What attracted you to Everyone’s Hero?
I knew Chris [Reeve]. Chris had done a film that I wrote a long time ago and that was a big boon to my fledgling writing career. I knew him in New York before that. Chris and Dana’s spirit is all over this thing so pretty much everybody that was contacted and [asked], ‘You want to make sure that this thing gets done?’ Everybody said, ‘Yeah.’
It’s a lovely script. I like the simplicity of it and the beauty of it. Some of the Pixar films, you know, they’ve got those double entendres in it for adults. Some of the jokes truthfully, I think… When you’re with your 6-year-old you have to say, ‘Daddy, why is it funny when the cookie says eat me?’ And you have to say, ‘Uhhh, because if you ate him he wouldn’t be there, would he?’ This doesn’t have any of that in it. It’s so pure and clean. It’s about keep swinging, don’t give up.”
Are you a baseball fan?
“I’m one of those guys that comes in on the playoffs and pretends that I’ve been watching all year. Sort of memorize all the names and try to fake my way through it. It’s just an excuse to drink beer, let’s face facts (laughing).”
You’ve been doing voice work for a long time, haven’t you?
“Pretty much. When I got into this business I financed my habit by doing commercials. I was never big for the on-camera commercials – nor were they big on hiring me – but I did voice-overs and I’ve been lucky.”
When you do voice-overs are you asked to do a specific type of voice or just do your normal speaking voice?
“On the animations, usually there’s something on it. Like Lefty has sort of a Chicago kind of thing – fast-talking, urban. Voice-overs for commercials, usually it’s you. It’s either the bright you or the sexy you or the quiet you or the intelligent you, but it’s you.”
You’re also playing a key role in Emilio Estevez’ Bobby. Can you talk about your character in that film?
“The hotel manager. I haven’t seen it actually but I go all the way through the thing. I think Emilio used me as a thread to take it through. It’s got a cast of thousands. Every day we shot it, it was like a Screen Actors Guild meeting. You looked at the call sheet, ‘Who’s on today?’”
Who were most of your scenes with?
“Christian Slater I have a bunch of scenes with. Pretty much everyone... Sharon (Stone) played me wife. That was an experience. Anthony Hopkins – that’s pretty much why I’m in the movie. They said, ‘There’s a scene with Anthony Hopkins.’ I said, ‘Fine.’ I truly love that. That was great.”
Did Anthony Hopkins live up to your expectations?
“Yes he did. He’s a complete gentleman, really smart, really funny, so generous. I’d love to act with him again. He’s one of those guys that makes it look easy. I’ve always thought that when you act really, really well, that sometimes you as the actor think, ‘That can’t be it. All I did was tell him he was a selfish bastard. The scene’s got to be more than that. All I did was say…it’s got to be more than that.’ And so often it isn’t more than that. ‘That’s it, you did it. Go home, you’re finished.’ He’s one of those actors that makes it look so off the cuff and so simple and yet when you see the film, it’s full and it’s all that was required.”
How was working with Emilio Estevez?
“He brought a great deal of calm and good-humor. There were a bunch of producers on this thing. This was the kind of film that started off small and then kept growing. When people like Anthony Hopkins said he would do it, then more and more actors signed on. It’s the only indie I’ve ever been in that got bigger. There was more money halfway through, and even more money at the end. And he had a lot of producers who I happen to know were breathing down his neck. He handled it with great grace and aplomb. And he got through it, and then he sold it to Harvey [Weinstein]. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
Did you have any scenes with Lindsay Lohan?
“One scene.”
She’s working with your wife on Georgia Rule. Did you enjoy working with her?
“She’s… She’s completely charming. Felicity says she’s a huge talent. That girl can act.”
But…?
“But you can’t show up late. It’s very, very disrespectful. I think what an actor has to realize when you show up an hour late, 150 people have been scrambling to cover for you. And there is not an apology big enough in the world to make 150 people scramble. It’s inexcusable. It’s nothing but disrespect. And Lindsay Lohan is not the only one. A lot of actors show up late as if they’re God’s gift to the film. It’s inexcusable and they should have their a**es kicked.”
That wasn’t the case on Bobby, was it?
“It’s… She’s pretty late.”
