INTERVIEW WITH BRAD GARRETT FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com
Comedian and actor Brad Garrett towers over everyone on set, but is a very down to earth guy. Best known for his role as Robert Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond and Eddie Stark on Till Death, Garrett didn't mind sitting down with TCC's Kim Alsumiri in the Players Lounge at the Venetian Casino while getting ready for PokerStars.net's NAPT. In the deep voice that made him famous, he speaks about his most popular roles, seeing himself on TV, his insecurities, and what's next for him.
TCC: You seem to be type cast in a lot of the roles that you've done, how do you feel about being type cast?
BG: Yes, well, you know it means I'm working. You know, it gets to that point I think that a lot of actors kind of get known, especially comedic actors, for kind of one thing. But you know it's our job as actors to break that by trying to be diverse and trying to get a role that isn't like the last role you had. So it's about taking risks and getting another job and hopefully somebody believing that you can do something else besides the last job you did. That being said, you know when you are type cast, it means that America has bought you as this certain person. So it does come with a lot of good stuff too. I feel lucky to be cast at all, whether it's type cast, uncast, recast, you know what I mean?
TCC: Yes. I read that you originally wanted to do a spin-off for your character Robert Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond. If that had gotten off the ground, where did you see the show going?
BG: Well that was something that we had discussed quite a while back, and what they were going to do was we were thinking about possibly having me move with my new wife, obviously away from the family, and maybe to the Pennsylvania area where Amy was from, and we were touring a lot of things. But we thought it would be something in law enforcement, and maybe Robert would become a sheriff of a smaller town where he can for once become kind of the 'big dog' and of course how all that would go awry. But it was going back and forth. One thing about the Raymond writers, they're the greatest writers I've ever worked with and they were all about quality of writing and it was really about having the right vehicle, not just a spin-off. And it just didn't come about, it just didn't happen. But that's okay too.
TCC: Your latest show, Till Death. Very funy.
BG: Yes, thank you very much! He's a little different than Robert, he's kind of the alpha dog, right?
TCC: Yeah, but compared to the newly wed next door, he still seems as like that 'second place' guy.
BG: Yes, yes.
TCC: You've been married, so in some of the scenes from the show where you and your wife (played by Joely Fisher) have disagreements or funny arguments, have you seen those same arguments in real life?
BG: Oh sure, yes! Absolutely. Well, I think it's all about compatibility or non-compatibility, family dynamics, and about marriage and there's a lot of similarities. You know, whether you're married or know people that are married, or things you can draw from your parents. There's definitely similarities and you know as an actor or a writer you try to sometimes bring that to the stage with you because if it's genuine it's usually accurate. You know I think that what we've always tried to do with the show is to keep it real and genuine and through that hopefully the humor will come. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.
TCC: You started out doing stand up comedy, what differences are between stand up comedy and acting that you like or dislike?
BG: Um, I love them both, I still do stand up, I'm going to start a tour actually at the end of the month. I love them both for different reasons. Stand up is really the only thing in the entertainment business that you do totally alone. You know, you're your own writer, your own director, your own critic, your own audience at times. So, after being on a show where you know, there's a 120 people involved in what goes on, it's great to get back to that oneness. But, I love the acting for a lot of reasons because it's more of a supportive craft. And you can surround yourself with good people and good writers and there's a lot more camaraderie obviously than there is in stand up. But they both come with things that are great and things that aren't.
TCC: Where do you get your inspiration for your stand up?
BG: Uh, fear. Wanting to fit in 50 years later. Feeling strange, odd, weird. You know, just from life. I think you're born with a comedy gene, and you can't teach timing and you can't teach satire, pathos. You can give a guy a funny line, but you can't make him say it funny. And I think it's just always been part of my thing. I love it, and I'm very lucky.
TCC: So are you going to be focusing more on your acting or your stand up in the near future?
BG: I mean, it's always going to be, I do stand up when the show is off. Right now we just finished our fourth year, we're just waiting to hear if we come back for year five, we don't know yet. So usually during the summer is when I do stand up or, I'll do a play, or sometimes Broadway, or something like that. But if I had to choose, I love acting, you know?
TCC: How do you feel when you see yourself on TV or the big screen and you realize, 'Hey, that's me'?
BG: I usually hate it, haha. I'm still very self conscious about all of it. You know and when you're 6'7” and 250, you don't wanna be on the big screen, because then it's enormous. But I'm grateful, I've always stayed grateful. It's one of the few jobs where you learn in front of the world. You know, you have a bad day at the office, four people know. You suck in a movie, everyone knows. So, um, it builds a good armor and you learn a lot about life and I'm lucky.
TCC: Out of all your roles, on stage, in front of a camera, what's been the most memorable one to you?
BG: Uh, I think when I portrayed Gleason, when I did Gleason: The Jackie Gleason Story for CBS about seven years ago now. That was the one that really opened a few doors as far as people seeing me, because I was playing Robert (Barone) at the time and I ended up playing a very flawed, you know troubled man with a lot of uh, “isms” you know. And I was dying to do that role, and I was like their fourth choice, and things just fell in line, it was like, 'get on a plane, you're getting to do this'. So, that really took a lot of courage, you know it's great to do something that scares you. I suggest it for any actor or comedian or singer, you know if it scares you, you'll benefit from it. But I had great directors and wonderful make up people and a network that was behind me and it turned out to be really creatively fulfilling on a lot of levels.