The two central human characters chat about the live-action film version of the Jim Davis comic strip features a CGI main character.


Breckin Meyer

How did you get involved in this film?

They fed-exed me the script to South Africa, and it's by the same guys who did Toy Story, which I loved, and I really liked it. I called my agent back and said: 'This is fun.' I had never done a kid's movie before. I did a voice in Pinocchio, but never really a kid's action movie. I've got nieces now and I want them to be able to go and see a movie of mine, because they can't really watch Roadtrip. (Laughs)

You knew Love (Jennifer Love Hewitt) before, right?

Yeah, I've known Love for about ten years. She's kind of like a little sister to me.

Can you talk about your character?

Yeah, John Arbuckle who according to the comic book strip is a perpetually single owner of Garfield. He's kind of unlucky in love right now. (Laughs) He's been pretty much unlucky in love his whole life! (Laughs) He's got his cat and that's about it. In the beginning of the story, he acquires the dog because of Liz, played by Love, the vet, who he's had a crush on since ever. He's never had the moxy to say anything to her or ask her on a date, and through the dog, he gets up the courage to ask her out. And they kind of fall for each other. Basically, he's Costello to Garfield's Abbott.

Why did you like this script in particular?

The best kid's movies to me are the ones that parents can go and see as well, like Shrek and Monsters Inc., Where it has inside jokes for the adults as well. As a 28 year old actor, when I'm reading a script, I don't just want to do it because my nieces will like this, I want to do it because I want to go and see it with my nieces. This has stuff like that. It's like The Simpsons in a way.

How familiar were you with the cartoon?

I was pretty familiar, because my mum was a big Garfield fan. Every Christmas, we would always buy my mum the new Garfield book. When you're a little kid and you don't have a lot of money to get mum a gift, you've got your eight dollars or whatever, you get her a Garfield stuffed animal! Next year, you think, I'll get her another Garfield stuffed animal. (Laughs) So, I was always buying her Garfield stuff. So, I actually emailed my mum a picture I got on the website of John, and said: 'My next role.' And she knew right away who it was.

How difficult is it for you to work with CGI?

It's different. I was a little concerned when I first signed because I have never done something like that. I had done special effects before, but I've never had the main character not be there. I've had some actors who haven't been there in their heads before, but I've never had the actual character not be there! I called Matt Lillard who was Shaggy in Scooby Doo, and I said: 'Hey, how in the hell do you do this?' And Matt, who has a lot of energy, said: 'You just do it. You just commit 100 per cent. You just believe he's there.' You suddenly revert back to when you were eight years old and you had an imaginary friend, and you were playing with your action figures. It got easy by the second day. I've been goofing off my whole life, but now I'm getting paid to!! Even between takes you find yourself talking to the cat.

Is Garfield supposed to talk?

I don't hear Garfield. It's kind of like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, when the other cats can communicate with Garfield, but I don't hear him talk. He's talking cat talk. He understands me though. It's like the comic strip.

What movie are you most recognised for by your fans?

It depends on the age of the person. If they are between 15 and 28, it's Roadtrip. If it's an adult, it's Kate & Leopold or it's Rat Race. Clueless every now and then.

What do they say?

Sometimes people call me by may name, which kind of freaks me out, because I always think they know me. If they shout 'Breckin'…my first thought is: 'Oh, I don't know them, but I would say…..how are you doing?' Whenever I'm on the basketball court which I play often, the kids will call you by your movie. Like they'll say: 'Yo, Roadtrip, what's up?!' Suddenly your name is your movie.

How do you like working with Jennifer?

We've had a lot of fun. She's like my little sister, so we just goof off all day. I'm allergic to cats, I'm not a huge cat fan, but I love dogs, so all day we're playing with the dogs. We have a lot of bashful playing with each other, like our characters.

So, you're allergic to cats?

Yeah, I get watery eyes and sneeze. I just get really unattractive…..even more so! I didn't tell them that until I was in the movie. On the first day of work, they got me a prescription to deal with my cat allergy. Fortunately, there are not a lot of cats on the set, it's a CGI cat, which doesn't moult.

Do you have a pet?

I have two dogs, Monkey and Scarlet.

Do you have a philosophy about it?

I don't have any kids yet, but I play with my nieces the same way I play with my dogs. It keeps you young to some degree. I'm bad owner, because I spoil my dogs.

What kind of dogs are they?

They're mutts. They're rescue dogs.

How were your experiences in South Africa?

It was neat. The furthest I had gone was Australia for three days. You don't know what to expect really. I thought I'd be living in a hut. I got there and I realised I'm a closed-minded moron! Cape Town was beautiful and very western. They have KFC and Taco Bell, and it's full of the most beautiful people. It made me feel really ugly. The time difference really kills you, when you just want to call home to say hi. It's such a pain in the ass.

You've done an action film and now you're making a kid's film, so what's next?

I don't know, maybe an adult film! Porn? (Laughs) Then I'd have done everything. Maybe I do a period piece. I'm going to take a break after this.

What do you do?

I literally sit a room at home, play video games and play basketball. Hang out with my wife.

Jennifer Love Hewitt

How do you feel about cats?

I like cats. I used to have a lot of cats, but I don't anymore, now I just have a dog.

It does take a certain temperament to have a cat, as they do have certain personalities.

Completely different. You have to be very insensitive in order to have a cat, because I think they're very independent. When they're kittens, you think they're going to have a dog temperament in that they're going to run to the door when you get home, lick you on the face and cuddle with you all the time, but cats are not that way. They are very mysterious, you never know what's going on with them, they like being on their own and having their space.

This movie re-enforces what cats are thinking.

I know, I've always been intrigued with what my pets think.

What pets do you have?

I have a dog. She's called Mia.

How difficult is it to act when the co-star isn't there?

It was okay actually. It took us a little bit to get used to. I had a lot less of that to do than Breckin did. He had to carry Garfield around and have him on his stomach. He got much better at it than I did. I'm only with Garfield for the one examination scene in the movie. I'm almost always dealing with Breckin so I didn't have to do as much of it as he did, but it was fine.

Do you find you're too old for certain roles and too young for other roles?

I think I'm coming at the end of it now. I'm just starting to get to the end of that. There are starting to be more roles that are different from the roles that I have already played, but closer to the roles that I really want to play. So, I'm kind of at the end of it now and happy about that.

What kind of roles would you like to play?

I'd like to do My Best Friend's Wedding, Pretty Woman, Meg Ryan type stuff. Romantic comedies. I'd love to do some action stuff as well. I'm just now getting into that, I just did a romantic comedy outside of London. I'm really excited about it. It's called The Truth About Love.

That's funny, because Love is your nickname.

I know it's hilarious. It took the crew like half way through filming to realize that my name is in the title. Then they were all coming up to me and said; 'Do you know your name is in the title?' I was excited about getting to do that.

What is the film about?

We actually shot the movie in six weeks, so it was very very quick. And I just got home two weeks ago. I was mainly in Bristol and Cardiff and it's with Dougray Scott. I play an English girl who's been married for seven years, and I actually play my husband's wife and his mistress at the same time.

How difficult was the accent?

It was tough. It was more difficult because I was insecure about being the only American actor in an all British cast and all British crew. I really stuck out like sore thumb when I spoke like myself. And I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb when I was in my accent! But then I began to realize that I didn't because that accent doesn't sound funny to them, so they don't notice it. So the mental part of it was harder for me than anything else. And once I got over it and one member of the crew came up and they were like: "Your accent is really good, we're so proud of you," I felt better.

What kind of accent is it?

It's not supposed to be anything. I wanted it to be really, really light, like Renee Zellweger's accent is very much well spoken, proper British, which I will never be able to do as well as her. I wanted mine to be barely noticeable, because I don't want people that like my movies here, to just pay attention to the fact that I have an accent the whole movie. And I didn't want people there to pay attention to the fact that I had an accent the whole movie. So my accent is very light, and you can't really tell where it's from.

So, you play two characters, do you have two different accents?

I do. I have one that's her normal English and a deeper English one.

What qualities do you think you have to play a good veterinarian?

I'm very caring with animals. I think patience is a big deal, because animals are always jumping around. I love to take care of people, so I think I'd be a good vet. I always wanted to be a vet when I was little.

You look much younger than are, so were you concerned that you may have looked too young to play a vet?

No, because it was Garfield and it's a kid's movie and it's geared towards young people. So it was actually probably good, I think it would have looked funny, especially opposite Breckin who also looks much younger than he is, I think it would have looked odd to have someone who was much older than me playing his love interest. Kids wouldn't have been able to relate. I think it's good that I look younger in that way. And there are really young doctors. When I hurt myself not too long ago, I went to the ER, and I had a doctor who was like, 25 years old. He's like the same age. I was shocked at how young he was, so I think there are young people in that profession.

What did you hurt?

I don't remember, because I am always hurting myself! I'm a clux unfortunately! (Laughs)

I read that you were 'Punk'd' by Ashton Kutcher.

I was!

How did it make you feel, because it's very compelling to watch?

I had no idea what was happening. I had one moment when I was in the lobby when I actually said to myself in my head: 'Wouldn't it be funny if I was on 'Punk'd' right now and this was all a big joke.' Why that flashed through my head, I don't know! But I completely fell for it. What's funny, is that the audience saw a 20 minute version edited down from like an hour and fifteen minutes. I was literally terrified. I had no idea. As a female in the state of the world as it is, people just do the most insane stupid things. I found in the last year, I have felt less secure, because people are just crazy! Like if you put me in a room with three guys and I'm the only female, they're in a desperate situation, two of them are very angry and are forcing to do stuff to people, I've seen Goodfellas and here I am the witness to what's going to happen to this guy! I was like: 'I'm going down!' (Laughs) I even said to the guy on the show, I don't remember any of my moves from the Tuxedo!! (Laughs) I was thinking: "Okay, if he comes at me - can I really karate chop? Will that really work? Where's Jackie Chan's phone number right now?" I didn't know what I was going to do to get myself out of it! It was amazing.

You were terrified. They really did a number on you.

They did, but I always knew that that was going to happen to me. I was shocked that it took them this long. Every person that knows me, as soon as the show came out, they were like: 'Oh sweetie, it's going to happen. Don't worry about it.' And I was thinking: 'Why is it going to happen?' It was because I believe anything anybody tells me! The hard thing was that my family was upset for me, because I was upset. Unfortunately the person who Punk'd me didn't tell anybody else that this was going on, so I made a phone call in the middle of it, to my best friend and all she heard was: 'I'm in trouble. Get somebody here, I'm not safe!' My friend called my mum, so everybody had no idea that it was a prank. It was fine. I survived the punk. In a way, I feel honoured, because they punk pretty cool people. I was excited about it. And revenge is very, very sweet and I will have my revenge.

Will you seek revenge on Ashton?

I will, but I don't know what it's going to be!

Is it true that Carson Daly broke up with you via press release?

No, what happened with that? We had a mutual conversation. It was fine. Then supposedly, he turned around the next day and said I broke up with him on the radio, which is not true.

But you got your revenge by 'roasting' him?

Yeah, I did. I really felt odd about that whole thing, because the truth is if you care about somebody enough to be with them for two years of your life, you're always going to care about them in some way. And I think Carson is actually a really good person, and our break up was something that affected me in my life, but it did not change the way that I feel about him. I will always think that he is a great person. Whereas anybody in my life, if I've spent quality time with you in any sort of intimate way possible, whether it will just be my heart or my head, friendship or whatever it is, call me at four o'clock in the morning and I will come to wherever you are if you need me, because I feel that that is the right thing to do. There is a big part of me that struggled with whether or not I should go and do the roast, and the only I would go and do the roast if they would allow me to stop the roast at some point and say something nice to him, which I did. I did have fun.

You changed your look in the movie, with shorter hair.

We just wanted to do something different, it was fun. I hadn't been in a studio film for a while and I thought why not look different.

Were you familiar with the Garfield comic strip?

No, I had watched the cartoon and I had read the comic in the Sunday paper. I was a fan. I thought he was adorable and really cute, but I didn't have all the comics at home.

Why do you think Garfield resonates so strongly - like with Spiderman, Daredevil?

I think it's interesting that since the world has kind of found itself where it is that superheroes are coming in from out of nowhere. I don't think that that is a coincidence. I think we are ready to know that there are going to be people who are ready to save the world, who come out when you're in trouble and make sure that you're okay. I think that that's an interesting thing that people are flocking to see those movies. Garfield is not necessarily a superhero. I think he's a very American, iconic kind of character. He's been around for a long time. People identify with him because he seems very human to me. He's like your grandfather. He walks kind of slow, he's grumpy at times. He's got a really grouchy outside, but inside he's this big mush ball. That's who Garfield is for me and that's the amazing thing that Jim Davis has done with this character all along. He's been the voice of people. The things he says to people are the things we wish we could all say, but we would all get hit in the face if we said that to somebody! He's a cat, and he's cute, and orange and fluffy and he can say what he wants because nobody will hear him!

He likes to pig out - what is your pig out food?

I do love Italian food. Any kind of pasta or pizza. My new pig out food is Indian food. I eat Indian food like three times a week. It's so good.

How is your music career going?

Good, it's kind of on hold for a while. I took so much time off to go and tour with the record (Bare Naked) that I kind of put the acting side of things on hold. So, now I'm trying to catch up the other side of my life and do a bunch of acting projects, and get back to the singing stuff for a while. It's good to take a break from that. Especially, when you write your own music, you have to experience and live things in order to have things to write about. Right after I got done writing the record, I didn't have anything left to write about. I had kind of written about it all. So, now I need to live a bit.

So musically, what direction are you going in?

It's a difficult thing. I'm not sure. I would really love to do another record. It's really hard to do records that people don't take seriously because I'm an actor. It's only hard because music means so much to me and I really, want it to do well. But I don't want to make music, that people aren't going to hear. It's a passion of mine. I do it, because I want people to hear it. I feel like I need to kind of take a break and figure out a way to get people to listen to it. I know that people who do listen to my music like it and think that I have a good voice. I was able to go out with a record and prove what I wanted to prove, was that I could sing. I am not doing music that's attached to my movies. I figure out my thing of how I am going to do that.

What about making a musical like Renee?

I'd love to do a musical.

How do you sustain the roller coaster ride when things are hot for one day?

I think the only way I've been able to do that is know that it's like that for everybody. It's not easy. There are days when I'm like: 'What am I doing to myself?" I'm torturing myself!! (Laughs) I'm really unhappy and I feel really sad that things are not going exactly the way that I want them to. Then the next day, it completely changes - I'm singing on the balcony. So, the only way I can kind of make any sense of it, is that I'm not the only person that it happens to. Unfortunately when it is a roller coaster that's bad, you do feel like you're the only person in the town that's happening too. But that's not the case.

Is that why people in the entertainment industry have to date people in the industry? Because regular people wouldn't understand?

I think more dating stuff is scheduling. It's needing people who understand your work schedule. The hardest thing for people to wrap their head around and the biggest misconception is that everybody thinks that actors and people in the entertainment industry are these really self-absorbed, selfish people. If you think about what your job is every day, to go out and sell yourself all day long, there's a certain part of that, that is self-absorbed. You are the only person who can sell you, so you do spend a lot of time in your job by yourself everyday. I've been selling myself in this movie all day. I love it to bits. It's a blast. But somebody from the outside who doesn't understand that would be like: 'Good, she loves herself!' I don't, I'm sick of me! I've been talking all day! I'm sick of hearing myself talk. I think it all gets very confused.