by Paul Fischer
by
Paul Fischer
Jon Lovitz is one of America's most
irreverent performers. His sly sense of humor translates beautifully in such scene-stealing
performances as the baseball scout in A League of Their Own, or the dim
crook in Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks. In Jerry Zucker's Rat
Race, Lovitz's Hitler scene is 
one
of the most memorable moments in the film. Now on Broadway, Lovitz talked to Paul
Fischer in Los Angeles.
CrankyCritic: Tell us about the Hitler scene in Rat Race, it's
such a scene-stealer.
Jon Lovitz: You hit your mouth on a steering wheel and you split your lip,
but in this case, I hit it and I barely touch [some black lipstick on the steering
wheel] and it comes out perfect. It's just so silly. I loved doing it. Especially
when Jerry would let me try things and be creative on film and collaborate. That's
what I love. He really knows comedy, he was a performer himself and he has a great
sense of humor I loved it. I just want to work with him. He's just so nice. It's
fun to do something funny and have the director laughing. It makes you feel good.
CrankyCritic: Why did you want to be a comedian?
Jon Lovitz: This kid who was a friend of mine had twin beds and he kept
popping up and making faces at me. And I laughed so hard that my sides hurt.
I remember thinking 'I want to be funny like Michael.' Then when I was 13 I saw
Take the Money and Run with Woody Allen and I thought 'I want to
be a comedian like Woody Allen.' I found out as I went along that you have to
work at it and practice and practice. I think every comedian I know was
told at one time or another that they were funny but they wanted to be funnier.
I made a conscious decision to get funnier.
CrankyCritic: Why Rat Race?
Jon
Lovitz: I'm not offered movies left and right. The last two years I made six
movies and before that it was really slow and I am talking about parts that ranged
from small to just four days. The main thing was that the people who were making
the movies were funny and were people I wanted to work with. The scripts were
really good. With Rat Race, I just got lucky. I had kind of written it
off and then it happened and I was glad and happy I had gotten it. It was the
first real studio movie that I had been hired to do in four years so I just wanted
to concentrate on every scene and think 'what can I do to make this the best I
can.' You're supposed to do that anyway, which I do, but I was even more conscious
of it this time.
CrankyCritic: What was it like working with Woody Allen?
Jon Lovitz: Oh yeah for sure. Woody is the guy who made me want to be a
comic. I was in heaven and couldn't stop smiling because he was my idol and 29
years after seeing Take the Money and Run, I was working for him.
I mean, I used to do his monologues at college, for goodness sake. I had
his comedy albums and I would practice doing them all the time. When I met him
I said 'this is a dream come true and you're such a great comedian.' He said 'I
think you're fantastic and the honor is mine.' Then, later on, I wasn't sure if
I should do a New York accent, because everyone on the film was from New York
and I was from Los Angeles, so I asked him about it and he said,
'Don't worry about it. It will sound good whatever way you do it. Guys like us,
we're naturally funny.' I thought, Woody Allen just said 'Guys like us!'
And I remembered back to when I was doing my college act and bozos would yell
out 'Who do you think you are, Woody Allen?' 
And
there was Woody Allen saying 'Guys like us.' I started to cry, right there
in the middle of the scene. I was so happy I cried.
CrankyCritic: What about your Broadway role? Rumor has it you will be
taking over the lead in The Producers?
Jon Lovitz: I'm taking over Henry Winkler's role in The Dinner
Party in New York. I haven't even seen The Producers. I'm not sure
who started that rumor. I mean, Nathan Lane just won the Tony.
CrankyCritic: How do you feel about Broadway?
Jon Lovitz: It's exciting. It feels good. I'm a little nervous. The theater
I'm doing it at is the Music Box Theater where Irving Berlin wrote and
Marlon Brando did his first play. This history of the place is amazing.
It's Neil Simon. I've been working with him. It's been really fun. I can't
believe it. I'm so excited to get started.
CrankyCritic: You're also 'in' Cats and Dogs. Any thoughts on
that?
Jon Lovitz: I've seen parts of it and it's just hilarious. If you have
animals and you think the way they think and you project personalities on them,
that's how they wrote the parts.
August, 2001