December 2005

Matthew Broderick

Broadway's movie Producer kicks up his heels

By Chris Hewitt, Empire

He's been wanting to be a Producer for years and now Matthew Broderick gets to bring his starring Broadway role to the silver screen in Mel Brooks musical version of his '60s hit. So Matt, just how do you manage to sing and dance at the same time?

Is it weird to lipsynch to your own songs?
(Laughs) It is, you have to hear yourself sing the whole day long, the whole crew.

Does it grate sometimes?
When it’s something you don’t like and you’re forced to hear it over and over and there’s nothing you can do about it. But you can do something about it later.

It must feel like the end of an era after so long on the project.
It was sad on the last day of shooting. The last shot was just of Nathan, but he said “No, stay, stick around, stick around!” so I stayed and the whole crew was standing around. It was just a little piece but for me and Nathan and () standing there we were like “Wow, that’s it. That’s it for a four year thing now.” A thing that will probably never come close to repeating.

When you first took the role, all those years ago, you couldn’t have imagined it would end up here.
When I first saw the movie many years ago (and it was one of my favourite movies), if you had told me, “You know, you’ll be in that movie someday”, I never would have believed you. The whole thing is so strange!

Nathan did a run in the London show, could you be persuaded?
Yeah! Well, maybe. Now it’s been a long time and Nathan set the bar so high in London that I think people might throw a cabbage at me. I’ve always wanted to do that and I always hoped that I could do Producers in London too, but it didn’t work out and you know, Nathan dropped in at the last minute. But at first, many years ago we used to talk about me and Nathan going over to London, Mel used to talk about that, but it never worked out.

Do you get jealous when you see Nathan play around with other Leos?
I guess a little! Plus I heard he’s so good and that’s upsetting (laughs). I’ve done it with other people too because Nathan was sick for a while so I used to do matinees with Brad Oscar, so I have not been pure either.

For a film to be turned into a musical did you feel nervous? There must have been so much pressure not to mess it up?
Yeah, I mean we all felt that. This process has been a little like that and when we started doing the musical, we felt enormous pressure not to mess up the original, classic, movie. On the other hand it’s always been with Mel Brooks and it’s always been his thing. He wanted to do the movie and the musical, so at least you have the blessing of the creator. That helped. And then you have all these years and then it comes down to the actual shooting and then you just enjoy it and work on making the scenes as good as you can.

Did the process change much as far as you could see?
The biggest change is no audience. We were used to a lot of, Timing was very different because you know there’d be a laugh, then you wait, sort of view it with the audience how to time jokes. Then we got to the movie and you’d take your little break for a laugh and it would be dead silent: one person pouring a cup of coffee at the other end of the studio, that was the loudest sound you’d hear. So we had to get used to driving it on our own and that was weird. It never stopped feeling weird to me. Luckily we’re very good audiences for each other! If I see that he’s grinning it’s ok.

Was Mel on set?
He was around a lot and any time he gives you the thumbs up you feel totally fine. I think he’s one of the rare people who, with comedy anyway, I can just blindly trust him. If he says “Don’t do that” or “Do that” I just figure he knows.

Has the script changed?
Very little, it’s actually very similar to the play. It’s opened up, the numbers are bigger, there’s more people, but there’s no major structural changes and even most of the dialogue is pretty much the same. And it’s Susan Stroman, the same director.

How does the feeling of being ‘on-Broadway’ translate to the screen?
That’s the interesting question, because it’s not like they turned it into making fun of movie musicals, they’re making fun of Broadway musicals, but it’s a movie so…I hope it will translate but I’m not sure how!

How has Susan gone about it?
The sets are all-new and designed for filming, and also she spent, partly maybe because she hasn’t done movies, she spent a lot of time figuring out how to shoot these things. She also was a huge fan of movie musicals cause he’s very informed about that, she had a very specific ideas about it. We had a huge set, a 44th Street recreated on two sound stages. You open one of the doors to the studio and it carries on, it’s enormous! Period cars driving around and also beautiful intimate little sets.

Now it’s a movie, were you concerned about comparisons between you and Gene Wilder?
It worried me, but I’m used to it and I just have to forget it and do the best I can. I think Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom, I almost feel I’m playing him. My performance is based on his performance in a way. I mean, I’m not imitating him I hope but at the same time there’s no way for me not to know every moment that he did cause I do. Before this ever happened I’d seen the movie a dozen times cause I was a huge Gene Wilder fan and a huge Mel Brooks fan. It’s just harder! I think when we started rehearsal I was probably more like Gene than further into the show. Because, as you continue, you start to learn new things and try new things and the performance evolves and starts to take on its own life so it’s not even what I planned at the beginning. What ended up after a year of performing is very different. It gradually goes towards I imagine my own interpretation.

It looks like a real dream cast. What kind of Ulla is Uma?
She’s absolutely gorgeous for one thing and then also we were more used to a staged version so it was very nice to have her because she’s so great at film. There were so many stage people around it was really nice to have some really excellent movie people. I just found her mesmerising and, without you realising it, hilariously funny. I just thought she did a beautiful job and she worked endlessly to learn the choreography which is really not easy and she just worked and worked in the studio. We worked together for weeks, she was so dedicated and just a pleasure to be around and I think she pulled it off. She’s a naturally good dancer, but these were steps that were designed for a really trained dancer who’s taken dance classes her whole life. Cady Huffman is a real ballet dancer so it’s not so easy to jump into those shoes, it’s a lot of work.

You last played the role in 2002? Was it difficult to pick up the lines?
I wish it had been harder in a way! We did it for a year and then we stopped for two years and then we went back for three months so that was only about a year before the shooting. At first it seemed very foreign to me and then I would redo the lines like one time and I would know them! So, they were in there.

Obviously on Broadway you were performing a lot, but on set it must have been take after take after take! Was it more physically arduous this time round?
Yes and no. Broadway’s relentless because it’s eight times a week and you keep hurting things and you never get to heal. Whereas here, you would shoot a number for maybe two or three days and it was exhausting but then it was done. So I never felt that pounding day after day thing. However, and this is partly how professional she is, like every thing in a number would have to be exactly right. That can take…if you have a lot of people in a scene that can take 50 takes! After a while that was quite exhausting.

Couldn’t they just CGI you in later on?
(Laughs) You know what, I’m glad they can’t because much as we all complain, it was incredibly fun to dance around these stages and it’s a very rare thing to be able to do.

Will Ferrell seems to be perfect casting as Franz.
There’s nobody like him. He brought an insanity to that role that was frightening and just wonderful to watch. This is hard for me because I also love Brad Oscar and I did it with him for so long, so I always feel a little funny, but there is nobody I would rather see do that part than Will Ferrell. It was never disappointing, he was just hilarious to watch. All the takes were different, they were all great, I was just like, “How do you pick which one?”

By now you and Nathan must have this down really slick and controlled. Then you have a loose cannon like Will coming in, improvising endlessly; was it difficult to pick up a rhythm with him?
No, for one thing he wanted very much to be a part of the team. He was very curious and wanted to know what we’d done on stage and all those things. He just seemed delighted to be there. But on the other hand, I think it did a lot of good to have a new person because it gets us out of patterns that are just patterns. It’s very good to have that new energy and life there.

This movie has been tipped for Oscar glory, what are your hopes for it?
I just hope that it’s wildly entertaining, that people laugh and have just half as good a time as they did at the play. I just hope it’s as fun to watch as it was to be involved in. You know, when we did the play, I was nominated for everything going and Nathan beat me in every single category! It’s very early to talk about awards though. Let’s start with that it doesn’t disappear in two weeks!