Paul Walter Hauser says his 'Americana' character is man out of time

UPI

2 days ago

1 of 3 | Paul Walter Hauser and Syney Sweeney star in the film "Americana," opening in theaters on Friday. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate
NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Naked Gun actor Paul Walter Hauser says Lefty, the character he plays in the contemporary western Americana, is a man out of time.
"If you look at a guy like me or any doughy actor from past or present, there are different assumptions or connotations that are kind of obvious," the 38-year-old Golden Globe- and Emmy-winner told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"When you're a bigger guy, there's a little bit of sadness," he said. "You probably don't feel the same about yourself as those who are maybe healthier or classically attractive in a different way and I think that that was something to connect on, but then, also, some people feel like they're born in the wrong time period and I feel like this guy would have thrived in the early 20th century and I don't think he thrives in 2025."
Hauser said he thinks there are probably a lot of people in rural America who will relate to Lefty.
He's charming and disarming. Paul Walter Hauser is Lefty Ledbetter in #AmericanaMovie - in theaters August 15. pic.twitter.com/DuK93X63Mv— lionsgate (@Lionsgate) July 28, 2025
"People that work on farms or want to have a simple life," he said. "It's almost as if life in the current period does not allow one to be simple, less they get left behind or totally excluded somehow."
Writer-director Tony Tost's feature film directorial debut opens in theaters on Friday. It follows several colorful characters in pursuit of a valuable Native American artifact across South Dakota.
Aside from the fact that he doesn't have someone special with whom to share his life, Lefty is quiet, law-abiding and content.
His world is turned upside-down, however, when sweet, stuttering diner waitress Penny Jo (Sydney Sweeney) asks him to help her steal the Indian ghost shirt so she can finance a trip to Nashville, where she hopes to become a famous singer.
"There's sort of an old-school chivalry and 'aw-shucks' nature about him that is probably attracted to the plight of any woman, either needing a coat in the colder climates, or needing help with heist, as it were," Hauser said of Lefty, who just takes it on faith that Penny Jo can carry a tune. "It was very much the perfect storm for him to get involved."
Lefty also isn't a man accustomed to having his affection or interest returned.
Sydney Sweeney is Penny Jo in #AmericanaMovie - in theaters this Friday. pic.twitter.com/e9u9mtnZcC— lionsgate (@Lionsgate) August 13, 2025
"So, the fact that she's reciprocating in any manner [is appealing],' Hauser said.
"Rather than him saying to a woman, 'I need you,' she's kind of saying to him, 'I could use you for this. I need you.' And that's probably a very big pull for him."
Hauser said Euphoria and The White Lotus alum Sweeney was a great collaborator and easy to work with.
"She asked questions and then was an ideal dance partner," he explained.
"I found her to be unintentionally and probably unconsciously intimidating, but it's just because she seems very sure of herself and she had a lot to impart there," Hauser added. "There's a lot of -- not Jeopardy! knowledge -- but like real-life world knowledge that she would share in an instant. I was like, 'Oh, wow, she's way more confident and way smarter than I am.'"
Tost said it was obvious Hauser and Sweeney enjoyed working together.
"They had really authentic chemistry together," Tost said.
"You wouldn't imagine that she's a rising Hollywood starlet by how she conducts herself," he added. "She conducts herself very much like, 'I'm here to work.' From the first take, she's pretty dialed in. She's really open to the direction. She's really well-prepared and is just incredibly low-maintenance and very, very gifted."
Tost said he was excited to put a fresh spin on American archetypes in his first movie.
"I love the western. I'm a small-town, rural person myself and, so, I kind of wanted to Just evoke these figures that I love that were both in my childhood, as someone who watched Clint Eastwood movies, Burt Reynolds movies, grew up on pro wrestling, country music," Tost said.
"There's a certain texture or tenor to these characters, but I also wanted to look at them from a modern-day lens."
Exploring how these archetypes do or don't fit into a contemporary setting was important, too.
"That's kind of the inspiration -- how can I take the realities of today and these archetypes from American culture, or from Western mythology, and kind of fuse them together?" Tost said.
You can call him Ghost Eye. #AmericanaMovie - in theaters August 15. pic.twitter.com/afHQ6y0rRN— lionsgate (@Lionsgate) July 31, 2025
Working as a writer on the beloved TV series, Longmire, was good training for this film.
It also introduced Tost to actor Zahn McClarnon, who co-stars in Americana, along with Halsey, Eric Dane and Simon Rex.
"I knew Zahn was one of the very best actors going, a really cool guy and, so, I wrote that role for him, but also being in that Longmire takes place in Wyoming, bordering on a fictional Cheyenne reservation. I grew up next to the Muckleshoot Indian reservation in Washington state," Tost said.
"For my first film, it made sense to me to be in the storytelling arena space that I feel comfortable in, that I still love and that I didn't feel like I've exhausted yet."