In the grip of acting

The long, tall, rough-voiced appeal of John Hawkes -- a kind of sad, drifter charm -- is getting quite a workout these days. Hot on the heels of the second-season close of HBO’s “Deadwood,” in which Hawkes plays merchant Sol Star without the cliched bookishness usually given portrayals of Jews in westerns, he’s in writer-director Miranda July’s award-winning indie “Me and You and Everyone We Know” and has just wrapped a role in the “Miami Vice” movie. The Minnesota native is also a longtime singer-songwriter, now one-third of a folk outfit called King Straggler that just released a self-titled CD. At the Highland Grounds recently, Hawkes took a breather from his schedule to talk about the various outlets keeping him busy these days.

Although there are lots of stories in “Me and You,” it’s anchored by the nervous courtship between your single-dad shoe salesman and Miranda July’s lonely artist. What do you think the movie has to say about modern relationships?

I think it’s about people having courage enough to risk failure and heartbreak. I think everyone is searching for a way to feel more whole and feel the beauty that can happen when you get outside of yourself and risk it with someone else.

You don’t get too many starring roles or love stories.

I felt like it was one of those roles that you get to do every 10 or 15 years. It didn’t look like it was going to happen for a couple of months. I had a scheduling conflict. I was inconsolable, beside myself with grief. But I finished this movie called “The Moguls” on a Friday, started Miranda’s movie on a Monday, shot for two weeks, and then started [Season 2 of] “Deadwood” the next Monday.

You wear a suit uneasily in the film. Is that as much you as the character?

You know, a shirt with buttons is like a tuxedo to me. [Laughs] I’m not the greatest at style. I’m dating someone right now who’s in that business, and she helps me out.

What does she tell you?

I was working in Miami a couple of weeks ago, and I brought stuff I thought would impress her, kinda nice stuff. And she said, “T-shirt and jeans, baby. T-shirt and jeans.” [Laughs] Which was great, ‘cause that’s what I normally wear. What did Gilda Radner say? “My definition of good fashion is anything that looks good wrinkled.”

King Straggler recently played Deadwood, S.D., at a music festival. How was it?

I just really love the people there, the physical beauty of the place. I’ve been a couple of times before. I understand why it was a curative in the late 19th century.

You’re not Jewish, but do people assume you are because of Sol?

[Nods.] In Deadwood, there was this cowboy guy with a Star of David tattooed on, and he was really cool. He was like, “Representin’ the tribe!” I said, “Right on!” I didn’t want to break the guy’s heart.

Sol became mayor of Deadwood eventually. Think we’ll see you take command someday on the show?

I hope it gives me some staying power, but you never know. The thing that fascinates me so much is that he and Seth Bullock were great businessmen, and to be a businessman was a very honorable pursuit, noble and looked up to by people. There was still an integrity about American business at that time. And they were guys who could take care of themselves outdoors in the wild. They had what they called in Deadwood “sand.” Grit and sand.

How did you hit upon acting?

I quit wrestling. I was a wrestler from the time I was 3 years old, and by the time I was in junior high I was qualifying for the nationals, AAU level. But by high school I was still tiny, and I didn’t get along with a coach real well. I got the first thing I auditioned for and loved it and suddenly had a new home.

Is there a connection between wrestling and acting?

Wrestling is very theatrical. If you think about it, it’s two guys, no ball, no sticks or bats. It’s very much of an improv that goes on in front of people. It kind of prepared me, discipline-wise.

-- Robert Abele