John Leguizamo, Ice Age Interview by Paul Fischer in Los Angeles.

He’s irreverent on stage and on screen, and as the voice of Sid the Sloth, John Leguizamo comes close to stealing the movie. When PAUL FISCHER met up with the diverse actor, they talked sloths, Oscars and why it is he plays short creatures?

Paul Fischer: Did you literally just like watch Sloths? It’s like watching paint dry.

John Leguizamo: It was like watching erosion.

P.F: Do you really watch films and see what they’re like?

J.L: I did 30 voices for them and none of them were working. Sloths are hard because first of all, they have no emotion, and so slow, so I started to do all of the typical voices that suited him and that wasn’t working. I tried high-pitched voices and so I said send me some Discovery Channel sloth footage and I watched four hours of that. This is the mating season [Laughter while he gesticulates] and then eventually and then before I turned it off, the narrator said that they stored food in their cheeks. I was going ‘stored food in their cheeks’. Why would they store food in their cheeks? Then all of a sudden I started working on that and that’s how I finally got the voice. [Does the lisp and voice]

P.F: Because there’s so much interaction between this character and the other two, was it hard for you to do be isolated in a mic booth?

J.L: You know what? You know you normally would say that it’s a horrible thing, but I liked it. [Laughter]. That’s no reflection on Ray [Romano], but I look forward to doing these things by myself, with no actors’ egos, no entourage, complaints about salaries, no competition, just go out there by yourself. Chris Wedge would just allow you the freedom to really feel comfortable. It’s like an incubator. You just go in there and I said crazy stuff, some of it didn’t work, I did a voice in a different kind of bizarre ways and the best of it stuck and then Ray would do his thing and then I would hear because you don’t see anything for a long, long time, and then you heard his one jabs at me, it wasn’t a funny joke. Now, I try to come up with something that might get him and then he would do it again and that’s tweaking – you tweak it until it feels like the two voices are talking to each other. It’s phenomenal.

P.F: Why don’t they just – just put two people together?

J.L: Yea, but you wouldn’t have as many takes. I wouldn’t have had as much freedom to do what I did.

P.F: Is it as lonely as doing these one-man shows?

J.L: You don’t get any feedback, it’s a lot of rehearsal and a lot of writing and that’s really freaking lonely and touring by yourself; the one-man show is such a lonely, lonely freaking thing.

P.F: You’re currently working on your fourth one-man show. Are they becoming increasingly tougher to do?

J.L: They got harder but I also enjoyed them more. I mean it became more taxing on my body because they’re so physical and I’m not the spry young man I used to be. So no I’ve had like a lot of knee trouble and I tore my hamstring right before the show and then I had rotator cuff problems, because I’m just doing the same movement every day and I’m dealing with the adrenaline you know with the audience laughing. All of a sudden I’m doing a lot more. I mean you start throwing yourself around in ways that you’re not aware that you’re hurting yourself. So and doing that same thing every day just wrecked my body.

P.F: But you’re used to doing that – I mean for Moulin Rouge you were doing all the very physical stuff and that seems to be your thing.

J.L: It’s something I used to LIKE; Moulin Rouge broke me.

[Laughter]

P.F: You were really funny in Collateral Damage. How was working off Arnold? Was that weird?

J.L: He’s a legend. The thing is you don’t understand. I’m a guy and you’ve got to know that working with Arnold - he’s a legend, man. He was a hero to a lot of us growing up. So for me being on the set with him, I was like a kid. You know like there are a few people that I’m star struck with and he is one of them. He’s just bigger than life. He’s like an action hero come to life and Andy Davis to me is one of the great directors; The Fugitive was one of the most brilliant films and The Siege. I mean Segal looked great. I mean that’s the truth.

P.F: I understand that in the DVD for Ice Age, there’s going to be a lot more of your sex scenes in the hot tub.

 [Laughter]

J.L: I don’t know what DVD YOU’RE talking about, but –

[Laughter]

P.F: Your character and his girlfriend.

J.L: Apparently that’s not going to be on the children’s DVD [Laughter]. But there WAS a lot more sexual innuendo well you know I tried to but you know it didn’t it’s not what we wanted.

P.F: You had a girlfriend that was kind of cut right?

J.L: Yeah. Story of my life. It’s always taken away from me.

P.F: Do you do movies like this because they bring out the kid in you? Do you do it for kids or do you do it because it’s a way to become free as an actor?

J.L: I think it’s all three of the things you said plus the fourth thing is that I have always been a passionate admirer of cartoons. Mel Blanks to me is one of the great comedians. And I learned so much from his comic timing and the way he got lost - and each character was so uniquely different. He was in all the voices. You know, I mean he was the first one-man show. And to me it was such an art and craft – I mean that – you know finally the Oscars is accepting it as a category which is about time and comedies will soon follow we hope. I really believe in it. And when it’s done right I just love it man. I feel so excited when I saw Sid married to the voice and you couldn’t tell it was me. I mean it was divorced of me it was just this one thing and that’s all you saw.

You must have had some comment on Chuck Jones passing away.

J.L: I know. You know he gave great things and hopefully he will be remembered for his great contribution to animation which is such a huge boom now.

P.F: Talking about the Oscars, were you disappointed or surprised that Baz Luhrmann wasn’t nominated for Moulin Rouge?

J.L: Very surprised now because the DGA nominated him and if you’re nominated by your peers it’s usually a pretty clear sign that you may be nominated for that because I’m in the Academy so I get to vote. Actors vote for actors and so the SAG Awards are pretty close to what Oscars are going to be.

P.F: Do you have any picks for the Oscars then since you’re an Academy member? Any favourites, Moulin Rouge notwithstanding of course?

J.L: I mean. Moulin Rouge to me for best, not because it is better than Gosford Park and that Beautiful Mind is better than Moulin Rouge but because it was the bravest film of the year. We knew we might fail. Most movies I go into I believe are going to be hits. That’s what you think. You don’t go into a movie thinking: I can’t wait; it’s going to suck so bad. But Moulin Rouge we went in knowing that it could really fail. But we want to try something really daring and musical hadn’t worked in 20 years and if this movie wins it is going to be the rebirth of musicals. And I think it’s a great time for musicals man. A great time with MTV music videos and hip hop. I mean it is such a great time for the birth of – for the rebirth of musicals and that’s why it is going to be so important.

P.F: Are you going to the Oscars this year in support of Moulin Rouge?

J.L: Being in the Oscars and not being nominated is like going to your prom without a date. It’s a lonely experience. You don’t realize how. You feel insignificant. It’s really bizarre.

P.F: I have an acorn question for you. If you had to bury something, as in Ice Age, or save something that is important to you, what would your acorn be that you would bury for the NEXT ice age?

J.L: I think a lot of the scripts that I’ve written; future things - I think it would be a lot of the stuff that you know all the recycled pile of jokes, stories and antidotes that I have.

[Laughter]

P.F: You were a rat in Dr Dolittle and you’re a Sloth in Ice Age. Are you tired of playing critters that are low to the ground?

J.L: I definitely do feel like there is a little size prejudice going on. I wanted to be – you know – one of those bigger, tougher, cooler, sexier, animals than a rat or a rodent…

Filmography

Spun 2002

A young speed freak is introduced to the creator of his favorite drug. What follows is a three-day drugged-out adventure
Starring Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit, John Leguizamo, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Peter Stormare, Mena Suvari
Directed by Jonas Akerlund
Written by Creighton Vero, Will de los Santos
Genre Comedy, Crime
Release Date TBA 2002
Collateral Damage (2002)
Empire (2001)
What's the Worst that Could Happen? (2001)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Titan A.E. (2000) (voice)
King of the Jungle (2000)
Joe the King (1999)
Summer of Sam (1999)
Body Count (1998)
Doctor Dolittle (1998) (voice)
Frogs for Snakes (1998)
The Pest (1997)
A Brother's Kiss (1997)
Spawn (1997)
The Fan (1996)
Executive Decision (1996)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)
A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995)
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Carlito's Way (1993)
Night Owl (1993/I)
Time Expired (1992)
Whispers in the Dark (1992)
Regarding Henry (1991)
Out for Justice (1991)
Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991)
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Revenge (1990)
Gentille alouette (1990)
Street Hunter (1990)
Casualties of War (1989)
That Burning Question (1988)