Crispin' in the Sun

Courtesy of Volcanic Eruptions Arizona Daily Wildcat Crispin Hellion Glover

Wildcat: How do you see your image? Does it bother you to know that people see you as odd or weird?

Crispin Glover: Well, no, it doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't interfere with my work, and so far, it hasn't.

WC: What is your latest project? What will you be showing us in Tucson?

CG: I'll be screening my movie and doing some readings as well, probably. The film is called "What Is It," being the adventures of a young man who's principal interests are snails, salt, a pipe and how to get home as told through the eyes of an hub ristic, racist monarchy.

WC: I see.

CG: It's 65 minutes. It's not a short film, and yet it's not like a 90-minute.

WC: Who did you work with on this one?

CG: Well, most of the actors in it have Down's syndrome. It started out to be a shorter film, but it did turn out to be a feature film and I'm in it as well. This fellow named Steve Stewart with cerebral palsy and I are in this other portion of the film. It's a kind of movie within a film. And I wrote it and directed it and I'm in, but most of the cast had Down's syndrome. And yet, it's not a film about Down's syndrome. Part of it is, well, I don't really want to get into it.

WC: Sooooo, it's not a documentary about Down 's syndrome.

CG: No, it's more of a live-action story-driven film.

WC: Even with this new project, you seem to take a lot of risks - do you see it that way? Or do you see them as little adventures?

CG: Yes, well, I try to do things that genuinely interest me and if there is something about going to places that are not necessarily the places that you are seen in all the time, I find that interesting. I suppose it's considered a risk, to go to somewhere that is unusual, but I just find that more fun.

WC: How do you keep yourself inspired? Is it a drain to be so weird all the time?

CG: I find it very difficult to find things that interest me, that's why I'm making my own movies, because I find that a lot of the things that are occurring in films that are being made don't genuinely interest me. I like these things that people call unusual, or whatever, they appeal to me.

WC: You were in "The People vs. Larry Flynt." Do you have any particular feelings about pornography?

CG: The reason why I did that movie, well, I've always loved Milos Forman's films, and I admire him as a director. I think he's one of the best ones around. And when I heard that he was doing the story of Larry Flynt, I've always quite admired the Larry Flynt story, what I knew of it, and I thought it was a good story.

WC: You've been in a lot of movies , and you usually have the oddest parts, like Dell in "Wild at Heart" (Glover plays Laura Dern's disturbed cousin who shoves cockroaches in his rectum). Do you prefer these strange parts over more normal ones?

CG: I don't really think of them as odd. They just draw my interest.

WC: Think you'll ever work with Spielberg again?

CG: (Laughs) Well, I'm not sure. I sued him over that whole "Back to the Future" thing, where they made up some other actor to look like me to play my character in the sequel.

WC: How did it feel to see someone pretend to be you?

CG: Well, I would not have minded so much if it had only been that. What I did mind is that they interspliced it with original footage of me and that it seemed to me that they were fooling audiences into believing that that actor was me, and that w as infuriating. I might have even gone over what I'm supposed to say about this. Ultimately, what I'm supposed to say is that this case was settled with "mutual consent." I really don't want to open myself to legal problems.

WC: What about the Letterman incident? (Glover appeared as a guest on David Letterman's show, and after a few minutes of uneasy banter, stood up and proceeded to kick his legs up into the air saying "I'm strong! Look, I can kick!" The show then c ut into a commercial break, after which Letterman explained Glover's absence form the stage by saying that Glover had to catch a cab. You can check out the transcripts of the show at http://www. icaen.uiowa.edu/~idonovan/.glover.html)

CG: Oh yes, people find that interesting.

WC: Well, so were you aiming for Letterman's head? Are you sad that you missed?

CG: I could give two answers to that. I could say "yes, I was aiming for his head," or "no, I didn't want to hit him," but I think that either way, I'd much rather not say. People just wouldn't find it as interesting if they knew.

WC: How are you going to celebrate the year of the ox?

CG: Is that what it is? Well, I guess I'll just be promoting this movie and working.

You can catch Cripsin Glover's Big Slide Show & Feature Film Directorial Debut at Club Congress on Sunday, Feb. 23. at 9 p.m.Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. For more info. call 622-8884.