What do a pioneering sexologist, a pornographic filmmaker, a chess grandmaster, a member of a political family dynasty and the creator of “Monday Night Football” have in common? Actor Peter Sarsgaard has played them all. (Clyde Martin, Chuck Traynor, William Lombardy, Robert F. Kennedy and Roone Arledge, respectively.)
Known for his versatility and understated performances, the part-time Vermonter has portrayed complex characters of all stripes, including many real people, some of whom were still alive when the films were released. He also appeared in the 2020 Vermont-made film Best Summer Ever, which was produced by Zeno Mountain Farm, a Lincoln nonprofit that creates movies and stage plays at camps for various groups, including people with disabilities and those who live with addiction. His wife, actor and director Maggie Gyllenhaal, was also a producer on the project.
Relatively early in his career, Sarsgaard played Chuck Lane, the real-life editor of the New Republic, in Billy Ray’s 2003 film Shattered Glass. The story focuses on disgraced journalist Stephen Glass, who was found to have partially or completely fabricated more than half of his stories for the magazine between 1995 and 1998. It was fake news before we had a name for it.
But Glass wasn’t politically motivated like the authors of made-up articles often plastered across social media platforms. He only wanted to appear cute, funny, smart, daring and interesting — just like the users of those platforms. In the modern age, everyone’s a little bit like Glass.
With journalism in decline and authoritarianism on the rise, not to mention the proliferation of reality-distorting AI software, Shattered Glass is a good starting point for conversations about transparency, ethics and storytelling. To kick off this year’s Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, Sarsgaard will appear at a special screening of the film, followed by a Q&A, on Friday, August 15, at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury.
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In advance of that event, Seven Days caught up with Sarsgaard on Zoom.
What draws you to a festival like this one?
Well, I really believe in general in participating on a local level. I think too many of us are distracted by everything national and international these days. I’ve always felt like the most I could contribute was in the areas around me. I’ve done that with causes that I’ve been a part of but also just in terms of meeting the artists that are local and trying to form those communities — and to get people excited about cinema.
I think the fight — if it’s a fight — is between these movies that are smaller and more intimate and maybe make you feel bad occasionally and the space-out genre, which has the most money in it and is in every theater. So, I’m proselytizing cinema.
It’s been the responsibility of every generation to have the cheerleader of the thing that is intimate, potentially difficult and ultimately rewarding, or funny in a way that can make you feel uncomfortable. But you know, all those more nuanced, interesting things that art has to offer require cheerleaders because they don’t have advertisers.
How is Shattered Glass relevant to things happening today?
If you want to look beyond journalism: The human species, of which I’m a part, is easily distracted by the brightest, shiniest things. Many of those things are not based in reality, like the piece of news that seems the most exciting.
But our need for a good narrative can’t drive the information. Our innate ability to tell a good yarn has been stretched beyond belief over the internet. This story was ultimately about a guy who was the most popular guy at the magazine, and he wrote the stories that were the shiniest and brightest and most entertaining and weirdest and the ones that were, frankly, more exciting to read.
Chuck Lane had a very strong understanding of why journalism is important in a society and how dangerous someone like Stephen Glass could be. I think that the story is incredibly relevant. I think we all hopefully understand that this is what’s happening. I feel like I participate, in a negative way, daily by latching on to the most sensational and outrageous, which is of course the way that authoritarians deal with us — by keeping our attention focused on the stuff that doesn’t matter while they’re robbing the bank.
That’s why I wanted the story to be seen. It’s not because it’s my favorite performance I ever gave or anything like that.
For a story about sensationalism, it isn’t told in an especially sensationalized way.
It was super straight. I would say even the way that the story is put together is never fancy. The people are standing against blank walls as it would have looked with the lighting it would have had and a camera that was never making you aware of what it was doing — not like, “Look at this long, cool oner.” It was very, very simple.
In addition to playing Chuck Lane, you’ve portrayed many other real people. How do you prepare to take on a real person, especially someone who is still alive? How does it differ from creating a character from scratch?
It is different. Honestly, it feels more like I have homework. Whereas when I play a person that’s from scratch, as you say, that is a process that happens so easily for me. I’ve always been a serious daydreamer. When I was a kid, people would apparently be talking to me for a long time while I was daydreaming. And I’m still someone who is very in touch with the daydream side of me. That’s how I work most of the time.
When I’m playing a real-life person, especially if they’re famous, I feel like I have to nod toward it somehow. Like, when I played Robert F. Kennedy, I didn’t worry about it that much. It’s sort of the last 20 percent for me. Accents and stuff like that — I’m a pretty musical person. That doesn’t feel like a big deal. It’s not like I think I do it super well, but I don’t worry about it that much.
When the person is still alive, it’s tough. Chuck Lane came to set, and he watched me do it. And he was great. He was always pleased.
Can you talk about your connection with Zeno Mountain Farm?
Well, they’re great friends of ours. We’ve known them a long time. We’ve been coming to see the plays for a while. It’s some of the most exciting theatrical experiences I’ve had. The audience is standing up and yelling and clapping their hands. It’s made with such grace over there. It actually makes you want to be a part of it.
So when they asked us to participate in Best Summer Ever, it was a no-brainer. They’re always expanding their operations. They’re the kind of people that we need more of. It’s like how I was talking about doing things that benefit your community. Those are connections I really am interested in building. I’m hoping to be in one of the plays one year. And we’ve been talking about having me do some type of acting workshop.
I see that you will appear in the upcoming Apple TV+ adaptation of William Gibson’s Neuromancer, which had always been called unfilmable. What can you say about it?
Well, I just finished it two days ago in London. I think it’s pretty cool. I’m in my own world, in a way. That’s all I’ll say about my character. And I think it’s incredibly relevant and interesting. I did it largely because I read the book in the ’80s when I was a kid. I think, for a lot of people, it’s less about what happens narratively than the explosion of language, the vibe. It’s bombastic and wild and punk and irreverent, and I think that’s what we took.
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
An Evening With Peter Sarsgaard, Friday, August 15, 6 p.m., at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. $65-95. middfilmfest.org
The original print version of this article was headlined “Breaking Point | Before kicking off the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, actor Peter Sarsgaard reflects on Shattered Glass, playing real people and building community”
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2025.
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