1998

Godzilla: an interview with: Matthew Broderick

By Prairie Miller, All-Movie Guide

Matthew, when you were a kid, were you a Godzilla fan?
Oh yeah. It seemed like Godzilla was on every day! Every Saturday it was on. I always liked disaster movies and horror movies when I was a kid, so this was right up my alley. I like knocking big things over and stuff. It was good!

Well, did you ever imagine that you would one day co-star with Godzilla?
No! I never dreamed that it would all lead to that, no. I never thought of that. I didn't know they were still going to make them. But here they are!

Where were you and what were you doing when you found out it was going to be you starring in Godzilla?
My memory is that my agent said that the guys who did Independence Day are doing Godzilla, and they want you. Have dinner with them.

What's that sound in the room?
Those are the feet!...What are we talking about?

You know, getting that call.
Yes. Right...So I immediately thought, well that's a kick in the pants. And I went and had dinner with them. They kind of walked me through the story, and said who I was gonna play. And I thought, are you sure? And they were, they wanted me. And I really liked them. We had a nice dinner. I guess some time after that, the script finally was ready. I read it and liked it. And here I am.

Let me get this straight. The makers of Independence Day come and offer you a role, and your response is, are you sure you want me?
Well...Yeah! I never expected it, I didn't know them. You know, I didn't know what happened...But no, why wouldn't they want me? I want me!

Yeah, dammit!...But you actually are perfect for the role of this nerdy scientist.
Why is that perfect? What do you mean?

Because you're an actor.
But it's nerdy. You said it's perfect because you're nerdy. I heard you!

Hey, you didn't answer my question.
What's the question? I'm sorry. I'll answer.

It's perfect because you start out nerdy, but you turn out to be the hero.
The hero...Yeah, that is perfect. And I get wetter. Yeah. Gee, I'm being so witty that I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. What am I answering?

Well, this is a film about Godzilla, but did you say to yourself, I'm a character here too?
Yeah. That's what they told me at the dinner. They wanted me because they sort of wanted to write it for me too. So you're right, it did fit me. That was the idea.

Is this kind of the kid from War Games all grown up?
I think it is. That's what I thought doing it, to tell you the truth. I guess you're not supposed to think that, because it's not. But I think it's very similar. It's a little different. I think this guy is more of a loner. But I think there are a lot of similarities. You know, it's a whistleblower.

Do you think kids might be frightened by this movie?
I don't know what kids are like now. But I think they should know that there's no gore in it.

On the other hand, this isn't a violent Godzilla. This is a Godzilla trying to survive.
Absolutely. Yeah. And I like that about it. They really did know the audience. And there's no blood, I don't think. Maybe a paper cut...Yeah, I think it's good for kids. I hope it is. It's certainly good for teenagers.

Speaking of teenagers, Godzilla has a hot soundtrack.. And as for music, were you affected by the death of Frank Sinatra?
Oh, I loved him. He was one of the first vocalists that I got to listen to. I used to take records from my father's collection, and I used to listen to Sinatra's albums over and over again. He was just great, and I'm sorry he's gone.

Do you think there's any far-fetched stuff in the movie?
Well, you know a lizard that big is unlikely.

Did you worry about the hazards of doing action sequences?
I like running around. I like those kinds of movies. And I've done a lot of movies where I had to run, I don't know what that is... There's only been two movies where I didn't run at some point.

Do you think you get parts because you're a good runner?
Uhh...No!

What's the hardest part about doing an action sequence?
The difficult thing with some of the very elaborate sequences is that they get broken into tiny parts. So I look up, and then three weeks later, I recoil and then turn this way. And that's a week later. So you have to try to remember, and get in that same mood. It was also hard to look at Godzilla and make it specific to that moment. Because I didn't always want to be just afraid, or whatever. I wanted to tell a story, and have it progress.

You were great playing a teenager in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. What kind of teenager were you?
I was more shy. Although I was hammy too. I did play hooky a lot...But he's not really real. He's some sort of magical character, in a way.

What's your next movie?
I'm going to be doing a live-action version of Inspector Gadget.

What are your arms going to be like in that movie? Are you going to be like the Bubble Boy on Seinfeld?
They're working on that. I just an had entire body mold taken of me. It is a little like the Bubble Boy.

What actors do you admire?
Dustin Hoffman, Robert de Niro, Bill Murray...

People have been saying that you don't age. What is you secret?
Viagra. No. I don't know, I do age! Wake up with me some morning...