Jeff Garlin Interview, Wall-E

MoviesOnline caught up with Jeff Garlin at the Los Angeles press day for his new film, “WALL-E.” Garlin voices the character of the Captain of the Axiom, the floating cruiseship that houses humans, in Disney-Pixar’s extraordinary new computer-animated comedy set in space.

Captain is the current commander of the Axiom. Trapped in a routine, like WALL-E, the captain longs for a break in the tiresome cycle of his so-called life. His uneventful duties are simply checking and rechecking the ship’s status with Auto, the autopilot. When he is informed of a long-awaited discovery by one of the probe-droids, he discovers his inner calling to become the courageous leader he never could have imagined and plots a new course for humanity.

Jeff Garlin’s talent encompasses writing, producing, directing, acting, and performing stand-up comedy. Garlin both co-stars and executive-produces the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” The unique comedy stars “Seinfeld” creator Larry David, with Garlin portraying his loyal manager. The critically acclaimed series has won numerous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy, The Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America, and the AFI Comedy Series of the Year award.

Garlin has toured the country as a stand-up comedian, is an alumnus of Chicago’s Second city Theatre, and has written and starred in three critically acclaimed solo shows (“I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With,” “Uncomplicated,” and “Concentrated”). Garlin recently had his first film, “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With,” released to critical acclaim. He has also directed “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and both Jon Stewart (“Unleavened”) and Denis Leary (“Lock-n-Load”) in their HBO specials.

Garlin has extensive feature acting credits, including a starring role opposite Eddie Murphy in the comedy “Daddy Day Care.” He recently completed the Fox Atomic Comedy “The Rocker” opposite Rainn Wilson and Christina Applegate.

Jeff Garlin is a fabulous guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about “WALL-E”:

MoviesOnline: When did you get started and how did you find the voice of the captain?

JEFF GARLIN: I got involved when Andrew Stanton called me and asked me to do the part. Before he asked me, he said “Can you come up to Pixar? I want to do a presentation for you to see if you want to do it.” As if, like yeah. The guy who wrote and directed "Finding Nemo," who does movies at Pixar, wants me to be one of the stars of his new movie. Let's see what this presentation is all about. No way! I was so thrilled. I don't know how long I've been working on it. I've got such a bad sense of time. I know what time it is at all times but I never know what day it is. Definitely a year at least, maybe two years. I can't remember.

You asked about developing the voice; it's just me. I just said it. As an actor, unless I'm playing a specific character, I just do variations of myself. I'm very comfortable playing variations of myself.

MoviesOnline: Did you see the character beforehand?

JEFF GARLIN: Yes. I saw sketches and such. I made a conscious choice throughout the whole process, including looping, to not watch at all because I wanted to see the movie clean. Besides seeing a drawing, when I saw the movie three weeks ago, I had no idea what I was in for. It's all rhythms. With animation, I just pick up the rhythm, that's all. I'm a big bowl of naturalism: I play variations of myself, I don't think about things too much, I just do it.

MoviesOnline: Did they film you at Pixar? Did you see yourself in the character?

JEFF GARLIN: Most definitely. They videotaped every voice session. I thought, initially, that it was behind-the-scenes (footage). I thought it was for the DVD or something, until like the fourth session, I'd say “Why so much behind-the-scenes crap?” And they go, “No, no, no. This is for the animators who can watch the way you say things.” When I was watching the movie, I said, that's really something I'd do. But I don't over-think, so I'm not that self-aware.

MoviesOnline: What was it about the character that appealed to you?

JEFF GARLIN: That it was in a Pixar movie, directed by Andrew Stanton. That's all that appealed to me to make me go, “I'm in.” I enjoyed the process of the work of doing it. When I saw the movie, I saw it with fresh eyes, because I hadn't seen them (make it) and I’m like, “Wow, I'm so happy I did this. I'm thrilled.”

I've been an actor/comedian/writer for 26 years. Pixar works on their stories harder than any other place I've been around. (Pixar) will not move forward unless they have the story right. They have great constructive criticism amongst each other. Lastly, they're really kind to one another. I've seen an instance of utopia. They have their own utopia. They really do. It's their own world where they take what they do very seriously and they work very hard. I found with other studios laziness runs amok, and dollar signs run amok. Not that Pixar isn't into making money. Disney and Pixar want to make a ton of money, but they're just concerned with making a great movie and the money will either follow or it won't.

They were fans of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and I'd taken a tour there before. I'd spent some time with them and become friendly with some of them. I knew them but not to the same degree to which I experienced (when I voiced the character).

MoviesOnline: Have your kids seen it?

JEFF GARLIN: The teaser trailer has my character saying "Clean that robot," and I know my eight year old got giddy (seeing it) because it was clearly daddy and he was thrilled. They're going to see it tomorrow night for the first time and that'll be something.

MoviesOnline: What do you think is the message of the movie?

JEFF GARLIN: The message of the movie to me is love conquers all. That's really what it is. Their love changes the world; it gets everybody back.

MoviesOnline: What about the conservation aspect?

JEFF GARLIN: That's what I'm saying. Love conquers all. If we were more into love and less into destruction, I think we'd have a lot less problems with conservation. The thing that people love that destroys the world is money. Who's not going to dig money? It's great. But the obsession with money and not having enough money and not worrying about how you're getting it... I kinda feel you have to ask yourself everyday, how am I contributing? (For some people) it's how much money am I making and that's (their) self-worth. That leads to pollution. Isn't that crazy? That's my theory.

MoviesOnline: But the people aren’t slothful in the movie?

JEFF GARLIN: What's your definition of slothful then? You drink your food and ride around and never walk. When you talk to people, even if they're next to you, you're looking straight ahead (at a screen). That's like the evolution of Blackberries. Slothful is the key word there. They're not making the world a better place and they're not doing anything. If they stayed fit, they may have been able to do more and gotten back to earth sooner. They should be ashamed of themselves.

MoviesOnline: What were the recording sessions like for you?

JEFF GARLIN: They're always four hours each. Well, not always. Sometimes they only needed me for an hour or two towards the end. I was allowed to improvise as much as I wanted. I did not want to. I didn't feel improv was necessary if it's well-written. If I'm doing a play by Paddy Chayefsky, do I need to improvise? I feel the same way about something Andrew Stanton writes. Do I need to improvise this movie? No, I don't need to. I did improvise some because I'd get an idea and I'd present it to Andrew. I was always offered the opportunity to improvise but for the most part I didn't want to.

Andrew would play the other part if I needed it (in the recording studio) but he wasn't (he makes sounds like beep beep beep). There wasn't a lot of sound things. I probably would have laughed and we wouldn't have finished.

“WALL-E” opens in theaters on June 27th.