PITTSBURGH — When Patrick Wilson attended Carnegie Mellon University in the early 1990s, he remembered hearing Holly Hunter and other famous alumni speak on campus and thinking about how long it would take to have a career like that.
"It seems so far away to have that kind of career, or at least still be doing what you love," Wilson recalled to the Post-Gazette. "And now I'm that guy and I've been that guy now for like 15 years. It's a good reminder when I go back [to CMU] to really try to teach students ... you still have to work hard.
"You're in charge of your career like you're in charge of getting up and going to class every day. You have to keep your foot on the pedal the whole time and that never changes."
Wilson is now 48 and has enjoyed a long, successful career on both the stage and screen. In his latest movie, "Moonfall," he stars as a disgraced astronaut who is recruited to help save Earth from being destroyed by its own moon. "Moonfall" is the latest disaster flick from Roland Emmerich, who also directed "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012."
It's a giant sci-fi epic full of conspiracy theories, large-scale destruction and seasoned actors like Wilson and Halle Berry trying to keep all the action grounded in human emotion.
When he's not up in space trying to keep the moon where it belongs, Wilson is back on Earth preparing to direct "Insidious 5," the latest chapter in a horror movie franchise dating back to 2010. Wilson said he has already had discussions with the film's casting director to ensure CMU students and alumni get a chance to audition for roles in "Insidious 5," just as he did for last year's "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It."
Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama is still a major presence in Wilson's life. He came back to Oakland in 2016 to direct a production of "The Fully Monty." Just as crucially as all the opportunities CMU has opened for him, though, is that it's where Wilson met fellow actor Dagmara Dominczyk, his wife of more than 15 years.
There was a time during the COVID-19 pandemic when Wilson was in Montreal filming "Moonfall" and Dominczyk was in Greece working on "The Lost Daughter," a Netflix awards-season contender. CMU's premiere power couple is clearly staying busy, and involved with their alma mater.
"Dag and I are as active as we can be, which is tough with COVID, of course," he said. "But I treasure my time there. I can't believe I've been out so long. I want to go back, and I hope to go back soon."
Wilson's on-screen filmography to this point is basically bookended by "Moonfall" and 2003's HBO miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner's play "Angels in America," in which he plays a closeted Mormon law clerk. He loves how relevant "Angels in America" remains and how it has resonated differently with him in every form and era in which he has seen it "because of where we were as a country."
The stark contrast between his roles in "Moonfall" and "Angels in America" underscores how Wilson approaches the parts he decides to take on.
"I love wacky little independent movies and adult dramas and a big ol' popcorn movie that just entertains people," he said. "I am a fan first. There's really something to be said at this point in my life, where the movies I have done have been big ... and that enables me to really not work the rest of the year because I would rather be with my family. If I'm going to get up and go work, it better be worth it."
Another priority for him in picking projects is "working with people you get along with," and he said Emmerich fit that bill by keeping his set light. "Moonfall" was also a chance for the actor to have some fun in the sci-fi genre. Wilson doesn't consider himself a huge space nerd, though he and his two brothers grew up on "Star Wars" and he tends to click on every article about the latest cosmic discoveries.
"I don't work in this — pun intended — space a lot, sci-fi or disaster movies," he said. "It was a much different feel and much different character. ... It's like playing a video game, but you're not watching the video game. You're just acting like you're playing a video game."
He has been in CGI-heavy blockbusters before, but "Moonfall" required him to place even more faith than usual in Emmerich's vision because he truly had no idea what the final film would look like. "We knew we were in good hands," he said.
Next up for Wilson is another massive undertaking: "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," the sequel to 2018's "Aquaman" in which he will reprise his role of Orm Marius, aka Ocean Master. That movie will mark Wilson's sixth collaboration with director James Wan, and he expects DCEU fans to really dig this one.
"If you thought Atlantis was cool, look at where we're going to go now," he said. "There's some really exciting stuff that James has planned. It was a real positive experience. We're all fortunate to be doing a second movie, and we had a good time even when we were fighting each other."
