As it turns out, Coulson wasn't quite dead yet. Gregg (as Coulson) will headline the new "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." television series this fall, which Gregg spoke about in detail -- well, at least as much detail as the always secretive Marvel would allow -- in our chat this past weekend.
But, first, Gregg is at New York's Tribeca Film Festival in support of "Trust Me," a movie that he wrote, directed and starred in. He plays Howard, a low-rent former child star who now specializes in representing child stars. Howard lucks out when he discovers Lydia (13-year-old newcomer Saxon Sharbino), who just may be the next big thing -- but who also may take Howard down a dark path he never envisioned.
I met Gregg in a very crowded Manhattan hotel lobby -- so crowded that Gregg suggested we take some chairs outside, because a Manhattan sidewalk was better suited for an interview than the "zoo" of that lobby. Along with the understandably shy but delightful Sharbino, we discussed "Trust Me," the return of Agent Coulson and how Gregg was almost in "The Untouchables."
"Trust Me" has a tonal shift I wasn't expecting.
I thought I was writing a goofy comedy about the business ...
Is that really how it works? Then it becomes something else at the end?
I mean, I don't feel like it changes at the end. I feel like there's a gradually evolving darker component. But, yeah, it came blazing out of me, and I realized when I read it back, "Oh, this is different." This is representative of my ambivalent feelings that I have about Hollywood and about kind of the distorted concept of stardom. Especially in this celebrity-obsessed moment.