Sunday, March 14, 1999

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The so-cute Matthew Broderick becomes a psychopath for B'way's 'Night Must Fall'

By Ron Given, New York Daily News Online

The most revealing moment seems to come when Matthew Broderick reaches across the table and turns off the tape recorder.

Broderick is about to tell me, in very vague terms, where he lives in the SoHo/ West Village/ Tribeca area. But first he wants to make a point about how he doesn't want people to know, even vaguely, where he lives with his wife, actress Sarah Jessica Parker.

"Can I turn this off for a second?" he says, very politely, with his finger on the "stop" button. After giving very little information about the location of his home, he adds, "I wouldn't want that to be in the paper."

He laughs the quiet, somewhat embarrassed laugh of someone who has gone off the record to say absolutely nothing.

For the next hour or so, the very successful movie and Broadway actor, who turns 37 next Sunday, answers every question put to him. Even the ones that seem obvious, irritating or invasive elicit a quiet, measured response. Broderick could nice you to death — and never really tell you anything personal about himself.

Certainly, no court would convict him. Can you blame him, the defense counsel would cry, because he didn't reveal his deepest self to a journalist?

Maybe Broderick enjoys playing the part of Dan, a charming psychopath in the current Broadway revival of Emlyn Williams' 1935 mystery play, "Night Must Fall," because he gets an opportunity to let his negative feelings run free.

"It's sort of fun to go crazy, you know," he says. "It's liberating."

Broderick took on the role after seeing Tony Randall and Jack Klugman in last year's revival of "The Sunshine Boys" by Randall's National Actors Theater — twice. Broderick congratulated Randall. Randall asked Broderick to act in a National Actors Theater production. Broderick asked which one. Randall said, "Night Must Fall."

"I love old horror movies," Broderick says, "and this is a little like them. It's the closest I may ever get to Claude Rains in 'The Invisible Man.' "

Of course, there is always a chance that Broderick will see that wish come true. He is among the handful of actors who move freely between starring roles in movies and starring roles in the theater.

"When I do movies for too long, I get terribly homesick for plays," he says. "But when I do a play for a while, I start to want to do a movie. But generally, movies aren't nearly as satisfying as a play for me. There's just so much time waiting and you don't feel you're using much of yourself. In a play, at least the parts I've had, it's more involving."

Actors like Nicole Kidman, Christian Slater and Kevin Spacey may represent a trend of movie stars dabbling on Broadway this season, but Broderick's new role follows his performances in "How to Succeed in Business," "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Biloxi Blues." He doesn't mind the company.

"If it brings people to theater, that's a good thing," Broderick says. "I think the more, the merrier. When I did 'Brighton Beach,' most of the Broadway theaters were dark. There were something like seven plays going. And now producers can't even find an empty theater."

Broderick also brings a "been there, done that" perspective to the trend in teen movies. His "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" was a big hit back in 1986. Now, he's back in high school, as a guidance counselor, with "Election," a movie scheduled for release next month. He plays a guy who knows some embarrassing things about the seemingly perfect, odds-on favorite for student council president (Reese Witherspoon).

And what was the difference? "Well, my pants are larger," he quips, before adding: "It was interesting to think of high school from a teacher's point of view. In 'Ferris,' they were basically the enemy, someone you were trying to get by. This time, I got to sit in on some classes and talk to some teachers. They're very noble, you know."

Coming shortly after "Election" is "Inspector Gadget," a live-action remake of the detective cartoon. Then, perhaps, another Godzilla movie. Broderick is signed for two sequels, but there is no word on when — or whether — they'll be shot. After all the hype for the monster flick, ticket sales were considered a letdown.

"It was distressing, the enormous amount of negative press that came out," Broderick says. "But I never quite felt at the center of it. I would certainly have liked it better if people had been more welcoming to it. I think it's a monster movie, and I don't know exactly what people were expecting. It seems to me to be a good monster movie."

And that's all right for Broderick, who shows none of the pretense that can come from stars trying to justify each particular project.

Maybe that's because Broderick has been exposed to the ins and outs of the acting trade for several years. He's the son of an actor, the late James Broderick, who was in the TV series "Family," as well as movies like "Dog Day Afternoon." His mom, Patricia, is an artist and writer, who did the script for "Infinity," a 1996 movie that Matthew directed and acted in.

Broderick's wife has worked regularly on stage and in movies and television, including the current HBO series "Sex and the City." She saw "Night Must Fall" several times before it opened last Monday, and gave him feedback. They have talked about having kids, but Broderick becomes guarded again when discussing the subject.

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say — I can't remember our rule at the moment," he says, before tap-dancing around the issue. "I would like to have children. Might as well, if you're going to be alive. I mean, it's part of life. My sister has them. I'm scared of them a little. They require a lot of attention, I'm told, but they're cute."

Indeed, they are. As is Matthew Broderick. As is Sarah Jessica Parker. Kids would make them a happy home, and, as a journalist who knows no shame, I will reveal to you that that home is somewhere on the West Side of Manhattan, between 14th St. and the Staten Island Ferry.