Jun
27
2011
0

The id of Eddie Izzard

[from metro.us]

Eddie Izzard has quite the crowded business card these days: actor, stand-up comedian, political activist, marathon-runner, avid Twitterer. And with “Cars 2,” he joins the ranks of Pixar voice actors as Miles Axelrod, a Range Rover-ish entrepreneur who’s designed a new, environmentally friendly fuel, Allinol. The incredibly busy Mr. Izzard sat down with Metro just hours after arriving in L.A. from Paris, where he’s doing a series of stand-up shows. In French.

So, you’ve never really considered yourself a big car person?

I do like cars, but I’m not a car nut. I always thought, “Well I’m doing OK, I’ve got a bit of money, let’s get a stupid car, a crazy car.” And I started hiring a few, and nothing really grabbed me. I kept coming back to the Beetle or a Mini because they’re kind of cool, and they didn’t separate me. I wasn’t saying, “Hey, look how good I’m doing.” But having said that, I’d go for any type Jag, or an Aston Martin DB5 or 6 — there’s a five and a six, and I keep looking at them going, “What’s the difference?”

In this you’re playing what looks like a Range Rover.

I’m playing Sir Miles Axelrod, the … am I a millionaire or a billionaire? I can’t remember. All the positive side of Miles Axelrod has something Richard Branson-esque — or me-esque, because I was at some point studying accounting and financial management. And I am someone that, I suppose I have been taking my comedy around the world, and I’ve tried to do that in a very positive way.

You’ve definitely become something of a do-gooder in real life.

Yes, we’ve raised some money on the marathons. The positive attitude I like about business is like the Pixar model. You don’t have to be a rape-and-pillage business. You know, you can still make a profit. You don’t have to be an ogre. Just you have to work a bit harder at it.

How have you found balancing all the different work you do?

It’s tricky. I think if you just had a lot of films going — film after film after film — then you would just have to juggle those together. Instead I have a film, and then do France in French, and then maybe run some marathons, and then do something political in an election campaign. So it’s mixing things together that I want to do.

Written by Momo in: Interview,Movies |
Jun
25
2011
0

“Cars 2” star Eddie Izzard plans political career

[from reuters canada]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Since breaking out of Britain’s comedy ranks, Eddie Izzard has carved out a strong career in Hollywood movies and TV. His HBO comedy special, “Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill” earned him two Emmy Awards, and his movie credits include the two “Ocean’s Eleven” sequels.

Izzard, 49, a transvestite, is now voicing a role in animated movie “Cars 2,” which opens in U.S. movie theaters on Friday. He sat down with Reuters to talk about his role in the film and his plans for a new career — in politics.

Q: Sir Axlerod is a former oil baron who puts on a race to show off his new clean-burning fuel. Relate to him much?

A: “My dad worked for an oil company and I do like business. I’m into retail. I like good merchandise and I like good ideas, so that’s what I channeled in to Sir Miles Axlerod. He (represents) all the positive businesses like Google and Apple who try to do something different in a good way. Except he has a slight twist and an interesting aftertaste.”

Q: You had your own series “The Riches” on U.S. cable network FX and this past year appeared on the Showtime series “United States of Tara.” Any plans for more television?

A: “I’m developing a political drama with FX. We’re working toward shooting a pilot. There are hoops you have to jump through before it gets to series but I’m a determined bastard. I’m a transvestite that’s got this far.”

Q: Beyond that — films, TV, stand-up — any other long-term career goals?

A: “Films are my first love. But I’m not going to back off stand-up now. And I’m going into politics in nine years.”

Q: A cross-dressing politician? Gay or straight?

A: “I’m not gay. I’m not even bisexual. I’m a straight transvestite. A wannabe lesbian. I wanted to be (actress) Carrie Ann Moss in ‘The Matrix.’ That was my thing. If I was a woman, I’d want to be an action transvestite, a kind of feisty girl.”

Q: So, what office would lesbian transvestite politician Eddie Izzard run for?

A: “I’ll be mayor of London or MEP (Member of the European Parliament) or MP (Member of Parliament).”

Q: Why politics?

A: “I’m a radical centrist. I think most of the world is around the center of politics and that’s where I want to be. I like people setting up businesses and creating wealth. I distrust the right wing and I don’t like fascists. They keep rearing their heads and we fought a war to get rid of them. It should be about the people, about having a safety net and fighting to have health care for people.”

Q: You’ve performed your stand-up shows in French. Any plans to tackle other languages in foreign countries?

A: “I will do it in German, Russian and Arabic. Languages are a case of hard work and repetition. For Russia, I’ll spend two months learning the language before I start the shows. I’ll be in deep immersion, speaking Russian morning, noon and night, 24-7. It will be a hellish first two weeks but after that, you cannot but get better.”

Q: Why Arabic?

A: “I was born in an Arabic country so I have to go back to my home town — Aden, Yemen — where my parents met, where my brother was born and I was born. I think it’s my duty at this time, with this world, to learn the languages of countries who maybe feel a little bit separate or are having a tough time.”

Q: Do you identify with the Arabic culture?

A: “Yes. A lot. And I want to identify with it more. I want to be in there. I want to get immersed with it. Because I don’t believe in a God. I’m a spiritual atheist. I believe in us. I believe in humans. I believe the God and the devil fight is in everybody’s heart and mind. Heaven and hell are on Earth and we all know people who have lived through it over the years.”

Q: Why is this your belief?

A: “I can’t afford to believe in something that I don’t think is happening. I would love to think God is organizing stuff but how can you take my mother when she was 40 (years old), of cancer, when she never smoked and worked as a nurse — and let Hitler live to 56? People do good works and then they get taken. People do evil works and they live.”

Written by Momo in: Interview,Politics & Causes |
Jun
24
2011
0

Cars 2 Cast & Crew Interview Featurette

Owen Wilson and Larry The Cable Guy are back as Lightning McQueen and Mater in the all-new animated comedy Cars 2, which finds our heroes competing in the first-ever World Grand Prix while also becoming involved in a bit of international espionage. Ryan J. Downey recently met up with both voice actors, as well as franchise newcomers Emily Mortimer and Eddie Izzard, with their director John Lasseter, to discuss this action-packed racetrack adventure.

>> VIEW VIDEO

Written by Momo in: Movies,video |
Jun
24
2011
0

Eddie Izzard

[from hertfordshiremercury.co.uk]

AHEAD of his appearance in St Albans, globetrotter Eddie Izzard tells JAMES BURTON that despite his acting successes on screen and stage, and his incredible marathon feat, after nearly 20 years he is still first and foremost a comedian.

FROM the Hollywood Bowl to St Albans – it’s an unlikely step, but it’s all part of Eddie Izzard’s latest globe-trotting itinerary.

Eddie Izzard
The arch-surrealist, who next month is headlining the city’s comedy extravaganza, Laughs in the Park, is halfway through a 13-week residency in Paris – and when that finishes, he’s jetting off for two gigs in Los Angeles before returning to the UK.

On the weekend of July 22-24, the 49-year-old is joining fellow funnymen Ross Noble and Tommy Tiernan on the festival’s main stage at Verulamium Park. Now in its second year, the event will be covered by the BBC for TV, radio and its website.

Since his live debut almost two decades ago, Izzard’s horizons have expanded no end. On top of releasing nine stand-up DVDs, including Emmy winner Dress To Kill, he’s branched out into a successful film and stage acting career.

And most famously, in 2009, he ran a staggering 43 marathons in 51 days for Comic Relief. Before signing up for the challenge, he had never taken part in a long-distance run.

Yet despite starting out with ambitions to tread the boards, comedy remains his first love. Famed for his rambling, off-the-wall yet shrewdly-observed monologues on everything from religion to beekeeping, Eddie’s still passionately committed to what he does best.
He said: “The acting is actually what I wanted to do in the first place – ever since I was seven I wanted to be a dramatic actor. I didn’t realise that comedy even existed as a job option.

“It was about 1993 when I got an acting agent, so I’ve been pushing that for almost 18 years, but I try to separate it from the surreal comedy, which is quite a tricky thing to do.”

While his whimsical stream-of-consciousness style may look improvised, Eddie says “only five to 10 per cent” of his shows are made up on the spot – but there’s enough space to perform certain routines differently each night.
He said: “I like to have a set ‘journey’ because I think it makes it stronger; the most I’ve ever improvised is half an hour. Sometimes I’ll go off at a tangent and just won’t remember where I was – it’s like turning off the motorway onto a B-road and not being able to carry on until you find your way.
“Way back when I was on the club circuit, I thought ‘Why not improvise the order that I do subjects in?’ and that threw me because it got to the point where I couldn’t remember what I wanted to say next, so I decided not to do that again. You need that safety net so you can go back if people aren’t looking interested, because you’re just one person up there, essentially talking to people for money. It’s an incredibly weird thing when you think about it.”
Not content with becoming one of the biggest names in his native UK, Eddie has become a massive hit on the Continent, where he regularly performs in fluent French and German. He’s even cracked the notoriously tough nut that is the American market, filming hit tour videos Dress To Kill and Circle in San Francisco and New York respectively.

Our Stateside chums are often caricatured as right-wing religious wingnuts, but Eddie – a self-professed “spiritual atheist” with distinctly left-leaning views – said he’d had no trouble winning hearts and minds.

“I don’t know if I was surprised to do well in the States, although I was certainly pleased, but Monty Python had already proven you could take that kind of humour out there,” he said.

“Most of my ideas are more progressive than the extreme right-wingers’ and I’m obviously not trying to appeal to them, but then that’s not America. I believe the America of Obama and Clinton is the ‘real’ America, the one that the American Dream always aspired to – it’s just unfortunate that there’s also been the America of George W Bush.”
His runaway success as a comedian shows no signs of slowing down – but since Eddie’s early days, when he famously performed in make-up and women’s clothing, his public image has taken on a more masculine mantle.

He explained: “When I started doing stand-up, things began building up and I thought it would be best to tell the press I was a transvestite. I’d already told my friends, but I didn’t want it to become a secret I couldn’t tell. When I first announced it no-one believed me, so I went out on stage in a dress and make-up. But the comedy is the comedy and I just happen to be a transvestite – I don’t want to be pigeonholed, so that’s what I’m doing at the moment.”
Beneath the silliness and irreverence, Eddie’s schtick belies a razor-sharp wit, boundless creativity and a vast knowledge of both highbrow and popular culture. Referencing everything from ancient Greek philosophy and Pavlov’s behavioural conditioning experiments to Star Wars villain Darth Vader, his sketches leap wildly between topics in a way that somehow makes perfect sense. But where do such wonderfully mad ideas come from?

He said: “I never used to sit down and have brainstorming sessions; in the early days, anything I could think of I’d just write down as soon as it came to mind. A lot of ideas come to me on stage. I’ll just be wandering through something and I’ll suddenly think, ‘Hey, why did this or that happen?’ or whatever, and if I like this new angle I’ll just go on and talk more and more on it.

“When I set up a new show, after about five gigs I just start mucking about and changing things over. I sort of just do it in a blitz on stage – that seems to be when I can get ideas and mould them into something. It’s kind of hard-working and lazy at the same time!”

Eddie Izzard is appearing at Laughs in the Park in St Albans on July 22, 23 and 24. Tickets start at £20. To book, see www.laughsinthepark.com or phone 0843 221 0977.

Written by Momo in: Interview |
Jun
22
2011
0

Izzard, Hoskins take dwarf roles?

[from BelfastTelegraph.co.uk]

Eddie Izzard could play the biggest dwarf Tiberius in the film Snow White

Eddie Izzard and Bob Hoskins are reportedly in talks to play dwarves in Snow White.
Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan and Steven Graham are also in negotiations to sign up to Rupert Sanders’ big-screen adaptation of the classic fairytale, the Heat Vision blog said.

Eddie is tipped to play Tiberius, the biggest and burliest dwarf of the crew, with Bob as blind dwarf Constantine and Toby as timid dwarf Claudius.

They would join Ian McShane, who is also apparently waiting for the part of Caesar, the leader of the dwarves.

Kristen Stewart is already on board as the eponymous heroine, with Charlize Theron as her evil stepmother and Thor’s Chris Hemsworth as the huntsman who trains the princess to fight back.

Eddie will next be heard as part of the Cars 2 voice cast, while Toby will be seen in The Adventures Of Tintin and Captain America: The First Avenger alongside Dominic Cooper.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/izzard-hoskins-take-dwarf-roles-16014779.html#ixzz1Q1eQxXrj

Written by Momo in: Movies,News |
Jun
21
2011
0

Owen Wilson & Eddie Izzard Get Their Engines Running In ‘Cars 2’

Owen Wilson and Eddie Izzard chat about the sequel to the Disney hit, “Cars.” So, what do they think draws audiences to watch Pixar’s latest animated movies?

>> VIDEO LINK

Written by Momo in: Interview,video |
Jun
21
2011
0
Jun
21
2011
0

Eddie Izzard on his tour and the end of ‘Tara’

[from OrlandoSentinel.com]

A colleague wanted me to ask “What are you WEARING?”

Yes, Eddie Izzard was calling and yes he’s a hilarious comic and a transvestite, but we were going to talk about cars for this little story I am doing. And “Cars 2,” the new Pixar movie in which Eddie I. lends his dulcet tones.

What he’s wearing is off topic. Funny, but off-topic.

I also asked for reader comment questions, which were off that auto topic as well. They won’t make the main story, but “Ramona,” and “Gina” and others, here’s what he had to say on his tour schedule.

“It’s a mini-tour, and I think the dates are already up there,” he said (website here). “Shoreline (Amphitheatre) is on sale, Hollywood Bowl is the 20th of July, just a day after my mother’s birthday (his DVD/music website is here, if you don’t get the irony). There’s Laughs in the Park, the outdoor comedy festival in St. Albans, that mini-Woodstock of comedy, thousands of people, all day and all night sets of comedy in a field with comedians and fireworks. Just like Woodstock. Except for the fireworks.

“I don’t know if the Montreal festival dates are up yet (they aren’t), but I’m doing French and English gigs there, having just come over from Paris.

“Paris, I’m doing something like twelve weeks of gigs in French in Paris. Are those dates up? (not yet). The only thing I know for sure isn’t on there yet are the Bexhill-on-Sea dates, my hometown, which are SECRET gigs and I won’t tell you about!”

“The United States of Tara” ended this week, the Toni Collette multiple personality disorder show on which Izzard played her psychology professor, Dr. Hattaras (like the Cape, funny). Was he sad to see it end?

“Very sorry to see that go. Great to be a part of some very good work that Toni was doing, a great team to work with. But unfortunately, these things come to an end. And one never knows how they do or don’t work out these things when it comes time to renew them. Happy to do it, LOVE that people liked the show, too.”

Written by Momo in: Interview |
Jun
17
2011
0

Eddie in Paris

Eddie in Paris with Craig Ferguson and Kristen Bell

>> READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE FROM THE NY TIMES

Written by Momo in: Photos |
Jun
04
2011
0

Eddie in Montreal July 11-13 for Just for Laughs Festival

Eddie Izzard brings his show ‘Stripped’ to the Gesù!

From the vantage point of his elegant, sexy and absurd universe, Eddie Izzard tackles topics ranging from the origin of language to Wikipedia, from the banjo to helicopters, from God to the creation of life and of course…bananas

The N.Y. Times declared him to be « the most brilliant stand-up comedian of his generation—he is deliriously, dizzyingly, catch your breath funny. » Don’t miss the chance to see Eddie perform in Montréal!

>> Tickets on sale here

Written by Momo in: Tour |

 


the man | the myth | the shoes | groovy news | recent updates | photo gallery | current tour info | tour archives | stage & screen | the hive | izzard.com board | shop eddie | fun stuff | feedback | faq | sitemap | eddienet | site survey | guestbook | email Momo | home

site design by:  auntie momo designs    [FEEDBACK]     Providing the latest in Eddie news since July 1999