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MoviesOnline
recently caught up with Academy Award-winning actor
and comedian Robin Williams at the Los Angeles press
day to talk about his new comedy, "License to
Wed,” directed by Ken Kwapis.
"License to Wed” follows newly engaged
Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) and his fiancée,
Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore), who has always dreamed
of getting married in a traditional wedding at her
family church. The problem is St. Augustine’s
only has one wedding slot available in the next two
years, and its charismatic pastor, Reverend Frank
(Robin Williams), won’t bless Ben and Sadie’s
union until they pass his patented, foolproof marriage
prep course. Through outrageous classes, outlandish
homework assignments, outright invasion of privacy
and pious manipulation, Reverend Frank’s rigorous
curriculum puts Ben and Sadie’s relationship
to the test. Forget happily ever after – Ben
and Sadie are about to find out if they really have
what it takes to make it to the altar and live happily
ever after.
The search for the right actor to don Reverend Frank’s
collar didn’t take long. Producer Mike Medavoy
notes, "When I read the script I just knew that
Robin Williams would be ideal for the role. In addition
to being an incredibly funny actor and comedian, he’s
such a passionate and compassionate person. While
Reverend Frank puts Ben and Sadie through some really
trying situations, at the core, likeability was a
key component for building the character.”
Kwapis agrees, "Robin Williams was the perfect
choice to create an irreverent Reverend. His ad-lib
abilities, of course, are the stuff of legend. He
can riff on anything in his path, which, more often
than not, was me. You wouldn’t believe the number
of ways you can mangle the name Kwapis. There is a
method to Reverend Frank’s madness. No matter
how perverse his tactics, his goal remains noble:
keeping couples together.”
Williams says he gravitated towards the project "for
the characters, mostly, and the idea that Reverend
Frank is genuinely trying to help people. He creates
simulated exercises and scenarios that a young couple
might not even think about or have to deal with until
they’re already married, when it’s too
late. But if a couple doesn’t drop out and actually
graduates his class, they’ll be one step closer
to living happily every after.”
Robin Williams is a fabulous person and we really
appreciated his time. Here’s more of what he
had to tell us about his latest project.
Q: Can you talk about
finding your inner reverend for this?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Having been a choir boy and I’m
not Catholic so that welcomes a certain amount of
questions… Just going back to the old days when
I was into going to church and remembering that there
were – as a protestant which is Catholic light
– once again the idea of somebody who could
really advise and has something to offer. That’s
why I think for that it was just remembering those
guys that I kind of grew up with in the Episcopal
church which is "There is no purgatory, just
spiritual escrow.” That was the beginning of
that, remembering that, and then the idea that he’s
pretty much hands on as much as you can be without
being a priest.
Q: Was there somebody that influenced you?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Religious person? Billy Graham. No.
Reverend Ernest Ainsley but then he had to go away
for going to recreational bars. Reverend Swaggert.
No. No religious people. I vaguely remember there
was one reverend who was actually very funny and that
may be the model but there was no one specific that
I… Reverend Haggard. No. Where do you go for
gay rehab? That’s what I just want to know.
Cock Enders.
Q: You have such a unique brand of humor, how hard
is it for you to find scripts that accommodate that
style?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oh, very hard. It is hard to find
something where you can go off as much as I do in
stand-up, but I think stand-up allows me that freedom
where you can really go off and have a good time.
But within the character, there’s enough room
to play. And when you have someone like John Krasinski
and Mandy Moore, that’s people who play opposite
you and keep going.
Q: This film is about early love. Do you remember
when you were growing up in Chicago your first kiss
or first crush on a girl?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Yes, I do actually. I remember I was
in Detroit which was later. The first kiss was pretty
amazing. I went to an all boys school so it was a
wrestling match and I won that match just because
I creeped him out so much. But you know it was pretty
sweet. I remember this girl… They would have
dances and they’d bring girls in. It was the
slow dances. "You’re hurting me!”
And you felt like Quasimodo, [Quasimodo voice] "I
mean you no harm. You very pretty. Don’t go
away. I mean you no harm.” But hence, when I
came out to California, it was way beyond the first
kiss. It was like "You’ve seen these.”
"Wow!” That was one of my teachers. [laughs]
But I remember it being as good as they said.
Q: Did you have any concern about having this role
with a 10-year-old sidekick?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: That’s why he’s a Protestant.
If you had a Catholic priest with a small boy, already
they’d be going "What’s up?”
"What’s the boy?” "For the weekends.”
You know it’s been a difficult thing for the
Catholic church to deal with after all these years
when they have the Divine Witness Protection Program.
Find a priest. It’s like three-card priest.
"Find the priest, find the pedophile, find the
priest. Here we go. Where is he? Right there. Here’s
the priest, here’s the pedophile. Whoops! Found
him! Move him over to another parish. Okay. Find him!”
That’s why a lot of parishes don’t have
Little League programs anymore. That’s why they
went with a Protestant right away.
It might be something you look at for the Catholic
church to think about – maybe losing the whole
celibacy thing. It’s a difficult thing when
you realize that first of all you have to give up
sex and then they say, "Okay. We’re going
to put you in a small box and every week people are
going to come and go "Bless me father for I have
sinned.” "What have you done my son?”
"Last night I was with two Philippine twins and
it was slip and slide.” "Oh really? Keep
going.” And then they’re going to take
you from that and then put you next to pubescent children.
It’s like getting out of Jenny Craig and saying
"Where you gonna work?” "Haagen Dazs.”
In the big picture that’s why he’s a Protestant
and has been married and has some perspective on sexuality.
Because it must be very difficult being a priest and
having to talk about sex -- kind of like Quasimodo
is a chiropractor. I guess it works.
Q: What are you doing with this little boy in a
van at 11:00 o’clock at night?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Listening. The kid’s bright.
What is he doing? Why, do you have like hours for
kids?
Q: I don’t know. It just seems like we never
see…
ROBIN WILLIAMS: I didn’t take him to a porn
movie. "Have you seen this, Timmy? Do you like
Gladiator movies?” No. He’s his assistant
and he’s helping him and I think if you look
at it that way "Oh my God, what’s he doing
with a boy?” I think the kid helps him. Why’s
the kid breaking into houses and putting in listening
devices? It’s all part of the comedy. But if
you look at it *deeply*, you get very bothered.
Q: As a person who has a successful marriage, what
do you think of these two having a long term relationship.
What works for you?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: I think it’s just honesty. If
marriage is the long program, this is the short program,
and having been married twice, it’s a bit like
that line in "Knocked Up” where he says,
"I’ve been divorced three times. Why are
you asking me?” I think what’s working
is the idea of being able to talk with someone and
realizing this is someone you can really… It’s
like that stuff he teaches is valuable – the
ability to be honest, the ability to talk, the ability
to deal with in-laws, the ability to fight and get
over it and get through it. Because like he says,
intimacy and the initial lust and all of that which
is great at the beginning doesn’t fade as much
as it kind of goes in wave motions. It comes back.
It’s like the old joke about same sex marriages.
It’s always the same sex. Shut up! But it’s
the idea that… You know, what are the things
that will help you get through in the long run, and
that’s the program that he’s teaching
and he’s using comedic devices but I think there’s
some useful skills there.
Q: Have you ever gotten religious counseling?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: In rehab you go through a lot of that.
Q: So is it all built on religious lessons for that?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: You find that. You really do find
out that that’s one of the primary… The
primary salvation is that when you go through rehab
that you come out of there knowing you’re not
alone and it gives you a very personal view of God.
And many people would say – for the code for
those of you who know – a higher power, just
the idea of a very deeply… Once you come through
that process, you come out of it very much aware that
there but for the grace of [God, go I.]
Q: Have you had feedback from any religious groups
about any of the religious jokes you’ve done
in the past.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oh yeah, you always do because organized
religion, you can’t poke fun at certain religions.
Hence, right now [assumes Middle Eastern voice} if
I was to dress you in a full Burka, someone would
go, "What are you doing?” [normal voice]
I mean it’s difficult because you have to realize
that we just made major fun of the Catholic church
but hey, they don’t blow you up. The Pope will
just excommunicate and you know I haven’t gotten
a lot of communications originally from him so...
It was interesting though that they went with a German
Pope which is great for the Swiss Guard to have artillery.
Q: If you were asked to put together a test for typical
married couples to go through, what kind of test would
it be?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: It would be like "Survivor”
but without a lot of food. I think it’s be the
idea of how do you get together to really solve problems.
Yeah, I think it would be this interesting idea of
simple problems. You know living together is a really
interesting thing. A lot of couples do it now before
marriage and by the time they get married, they’re
going like, "Hey, we know the drill.” I
think the simplest test would be like what do you
know about him and what do you know about her other
than position 4? What is it about her…what do
you like, what do you not like? Even the things that
you don’t like but you kind of do like or what
are the things that drive you nuts. I remember in
"Good Will Hunting” you talked about all
the things that drive you crazy but also the same
time you really love about that person.
When you really hang out with someone a long enough
time, you really find that you really do. The great
thing about marriage is the idea of really getting
to know someone. And really getting to know a woman
is a life long task. I can’t imagine polygamy.
To have two or three women pissed at me would be…and
if they’re all going through their period at
the same time, [imitates wife’s voice]"You
have to sleep sometime you asshole!” There is
that idea of what it is. I mean some cultures do it
where they have… If you’re a Samburu tribesman,
you have multiple wives and you have as many wives
as you have goats and sheep and they live in different
houses. And then if you’re a Mormon, you just
find a certain town in Utah and the kids all look
the same. But it’s the idea of getting to know
someone. It really is interesting. And someone who
loves you or me, all warts and all. That’s kind
of a gift.
Q: How long have you been married?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: What day is it? I’ve been married
18 years. This marriage.
Q: Congratulations.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Q: John Krasinski is making his big screen debut.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: His debut. His coming out party.
Q: He’s in a hot series on television. How
was it working with him and did he ask you for any
advice?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: No advice. I can’t give him
advice. Once again it’s like a leopard giving
a facial. All he has to say is "What’s
it about ‘Popeye’ that you wanted?”
I mean he’s doing a series where he’s
really funny. He’s got great chops plus he’s
also directed his own movie. It’s like the dude
is so far ahead of me in terms of what he’s
done even now so there’s no advice I can give
him, just in many ways learn from him and be open
to it. He’s got great physical timing and physical
comedy combined with a really wonderful mind. So,
besides that, ugly as sin. I think with him I just
had a good time. You know you see him on the series
and it’s a lot of playing reaction. He gets
most of his laughs on the series from reactions which
is a great thing.
So it’s not like I’m going, "Oh geez,
what’s this going to be like?” He’s
got the chops. There’s nothing I could say to
him like, [authoritative voice] "No, it’d
be better if you wait a moment.” I’ll
soon become like the old Borscht-belt comic, [with
accent] "You should go Z’s and Q’s.”
Or [authoritative voice] "Hold on, wait a moment,
look away.” Or be like Michael Caine [imitates
Caine’s voice] "Never give the camera both
eyes. Always look with one eye and let the camera
try and find the other one. Don’t be afraid
to look away and make them find it. And when you ‘re
doing nude scenes, never let them see everything.
There’s more mystery. I like mine to be small
but fierce.” [Laughter] Thank you.
Q: Can you talk about working with Mandy? Did you
find that she has good comedic timing?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oh yeah, she’s very sweet and
really funny in her own way because she looks so kind
of … There’s that whole wholesome thing.
We were talking the other day about Mandy isn’t
making the papers as much because she’s not
playing bumper car with a Bentley. So it’s like
she’s got all the same chops. She’s doing
all the same stuff and just living her life quietly
and happily and seems to be doing well. I don’t
know who she’s with today but I imagine they’re
happy. I had a good time working with her because
she’s funny plus she’s also got this…
It’s a weird combination.
Pam Dawber had it – this kind of wholesome sensuality
where a lot of guys will come up and say, [dufus voice]
"You ever do Mindy.” It’s like the
Amish girl who knows. She’s got a lot going
on and I had a great time just being around her and
working with her. She and John, they had most of their
scenes together so they have a dynamic that’s
believable as a young couple in love, having sex,
and yet still being denied sex, and yet still going
"Okay. Let’s get married.” And building
love which is kind of cool. I think for me it was
fun just to watch their scenes because I wasn’t
in them. I know that’s a weird thing to say.
We’ll talk about that in therapy.
Q: What have you learned about relationships over
all having been married 18 years?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Be careful. It’s like Custer,
never assume. [assumes Custer’s voice] "We’ll
be safe up in that valley.” "Don’t
go there.” I think what I’ve learned is
that I’ve got more to learn. I think that’s
what’s kind of exciting is that I have so much
that I need to learn as I continue. Because you go
through a phase you think, "I know it all.”
And then you realize, no, especially as my children
get older. I’ve got a son who’s 24 and
another who’s 15, a daughter who’s 17
going on 18 going on 30. You know it’s like
all these things are like "Oh dude!” They
hit you very hard but at the same time they’re
great gifts. You know it’s pretty wonderful.
The 15 year old, right now it’s like living
with Mensa. He’s reading Flaubert. Everything
is like oh my God. And he has these debates about
totally ridiculous subjects. He brought home a couch
that he found on the street and we said, "You
can’t, man. It’s full of ..” "No,
but it’ll be great.”
"It will be great when all the creatures come
out too. It’ll be like Planet Earth but in your
bedroom.” [Laughter] Then he said, "We’ll
have to fumigate it.” "Oh, like fumigate
it. Put it in a bag and just dust the thing with chemicals
that could kill things for the rest of the year.”
And it was interesting to have this debate and he
was just debating because he could, just to piss me
off. But that’s his job. And my daughter, she’s
acting now and she’s really good, in a way very
natural. And my other son is studying acting which
I thought, "Why? You have a degree in Linguistics.
Why do you want to do that?” [whispers] Because
he can. [normal voice] But he found he wanted to do
it and I went, "Okay, dude.” It’s
always things that for me are really interesting at
this point in my life. For me, it’s great. Much
more expensive than sea monkeys but you get to see
amazing progress and see them grow and that for me
is astonishing. And see them do things that you’re
going, "Good luck.” And I try and tell
them the traps but they’ll learn them on their
own.
Q: What was it in particular about this script that
made you want to do it and can you talk a little bit
about the upcoming projects that you have?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: What do I have coming up? Well I wanted
to do it because I read it and found it to be funny
and also when I saw John's work and Mandy's work,
I thought it would be great to work with them. I thought
that the chemistry would be fun, and especially working
with John because we have most of our scenes together
and it’s a nice, kind of combative relationship.
Upcoming projects, there's this movie "August
Rush” with Freddie Highmore. It’s basically
about a child prodigy trying to reconnect with his
parents through music. It’s an interesting piece
-- kind of "Amadeus”-like. I think the
way they did it was really to kind of give you the
idea of what it’s like for him to actually create,
which is fascinating, and Freddie's an extraordinary
kid, just truly brilliant as a child. When you're
around that, it's not just the idea of don’t
work with children and animals, but be careful working
with really brilliant kids. He's intuitive, plus a
brain to back it up. And that makes work very interesting.
Other than that, I'm doing a movie with John Travolta
in Connecticut called "Old Dogs.”
Q: Is that a sequel to "Wild Hogs”?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: "Wild Hogs”? "Wild
Dogs” is the porn version. "Hot Bitches
on a Leash.” That's the porn movie that comes
out with "Good Will Humping,” ”Snatch
Adams,” all the other ones.
Q: What’s it about?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: What's it about? A clown with a dream.
Big shoes, big feet, you know. [uses high pitched
clown voice] "Hey, come over here. Whoa! It’s
Kinky the Clown. Hi boys and girls. Look what I made
for you. It's not a balloon. It's a giraffe, kind
of.” [normal voice] It's about two old guys
basically forced to deal with being in their 50's
and all of a sudden going "What do you want to
do now?” One hunts cougars, if you catch my
drift. No one knows what those are? Some of the women
go "I know, I know.” "What's a cougar?”
"A single woman. Okay, cool.” "See
any back there? No?” And basically, one finds
out that he has children and then the other one wants
to help him with that, but also use the kids as bait….
for cougars. [Laughter] Thank you for those playing
the home game.
Q: Was Ken (Kwapis) open to you improvising with
the script at all?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: He was very close to that. And I found
that to be... He was open more to me physically improvising
with him. He would have these rehearsals and I would
go, "What is this about?” and he’d
go "Put on this thong.” And I'd go, "But
these are scenes from "Brokeback Mountain.”
And he said, "It's just part of the preparation.”
I’d go, "Why are we in a tent?” And
I said, "Why are you spitting on your hand?”
And he went, "It's just a prep.” Like the
scene they cut from "Knocked Up,” you kind
of go "What about that?” He was open to
pretty much anything in terms of improvising, trying
stuff, physical, anything because he's worked with
John, he's done the series. He does the American series
of "The Office” so he's open for it. But
I trusted him because he cast a lot of great people
in the smallest parts.
Q: How would you compare his directing to others
you’ve worked with?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oh, he's a taller man than Mazursky.
I would compare him as being as good as any of the
other ones. I think he has a sense of humor. I've
only worked with a couple of people who didn't have
a sense of humor. Their names shall be forever in
my mind. But he's got the chops. He's different than
Terry Gilliam. He doesn't use a lot of flying things
and the number of nude scenes. Who else? What’s
he like? He's different than the animated directors
because he doesn't want me just to do [high pitched]
this voice. [Normal voice] But I think on the whole
he's as good as any of them.
Q: Given the scene in the film where you explain
your marriage to Maria Gonzalez, what’s your
personal take on the debate that’s going on
about immigration?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Immigration? For me it’s always
weird when Arnold was initially talking about dealing
with immigration by building a wall. And even the
Chinese go, [Chinese accent] "That will not work.”
Because who will build your wall? The people you're
trying to keep out? So I think the immigration debate
is… It’s very weird whenever they try
and close the borders in America, when you realize
that pretty much every one of us here, unless you're
a full-blooded Sioux, is an immigrant. And there is
that idea of coming in…And everyone got pissed
at the one candidate that actually put flyers up in
Spanish. Ask the Canadians. If you go to Canada, they
only have one province where all the French are which
is a great idea. Just because that way they can all
go, [French-Canadian accent] 'I hate being here. It's
crazy, fuck you, I don't want to be here. I want to
break away from the country, but somehow I want to
keep the cash.” Much like a college student
going "I don't want to be with your family, but
please keep sending us money.”
I mean there's signs all over Canada in French but
it’s like the idea… Even in California,
the state is 60% if not more Hispanic and we have
an Austrian governor. But he was essentially elected
because, "I see his movies.” It’s
that guy. With immigration I think there is the idea
of how do you have some controls about legal immigrants,
illegal immigrants, or the idea of a program of incorporating
which is even what Bush is taking a lot of shit for.
Oh, can we say Bush? And we mean it in the old sense.
The idea of incorporating and a program of assimilation
-- I think this country lives off of assimilating
new energies. It's like we get the chance to have
this injection every so often in waves of immigrants.
In the 70s there were a lot of Russian immigrants,
Russian-Jewish immigrants, African immigrants. All
of us have come here, and the idea of really shutting
the borders I think is quite frightening. But the
idea that it creates labor problems? As a friend,
Will Durst, who's a comic, said, "If you're really
worried that that guy's going to take your job selling
fruit on the highway.”
Or he said, here's the other thing, "If you really
close off the borders, you’d better invent some
self-picking fruit.” But at the same time you’re
saying if all these people are working for substandard
wages, you have to find a way of dealing with that,
too. Hence, many years ago Cesar Chavez going, "You
have to take care of this idea that these people...”
I know a lot of people go, "We shouldn't have
controls.” Why? Because you get a total labor
pool that you can pay substandard. But at the same
time, we're outsourcing -- this is an interesting
thing while we're doing a comedy -- we're outsourcing
most of the work for a lot of places where they go
"There’s a lot of people here that could
be doing that work” but a lot of companies outsource.
There's a lot to discuss but it should be discussed
openly and not just….But it's very hard because
a lot of people go, "I've lived here. C’mon
now.” But your dad didn't, or your grandfather
didn't, and they came here a long time ago. "What?”
[Scottish accent] "Well I was speaking English,
but they just didn’t fucking understand me.”
Q: Did you do another take on the Gloria Diaz marriage?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Did I do another take? With a different
woman? Mrs. Moo? I don't know. No, I think we kept
it the same -- pretty much about getting her citizenship
and the idea which has been a standard thing for a
lot of people to marry someone to stay especially
for political asylum. There's a lot of people being
deported, sent back to dangerous places and claiming
amnesty. Please, we came here for that, we're hoping
for that. And that's another difficult issue, but
in the midst of a comedy, we should talk about that.
Q: Since we’re talking about politics here,
have you decided which candidate?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Which candidate? No, I think you've
got to let it play out. Right now, if you're in the
South and you're realizing as a Democrat your choices
are a black man or a woman, they're going "Well
I'll have a beer.” It’s pretty interesting.
I think it's time to get some really interesting candidates
going. Everyone’s saying that if Al Gore loses
weight, he's going to run. I just want someone to
run who can actually, number one, speak in complete
sentences, deal with issues honestly, directly. I
mean even the Republican party, I think they should
take their own party back. I think that they've even
felt that they've been hijacked. I mean I can't look
at everything and say "Things are going great.”
It's pretty wild how things are and I think there's
a great dissatisfaction. Here’s the thing. As
an alcoholic, when I was drinking, there's something
called a blackout, which is more like sleepwalking
with activities.
I feel like as a country we've been through six years
of a blackout where you kind of woke up and go "What
did we do? What have we allowed to happen?”
And people are kind of coming back and going, "How
do we deal with this?” Right now in the Middle
East if you're in Palestine, it's hit the fan. And
every day in Iraq, it's just insane. And yet you have
to find some solution rather than just going, "What
did you say?” Politically, I don't care what
party you're from, offer a point of view and let's
see what happens and really debate the issues rather
than use personal attacks. Really talk about it, talk
about immigration, talk about education, talk about
pollution.
Try going in the ocean right now without getting fecal
express. There's a lot of signs out there and there’s
only two Germans in the water going [German accent]
"What's wrong? This water smells so different.
It's wild how the fish are just brown.” We're
going to have an issue pretty soon, screw gas, water's
going to be really important. In Northern California
they get 20 % snowfall versus… and it's going
to come down to, [deep voice] "What’re
you gonna drink, smart boy?” You didn't used
to have to pay for it, but hey. Yeah, there's a lot
going on. And the candidates, I don't see, they're
starting to pan out. But it's weird that this whole
process causes you to have so much… You know
you go after each other so much that by the end it's
literally who's got the cash, and who can do the long
game, and who can spend out the other one. And if
you're a Mormon, you could tithe.
Q: What are the films and who are the people that
make you laugh and can you watch your own films?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: I don’t. I mean I can. You know
it's weird, I went to see a movie and one of the trailers
for this was ending and I was like "How's it
doing?” And it played okay. It was fun. It's
weird if you see a trailer and people go "hhhsssss”
or talk shit to your movie. It's rough. Once I was
in a movie where there was a trailer for a movie about
a seal and I was in San Francisco and people started
to do the "hhhsssss” and I'm like, "What
the f*ck pissed you off?” [effeminate voice]
"It's about a seal. It's ugly.” [normal
voice] "Damn. Aren't you wearing a seal skin
coat?” [effeminate voice] "Yes.”
What makes me laugh? A lot of stuff. "Knocked
Up” made me laugh. All of a sudden I lost syntax.
I laughed at that. I went to see a great Japanese
cartoon called "Paprika.” "Away From
Her,” it didn't make me laugh, it just blew
me away. Getting older and when I start to go "Oops,
one down.” And a lot of things make me laugh,
a lot of comics. I saw a great young guy last night
named Dave Hill who is really funny.
He has a site on You Tube. And there's a lot of good
stuff and I just have a good time going and seeing
films. It's fun for me to go just to see a lot of
different stuff. It's weird because as the theaters
get smaller and smaller, it's like the cineplex. It’s
a sad thing for me in San Francisco. A lot of the
big theaters are gone. They've turned into gyms which
is weird. "Isn't this…? Why are we working
on a slant.” And then you go to the cineplexes
which have the great seats, but they're still cineplexes.
It’s like you end up looking at a screen going,
"This is about as big as my TV.” So I've
been having fun seeing those. And what makes me laugh?
Pretty much everything right now. Any press conference,
especially if W speaks for more than a minute. He
says great things like "A lot of our imports
come from other countries.” And the question
that is never asked, "Is our children learning?”
At that point you just go, "Thank you, Lord.”
And the fact that Mel got busted by the only Jewish
highway patrolman. I think you have to know there
is a God. I saw "The Passion.” Here's a
little irony.
Q: Okay, this will be our last question.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: This will be our last question and
then they’re going to take the microphone and
sell it.
Q: I’m a big fan of both your dramatic and
your comedic work.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Thank you. That’s why I sense
that.
Q: I don’t know if I can choose one over the
other.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: You have to. It's like "Sophie's
Choice.” Pick a baby. You can do the dramatic
comedies, you can do, go with the stand-up, you'll
have a good time.
Q: What about you?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: What do I choose? The difference for
me? I like doing all of it. I like having the idea
of doing a movie like this, a comedy with really fun
people. I like doing stand-up. For me, it's like with
all the things going on to try and find some perspective
on it. And just to find a way that kind of addresses
the full gamut of the craziness from both sides. I
like both. The dramas for me allow me to explore more
behavioral, deeper psychological things. But the comedies
obviously allow me to explore the idea of really working
off other people. I'm having more fun doing that now.
And at the age of 55, I'm a character actor, you know?
The idea of an older, furry love interest, unless
you're doing "Gorillas in the Mist: The Musical.”
This year we have "Transformers: The Movie”
and then there's "Lego: The Musical.” But
I think it'll be like, I just want to keep working
and all of them are fun for me. Even doing hardcore
dramas are fun because you really get to explore something
like "One Hour Photo” where I get to explore
behavior that normally would get me put in jail. But
you get to be slightly sociopathic or psychopathic
on weekends. We have one more question. Anybody? How
about those with shaved heads?
Q: Are there still things that you want to do?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: I want to dance on ice. After seeing
"Blades of Glory,” I believe that I could
do...
Q: Artistically.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Artistically? Sculpture.
Q: As an actor.
ROBIN WILLIAMS: As an actor what do I want to do?
Oh I think just play a...
Q: Musical?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Musical? Oh, I've done those in cartoons.
I could do a musical. That would be fun. A musical
of Freud's life called "It's Your Mother.”
Line two. "Jung At Heart.” You could do
musicals based upon pretty much anything. I don’t
know. Pick a subject. You could do a musical on it.
"Gandhi: The Musical.” That'd be fun. "The
Gandhi Man Can.”
Q: Do you sing in "August Rush”?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: No, I don't.
I'm actually an old rock and roll, kind of a strange
musician like a former rock and roller who’s
got these kids. It's like Fagin meets Ted Nugent,
but without the bow and arrow.
Q: You said your son at 15 likes to debate you just
to piss you off. Were you like that when you were
15?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oh I did the same.
Q: Did you with your parents?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Yeah, I just didn’t read the
same. He’s so well read that it’s difficult
when he comes at you with these references, you know.
He’s really interesting in terms of his reading
list. It’s pretty wild.
Q: So what’s the secret to a good relationship?
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oh, the secret is just be honest with
each other.
"License to Wed” opens in theaters on
July 4th.
This article was published
on Movieweb in June, 2007. Written by Sheila Roberts. |