Matthew Broderick - Interviews: 2007

Matthew Broderick: From Here To Infinity

November 2007 Issue

(Man)ifesto: Matthew Broderick

By Holly Hays, Redbook

We first fell in love with Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller. We cheered him on in Glory. We voted for him in Election. Now, the A-list actor with the A-list wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, is moving to the bee list in Jerry Seinfeld's animated film, Bee Movie.

Will you take your little boy, James Wilkie, who's 4½, to see Bee Movie?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, my little boy is friends with Jerry's children, so there'd be no keeping him away. And I think even if something goes over kids' heads, if it's good, they kinda sense it and they laugh. Even if they don't really get it, I don't think that's so bad.

What cracks you up about James?

He's just hilarious always. Kids are so funny how literally they take everything. And he does accents-- Spanish accents, Irish accents. He's pretty good at those things.

It's great how kids help you see the world with fresh eyes.

Yeah, James is so curious about things. He asks so many questions. And I realize how little I know.

Your and Sarah's careers are going full-steam ahead. Is it ever tricky finding the time to support each other at events and premieres?

Sometimes, but we try. I would always go to any premiere of hers unless I was working. Yeah, that's part of the job of marriage. [With a smile in his voice] The backbreaking work of marriage. We've gotten to the point where she tries to save me from most events.

You're an animated bee in the movie; Sarah put out a perfume this past summer. Let's turn the tables. If Sarah were an animated character, who would she be?

Jessica Rabbit.

And if you had a cologne, what would you call it?

Tide. The laundry detergent. I would make a cologne called Tide. You'd think people wearing it were clean, even if they weren't.

What's something about you that might surprise people?

I'm a tremendous athlete.

That's very cool.

It's not true, but I like to say it. Also, people might not be aware of how handsome I am.

Extra! Extra! More from our November 2007 (Man)ifesto with Matthew Broderick

When we caught up with Matthew, he was just finishing up a whirlwind of press for Jerry Seinfeld’s animated film Bee Movie and looking forward to a long break with his wife Sarah Jessica Parker and their son James Wilkie. This fall, he told us, he and Sarah were both headed back to work on two new movie projects. We’re especially excited about Sarah’s!

Did Jerry Seinfeld come find you himself for Bee Movie? What was it that got you interested?

Yes, we were friends anyway. And he’d talked about the movie, but never me. But then when he was casting it one day he just called me and said, “We really want you for the part.” And I said, since we’re friends, I said, “Well, let’s do it. But if you change your mind, don’t worry. I’ll do it as long as it won’t affect our friendship if it doesn’t work out.” So I just started recording and then it all did work out.

When do kids start to develop a sense of humor?

That is interesting because right now it’s…I mean James is four and a half, but he has one. Slapstick and stuff like that they start to think is funny. You know, the Roadrunner or whatever. And just now he’s gotten puns, like he likes to say the wrong word in a phrase or a word that rhymes. So that’s fun to watch. But it’s still very rudimentary like, he wouldn’t really know how to tell a joke or understand why a joke is funny. Except the very simplest joke.

I remember babysitting once and the boy told me a joke that made zero sense, but he thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

Yeah. Well, that’s the thing. He’ll laugh uncontrollably about something and you’ll say, “What’s so funny?” and he’s like, “Gee, I have no idea.” [laughs]

You’ve done a lot of great roles where you’re half of a dynamic pair. Do you know right off the bat when the chemistry is going to work with another actor?

I’m not sure if you do. You know, it’s sort of like with a person. I knew from early on with Jerry that we had an easy rapport. I mean you know people who think the same things are funny that you do and you can tell if you have chemistry with somebody. Or Nathan Lane—we just always thought the same things were funny is basically what it comes down to. But you don’t know how it’s really gonna work. There are all these variables. Chemistry is a pretty complicated thing.

What character do people most associate with you?

In rural areas and also if I go to a baseball game, it’s Ferris all over the place. But often people say, “Oh I saw you in The Producers or Glory or Election.” Those are the ones I hear about.

Election was one of my favorites. Do you have a favorite?

I don’t really. I like them all in a different way, you know, and I’m not very objective about them. But Election was one I loved doing. And Ferris Bueller was great, too, though it seems so far away now.

When you’re playing a character, does it help you learn something about a side of yourself you’ve never tapped into before?

It can, yeah. That’s what’s fun about it. It’s very nice to take the time to think about why people do certain things and you know, how situations affect how people behave. So there’s a certain amount of self-investigating. I don’t try to relive the past, but I do like having time to talk about and think about the subject of people, the psychology of it. That’s very interesting.

With your wife in the world of acting, too, do the two of you help each other brainstorm on roles?

Yeah, I mean not all the time. But if I’m gonna decide whether to do something or not, I would always ask her to read it, see what she thinks and vice versa. When we get home, it’s nice to not really talk about work all that much, but big decisions I would always try to get her opinion on. She’s pretty smart… or with a scene or a rehearsal if I’m stuck on something, I would talk about it with Sarah.

What kinds of things do you do to take yourselves out of that work world?

We travel. You know, the kid thing takes up a lot of energy and a ton of space. A lot of time is spent playing with him or taking him to see something or watching him swim. He just takes up a lot of time. And he’s also good at taking you out of work. He’s so curious.

Has he asked you anything recently that has stumped you?

Gee, what did he say? He asks a lot of pretty complicated questions. He asked the other day, he says, “So the liquid soap was purple in the bottle…” and when he put it in his hand it was clear. So he asked, “Why is that?” He asks me things like that. And I think it’s because you’re looking through more of the soap so you can see more of the color, but I’m not all that clear.

What is your next project coming up?

My next project is a movie called Wonder of the World. I’m not sure where we’re shooting that.

And what is Sarah working on?

She’s about to do the movie of Sex and the City.