Funerals, Brando and Yoda: The Land of (Frank) Oz

The first two decades of his career, Frank Oz - as the heart and voice of beloved characters from the Muppet collective, including Miss Piggy, Grover and Fozzie Bear - was a performer without a face. Working in close collaboration with maestro Jim Henson, Oz brought to contemporary culture a unique brand of comedy, melding good-heartedness with anarchy, irreverence with a moral center. Oz's soulfulness, coupled with a mythic spirituality, also invigorated his performance as Yoda, the Jedi Master, in George Lucas's Star Wars films. Along the way, with the counsel and encouragement of Henson, the voice behind the Piggy became an A-list director, helming hits that include Little Shop of Horrors, What About Bob?, In & Out and Bowfinger. Keeping in mind Henson's "follow your instincts" mantra, Oz has directed his first low-budget film, Death at a Funeral, a mordantly hilarious ensemble comedy, with no big stars, no big studio, but all the Oz trademarks. The 64-year-old Oz insists, with a generous laugh, that he's "still 18 inside; maybe 17," and that making the film was a highlight of his storied career.

Moving Pictures Magazine: Congratulations on Death at a Funeral. The easy peg on Funeral is, "Frank Oz tanks with a mega-budget studio film (Stepford Wives) and retreats with a low-budget comedy." Does that sound about right?
Frank Oz: That's exactly right. I've always wanted to do small movies, but somehow all I've done is big movies - from my very first movie with Jim, The Dark Crystal, which would probably cost $175 million today. It's always been very big movies for me, and I've always wanted to do a low-budget movie. I just never found a Death at a Funeral until now.

If my hands are tied on a film, they're never tied by anyone but me. Maybe a beginning director might have to compromise in a lot of ways, but I've done a dozen movies. So when things go wrong, like with Stepford Wives, it's always mea culpa. It was my fault. Alfred Hitchcock said he didn't like having too much money. He said when he had too much money, he felt too responsible to the money people. That's kind of what happened to me on Stepford. The money grew and grew, which I didn't like, and as the production wore on, I kind of lost sight of what I wanted. I listened to too many other people because I was too aware of how much money they had riding on it. I should've just said, "Screw it; I'll take my own chances." With Death at a Funeral, I remembered to just say, "Screw it."

MPM: Death at a Funeral is really off the wall. I mean that, incidentally, as a compliment. Where does that sensibility come from in you?
Oz: I don't really know. I know in Jim Henson, coupled with his extraordinary professionalism, there was also tremendous irreverence and anarchy. I think I got some of that there. Certainly, my parents must have had something to do with it. I don't think I grew up in a vacuum. I just don't like doing normal stuff.

MPM: The performances in Funeral are just superb.
Oz: Aren't they? I just love this cast. Another big difference in doing a low-budget movie is - though I've loved working with big actors like (Robert) DeNiro, Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, all of them - everybody knows nobody's getting paid very much; they know their lines; they do great work in a wonderful atmosphere. The pressure is different. It's like a television pressure: You'd better shoot fast and get it right.

We did offer the movie to some big stars, very talented people, but I'm pleased they turned it down because we couldn't afford them. (Laughs) The less star-driven a movie is, the more interested an audience is in the characters - and not the star playing the character. Blades of Glory does great because Will Ferrell's driving it. But on Death at a Funeral, star power would be a mistake.

MPM: Was Funeral, at least in part, improvised?
Oz: Are you kidding? Every movie I do - from Brando and DeNiro [on The Score] to Funeral - is improvised. I've worked with some great scripts, including Funeral, but improvisation really brings people together. I have to be flexible enough to bring life to a movie in that way. There's a scene in Funeral where Andy Nyman is trying to stall the Reverend. I always shoot what the screenwriter has written first. That's the right thing to do. Then I said to Andy, "Okay, improvise." I did a take, but I didn't stop. "Keep rolling. Do it again." He did it again. "Keep rolling. Do it again." Eventually what happens is the actor runs out of things he'd been thinking about improvising before we shot... so the actor is totally lost. When Andy got lost shooting that scene, it wasn't just his character that was lost; it was Andy, too. And that's where a lot of great stuff happens. Kubrick did 70 takes to break his actors down; I just go really fast so the actors can't think. You have to rely on their humanity. That's where their genius lies.

MPM: A movie like Death at a Funeral pushes a few envelopes. Is there a line you won't cross?
Oz: Nope. I can't please everybody. That's the trouble with politicians: They try to please everybody. I remember when In & Out was released. It was the first kind of openly gay mainstream movie out there. I was getting asked by the media if I was concerned about offending the gay community. I said, "I don't care." (Laughs) I live life the way most people do: I do my laundry; I go to the store to buy my beans; I drink my coffee. I hope my take on the world resembles other people's, but if not: Sorry about that. I think I'm in touch with the world. Or some of it.

MPM: When did you quote-unquote "know how to direct"?
Oz: I'll be damned if I know how to direct now. (Laughs) Who knows? I feel that "directing" is a misnomer. You cast these actors. You hire the crew. They're all hired individually. All you can do is hope you've hired the right combination of people. So I really think it should say "hoped for," not "directed by." (Laughs)

I never really planned any of this. I still don't plan ahead that much. I just know that Jim gave me all the opportunities, and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. If I've done anything right, I haven't screwed up the opportunities Jim gave me.

MPM: How did your work as a puppeteer and an actor inform your technique as a director?
Oz: I shot the third Muppet movie and... the Muppets have no legs, so you cannot do wide shots. It was a tremendous training ground, because it required that I play around with camera angles. I learned a great deal that way. Every Muppet movie is a huge effort.

MPM: A bigger effort than working with a legend who walks around naked between takes, as Brando was reported to have done during The Score?
Oz: First of all, that's the biggest piece-of-shit story ever. You want to know the truth on that? It was 90 degrees in Montreal when we were shooting, and we were all sweating like pigs. Anybody who knows theater or the movie business: In wardrobe, everybody just gets undressed and takes care of their business. It's normal to do that. It was just hot and Brando was changing clothes, as any actor would. Rightfully so, as any fucking actor would, he decided to hold off putting on those pants until I was ready to call action. He had underwear on and a long shirt; you couldn't see anything. And he waited to get dressed until I was ready. That's all! That's the whole story! And you wonder why somebody like Brando avoided the press.

MPM: Your films tend to deal with characters who have big secrets or secret identities. Many of them are living criminal or fraudulent lives.
Oz: I've never noticed that before. I don't like things that are on the surface; I like the things that are hidden underneath. The most interesting things are the things you don't know about. Many movies today are just handed to an audience on a silver platter. I don't want everything handed to me; I want to discover. It's like that for me with fine art, too. I like to see what's underneath it all. That's what interests me: what you don't see.

MPM: Tell me about Yoda. How much creative reign were you given and how much of it was handed to you by George Lucas?
Oz: George knew what he wanted from Yoda. The first movies (Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), I was actually performing the character. In the last three (Episodes I - III), I didn't perform on set; [Yoda] was CG. But on those first movies, I'd do Yoda different ways, and George would tell me what he liked. We developed a short-hand after a while. But George knew, basically, what he wanted; my job was to give him good choices and be as true as possible.

MPM: How much of Frank Oz is in that character?
Oz: There's always that hidden part. Irv Kershner [director of Empire Strikes Back] was a tremendous help in shaping Yoda. When that character is first revealed, he's this little, elfin character who's kind of funny. Then, all of a sudden, he's powerful. I'm not saying I'm powerful underneath, but I think all of us are. I hope I brought honesty to that idea.

MPM: Can you see a time when you might rejoin the Muppet family?
Oz: Not performing. Maybe directing, to kind of help out. It's hard for me as a performer. Those characters are so iconic. Once people remember that I do them, everything else I do goes out the window. I love those characters, and I'm very proud of them, but they do take away from the fact that today, I am a film director - and I love directing more right now.

I think Death at a Funeral is a high point for me. It was low budget. I was trusted. I was in charge. I always remembered, making this movie, "If it's a piece of shit, it's my piece of shit and I'll stand by it." It's exactly the movie I wanted. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was the same. I think making people laugh is an okay thing to do, maybe a noble thing to do. It may be cathartic for people to laugh. I'm happy to help out with that.