Because the moment you separate yourself from it then you're just going to play an idea. But I've been manipulative, I've been a jerk. And she says, “Tony, you have to realize that that's inside of you.” And she's right. I don't like people like this.” And I went to this coach, Diana Castle in LA. And I was like, “Oh, I just hate people like this. I remember years ago, I was playing this character who was very manipulative and kind of a jerk. You have to resonate with something in that character. You're not playing an idea of the bad guy. I would say you're not playing an idea of a character. What advice would you give to somebody who's playing the villain for the first time? What is important for you to know about the character before you play him? And that always stood out because it is a large, red dog in the middle of what we deem as normal and every day, and just how everybody fully accepted it. And to the point where it wasn't abnormal anymore. I was thinking a lot about this and there was something about the abnormal place in the middle of the normal, and how there was always a complete acceptance of that abnormal. And so, I remember them from my childhood, and then when my daughter was little, I read them to her. You were already a fan of the Clifford books, I hear.Ĭlifford started in 1963. And something like “Clifford,” it's a message we've all heard, and we all know but to see it activated in the life of this big red dog and the acceptance-I think that's really powerful. But what's beautiful about stories is when it's said in a different way.
#I remember clifford movie#
And so it's a children's movie but with a very adult message and an adult message, too, playing the contrast of that so highlighting, hopefully, the goodness of that. I feel like in this world today where there's so much breaking people down, criticism, and judgment, and nobody's crossing the aisles to listen, or celebrating differences, celebrating uniqueness, and embracing your love and how that is where growth happens. There's this scene that I think exemplifies it where Darby who plays Emily in the movie, is holding Clifford as a little puppy and it's her love that makes Clifford big. And what I loved about that was it contrasted with this message that I believe the movie has, really a very powerful message. That's why he copied the Steve Jobs look, black shirt and jeans. We talked a lot about how his priority was profit. When director Walt Becker first talked with you about the character, what did you discuss about Tiernan’s hopes and dreams and what he wanted? Funny enough, John Cleese, who’s in “ Clifford,” watching him in Monty Python, their subtleties and the way they turn jokes. He just stood there in anxiety, and it was funny. Or when Bob Newhart and "The Bob Newhart Show" would just stand there in his anxiety, and it was funny. When he would walk across the stage as the old man, he would take his time. He's genuinely living out this quirk.” And it was the funniest thing. And I just remember thinking, “He's not winking at the audience. And it was so fluid, it was so effortless. I'm sure you remember the dentist scene with Harvey Korman where he starts to numb himself accidentally, and his body goes limp.
But I knew when I loved it when I watched Tim Conway on “The Carol Burnett Show.” Tim Conway played very, very broad characters but he had this simplicity to them and this effortlessness with him.
I don't know if I knew I was going to become one. When did you know that you were going to become an actor? When was the first time that you saw something that said, that's for me? There was one episode where somebody just said, “You just have a weird shape.” And I was just like, “Ah.” We would always just be like, “Tim, I'm sorry, this is not about you.” And he's like, “How is this not about me? They were talking about my body!” I will say on “Veep” there were a lot of apologies to Timothy Simons, who played Jonah, because he got the brunt of so many insults. I’ve always wondered whether actors apologize afterward for being so mean to each other. But when you play these characters, they're not filtering. Because let's be honest, there's a lot of stuff we want to say that we filter. Your character is very insulting to those around him. But it’s just selfish ambition and then you see him spiral out. To him, he's just trying to keep his company alive. He's trying to help his company and he's exploiting this dog. He started very confident and he obviously doesn't think he's doing anything wrong. Yes! I love playing the bad guy because I love playing that equation that never works out.