Goldblum stars as Jerry Barnes, a New York network television executive who gives Becky Fuller her shot at producing Daybreak -- a fourth-place morning talk show on the brink of cancellation. Becky must then bring together contentious on-air personalities played by Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton in an effort to save the show. (See Movieline's full review here.) I spoke to Goldblum about Morning Glory and the Annie Hall reunion that takes place on screen, the upcoming 25th anniversary of The Fly (and strongly suggests that I don't have children because of that movie) and why he still gets weepy at the reports of his premature death.
Romantic comedy is an often-done genre -- and often done very poorly. I was surprised, but this movie is delightful.
That's delightful to hear! Yeah, I know what you're talking about. But I think it was nicely attended to, and the writing. And then Roger Michell -- who's a wonderful guy if you ever met him; very obviously smart -- did a terrific job. I always enjoyed Notting Hill myself.
Your character, Jerry -- how do you describe him? He seems like a nice enough guy at times, but other times he's kind of a jerk.
Well, kind of. I didn't think of him as jerky, really.
He goes the wrong way on the Central Park Reservoir. That's a jerk move.
Was that the wrong way?
In one scene he is going the correct way, but in another he's jogging against traffic like he owns the place.
You know, I didn't even know we were making that point or that point had even been made. If I was, I certainly didn't know it. I'm certainly a jerk, that's true, for not knowing. I wouldn't argue with that. But the character, I didn't think of him as any jerkier than me, certainly -- which may be plenty jerky. I thought of him, although he may be tough and severe at times, I think, generally, it's possessed of good will and a good nature. But I think, what interests me as much as anything, is that she seems ripe for this experience that we are going to see Becky go on to have. Because I think my character also, even though you don't see much of it, is also at a point where I'm ripe for that kind of experience and want to be included in it, too. How's that? Do you buy it?
I think so.
(Laughs) I like that idea. At least now, after I've said it.
I feel people should be making a bigger deal out of the Annie Hall reunion between you and Diane Keaton.
Exactly! Oh, exactly! Back together again! At last! Why isn't that on the one sheet? "Reunited!" I know, it would be, "As the camera passes, it passes by a guy on the phone as it's following Annie Hall." Can you imagine? I'm such a fan of hers; I think she's great. I was watching today, as a matter of fact, on my computer snippets again of Love and Death, one of my favorite movies. Do you know that movie?
I do. I was hoping, somewhere in Morning Glory, you were going to use the word "mantra."
(Laughs) "I forgot my mantra." That's right! I know, as homage to our reunion! I should have, good idea. It's not too late to loop it in for the DVD maybe.
Morning Glory is basically the 1977 Best Picture nominees reunion. Diane Keaton and you from Annie Hall and Harrison Ford from Star Wars.
You're so right! Maybe that was the beginning of this brainstorm that the studio had. "Let's do a movie, I don't know what it's about, but let's reunite these folks." Who knows? That's maybe the seeds of it. That's maybe how this started.
J.J. Abrams is the producer of Morning Glory. I feel he does well with female characters like on Felicity and Alias. How much was he involved?
Well, I was there only peripherally myself, but I would bet that he was quite involved. There was kind of an uncommon event at the beginning of this experience, at least for me, whereby we all sat down for a table reading of the script. And what was unusual -- Roger Michell I think cooked this all up -- where the whole cast, including everybody who had a line, a single line or two in it, were around this square table in a big empty room. So it was 30 people around a table and everyone involved in the production sat around ringside style. So there were 100 people in this room for this first reading. It was kind of festive. But I'm remembering because I was sitting next to J.J. Abrams.
Next year is the 25th anniversary of The Fly. Any plans for something special?
I know. I like it, it's David Cronenberg -- wonderful director. I don't know what they're going to do. Someone was asking me yesterday about that opera, which I never saw, but I know David Cronenberg was involved in that. I'd have liked to have seen that opera.
That movie, to this day, still disturbs me.
I know. I'm sorry. Oh, where she's giving birth to a larva?
Yes.
A big pupa larva?
I don't like that scene. I mean, I like it... but I don't like it.
Oh, sure. I understand completely. Do you have kids yourself?
I do not.
For that reason?
Maybe you've just figured something out here. Maybe I just can't face that happening, no matter how remote the possibility.
(Laughs) Even if there's a slim possibility. Who knows what percentage of a chance? Don't take the risk. I agree.
Last year, when did you first read that you weren't dead?
(Laughs) That I wasn't? I'm still trying to determine what's going on. No, I was sitting at home in L.A. and my publicist called me up and said, "Oh, you're there. Thank goodness. I don't know how to tell you this but it has been reported that you died, that you were in New Zealand. I said, "No, I've never even been to New Zealand." He said, "You were in a movie and fell off of a cliff and it's been picked up by several legitimate broadcasters and organizations, so it's spreading widely and quickly." So I went about calling people like my mom after she'd found out, "Oh, geez, you're here! Golly!" So it was trippy. Remember that movie Gigot?
I know what it is, I've never seen it.
With Jackie Gleason, I saw it when I was a kid. It was the first movie I ever remember getting weepy at. Getting moved by. Of course, he's a poor soul, a town misfit who the town thinks has died. And he hasn't and he peeks behind a tree at his own funeral when they decided how much they care for him. And he starts weeping. I was in the theater; I was, I don't know, eight, and I found myself getting unexpectedly weepy.
You got to do the same thing. You got to see what the press said about you before you died. People were saying nice things.
I know! You know Stephen Covey's book? The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? One of the character exercises that might be fruitful is to imagine what you'd like your best friend to say or what the people you work with would say at your funeral. You know, live your life so that comes about where people are saying that. Then they played that thing on Colbert after they made a funny skit out of it. Then they played the... It was like the CNN of Australia or something. They say, "Oh, yes, it's just come down the wire that he's died. It's true. He was a nice fella, everyone said that he was a good guy." (Laughs) I still get a little emotional when I hear it.
You went into episodic television with Raines and Law and Order. What's tougher: When a movie doesn't perform as expected or a television show is canceled?
Huh. Well, whether it's just rationalizing in some way, I usually don't think of it as anything that doesn't work out. I think everything has occurred somehow perfectly. And my nervous system and psyche seem to follow suit. I can't tell you a project off the top of my head where I go, "Gosh, I'm still grieving." Everything seems to have played itself out in the perfect amount of time. I just did 100 performances of Prisoner of Second Avenue on the West End with Kevin Spacey. I loved it, but at the end I was like, "Geeze, 100, I don't know if I could do 101." Not because it ended prematurely, but because I just have some unexpected residue of creative verve and appetite in me since then. So I'm sort of still working on it in my backyard with some friends of mine.
You should charge admission for that.
Yeah! I like this little production that I'm doing in this intimate way in my guesthouse. I've moved around the furniture and set it up exactly how I want it. I've purchased some costumes specifically for that and gotten some props. When I get back from New York I'm going to see a whole box of props that are ready to go. Yeah, I'm ready to do it; I think it's going to be fun.
[Top photo: Steve Mack/FilmMagic]