He won't
make you pee your pants from laughter - but Robin
Williams will manage to scare the smirk right off
your face in the new thriller One Hour Photo. Williams
morphs into the dark side as a lonely Wal-Mart-esque
photo processing manager named 'Sy' who becomes obsessed
with the lives of one picture perfect family.
Betty caught up with Robin (no easy task) and asked
him, "How does it feel to be so creepy?"
Scroll down for the deliciously dizzy details...
Betty: This is a creepy movie
Robin.
Robin: Yes. As it's meant to be.
Betty: But it was so wonderful
that the film's writer and director (Mark Romanek)
portrays the character as - not some creepy bad guy
that you automatically hate - but it's the brilliant
things that he says that makes him lovable in some
ways...
Robin: That's what I like. The things he says are
painfully true - like, my favorite line is... "photographs
are your own personal stand against time. That someone
cared enough about me to take my picture means that
I existed." I was at an old flea market the other
day and looked at this box of old photographs and
you realize that most of these people are dead. There's
a moment in time that you really get to see someone.
Betty: Were those types of
monologues in the script when you first read it?
Robin: Yeah things like that - and the idea of this
lonely, lonely guy who just exists and does the work,
and he puts on that "everything is okay"
kind of face. Then he has his photographs where he
lives and everything is bearable... but when they
fuck up with it...then he becomes almost redemptive.
Betty: Isn't this a metaphor
for being a celebrity? He knows everything about them
and they know nothing about him?
Robin: Yeah you could use that as a metaphor. Have
I had letters in the past from people who say, "we
should be together" with photos? Sure. People
can read a lot about me and some do fantasize about
celebrities outside of their lives.
Betty: Have you taken a roll
of film in to be processed since you made this movie?
Robin: Not in a long time. No, I haven't. And now
after having talked to these guys (real photo processors)
I never will - because they all say there's a "wall
of shame" that they have.
A guy at the FotoMat said, "Sure,
there's the guy in a thong that shouldn't be..."
They'll just dupe one off for themselves. Another
story I heard was about a guy who was working in bar
and these guys were showing nude pictures and he looked
over and it was his GIRLFRIEND!" And it ended
it up being the guy from the photo lab who had duped
up these nude photos of her - apparently she was an
art student. That's on the negative side of it. So
in terms of me taking photos to a lab? No!
Betty: As an actor, is this
type of intense role more satisfying than let's say
a "Death To Smoochy" role?
Robin: "Death To Smoochy" is satisfying
in this visceral "Oh, fuck off this is fun"
sort of way. Just to be kick-ass funny. This is satisfying
because it's like running a marathon - - that you
created something so intense - and that it achieves
its purpose. It creeps people out in a way and makes
them examine things. That's satisfying, but it's hard
work. It's like 18 hours a day. But could I keep playing
that typer of character all the time? Naw. I don't
want to creep people out.
Betty: But you've got to admit,
this is a real departure for you and your career.
Robin: Yeah. It's just time to add some dark colors
to the palette. I've always wanted to, but they just
wouldn't offer them to me. Hollywood goes for what
sells and what sells is "warm and happy... good
and fun!" But when I got this, I was like, "God
this is great. Thank you!" And it has to be a
small movie, which is fine. Would I play another villain?
Fuck ya, if they offered me one. I haven't got another
one yet.... maybe "Hitler: The Musical"
- but then again, I hear they're already doing that.
Betty: [LAUGHS] Now, your
character in this film really does manage to creep
you out. Even when he's spending time with the young
boy in the film...
Robin: It does creep people out...but it takes on
a different scope. There's a bigger picture. It isn't
sexual - it's actually a need to belong. He says things
that creep the shit out of you, but in his mind it's
like, "I've seen you since you were this big..."
Betty: Did you discuss with
the director (Romanek) exactly how dark you wanted
to go with this character?
Robin: He tried at one point to make him more lethal,
but he said it would be much more creepy to do it
this way - to make it even more psychologically disturbing.
Betty: Even the small movements
you make as this character - they're very much contained.
Robin: Everything is contained. Mark wanted it to
be that way. So when Sy comes unglued... Mark said
it was like bolts popping.
Betty: How did you get into
this character? How did you become Seymour 'Sy' Parrish?
Robin: Everything. The clothes and the place he works.
Everything has to be in order. The way he dresses
- his haircut - everything is bland and bound. It's
more than a compulsion, it's a way of life for him.
Betty: How did this project
find you?
Robin: They sent it to my agent and when I saw it
I thought it was great. I knew the second part of
the equation for this movie would be the visuals.
And when Mark described what he wanted to do... it's
a hard process but he's got the chops. He knows his
stuff.
Betty: Did you spend time
with actual photo lab technicians?
Robin: Oh yeah, the AGFA lady. She was great. I went
to the AGFA lab and she taught me everything. They
teach classes to people who run one hour labs. It's
very precise to make a perfect photo.
Betty: Do you own a camera?
And if so, what do you take pictures of?
Robin: I have a digital camera. I just took pictures
of the Tour de France when I was there. I haven't
bothered to download them yet - I figure they're going
to be just a lot of wheels!
Betty: On stage I know that
you're not afraid to poke fun at the politicians and
things that have been happening with corporate crime...
but what issues really concern you these days?
Robin: I'm drastically concerned that the trillion
dollar surplus that we had is gone. Education is another
one. And we're about to form this new security agency
when the old one didn't work really well. The most
concerning thing to me is the Middle East. I've talked
to people on both sides - the Palestinians and Israelis
alike, who are trying to find some solution.
Betty: And now we're about
to invade Iraq.
Robin: Yeah, Congress approved the covert plan to
assassinate Hussein. Oh, so you publicly approved
the secret plan! But now our allies don't think it's
a good idea - because then you play right into what
Bin Laden said - that it's the crusade. And this was
the excuse.
And they keep going back to the Kurds
saying, "Come back, we're going to do it again!"
And the Kurds are like, "Yeah right. Thank you
for the last time you said 'rise up' and then he used
nerve gas on us."
And they left him in tact. They were the ones who
left him there. It's like The Clash - they're back
together! It's Colin [Powell] - it's Dick [Cheney]
- they're back again! Is he evil? Has he done horrible
things? Yeah, but they made him. The main thing for
me, was India and Pakistan. They both had seven nuclear
tests (fourteen back to back) and the CIA didn't know
shit about it until it happened. So that shit bothers
me.
Betty: Right on. Keep up telling
it like it is Robin.
Robin: Thanks.
This interview was taken and
published in August 2002 at BeatBoxBetty.com
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