Pieces of Oliver Platt

Character actor Oliver Platt is best known for his memorable supporting roles in films like Doctor Dolittle or TV's The West Wing. However, there's one thing this 43-year-old is not known for: a svelte figure. Has he ever lost a part just for being a big guy?

"Because I'm fat?" Platt laughs. "I must encounter a certain amount of prejudice in the casting process I would imagine, but that's not rocket science.

"I did this big silly wrestling movie, which I actually loved, called Ready to Rumble," he continues. "I wanted to lose weight [for the part]. But [me] getting chiseled? I don't think it is in the cards. I am what I am."

Body image aside, Platt's fans may be surprised to see him turn in a different kind of performance in Pieces of April (opening Friday). In this quirky ensemble drama, the usually outspoken Platt plays a mild-mannered father. His task? To reconcile his dying wife (Patricia Clarkson) and their estranged daughter (Dawson's Creeker Katie Holmes) on Thanksgiving. Talk about drama.

"I [often] play characters who tend to run their mouths and just be glib," he admits. "This guy accomplished what he accomplished, and his power and strength came just as much from the things that he didn't say as the things that he did. That's a really interesting thing for an actor to play.

"It is also a rare script where that kind of role is written," he elaborates. "The character, if you really get clinical about it, is kind of quietly driving the movie. There would be no movie if there wasn't one person who had the wisdom to know that his wife and daughter needed to see each other before one of them checked out. He's like a salmon going upstream; he's keeping that car moving down the road."