Are you still recording Ratatouille?
“I am. I think we just finished. Now we’re recording the toys so I think we’re done but yeah, that’s coming out I think in the summer.”
Did that character change?
A lot. It changed more than any other Pixar character but the writing is so amazing, it always writes up. Whenever there’s a rewrite from Pixar, it’s always that much… I mean, they’re writing is incredible. It’s funny and it’s heartfelt and it’s poignant, and they’re just a great studio to work with.”
What is your character?
“I play the owner of the French restaurant where the rats live, Rousseau, who is dead but lives like a ghost and kind of nicely haunts the restaurant. They liked that character so much they called me and they said, ‘Your character’s dead.’ I went, ‘Well, look, it happens. I appreciate the opportunity.’ They went, ‘No, no, no, you’re in it,’ because I’ve gotten a few calls, ‘You’re out.’ God knows I know what that’s like. It’s funny, rats living in a French restaurant who want to cook. They want to be chefs.”
Did you do Music and Lyrics right before the show?
“I did. Actually, I did the pilot and then even had to go back and do some more of the movie. It’s coming out in February. I play Hugh Grant’s manager. He plays kind of a down and out rock and roll star that’s trying to make a resurgence. And he falls in love with Drew Barrymore. It was really a lot of fun. I don’t have much of a film career. I’m picky and not in demand, and it’s a hard combo.”
Did you bring any of your personality to the character?
I do. I think they hired kind of what I do. Eddie Rev is a lot like me. I’m a little darker I think in real life. I was kind of a cheerleader for Hugh Grant’s character because he felt everything was over. My personal life in the movie was falling apart. It’s fun to play people who are flawed. I think we love watching people that are flawed because we’re all flawed. I seem to have a way of playing guys who just wear their heart on their sleeve for good or for bad. It’s just something that attracts me to roles. That’s why I love this guy because he’s really a good guy that’s just a dreamer. He has his schemes and his plans but deep down he loves her more than anything but doesn’t know how to show it because he didn’t see it much.”
Any talk of Finding Nemo 2?
“I haven’t heard a thing about that, no.”
How about the Disney ride?
“I did, yeah, the new submarine. I did. I don't know what they’re going to use. I don't know. They could kill my fish off. They can call me, ‘This character’s dead too.’ It’s cool.”
