by Paul Fischer
by
Paul Fischer
Steve Martin is raconteur, playwright,
novelist, actor, and occasional Oscar host. No 
wonder
that, when we had the chance to talk to Martin, a rarity at best, we had to talk
fast. Even 15 minutes with the inimitable actor is a revelation. He was keen to
talk about his latest film Novocaine, a dark comedy/thriller in which he
plays dentist Frank Sangster, who is living the American Dream. Blessed with a
thriving dental practice and a sleek modernist home, Frank is happily engaged
to his ambitious dental hygienist, Jean Noble (Laura Dern). His perfectly
managed life quickly unravels, however, when Susan Ivy (Helena Bonham-Carter),
a seductive new patient with an appetite for pain-killers, settles into his dentist
chair. Before long, drugs are missing from his office, Susan's psychotic brother
Duane (Scott Caan) is stalking him, and Frank himself is wanted by both
the DEA and the police for drug trafficking and murder. As he flees from authorities,
Frank becomes increasingly drawn to Susan, and through her learns he is the victim
of an elaborate con scheme, which may also involve his wayward brother, Harlan
(Elias Koteas). Fueled by the desire to create a new life for himself and
Susan, Frank plunges into a shadowy world of drugs and violence in order to prove
his innocence, only to discover that breaking the law might provide his only hope
for freedom. It doesn't sound much like a comedy, right? Steve didn't think so
either, as he talks dentistry, humor and Oscars to CrankyCritic.com's Paul Fischer,
November 2001.
CrankyCritic: Did your Little Shop of Horrors research
carry over to your role as a dentist in Novocaine?
Steve Martin: Okay, me and dentist and research from Little Shop of
Horrors. First, me and dentists, I've only played two. One is in Little
Shop who I realize that he gets killed. Then this one, who's a pretty straight
guy, regular character who actually kills others. So, it's a full circle! I just
had my dentistry experience from Little Shop which I completely forgot
so I had to go to a dentist and sit around all day and play with people's teeth.
CrankyCritic: How do you feel about dentists in real life?
Steve Martin: I don't hate it. I don't like it or hate it. It's just something
I do every six months or twice, three times a year, something like that.
CrankyCritic: What appealed to you about this character?
Steve Martin: Well, first I liked the movie because it was the kind of
movie that you don't know what's going to happen next. You read the script and
you don't know what's gonna happen next, unlike many scripts I read. I enjoy the
genre of psychological thriller, twists and turns. It's kind of like Spanish
Prisoner. I had just done Spanish Prisoner and I thought, "This
has the same feel. I really like that, and it's a bigger role."
CrankyCritic:
How was working with first time director, David Atkins?
Steve Martin: First time director was no problem. I was continually surprised
at the depth of his knowledge. I was surprised that it's something that could
be taught in film school, because that's where he must have gotten it. I know
he had written several movies and had been on movie sets, so he must have been
a keen observer.
CrankyCritic: Were the love scenes difficult?
Steve Martin: Oh no. First of all, Helena [Bonham Carter] is a giggler
and Laura [Dern] is funny and bright and witty, so whoever I was in bed with,
it was a delight. You know, these scenes are shot with 15 people staring at you
so it can only be funny, rather than hot.
CrankyCritic: Since your "relationship" with
Gwyneth Paltrow has been well documented <g>, we thought we'd ask
how that's going...?
Steve Martin: Well, as long as I never meet her, I'm still going to have
a baby with her. As soon as I meet her, of course I know it's off.
CrankyCritic: What makes her so special?
Steve Martin: I don't know. I just wrote this piece for The New Yorker
magazine [about] my struggle to have a baby with Gwyneth, though I had never met
her. It's had an afterlife.
CrankyCritic: As an animated short? Why and how?
Steve Martin: Well, it just did. They were doing a site that would have
a lot of animated things and they asked me to do something and I suggested animating
that.
CrankyCritic: Why Gwyneth?
Steve Martin: Well, she's very beautiful and she's kind of iconic. She'd
just won the Oscar and she's ethereal. She's almost like somebody you can't quite
touch, so it made it funnier than someone you actually could touch, like Angelina
Jolie.
CrankyCritic: Has Gwyneth seen it?
Steve Martin: I think she's read it. I don't know if she's seen the animation.
CrankyCritic: While we're talking writing, what else is in the pipeline?
Steve Martin: Yeah, I've just written a screenplay for Shop Girl,
my novella. And I've adapted a play that will be done in New York in March called
"The Underpants."
CrankyCritic:
What is "The Underpants" about?
Steve Martin: "The Underpants" is a play that was written by
Carl Sternheim in Germany in 1911. It's the story of a woman whose underpants
fall down in public and how it changes her life. So, I adapted it for modern times.
CrankyCritic: What did you learn from working with dramatic actresses?
Steve Martin: I think learning acting is subconscious. They don't say,
"Do this this way." It's just something where you watch them, you maybe
see a technique. It's something you pick up your whole life from other actors.
So, I can't say anything specific, but it's like when you play Tennis with someone
who's better than you, you're suddenly better. It's the same thing with good actors.
They make you better.
CrankyCritic: And what are you reading?
Steve Martin: What am I reading? I've got the National Book Awards coming
up. I'm the host, so I'm trying to read about 15 books. There's "The Corrections,"
there's - I can't remember all the titles. I've got Salman Rushdie's book, "Fury."
I just bought a book "Killing Pablo," Pablo Escobar.
CrankyCritic: How has your sense of humor changed?
Steve Martin: I would say that as you get older, your sense of humor becomes
less vicious, at least in my case. Edgy humor is better left to younger people
who can afford to be less sensitive. As you get older, you know people who died,
you know people who got diseases, you've had things yourself, you know what pain
is and so you tend to identify with your victim a little more. You can still be
edgy, it's just not as vicious.
CrankyCritic: Do you consider Novocaine a comedy?
Steve Martin: I never considered the film a comedy, although now that I've
seen it with people, I realize it gets laughs. No one's acting funny. It's really
the style of the movie that brings about the humor, and that's the director's
gift to the film. It's really a kind of very dark, scary movie.
CrankyCritic: Do you think of the scripts you read as an actor or a
writer?
Steve Martin: You read a screenplay like an actor. You think, "Can
I say this?" The first time, you just read it to see what it's about and
then if you're interested, you read it several more times to see what you've missed.
Sometimes you miss action, you didn't quite catch what was going on, you start
reading all the descriptions rather than just your own lines.
CrankyCritic: What else are you working on?
Steve Martin: Shop Girl. I would probably be in that. I'm probably
going to do a movie called In the House with Queen Latifah.
CrankyCritic: What invigorates you about writing and acting?
Steve Martin: Writing and acting are complete opposites. One is very physical,
it's done in public, it's done on the road and in different towns. Writing is
mostly interior. It's quiet, it's solitary and it's essentially intellectual.
Performing is essentially emotional, or acting. Of course, they bleed into each
other because writing is certainly an emotional experience. It's just a different
portrayal. If you're writing something, you can break down a gesture into five
paragraphs if you want. When you're acting it you just do it.
CrankyCritic: Do you prefer one?
Steve Martin: No. Both are rewarding, but writing is much more personal,
so I'd have to say my heart leans towards that.
CrankyCritic: What about directing?
Steve Martin: I've never had an interest. I think people think I directed
things, but I haven't.
CrankyCritic: Are you hosting something for National Public Radio?
Steve Martin: I'm sort of the narrator of a little half hour show about
comedians of the 20th century. It was fun, because mostly the comedy series is
built of audio clips, bits from a lot of comedians. I'm anxious to hear it because
when I did it, I didn't get to hear the clips.
CrankyCritic: Is anything in your career most special to you?
Steve Martin: You know, I'm always looking forward. So, in the last 10
years I would say the play I wrote, "Picasso at the Lapine Agile," my
book "Shop Girl" and the things I'm working on now. It's hard to look
back 10, 15 years or 25 years and go, "That was the most special" because
life is so present. I don't really live in the past.
CrankyCritic: What are you goals now?
Steve Martin: I don't think of life in terms of goals. I think of it as
what I'm motivated to do next. As long as something keeps appearing, which it
always has, that's what keeps me vital. I just find oh, now it's time to do this.
Oh, now it's time to do that. Sometimes I might think about something for 10 years
and then suddenly it becomes the time to do it.
CrankyCritic: Didn't you used to give business cards instead of autographs?
Steve Martin: I did that years ago. It was a joke.