What scene did you lose that you really wanted to you really wanted to keep in the movie? What scene did you really fight for?
I played a black woman – a 300 lb black woman. I had a whole scene like that. I had this whole scene where after my baby pees, there’s this whole scene where I’m trying to talk to my wife going, “I don’t understand how he did it. He had this and he had this, and this. Is there two urethras?” There’s a lot of interesting dialogue that got left out.
So it was basically the scenes with the most dialogue that got cut out?
Yeah.
To make room for the effects?
Yeah.
Will they be on the DVD?
A lot will be on the DVD.
What was the makeup process like to become the guy in the mask? What did you have to go through?
You know, I’ve done makeup on my show a lot. Actually this makeup was more comfortable so I didn’t mind doing it at all. It wasn’t really that hard. I just kind of relaxed and let them do it.
How long did the process take?
About two hours. We usually start at 5 or 5:30 when you’re really tired. You just kind of sleep [through it]. The guys are really delicate and they just apply the stuff. You listen to music and just kind of sleep.
Did you have any say in what the mask looked like?
Not really. It was all done by committee and everybody has their opinions so I just said, “Yeah, I think that looks cool.” That was about all. I didn’t really have that much say in it.
How did you find the voice you used while in the mask?
That was also done… You know, I have different ideas and everybody decided they would pick what they wanted.
Who did you model the voice after?
Bob Eubanks. He was a kind of fatherly figure and The Mask was supposed to be like the best father.
Is it true you based you based your character (sans mask) after Jack Nicholson in “The Shining?”
Well, yeah. I’m only in the mask very briefly. I modeled my character after Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” because it was about a guy who slowly goes insane. Basically he starts losing his mind. I thought Jack Nicholson did that really well. If you play that and put that performance in a comedy or something that was inspired by that, that would be interesting because you know you have like, “Oh my God! What the hell is happening?”
And working opposite Alan Cumming – did you two bounce stuff off of one another? What does he bring to the film?
Alan’s just a lot of fun. He’s totally like a big kid, like me. He’s game for anything. He’s got the best stories in Hollywood of anyone I’ve ever worked with. He’s got the greatest stories. He’s just a lot of fun. He’s game to try new things and improv.
Will the stuff you two improvised be included in the deleted scenes on the DVD?
(Laughing) A lot of that will be included in the DVD.
You’ve already done the commentary track for this movie. What do you say or do that sets your commentary track apart from all the other DVD commentary tracks?
This one I just made fun of Larry [Guterman] because he’s always talking about the shots and what he used. I’m like, “Larry, go behind the scenes and tell them who the craft services lady was sleeping with.” People want to hear the gossip. They don’t want to hear about the shots.
