Interview: John Leguizamo
"I read tons of books about parenting."
by Brett Singer
July 22, 2009
Talking to John Leguizamo is a bit like seeing his one-man shows. He's very funny, thoughtful, and you have to pay attention, because there's a lot going on and you don't want to miss a word. I interviewed John in between stops on a tour of his latest live show, Work in Progress. — Brett Singer
Let's talk about Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Is it fun to come back to a role (Sid the Sloth) three times?
Oh, I looove Ice Age, man. I love that character I created. I worked really hard to get that character to be an entity unto itself, y'know? I'm a big fan of Mel Blanc. I think he was a genius. The way he did those voices, they felt [like] they could only exist out of that drawing, y'know what I mean? So that's what I tried to do. Come up with the voice, the personality, so you didn't think of John Leguizamo. I didn't want people to think "John Leguizamo", I wanted people to think "this is Sid", you know? I felt like I accomplished some Mel Blanc-ism there.
Was there a process where you tried out different voices?
I tried 50 voices for the director. He didn't like anything. (Editor's note: as he tells this story he switches voices.) I did the (Southern) Southern cop voice for him, (Indian) I did this type of voice for him, perhaps that could work, (Peter Lorre style) this type of voice, (normal) I did everything, man. So I said, "give me some Discovery channel footage of sloths." When I learned that they store their food in their cheek pouches, that's when it call came together. I stared walking around the house with a sandwich, and I said (gradually shifts into Sid's lisp) how'm I gonna come up with this voice, how'm I gonna come up with this voice...Voice! This is the voice! This is the character! True story. (Laughs.)
Do your kids like seeing you, or hearing your voice, in movies?
Not at first. Now they love it. At first they were creeped out. They were too young. They didn't understand. "Dad... cartoon... why does it kinda sound like..." But now they dig it. They asked me to be in Ice Age. I heard Ray Romano had his kids in it, so I said if he can, I can too. So I got my kids in it.
"There's no bonding like when you actually have to do things with them."Do you want them to go into show business?
No. I just thought they would get a kick out of this.
But you specifically don't want them to go into acting?
No, cuz I love 'em.
You don't think they'll look at you and say, look at what dad does, maybe we can do that too?
Of course they do. They wanna be actors, and I say, "That's great." But I don't really mean it.
Do you think there's any way to keep them out of it?
I'm going to try and steer them into other things. You can't be an actor unless you need to be an actor. You cannot want to be an actor. You have to need it. That's the only way you can do it.
Is that what it was like for you growing up? That you needed to do it?
Absolutely. I totally needed to do it. I needed that form of expression and without that form of expression I was lost.
I saw your Tony-nominated solo show Sexaholix, which had some bits about parenting. For example, the one where you have to stay home with your infant son for the first time and you call your dad for help. (In the show, John's dad says he should get a beer, and offers the immortal advice, "If he's screaming, he's breathing.") Did that really happen?
Yeah, it did. I tweaked it a little bit, but it happened. [My wife] was smart enough to know that I needed to bond [with the baby] and the best way to bond is to just be with the kids, and do the diapering, do all that stuff and be with them... It's true. There's no bonding like when you actually have to do things with them.
What about dads who don't change diapers?
Not anymore. That was back then. Life isn't like that anymore. You don't have that luxury anymore. Guys gotta do shit that women used to do, and it's good. I see a lot of dads feeding those babies at the park, with the bottle. It's tougher for us, it's tougher for the dudes. But in the end, you do get closer to your kids.
©2009 Brett Singer and Babble.com
About the Author
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Brett Singer is a writer and father living in Manhattan with his wonderful wife and two terrific sons. Other writing work includes his new site, daddytips.com.
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