Jeff Goldblum

Dec 25, 2004

Now we come to the final David Cronenberg related portion of the coverage of the Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Jeff Goldblum played Seth Brundle in the monstrous horror hit, The Fly. Now in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou he is playing the lovable rival, Alistair Hennessey, to Bill Murrays Steve Zissou.

Check out the website for The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Daniel Robert Epstein: How was it working with Wes Anderson?

Jeff Goldblum: It was great. Its an original, unconventional, surprising and beautiful film. Ive been a big fan and we ran into each other at a Tom Stoppard show and he was with Seymour Cassel. He said he was a fan of mine as well and we arranged to have dinner. He came to see a play I was in called The Exonerated. He told me about this film he was working on then we went to a Richard Avedon show. Then he said that he was having a reading of the Life Aquatic screenplay and invited me to come. I love the movie and I feel very lucky to be a part of it.

DRE:

Did he write the part for you?

JG:

He said he imagined the character of Hennessey for a British actor. He had a few actors in mind but he heard me read and I got it.

DRE:

Bill Murray mentioned he had some trouble getting some of the lines down, did you have that trouble as well?

JG:

I love the language. I love everything about his movies like the music and the way it looks. People have such a unique way of looking and talking in this movie. I have such a pithy line where I say Weve never made great husbands. It means a lot of things besides what it seems to mean just like this movie has the sea underneath it. It refers to my encouraging Eleanor and Steve Zissou to be together again. I then say I have a good excuse, Im part gay. Thats a very interesting, funny and human way of saying that.

DRE:

Your character is obnoxious but also endearing.

JG:

Different people have different takes on it. I think hes endearing also. I think Bills character is threatened by my character. We had a father figure in common, Lord Mandrake. Hes threatened by my relationship with his wife who is my characters ex-wife. Im glad to help him out with his pirate difficulty and at the end when weve lost so much there is forgiveness like there is in other Wes Anderson movies.

I like to surprise myself and I like that all the characters arent clearly good or bad. I like variety. Im doing this Broadway show called The Pillow Man where my character is complicated again. It stars Billy Crudup as well and its going to open at the Booth Theatre in March.

DRE:

So often when a director and an actor have success together they work together. Why have you and David Cronenberg not worked together again?

JG:

Id love to do something with David again because I adore him. That was one of my best experiences Ive ever had. We served on the Cannes Jury together in 1999 and reacquainted ourselves with each other. In the last couple of years I told him we have to find something to work on together again. So if you can help us out that would be great.

DRE:

Will you be directing again anytime soon?

JG:

Yeah I did direct a short film called Little Surprises in 1995 which got an Oscar nomination. Ive always wanted to be an actor so I dont have a burning desire to direct. I produced an idea for a couple of directors named Chris Bradley and Kyle LaBrache who did a documentary called Jon E. Edwards Is in Love. I think the current title is called Two Pickets To Tittsburgh.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck

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