A Chat With Frank Oz

Thank you to Matthieu for pointing this out to us.

Frank Oz had a chat with comingsoon.net. Read the full interview on their website. He had several comments about Matthew Macfadyen.

CS: But also because it's set at a funeral, there has to be some gravitas to the situation.
Oz: Well, it's about a main character. It always has to be about one character and this is about Daniel (Matthew McFaden's character) really, that's the bottom line, and the man his wife always knew he would become. That's what it's about, but nobody has to know that.

CS: What made you think of Matthew MacFadyen to play Daniel? He's not that conventional a choice for that type of role.
Oz: I didn't. I didn't even know Matthew. I never saw "Pride & Prejudice" so I was very fortunate that I didn't have a preconceived notion of his. Bill Horberg, the head of SKE, thought of Matthew and Matthew was good enough to come in and just kind of play with me. As soon as he read something, I knew he was perfect. He's a brilliant, sublime actor.

CS: He almost seems to be playing a character closer to his own age in some ways and not like the perfect leading man he played "Pride & Prejudice."
Oz: He was playing the handsome guy, but even there, he was so sensitive and beautiful and so emotional underneath that smoldering handsomeness, but here, I think part of the reason he did this, besides the script, is because he could flip 180 degrees. You know, most actors get typecast as either comedy or drama or handsome or lead or character, so he had an opportunity to show everybody what else he could do, so he on purpose, looked a little pasty-faced and gained a little weight. For him, it was great to do the flip side.

CS: But he's still very much the straight man in this and reacting to what's happening around him.
Oz: Yeah, but he's not the handsome devil on purpose.

CS: I was surprised because I don't think if I saw the two movies back-to-back, I'd know it was the same actor.
Oz: Right, and I'm sure that any actor would love that.