Before Robin Williams sat down to discuss David Duchovny's directorial debut, "House of D," I was told that I was going to sweat. "He jumps around a lot," said a fellow member of the press. "And he's very hairy."
Well, I didn't sweat. And I didn't notice superfluous hair. I did laugh so hard I had trouble speaking, and when I did muster the courage to ask a question, the words were very jumbled (Williams had to pat me on the back). Fortunately, the actor didn't need much prodding when it came to talking about his latest film.
In "House of D," Williams plays Pappas, a mentally retarded janitor living in 1970s Greenwich Village. When his only friend, thirteen-year-old Tommy (Anton Yelchin) romances a fellow seventh-grader (Williams' daughter, Zelda), Pappas' reaction sets off a tragic chain of events.
David said you didn't know each other before making this movie.
I met him once in Vancouver, he was doing "The X-Files" and I was doing
"Jumanji." I wandered down this main street there and said, "Can I meet...?"
And they said, "Yeah." And they came up and the crew member said, "Robin
Williams wants to meet you." And he went, "Yeah, right, Bullshit." I went,
"Hi, Mr. Duchovny. Hi, Fox! You're really groovy. Where's Mulder!" He
was--I met him then and then a couple of times afterwards at different
fundraisers and stuff.
Are you a fan of "X-Files"?
Oh, big time. Especially the first couple of years, when it was the creepiest.
The horror episodes and a lot of the alien possession.
Did David change the script when you were hired?
Not at all. Not at all. It's not a character who's going to be riffing,
number one. "And now I'd like to try a really long riff." No. "I want to lie
down riff."
The scene on the balcony seemed like it was improvised.
Some, but it was more--that was all written. That was all written. "I shaved
my ass once." I did it that day. I said, "Screw method acting!" "Why did you
shave your ass off, Robin?" "Becuz, it was the character and I wanted to be
uncomfortable..." No, it was lines that he had written. They're all there.
How did you get your daughter involved?
David and I were rehearsing and going through the script at the house. He
still hadn't cast that part. Zelda said, "Can I read for him?" I went, "Sure."
She read for him and she was so natural that he went, "I'm gonna look at other
people, but I think she can do this. I'm serious." Because it was not like,
"You either hire her or I'm gone." She got it on her own. She did great. The
first day she was really into character. There was no moment of like, nerves.
She was so relaxed. It took me years to learn what she knew the first day.
So maybe genetically or whatever, she knew what she wanted to do. The other
part was she was nice to people. There was no La Diva Loca. She treated people
with decency. Everyone said, "Your daughter's a good actress but she's also
very kind." I went, "That's a great compliment to her."
Are you comfortable with your kids acting?
Ah! So far! Yeah. There's been no Paris Hilton videos. She wants to continue.
We also want her to continue school. We keep saying things like, "Natalie
Portman--remember that! Jodie Foster--degree!"
There was kissing...
There was kissing.
Were you on set?
No, I'm not there going [waves finger] "No! None of that! You're in a meat
locker! That's the only meat we'll see, right? No, no, no. Put it away. PUT IT
AWAY!" No, no, there's none. I'm not going to be there making her any more
uncomfortable than it was. It's bad enough having a teamster going, "Do you
need anything?" I had a scene in "Moscow on the Hudson" and a guy showed up
that day that I'd never even seen on the crew. He was like, "That's my brudder!
He just wanted to know if youse needed anyt'ing in da tub." No, I would not
put any more pressure on her. She did it beautifully. She and Anton both had
an uptown and downtown relationship and really a kind of beautiful innocence
about them. He's good. He's straight ahead good. That's why David is a
director--he picked people that really kind of fit it. Erykah Badu and Anton
together. That's a wonderful mentoring relationship. And the "House of D"
existed, for anybody who grew up in New York. A friend said he used to go--he
and his friends would go and if you threw a pack of cigarettes up to the girls,
they'd show you their tits. He was like, "It was so much cheaper than 42nd
Street!" So that was part of the experience of down there, where they had
jails and there wasn't visiting hours. People just yelled back and forth.
And there was a lot of people, on the weekends especially. That's why I'm glad
we got to shoot in New York. You shoot a movie about New York in New York and
it's a whole other bag. A lot of movies like this are either made in Toronto
or Montreal, because they get such a huge tax break. But now thanks to local
government and everybody, everyone's working together to make it happen, even
for tiny movies, which is where it's at. Thanks to the union and to everybody!
God bless you! God bless you in the neighborhoods, too! Thanks to the people
in Soho. Thanks for letting us do that, except for the one guy with the
dog--fuck!
How long were you on the set?
I was pretty much there most of the time. There were only a few scenes I
wasn't in. We shot in Brooklyn, too, which is great. I've never been to
Fort Greene. It was good.
How do you prepare for a role like Pappass?
You just do the research about a high functioning mentally handicapped, or
like you said, "mentally challenged," or from those days: "Well, you're a
tard." But there's a certain physical look. We went to that. Socially adept
but intellectually and emotionally not that adept in certain situations.
Intellectually about a ten or eleven year old. And physically it was like
that--capable of doing manual labor and stuff. That's why I'm the brawn
and Anton's the brain. He's literally my mentor in certain ways.
How does the challenge of performing this kind of
character compare with a straight drama like "Insomnia" or "The Final
Cut"?
It's different, because once again the mental boundaries. Mmm, the straight
drama... it's still basically a drama. You give him the same dignity as you
would any other--the weird thing is to try and find the humanity of a
character in, like, "Insomnia." Even the most twisted psychopath somehow has a
self-image and they'll work it through. They see that. To see that's in some
way kind of normal behavior coming out of people who have done pretty hideous
things. In the worst case, you find a kind of a dignity. Y'know, he has a
vision of himself. He has relationships. He obviously has problems with his
father and that thing about--later on he's saying--after he's gone there's
a positive memory even of his father, who was an alcoholic prick to him even
at that time. He treated him badly.
In the last scene, your character seemed to have lost
his sense of joy, his innocence--
Oh, no. He's in a quiet mode. It's not like he's walking around going, "HI,
EVERYBODY!" He's like those guys that, they'll light up when they see people
they know. He lit up when he saw him, and then he said--and then he gets
very talkative--"This is why, these are the things..." And he'll go through
a whole litany of stuff that--because if it's somebody they know. If they
don't see somebody, they'll be, "Get away from me!" Because you treat him
like a New Yorker. "Get out of here! Get a life! Walk away!"
What do you think happened in the years Tommy was gone?
He's also older. What happened? It was probably about 20 years of living. It
probably--like you said, coming through and watching the whole world change.
His father died and he's either living in an assisted building or living at
home but probably on some sort of stipend. So he's not the same--because his
best friend had gone. I think life was different--difficult for him for a
while.
You're getting into a lot more drama...
Because it's the only thing that's come through that's been good.
Are you going to go back to doing more comedy?
I'm trying to get back into it if there are some funny ones, rather than--if
they send something that was funny, I go, oh this is funny! I'd love to do
that! Now this movie, the next one is "R.V." with Barry Sonnenfeld. That's a
comedy. There's one called "Parent Wars" about the desperate things that
parents will do to get their kids into Pre-K. It's all right, it's over now!
"I had to give blood!" "We're having a blood drive. Your daughter's on the
waiting list." "Oh! Add another pint." Oh man, the shit that people have done
in terms of trying to get their children into any daycare, I mean... Pre-K.
It's not even a K! There are already people analyzing how kids play with
blocks. "Your son's a little aggressive with the letters. I didn't really find
a psychosexual moment. He keeps erecting things. That's a little Freudian."
Has doing roles like "Insomnia" made you any more
confident?
No. I mean, it's more--age makes you more confident when you realize it's
time now to do things that--there's not the pressure to perform on some level
of expectation. It's more just to explore. You know, maybe that's the
confidence. There's no expectation on that level, because you're kind of
working outside the radar. When you're doing big blockbuster movie, there's a
huge--I mean, you're on the radar constantly. In this way, you're outside
and you can come in and--I remember with "One Hour Photo" I got--you know,
there was a great compliment when this hardcore homeboy came up and said,
"You scared me, motherfucker!" [Laughter] I hope I didn't! It would be nice
to get prison fan-mail. But it is that way. No, it's not more confidence.
You're just more relaxed and more--you realize that you're a character actor
and it's a whole different bag.
You have to find something different...
Yeah, that's why I kind of went with a physical look, a whole different look.
You know, you had Sean Penn doing that one character (in "I Am Sam"). You've
had a lot of people, and they have also had movies with the real people. This
is a very specific film, so you want to try and find a range that you haven't
seen in most people. People who know, who go, "I know what that is." And other
people who kind of look around and go, "Oh, that's different--" I mean, that's
functioning that he's--he's very verbal. But he's... slow? With certain
things. But he's able to understand and pick up what's going on emotionally.
But it's an arrested development at a certain stage. About 11. 10 maybe.
That's why when he starts to see Anton, it's like a little brother seeing an
older brother start to have girlfriends. It's like, "No, that's bad. It's not
good. I'll mess it up if I can."
There's been talk about a "Mrs. Doubtfire" sequel.
Would you do it?
If it's good, I'll do it. If it isn't good, it's not worth doing.
Because they couldn't do it without you?
They could, but it would be another man in drag--"Mrs. Don't shoot!" I don't
know. I mean, it has to be good. It isn't worth going back. They talked about
doing a Birdcage 2. It's like, No. They did two or three "La Cage Aux Folles."
Two of them were good, and one was really strange. But if they write a good
one, they'll be great. But not in any--there's no financial--maybe that's
also it. There's no financial pressure to. "I better put that one out now!
We've stashed enough coin, we can relax."
There was a story on the AP wire last week about Oscar
hosts. You were on their shortlist.
I would never do it. Oh man, no. There are people who can do it and obviously
do it wonderfully, and you know... it's a tough night, man. The moment you
look out--One year I was just presenting and Gregory Peck said "You're not
going to grab your penis, are you? I hope you don't. It's a big night."
Laurence Olivier was like, "You're not wearing makeup are you?" "No." "You're
not dating Danny Kaye are you?" It's a whole other game to host it. Because
after the first ten minutes, people get pissed. The number of losers
dramatically increases and they do have an open bar, unlike the Golden Globes.
I mean, the Golden Globe does have an open bar, but in the Oscars people have
to kind of leave. And if you notice this year, it's kind of like a game show.
It's kind of like The Price is Right. COME ON DOWN! You, dressed as a Zucchini,
you got the Academy Award. Let's make a deal! It's kind of surreal. The best
part of that whole show is after all the people who'd lost, you know, they'd
brought them all up and one would stay. They were all back stage saying, "Email
me! Call me!" Kind of networking backstage. That was like, put a camera here!
This is the future of showbiz. Like I said, put an award in the middle of the
stage and the first one there who can keep it for more than three seconds--make
it like a reality show. I'd like to crawl across a pit of agents. You have
to get through the agents, all of them taking ten percent. No, I would never
host. No, no, no. Wrong person. Who else is on that list?
Have they offered?
They have offered and I've went "Thank you." They don't pay anyway. It's a
tough gig. People who have done it--I know friends, they start preparing
three months in advance.
That's what the story is about. They're looking for a
host already.
Already? It's like a new relief pitcher. Even Chris [Rock], you come out and
fire hard and then you got to get through another three hours of, "And now...
the Irving Thalberg Award." I always wonder if there are people in China going,
"Wake up. The Irving Thalberg Award is soon. Fuck actor. I wait for technical
award. I want to see Best Sound Editing. All the time I wait for Best Sound
Editing. I know Brad Pitt is. I no see him."
How did David Duchovny compare with other directors
that you've worked with?
He compares with any of them.
What did he do differently from the rest?
He talked to himself. (laughs) I don't think anybody else acted and directed
at the same time. No, that was the hardest part. I never saw that before and
I saw how hard it is. I'd be in scenes with him and you'd literally see him
go, "Did I do that?" or "Did I do that well?" I go, "I'm playing retarded. I
can't tell. I think you did okay, but I would look at the playback if I were
you." But that was the only hard part. But other than that, I think he's got
great potential and first film, first script, he's done a good job. As a
writer, I think he's very good. As an actor he's good, too.
Is directing anything you've had an interest in?
No, not at all. Because, as Peter Weir once said, he said, "You know, there
are people who direct and then he starts seeing all these people who've acted
and directed and he said, "I've always wanted to be a director but if there's
a plumber, I don't want to be a plumber." I don't know how that fits in with
the whole question, but I don't ever want to direct! I realize there are
people who do and have made the jump.
Are you surprised by your career?
Yes, I'm always surprised. I'm surprised I'm still working, because it's been
a real interesting ride, but I'm back where it's at right now because I get
to do interesting things and not be--there's no pressure.
Was there a time when you did feel pressure?
Oh, there's a pressure. There's some when you're doing big budget movies. And
then when you don't, when you start falling off that list, you're in that most
powerful 100 and then all of a sudden people are--and then it's like, I'm not
even in "The Forward."
What have you got coming up?
I have the movie called "The Big White" that was done up in Alaska. That's
wrapped. There's a cartoon I've done with George Miller, it's a computer
animation more than a cartoon called "Happy Feet" about penguins. I play five
or six characters in that. Now it's down to five. One of them sounded too
similar. Then there's a movie, "The Night Listener," I'm shooting right now,
based on a New Yorker piece and then a book that Armistead Maupin wrote. But
that's pretty much it for a while.
What's "The Big White?"
It's basically about a guy who tries to defraud an insurance company; his
brother has been missing for four years, and he finds a body. Actually, he
kind of happens on it and then he takes it out in the woods and lets the
animals maul it and then--it's a nice enough idea on the surface, but they
think it's his brother and there's no genetic--they have no ID on his brother,
and the insurance company's gonna come out and do this and it's a real scam
to try and pull that off, but everything screws up.
And you're the anchor?
Yes, I'm the travel--a guy who has a Caribbean travel agency in a small
town in Alaska. Business isn't good.
What's the first film you can remember seeing that
made a big impression on you?
"2001." My father--I remember seeing it with my parents in the theatre and
just being in Cinerama. With the Cinerama experience, you don't need acid.
It was just like duh-duh-duh. It knocked me out. It was like here it was and
like you said, it was this weird--Cinerama was No. 1, but No. 2, it's science
fiction, which I'm massively addicted to and I think it's just the idea that
it's Kubrick, too. It's so surreal and it's just like, "What was that? What's
the baby?"
Do you have any idea what it's about now?
I do after reading all the books, yeah. I mean, you realize with the books
that that was his whole evolutionary step and you read the books and you
really go, Oh! Finally! [laughs] You read about that there are creatures
that came that were their guardians that looked like demons that came and
basically gathered up all these children and they form, and suddenly the
children break away and they're kind of special children and they break away
and they suddenly start to evolve and they become almost like an army, and
then they leave as the next developed species. I think that's the end of
Childhood's End, the species.
The movie was originally supposed to end with the child
destroying the world.
Wow. Even Kubrick went, "cars aren't good."
Did you see the "Mork & Mindy" movie?
No.
Did that piss you off?
Piss you off? No. The thing is, you have no control over it. I mean, when
they're making a bad movie of your life, you go, Okay, I guess I'll wait and
see it on the Cartoon Network. You hear they're doing it. I was in Vancouver
for a benefit. They said, "Do you want to go visit the set?" "Not really. Do
I want to go see someone play a drunken me? I'm okay with that." They don't
ask for legal consent. They know they're off the radar with that. It's pretty
much a work of fiction. I remember Pam called and said, "Do you know about
this?" I said, "Yeah, do you wanna go get them! I'M HERE YOU FUCKERS!" It
wasn't like that. Pam and I had a great sense of rapport.
