Will Arnett
Interview By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com
Will Arnett might be unknown to most audiences, but he's quickly becoming one of the funniest men in Hollywood.
After breaking out as Gob on the cult TV show Arrested Development, Arnett played the villain (alongside real-life wife Amy Poehler) in Blades of Glory, starred in Let's Go to Prison and The Brothers Solomon, and now appears in that other Will's next vehicle, Semi-Pro.
When asked what working with Will Ferrell is like, Arnett is typically droll. 'Are you familiar with the expression 'by the numbers'' That comes to mind,' he says.
In the film, Arnett plays Lou Redwood, a basketball commentator for the fictional Flint Tropics in the American Basketball Association. Since it takes place in the 1970s, that meant only one thing: his character rocked a mustache.
'It's important for a good mustache to have a little bit of nicotine and a little bit of a coffee stain in it,' Arnett says of his mustache philosophies. 'I do have a grooming book coming out later this year. Q4, '08, in time for Christmas. It's just all grooming. 'Q4' ' that means fourth quarter. Yeah, sorry, it's all business.'
Eventually, he owns up: 'My mustache was not real in the movie. But you're not recording this, so that's cool.'
Arnett's commentating partner in the film is played by scene-stealer Andrew Daly, a newcomer. 'Andy Daly was somebody that I've known through the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater here in New York, and out in Los Angeles,' Arnett says. 'He's a very accomplished improv actor, so from my perspective, since most of my stuff is with him, I was very excited he was in the movie, because he's such a formidable performer. And I think that lent itself in every scene he was in. The poker scene was one of the harder scenes to shoot, because just the sound of Andy as Dick Pepperfield, I couldn't even see him and I'd start to laugh and we'd have to stop shooting.'
The film takes place in Flint, Michigan, perhaps the coldest, dullest city in the U.S. When asked where he would rather be, Arnett has a creative answer to say the least. Even if it is complete B.S. 'I want to go to Cyprus,' he says. 'I want to see the Greeks and the Turks work it out. Re-unification of Cyprus has been my life-long dream. Well, more of a hobby.
Even though he was only a commentator, though, Arnett got to play a little bit of basketball with the rest of the cast. Was he any good'
'I had to wear dress shoes. I was terrible.'
Director Kent Alterman pipes in and agrees that Arnett was terrible.
'Hey,' Arnett protests. 'We don't need a second on that.'
