt like a time warp. There’s a nostalgic part of me that wants that. But it was a privilege. It was an honor to be able to do that.

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Q: You have been in so many different things. Is there a method to how you choose a project?

A: There are so many different factors. It really depends on what speaks to you at that moment in your life. I think for me, the most important thing is definitely the script, but it’s also the director and certainly actors. Making a film can be one of the more rigorous things one does, and it becomes almost severe in the hours and this concentrated three-month, four-month period. All of that goes into deciding.

Q: And that was the case with this film?

A: For me, with this, it was really about this character’s exploration of a man who was this icon, and discovering Hemingway as the individual. I just thought that was fascinating, as well as I just really wanted to go to Cuba. It was an opportunity to do something I’d always wanted to do.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: twitter.com/goodyk.