Underdog (2007)—"Dr. Simon Barsinister"
PD: Six weeks in Providence, Rhode Island, which I didn't know had a large history of crime. But it's three hours outside of New York, so I would get to come home on the weekends, and it was fun. It was the first time I've been under some serious prosthetics, which is interesting in and of itself. And it piqued my interest, playing a character that physically transformed me. It was fun. I think the kids enjoyed it. I got to play a villain in a movie based on a cartoon so, you know, the normal rules don't apply. You get to have a little fun.
Death At A Funeral (2007)—"Peter"
PD: That was great. [Laughs.] Frank Oz is—you know. Yoda. He's tremendous. That was about a month in London. I was one of the few Americans in the cast. I just loved it. It was hard to get through some of those takes. We were laughing quite a bit on that set. We had a really good time. And I haven't seen the movie yet, but hopefully that sort of showed. Because people have said that about The Station Agent, they felt like it showed that everybody on the film cared about each other and got along. I think sometimes that shows through. And I'm sure it showed through in Death At A Funeral, because we had a grand old time.
AVC: We actually interviewed Frank Oz in conjunction with Death At A Funeral and he was very prickly.
PD: Was he? Oh no!
AVC: He was fascinating, he was just surprisingly aggressive.
PD: Did he say—he hated me, right? It was going fine until you mentioned my name, and then it went south.
AVC: [Laughs.] He was prickly about just about everything, which really fascinated readers, because they think of him as Yoda, or Miss Piggy, basically. What's he like on the set? Is he a very demanding director?
PD: No, he knows exactly what he wants, but he loves actors, I gotta say. Being a performer himself. He gets it, and he doesn't steamroll over things. He really lets you do your thing. No, no, no. It was so much fun working with him. He's a foul-mouthed, wonderful man. It's always fun to hear Yoda say "Fuck!" But that diminishes him as a director, calling him Yoda. I think he's tremendous.
Elf (2003)—"Miles Finch"
PD: Uh… [Pause.] Will Ferrell is a very quiet person? Everybody asks me about Will Ferrell, because I knew him for about three days. But he's extraordinarily funny, and he's quiet between takes. I thought that was interesting. I think a lot of great male comic actors are introspective, quiet personalities, which I really admire. But they are really able to turn it up when the camera's on. I really enjoyed that movie, and the final result that Jon Favreau made was really entertaining. I had a good time. And it's shot in Vancouver, which is a very pretty city.
AVC: Did you find with Jon Favreau, or with Ethan Hawke in Things We Want, that actors make better directors? Worse directors? Different directors?
PD: I can't say, because my wife is a theater director. She used to act, she's not an actress anymore, and she'll kill me if I say actors are worse directors. But it really depends. I think because they've been on the other side of the camera or been onstage, they know what that's like, and they can know what to throw out—what worked when they were the actors. But I've worked with other actors directing before, and they were terrible. It works both ways. It does provide a bit of insight into how to work with actors, but it doesn't necessarily make the direction better or worse.
AVC: You mentioned independent films. Looking over your filmography, there are a lot fewer big Hollywood products like Elf or Underdog than films like Little Fugitive. Do you actively seek out smaller films?
PD: To make a crazy generalization, a lot of the larger films are made in commerce. Not art, but commerce: a moneymaking machine. And a lot of machines don't have that much interest in artistic worth. I try to lean toward something that will make me proud of what I accomplished. I guess I have the luxury of being a working actor, and being able to say that and choose what I'm in. I guess I gravitate toward interesting stories. And I guess that the more interesting stories don't get a lot of money to be made. That's bad, but it's the truth in the film industry. That's what I gravitate toward, but, shit, there are a number of big-budget movies that I've loved, with artistic integrity, and I'd gladly do any of those. But I just am a little picky. [Laughs.] And don't want to be involved in crap.
AVC: Can you talk about some roles you've been offered that you've turned down?
PD: No, because I think that's disrespectful. I've read interviews where people have done that, and I think it's pretty disrespectful for the people who eventually play the roles. It sort of takes something away. So I don't really like to talk about that. Suddenly, people are picturing you in that role, and thinking "That would have been great." I just think that the people who play the roles should get all the credit.
Jail Bait (2004)—"Lindo"
PD: I really hated that title, because it sounds like a porno. That was a film made by a guy I met through a friend who lives in L.A. He told me about the story, and he wanted me to play this part. We shot about 15 minutes of footage, funding fell out from underneath him, and we had to abandon the project. That was an interesting little time. I kind of saw it happening, maybe, because of the way the process was going on. He didn't get all the funding in place, but he was already shooting it, and that's a little dangerous. But if that's the way you want to work, than that's the way you want to work. And I was glad to do it. It's another one of those stories where things fall apart because, unfortunately, you need more than $20 to shoot a movie.
Surviving Eden (2004)—"Sterno"
PD: That one was completed. I never actually saw Surviving Eden, and don't really know how to get hold of it. I was away working when it was screening. But that was fun—my friend Michael Panes was the lead, and he got me involved in it. A couple of days in L.A. with my friends; it was fun. I had no idea what the end result was going to be. Sometimes I'll get involved with projects based on friendships, which I don't mind doing. I should read the entire script before getting involved. I'm trying to be a little more careful, because you do have to watch friends going "Hey, can you come in? Do a cameo?" But why not?
The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian (scheduled for release May 2008)—"Trumpkin"
PD: We just finished shooting the principal photography about a month ago. We were in New Zealand, and then we were in Prague, Poland, and Slovenia. It was a really long shoot. I had never worked on a movie that long. It was about eight months. There's so much to do. There are so many characters, and so much makeup, and so many creatures and special effects. I guess it takes that long to shoot these things. I got homesick, of course, but those were long days, and I was under a lot of makeup. Three hours of makeup every morning. Sometimes the long days got the better of me. Looking back, it's an invaluable experience, and I'm really glad I did it. But it's really cool. I'm going to have a toy—I'm going to have an action figure. You can't really have an action figure with an independent feature. [Laughs.] It's a little sad to say "I'm going to have an action figure!" while looking back at the movies that I've done—it sounds like my priorities are messed-up. But it was a good experience.
AVC: Were you a fan of the books beforehand?
PD: I wasn't really familiar with the books—I knew of them, back then, but I was more of a JRR Tolkien fan, Lord Of The Rings and stuff. But when they were interested in me for the role, I read the first few books. I enjoyed them, and I saw the movie they made, which I also enjoyed.
It's a little strange, and I don't mean for this to sound like a criticism of these movies—I am involved in them, but let me turn it around for a second. What do you think of these amazing works of children's literature being turned into movies? Does it leave room for imagination? When kids read the Harry Potter books, they must think of the actors now, and not think up their own characters. It's a little tricky, that issue. Do you think it's healthy? I guess I might be being a little hard. But I have to admit, I admire J.D. Salinger for never wanting to sell the rights to Catcher In The Rye, for holding his own.
AVC: What's your favorite role that we haven't covered?
PD: Didn't we cover everything?
AVC: It probably feels that way, but we haven't.
PD: My favorite role is being myself when I'm not working, when I am at home with my wife and my dog. But ask me in a few years, and I'll get back to you on that.
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