WILLIAMS. A virtual one-man show.RUBEN V. NEPALES
LOS ANGELES—Our recent interview with Robin Williams was a laugh-a-thon as usual, with the irrepressible actor staging a virtual one-man show, often standing up to enact his anecdotes in various accents—from French, Australian and Italian to…Filipino.
The actor used the Pinoy accent when he said the name, Leon Pantaleon Garces, the Filipino father of his ex-wife, Marsha Garces. “He was a great man,” Robin fondly said of Leon, who died during his birthday party (he was in his 90s). Naturally, Robin couldn’t help but quip, “But, at least he had a great party!”
“Big time,” Robin answered when we asked if his kids with Marsha—Zelda, 22, and Cody, 19—keep in touch with the Filipino side of their family. “Very much so, because of Marsha. My ex-father-in-law, Leon, was amazing. They keep up with the Filipino part of my family.”
Incurable romantic
In “Happy Feet Two,” Robin again voices two penguin characters—Ramon, the incurable romantic, and Lovelace, the guru. Sofia Vergara provides the voice of Carmen, a statuesque, beautiful penguin being courted by Ramon.
“When you record for animation, most of the time you are alone,” Robin said. But, director George Miller encouraged group recording sessions, so the talents could truly interact with each other around the mic. “So, when Sofia was in the same room, it was like, ‘What a gift!’ It was great!”
“It went really well,” Robin added about his sessions with the sultry Sofia, pronouncing the last word with trembling excitement. “You see her on TV and all of a sudden, you see her in person and she starts like, ‘OK, baby, please.’ It gets pretty wild. She’s really funny and beautiful at the same time. She’s willing to try different things.”
The sequel to the animated hit, “Happy Feet,” also features the voices of Elijah Wood, Hank Azaria, Pink, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Common, Hugo Weaving and Anthony LaPaglia.
Asked which animal comes closest to representing his traits, Robin replied, “A dolphin, since I have been with dolphins. But, people would say monkey. I was actually hit on by Coco, the gorilla. She tried to take me in the back of a room. The trainer went, ‘If she takes you back there, I can’t help you.’ But, I think it’s dolphin more than anything, because of the dolphins’ playfulness, sexuality and intelligence. I would love that. So, either that—or a great or reasonable ape.”
Robin became even more animated when talked veered to Susan Schneider, a graphic designer whom he married last October (he and Marsha divorced in 2008). The newlyweds honeymooned in Paris. “For me, it was so beautiful, because we got to go to all the museums,” Robin said. “My wife is an artist.”
Then, he virtually acted out all the following anecdotes that he shared with us: “It was lovely,” he said of their honeymoon in the City of Light. “We had a suite at the top of this hotel, like the Toulouse Lautrec suite. It was this tiny room where you expect a bellman (Robin stood up and pretended to be the Hunchback of Notre Dame, posture and all) to say, ‘Bonjour. Ca va? I will pull out your bed for you. Your first time at the Notre Dame? I’ll take you back in a moment. I will put back the bed once I go out. I must ring the bell for service. Ding!’”
“I just encapsulated my honeymoon!” he said while we laughed.
Robin continued, “We went to a restaurant and all of a sudden—look over there. There’s a table of four people and a cat sitting on a chair (he demonstrated a cat seated regally). What’s going on? The cat wasn’t even on the menu. I went, ‘Did you order the cat? Do they serve cat stuffed with mouse?’”
Comic books
“I love to collect comic books,” said the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor. “You go into a comic book store in France. You buy comic books, and you go (his eyes went large), ‘Oh, wow! These are for adults!’”
Asked if he sampled actor Gerard Depardieu’s wines while in Paris, Robin answered, “I didn’t. I know that he makes them, but as a former alcoholic, I can’t. It’s too late. That’s a bit like Gandhi running a delicatessen.”
“It has been two years since the surgery—and it’s working,” he replied when inquired about his health (he had heart surgery in 2009) and how he is, overall. “I have a cow valve, which is wonderful. I feel good! The marriage is amazing. The kids are doing great.” He has another son, Zachary, 29, with his first wife, Valerie Velardi.
Who does he think is the next Robin Williams? “Among American comics, there’s a guy named Patton Oswalt, who’s lovely,” he said. “He’s amazingly funny. He just makes me laugh so hard. In political comedy, there’s this kid named Jamie Killstein, who’s amazing.
Brutally honest
“There’s also a guy named Louis C.K. He has a show on television called ‘Louis,’ which is the closest thing to watching a Cassavetes comedy. It’s really funny and sad at the same time. He did one episode where there was a kid named Doug Stanhope. Doug talks about suicide in a brutally honest way, but it’s also funny at the same time. There’s Chris Rock. There’s a lot of them out there.”
It’s almost surprising to realize that this hyper-energetic comedian in front of us turned 60 last July. Does he feel wiser? “I feel wiser…when I remember,” he cracked. “Do you feel wiser when you have those moments like when you go, ‘What’s your name again?’ There is a moment when you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m 60. Do I feel 60?
“No, but sometimes, I do have that moment where you have that lapse—like today. I couldn’t think of the guy who animated Wile E. Coyote. I kept thinking, Chuck Close? (It’s Chuck Jones.) That’s the only thing that frightens me. I don’t want to feel like that’s slipping. There are great people in my life. I appreciate those who are still there even more so. You miss the ones who have gone on. You just keep going.”
E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.