May 22, 1998

LUCKY: Matthew Broderick stalked Godzilla,

and now he's an action figure

By Roger Moore, JournalNow

NEW YORK -- In his movies, Matthew Broderick has lip-synched to the Beatles, almost started and then prevented a nuclear war, and led Civil War troops into battle. He has been the alter ego of Neil Simon four times, and has fallen for Meg Ryan.

But all those roles have never given him the one thing he has craved, the thing only Godzilla could deliver. Broderick, in the guise of his character, Dr. Nick Tatopoulus, is now a toy action figure.

''I can be posed,'' he said, his eyes widening. ''You can have Grappling Nick. Or Scurrying Nick. It's so cool.''

Broderick, 36, has built his reputation on a dazzling array of stage performances and a comfortable film persona as a perpetually nonplussed light comedian. As much as he tries to brush off the idea that he is going where he has never been before, Godzilla is more the sort of movie Ferris Bueller would go to see, not star in.

''I never saw this as a major departure for me,'' he said. ''It was written with me in mind. If anything, it was too easy for me. . . . I had to find ways to make it challenging.''

Dean Devlin, Godzilla's writer-producer, needed someone to do what Jeff Goldblum did in Independence Day and what James Spader did in Stargate: to explain the science to the audience. So Devlin wrote the role of Dr. Nick with Broderick in mind -- after practicing his Broderick impersonation. ''Whatyagottado is talk realfast atkind ova high pitch,'' Devlin said, laughing.

''This isn't a gun-toting hero,'' Broderick said. ''That would be weird for me. But I loved Independence Day and I loved disaster movies and monster movies when I was a kid. And I don't often get asked to do something like this and there, I've just contradicted myself. OK, this is a major departure for me.''

Broderick has done almost everything else an actor can do on the stage and screen. He has two Tony Awards, for starring in the Broadway productions of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and the recent revival of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He helped start Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy on the stage and took the role of Fierstein's gorgeous young lover to the screen.

When David Mamet was looking for a young actor to embody the hopeful future of acting in the TNT cable-TV production of his A Life in the Theatre (co-starring veteran Jack Lemmon), he called on Broderick.

But for all his promise and all his talent, Broderick has never become the kind of star that many predicted he would. He had a well-publicized car accident in Ireland in 1987 that put him in the hospital and, thanks to the fact that his crossing into oncoming traffic killed a mother and daughter in another car, blemished his reputation.

And his voice and screen presence have kept Hollywood from ever quite getting over the fact that this is the kid who starred in WarGames, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Freshman. Though he indulged in his habit of yawning through an interview, he woke up and got visibly annoyed when this was suggested.

''I'm never totally comfortable with what I'm offered in Hollywood,'' he said, an edge rising in his voice. ''But I think, if you look at my career, I've done a musical, comedies, Horton Foote (stage) dramas, Glory, Ferris Bueller, Godzilla, Addicted to Love, four collaborations with Neil Simon. When I started, I could've ended up a waiter. Am I somehow disappointed with my career? No. I'm thrilled that at 36 I'm still getting leads in movies.''

And when movies don't challenge him enough, he returns to the stage.

''If anything, I fantasize about doing nothing but plays, all sorts of parts in plays. What a life.

''How to Succeed was a really, really wonderful time. To dance and sing in a show that people loved, having them cheer at the end of the night, was great.

''But something about movies is very appealing, aside from the huge amount of money. It's a way of making something permanent.''

He has signed on for two possible Godzillasequels, if the movie turns out to be the big hit that its studio hopes it will be. And Broderick has another big payday, as the star of Disney's live-action version of the cartoon Inspector Gadget, with Rupert Everett, coming up.

''But I did another movie, a little movie, just so you don't think I'm a complete sell-out. Election is a low-budget movie directed by Alexander Payne, who did Citizen Ruth.''

Broderick's choice of roles has been nothing if not eclectic. He starred in the world premiere of Horton Foote's drama, TheDeath of Papa, which made its debut in Chapel Hill. In movies, he has tried a caper thriller (Family Business) with Sean Connery and Dustin Hoffman. He took a part in the ensemble biographical film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. He provided the voice of young Simba for The Lion King. And he played straight man to Jim Carrey in TheCable Guy.

''I've never been somebody who'd go to parties or whatever, thinking, 'I've gotta get a movie, gotta get a movie,' '' he said of his career path. ''I started in theater and movies at the same time and never needed to do that socializing to make it. I don't worry about that.''

Broderick is the son of the late actor James Broderick, best-known as the father in the acclaimed 1970s TV series Family. The son's career started with a role, at age 17, on the stage with his father in On Valentine's Day.

Broderick married his longtime love, the quirky actress Sarah Jessica Parker, last year. He also directed his first film, Infinity, made on a shoestring budget, in 1997.

After that draining experience, he needed a role in a movie that wasn't solely his responsibil ity. He was ready for Godzilla, where the chal lenge was discovering new ways to show terror.

''I found out, though, that I couldn't do my 'fear look' yet again. I tried everything I could think of to show fear, and I ran out after about three weeks.

''So finally I figured that this guy wouldn't have to look terrified every time he saw the monster. He's a biologist and he's looked at worms for years, and there's one who is 8,000 times bigger than the rest of them. And you know, that's a good day in a biologist's world. Amazing.''