Thomas Lennon swears he can make you the best grilled cheese of your life—provided you don’t care about living past the experience. “It’s Velveeta on Wonder Bread,” he says, eyes twinkling, “with an entire stick of Irish butter. For one sandwich. No doctor would tell you to eat it, but it’ll be magnificent.” That’s the same energy he brings to his acting: unapologetic, a little dangerous, and fully aware of the absurdity.
In Chosen Family, Lennon plays a restaurant owner in Heather Graham’s latest romantic comedy. It’s his second time working with her, and he swears she’s one of the rare directors who knows how to bottle chaos. “Heather creates environments where funny things just happen,” he says. He points to their first collaboration, Half Magic, and a disastrous, improvised love scene with Angela Kinsey. “At the end, I said, ‘I’m so sorry you didn’t come.’ And she says, ‘I’m so sorry you didn’t.’ It’s one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever been in, and it wasn’t in the script. That’s Heather—she surrounds herself with funny people and lets the scene breathe.”
The new film is a rom-com that looks big on screen, but Lennon says the production was as indie as it gets: living at an airport hotel, wearing his own clothes half the time, and grabbing drone shots in Providence when the opportunity presented itself. “It’s a beautiful little corner of the industry,” he says. “These are grassroots movies—people in a van with a box making a movie—and I love them.”
Lennon’s career has ricocheted between big studio gigs (including writing animated films for DreamWorks) and the smallest of horror movies. The throughline is that he doesn’t wait for permission. “Waiting for someone to tell you your idea’s great? It’s not coming. No one’s going to say when to go. You just have to start doing it.” That ethos dates back to his days with The State, and it’s how he’s still working now, sometimes in movies that may never see daylight. “That’s the joy. You’ve got to like being in this.”
Music is never far from the conversation. Lennon can rattle off his favorite Prince (“Never Take the Place of Your Man”), Bowie (“Life on Mars”), and R.E.M. (“Don’t Go Back to Rockville”) without hesitation. The Smiths? That’s more complicated. With bassist Andy Rourke gone, Lennon says there’s no true reunion possible, and he’s fine with that. “Some people you just can’t be around anymore in your life, and that’s okay. I don’t need the Gallaghers getting along either. What’s the point? If I’m going to see the Brian Jonestown Massacre, it’s not for it to work out great.”
In Chosen Family, his character may serve food, but Lennon’s specialty remains serving deadpan honesty with just enough heart to keep you wondering if he’s joking. Like his grilled cheese, it’s a dangerous combination—but you’ll want seconds.
Watch the full interview above and then check out the trailer below.
