Greg Kinnear doesn't do things the conventional way. The sardonic 34-year-old former host of the E! channel's Talk Soup and NBC's Later had little acting experience when he was handpicked by director Sydney Pollack to play Harrison Ford's philandering kid brother in the 1995 remake of Sabrina. Now, three movies later, Kinnear finds himself sparring with another Hollywood heavyweight in As Good as It Gets, a new comedy from director James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment). This time he plays a painter living across the hall from Jack Nicholson. Kinnear, an Indiana native, also had an unconventionally conventional upbringing; his father worked for the State Department, and the family lived in Lebandon and Greece. Over the years, Kinnear put a hip spin on the straight-laced influences of his youth and has refined his own wry style. His recently downsized closet - in the Hollywood Hills home where he lived with this girlfriend, British writer Helen Labdon - consists of everything from Armani suits, Calvin Klein sport coats, and a $300 Billy Martin belt to a beloved old fishing shirt. "I'm full of fashion surprises," he observes.
You wore lots of different ties on Talk Soup-did that define your on-camera style?
I think most of my style was defined by the cross-dressing hermaphrodite nuns that we were featuring on the show, and less by my clothes.
How did your look change as you segued from cable to NBC's Later?
At Later I had to start wearing pants. At Talk Soup we had the advantage of being shot from the waist up, so sometimes I'd wear shorts.
Was there any guest on Later who taught you something about fashion?
I discussed the suspender thing with Larry King. I always thought it would be kind of cool to have that one fashion thing that people take note of. Maybe I'll start wearing a nice ascot. Something that says "I'm here. I'm in the room, man. Acknowledge."
Did Harrison or Jack ever offer any style secrets?
I picked up a pair of two-tone shoes that I saw Jack in. He's got a person in England that he gets them specially made by, so I went for a pair of those. Two-tone leather, black and tan. And I haven't worn them.
Who was your first fashion influence?
My dad has impeccable taste in clothes. Very conservative. Put him in a Brooks Brothers blazer, Ralph Lauren pants, a blue shirt with a red tie, and he's a happy man. Yet, when we were fishing up at Lake Wawasee in Indiana, he wasn't afraid to throw on the $2.99 fishing cap that had the lure sticking out and the price tag still on.
Did you follow American clothing fads when you attended school overseas?
Not really. It was great growing up overseas because you didn't have access to cool clothes or cool cars. Nobody was attempting to outdo anybody because there weren't any American status symbols to outdo them with. There wasn't a Nike store in Beirut.
So when did you become conscious of American fashion?
When I went to college in Arizona. Everybody was wearing their K-Swiss tennis shoes, Polo shirts and Vuarnet sunglasses, and I was in my Dallas Cowboy tube socks. I was just dead in the water for the first year.
When did you first dress to impress a girl?
Eleventh grade. I had a hot date. We were going to a nice dinner in Athens and we met below the Acropolis. I was feeling pretty stylish in my father's Brooks Brothers suit. I looked like a 16-year-old banker.
When did you buy your first suit?
I was 24. I'd just started hosting at the cable channel that later became E! I was the first face ever broadcast on that signal, and we had this big launch party. So I purchased the suit. Then I got there and everybody was in jeans and baseball caps.
What's the ugliest thing in your closet?
This shirt that has different kinds of fish all over; it's my good-luck shirt for fishing, though I'm brave enough to wear it on a regular basis.
Why don't you wear a watch?
Because I don't care what time it is, which would explain why I'm often 15 minutes late. I have a lot of friends who are prepared to contribute to a watch slush fund for me.
What's your biggest fashion indulgence?
I have a weakness for sunglasses. I have a pair of Paul Smith glasses I love; I can pop the lenses out and change the color to green or red in less than 30 seconds. Some guys got five watches - I'm dealing in eyewear.
Do you get dressed up to go to the airport?
No. And that's a very rebellious reaction to my father. When we used to travel around with him while he was working at the U.S. Embassy, he'd make sure my two older brothers and I were in coats and ties. So now I look as scruffy as is humanly possible when I go to the airport.
Do you have a favorite designer?
I'm in Calvin Klein a lot. I find that most of his sport coats and shirts, both casual shirts and dress shirts, are up my alley. And Nino Cerruti's got some nice stuff.
Do you keep the clothes from all your movies?
A little fish like me? Are you kidding? I remember wrapping Sabrina, and I was going around saying goodbye to everybody. I went up to the wardrobe people's office and there were eight boxes on one side of the room that said "Harrison Ford." On the other side were eight that said "Greg Kinnear." The only difference was that below Harrison's name it said "Jackson Hole, Wyoming." Below my name it said "Paramount vault."
How did you feel about frosting your hair for As Good as It Gets?
It's been growing out for the last few months; I feel like I'm wearing a fruit bowl on my head.
Do you trust your fashion sense or do you defer to your girlfriend?
For the most part I trust my fashion sense. Until I end up in the National Enquirer's "what's hot and what's not" section.