1998

Matthew Broderick Q&A

Godzilla's Unsung Hero on His Monster, His Woman and His Ferris Bueller Legacy

By Jeanne Wolf, E! Online

Matthew Broderick has worked with some big costars in his career, from Marlon Brando to Sean Connery, but no one comes close to the giant leaping lizard he faces in Godzilla.

The actor still affectionately known as Ferris Bueller may be an unlikely choice to play the action hero who saves the world from the gigantic scaly guy, but remember that filmmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin also handpicked the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (Will Smith) to whomp some alien butt in Independence Day--and look how that turned out.

Still, the doe-eyed Broderick, 36, doesn't need a blockbuster to make him a hit. From Hollywood to Broadway, he has earned tremendous respect on stage and screen--and even behind the lens.

Broderick won a Tony for his performance in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and returned to the boards in the revival of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. His film roles have ranged from the dramatic (Glory) to the quirky (The Cable Guy).

He cut his directing teeth on Infinity, a small film--and critical fave--penned by his mother, based on the life of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. And his star got even shinier last year when he made it official with longtime love Sarah Jessica Parker.

While the plot of Godzilla is indeed top secret, Broderick will say he plays a dedicated scientist whose zealous pursuit of a research project on worms is interrupted by the arrival of the scaley one, opening up a much bigger can of worms.

How much of Godzilla have you seen?
I saw it at Dean Devlin's house. Even though some of the effects weren't finished, it was extremely impressive--awesome, in fact.

Did you see the monster while you were filming the movie?
None of us did. They kind of tell you where to look when Godzilla is coming. They just say, "Look high," so you of to imagine what he's like. They would say, "His foot is as big as a bus." Just kidding. They told me he's 20 stories high, and they showed me drawings. But you have to piece it together in your own mind.

After seeing him on the screen, what can you tell us?
If you like that old Godzilla roar, you'll get to hear it shaking the theater, which is really fun. Of course, Godzilla is able to do much more now than he did in the original. He bounces around. He's very fast.

Are you amazed at the secrecy--and how curious people are to find out more?
Yeah, but, all in all, I think it will make the experience better. I always prefer to know nothing about a movie before I see it. I remember when I saw the sequel to Star Wars, my friend's little brother told me Darth Vader was Luke's father right before I went in. That really spoiled it for me.

But aren't they really taking it too far?
It's like something underneath a circus tent. You're desperate to stick your head in. It's exciting when there's something you're not supposed to see. I'm like everyone else. Since I've kind of barely seen the real movie, the advertising is starting to work on me. I think, "Oooh, wow. His foot is that big? I've got to see that."

Is Godzilla the biggest star you've worked with?
Yes--the biggest and one of the nicest. He never complained. Offscreen, he was always cordial.

No matter how successful this movie is, they're not going to ask, "Did you see Matthew Broderick's Godzilla?" Were you concerned with being upstaged?
Yeah, I'm not even in the trailer for the film. But I wasn't concerned, because I never felt competitive with Godzilla. It was sort of like I was being invited to a really thrilling party.

Dean Devlin told me he and Roland wanted to write the movie knowing you'd be in it.
I went out to dinner with them knowing nothing except that they'd made Stargate and Independence Day. Dean kept hemming and hawing, and finally he said, "We're remaking Godzilla, and we want you to be in it." I just said, "Of course."

I found the two of them so easy to be around, so bright and funny. I thought, What a great thing! Of course, it was extremely flattering that they said they'd always wanted to work with me--but who knows if it's true?

This is a film with massive special effects. How does that affect you as an actor?
The worst part is the waiting. After six hours, you're supposed to come out of your trailer and stand in fake rain surrounded by loud noises and still appear genuinely frightened. That's what's hard for me.

But doesn't that also put some pressure on you?
Definitely. If they're blowing up an entire building behind you, you don't want anyone saying, "Let's rebuild the building and blow it up again, because Matthew didn't get his line right."

Is there any love story in the movie?
Yes, between me and Maria Pitillo, but I don't know if I'm supposed to tell that.

How did you two get along?
She's very nice to work with--a little cranky in the rain, maybe. We had so much rain it was unbelievable. The whole movie takes place in the rain, basically. But she was a doll.

We spent a lot of time together, because there's a long scene in a taxicab with me and Maria and Hank Azaria and Jean Reno. The four of us spent probably six or seven weeks jammed in this little taxi. We had a lot of deep talks.

How's your real-life love, Sarah Jessica Parker?
We're doing just fine, coming up on an anniversary.

You lived together for a long time before getting married. People always talk about that ring making a difference. Did it for you?
Not that much, honestly. I think one nice thing about it is--it sounds unromantic, and I don't mean it to--it defines things, because you make a contract, a commitment, which is nice. But I can't say I feel differently because I'm married. Every now and then, she looks at me, and I think, Wow, she loves me.

There was a time when it seemed your fans were more preoccupied with whether you'd get married than you were.
It was very unpleasant. It's in some ways my fault. I never really know how much to talk about being in a relationship. It's hard to talk a little about it, because then people want to know everything.

It's very bizarre to have strangers say, "So, when are you getting married?" Or a deli owner asking, "Kids yet?" I'd find myself getting into a discussion with the subway-token clerk about marriage.

How do you and Sarah feel about watching each other in romantic scenes?
I don't really mind Sarah playing romantic scenes. I don't know why. What bothers me is doing those scenes. I get embarrassed by them. Kissing a stranger is a very odd experience.

Now that you've been part of this blockbuster, are you ready for another, or will you do smaller films?
Well, I did a small film right after Godzilla called Election, which Alexander Payne who did Citizen Ruth wrote and directed. I play a high school teacher who gets overinvolved with a student but not in a sexual way.

Playing a teacher? Were there Ferris Bueller jokes?
We shot in a high school, so there were some. It's funny, people start doing them and then they got bored. But I love that movie, and I know I'll always be remembered for that character. When I die, I'm sure my obit will say, "Ferris Bueller kicks the bucket!"

I know you just signed to play Inspector Gadget in a live-action version of the cartoon. Do you have any longer-term plans for your career?
I guess some people really make out a kind of game plan. But I don't have one, other than to try to find good material. That's always the struggle. Or to have good people want to work with me. Right now, I'm going to try to be patient.