Everett furthers comedy career in ‘Next Best Thing’

David Neil

Thursday, March 9, 2000 | 8:31 a.m.

Not until his scene-stealing performance opposite Julia Roberts in the 1997 summer hit "My Best Friend's Wedding" did English leading actor Rupert Everett find the success that seemed predestined when he made his 1984 debut in "Another Country." After following up his instant recognition with films such as Oscar Wilde's classic tale "An Ideal Husband," the Disney live-animation hit "Inspector Gadget" and the Oscar-winning "Shakespeare in Love," Everett doesn't even consider slowing down.

Already an accomplished author with his successful novels "Hello Darling, Are You Working" in 1993 and "The Hairdressers of St. Tropez" in 1995, Everett intends to return to his literary craft. And he is currently in production on the upcoming comedy "Unconditional Love," which reunites him with "Wedding" director P.J. Hogan.

But Everett managed to work in his latest movie, "The Next Best Thing" (now playing in local theaters), co-starring his longtime friend, Madonna, into his schedule. He plays the gay best friend to a woman who has nothing but problems in her love life. Sound familiar? Well, Everett is certainly aware of the similarities that will be made to "Wedding,' and discusses his choice of the role, along with making a beastly comparison to Faye Dunaway and revealing a little about his friendship with Madonna:

Question: What is your relationship with Madonna like?

Answer: We're very good friends. We've known each other for ... oh, 15 years, on and off. We got to know each other much better three years ago and then even better while making this movie. When working with friends it either makes or breaks your situation. But our friendship is probably an eccentric one. Madonna is beautiful and talented, as well as possessing a mixture of toughness and vulnerability, which she brings to her character of Abbie in the movie. We definitely get along very well.

Q: How would you compare and contrast her from her earlier years?

A: I'm totally in awe of her, really. There are very few people in our business who normally start off with a gimmick that eventually fades out. But because she is such a voracious learner and the people she surrounded herself with -- she somehow managed not to get totally wrapped up in maniacal towels so she knows what was happening everywhere. She got better and better and better. Musically, she just got a hundred times better with every record she did, I think. As an actress, I've always liked her. People who've rapped on her as an actress have been very unfair.

I think it's very difficult for people who get to be 35 or 40 to keep their tentacles out all over the youth culture in such a clever way that she does. And so she has changed a lot over the years, and has much more inner quest going on than she probably had when she was a kid. Of course she has her own child now and she is someone I'm very proud to know.

Q: Well, not only did you share a genuine on-screen chemistry with Madonna, but also with your young co-star, Malcolm Stumpf, who plays your son. Would you say that this sort of parenthood appeals to you?

A: You know, I love kids, but I don't want to be a parent. Malcolm was a sweet kid and he wasn't even an actor, as a matter a fact. This is his first film. But kids in cinema, you sort of feel weird for them in a way. Quite often, they don't know if they really want to do acting or not, especially when production begins. The concentration is just mammoth for a little kid and they simply become bored. With Malcolm, however, he has a good actor's discipline. In this business they force you to stop concentrating on your performance when normally half the time that is all you're doing while the rest of you is actually acting. So that is a good actor's discipline when you can control that aspect of your talent.

Q: W.C. Fields started the popular belief in Hollywood that you should never work with kids or animals. You, on the other hand, have done both with your latest film and in "Dunston Checks In" (1996).

A: Yeah, I did both. As you know, my co-star Faye (Dunaway) was the orangutan (laughing and shaking his head). No, no, no. I'm sorry, ah ... (still laughing). Really though, that orangutan was just amazing to work with. This animal knew about 12 signs that the trainer would give him from the back of the room and I would be acting with him. He was so clever, and you have to discipline the orangutan because he realizes that you're liking him too much and he'd start causing total havoc. In the film I wore a widow's peak-like wig and in one take he chose his moment to pull the whole thing off. Whether they put him up to it or not, I don't know, but it was really funny (laughing).

Q: How was working with the veteran Oscar-winning filmmaker John Schlesinger?

A: A true professional. The reason I really wanted John to direct the movie was he is very good at making a town one of the characters in the movie. The New York of "Marathon Man" is an extraordinary character in the film, as is London in "Sunday, Bloody Sunday." I think Los Angeles in this movie is thematically important because the story happens partly because of Los Angeles. John and his crew have brought a visual feel for Los Angeles in this film that you don't often see. Not since "Shampoo," anyway.

Q: The story takes a dramatic turn halfway through the film, almost dark even. Was that ever a concern for you during production?

A: I was actually quite excited about that. The first half is frothy and fun and I absolutely like the internal change within the movie. The characters that Madonna and I play are fairly selfish, self-absorbed people, until a child comes into the picture. Having a child is a huge responsibility, and forces you to focus on something outside of yourself. So that makes for drastic change in our lives.

Q: This is your second role in nearly as many years where you play the gay friend to the woman whose love life is filled with problems. You obviously had to be aware of that fact, but did it make a difference in taking the role?

A: Not at all, really, because that was a conscious decision on my part. I was extremely lucky with "My Best Friend's Wedding" and I very much wanted to look at what I got out of that movie and take it a little bit further in a more serious direction. And so this project seemed to fit that description.

Q: Recently you have begun to take on comedic roles. Is this something your audience can expect more of?

A: It's weird because I only started doing these comedy roles three or four years ago. Before that, during my European incarnation, I was always the first to die by jumping off a building or slitting my wrists. So I was always in these serious, psychological or aristocratic roles. But I'm very pleased to have moved into comedy because I think comedy is more durable. Which is another good thing for me doing this film because I got the chance to show a little of the comedy that I've now begun to do, as well as go back to doing a little bit of the dramatic work.

Q: You know, of course, it is believed that comedy is the toughest act?

A: Once you get the knack of it, I don't think it is difficult. Personally, crying is the easiest. Everyone says you'll have a nervous breakdown and it'll take everything out of you, but it's actually the easiest thing to do. The hardest thing to do in cinema or any other medium where everyone is looking at you is to play relaxed. The really good thing about comedy, I think, is that you can have a longer career doing it. I certainly hope so.

David Neil, along with Jeff Howard, writes the Movie Guys column, which appears Fridays in the Sun.

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