Life’s lessons not lost on ‘Holdovers’ star Paul Giamatti

On a winter morning, the man who might walk away with the best actor Oscar this year looks like the guy least ready for his close-up.

In a black shirt, black pants and an unassuming brown jacket, Paul Giamatti is that middle-aged guy who loves first-edition books and orders egg white omelets.

“Yes, I’m a geek. I’ve also been called an everyman, but there are so many everymen and everywomen out there who must identify with these movie roles,” he says.

At age 56, the actor says that good things come to those who wait. “Having a specific goal helps those good things happen,” he reasons. “All I ever wanted was to be a working actor — a good one,” he says.

Here he is now with a critically acclaimed role in director Alexander Payne’s comedy “The Holdovers” (streaming on Peacock). Giamatti plays a lonely, angry, somewhat broken man, tapping into one of his specialties: portraying cranky loners. This one is stuck babysitting some bratty teenagers at an upscale boarding school over the holidays.

“I think, if you boil it down, it’s a film about empathy,” he says.

The New Yorker, father of a grown son named Samuel, is known for his roles in “Private Parts,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Sideways,” “Cinderella Man,” “John Adams” and “Billions.”

His good life tips:

Work with friends

After the success of their film “Sideways,” Giamatti says he was hoping that Payne would call on him again. “I had just finished ‘Billions’ and was ready to go when Alex called with ‘The Holdovers,’ saying, ‘This character was written for you. His name is even Paul. And he smells like fish.’ … It’s a mixed blessing for someone to write something for you. In fact, my memoir will be called ‘Mixed Blessings,’ ” he jokes.

Respect educators

“I did go to prep school and grew up around people like the ones in the movie. I could pull from this deep well of memories,” says Giamatti, who graduated from Connecticut’s Choate Rosemary Hall, a boarding school, in 1985 and has a master’s degree in drama from Yale University.

For his “Holdovers” character, Giamatti says he drew upon his memories of a certain 10th-grade biology teacher. “He was a difficult person, but he was a really good teacher, actually,” he says. “He just kept coming back to me, all the time, as I worked on this thing.”

He also knows one thing. “Teachers work really hard. Teachers are good people.”

Work on Plan B

Giamatti is the youngest of three children. His father, A. Bartlett Giamatti, was a classical scholar, a Yale University president and then, in a career pivot, commissioner of Major League Baseball. Mom was an English teacher who dabbled in acting.

Paul Giamatti briefly considered an academic career, but that never happened. “My Plan B was acting or animation, although both of those sounded like pretty tough rackets,” he says. “It was a long time before I considered myself an actor. I started with a weird experimental play in New York. I made less than $200, but it was still pretty great.”

Lessons in acting

“I learned early on that acting can be a silly thing,” Giamatti says. “I was that odd kid who ran around covered in toilet paper pretending I was a mummy. I’m not sure I was acting. I was just doing odd things.”

Revisit your favorites

Giamatti cites the 1973 classic “The Paper Chase” as a film that had a major impact on him. The comedy drama stars Timothy Bottoms and John Houseman. “ ‘Holdovers’ made me want to go back and watch ‘The Paper Chase’ again,” he says. “I haven’t seen it in years, and there is often nothing as satisfying as watching the movies you love and finding new lessons in them. I loved that movie as a kid, and I’m sure my older self will see it with fresh eyes.”

Try your hand at hobbies

Giamatti likes to collect rare books. He often reads several books at once with a penchant for anything sci-fi. “I like oddball things,” he says.

Stay in peak shape

Giamatti says swimming and yoga keep him in shape. “Exercise is great for the body and the mind, plus it gives me stamina for my work,” he says.

Try it all

How does Giamatti choose roles? “Personally, I like to keep myself interested and find different things to do,” he says. “I look for variety. I’m lucky that I get to do these great characters. Frankly, I’m eager to get stuff where I open it and don’t know what the hell it’s gonna be.”

Embrace the big birthdays

He says turning 50 was a wake-up call. “When you’re 20 you think you know it all. When you hit 50 you realize you don’t know s---. And that’s OK, because at 50 and beyond you can be comfortable with that.”