A Girls World
Funnyman, Sean Hayes, who won an Emmy for playing Jack on the t.v. comedy series Will and Grace, is the voice of kitty villain Mr. Tinkles in the recent Cats & Dogs film. We asked him about playing a cat, his problems growing up and what it's like to win an Emmy award.
AGW: Hey, this movie is totally pro-dog!
I didn't see the movie completely done but I thought the same thing. Those cat lovers out there aren't gonna be happy. I think Mr. Tinkles should call the dogs and make nice with them.
AGW: Did you have pets as a kid?
I had a couple of dogs. One of them had a lot of warts. Rugs was a sheepdog and the other one was a cockapoo. I found out I was allergic to cats while I was making this film. No, I didn't sleep with Mr. Tinkles. I had to get a shot a week for 8 months.
AGW: How did you get the Mr. Tinkles part?
I read for Calico (Tinkles' side-kick) first and Larry (the director) was like 'Can you pick up (do the voice for) Mr. Tinkles?' I tried it with a German accent and that came out like it was Japanese. We just did refined American.
AGW: Did you know that the James Bond villains always had these white Persian cats?
I think those are his ancestors and he was upset because he's always wanted to be in theater and do films like they did. So he decided to take over the world.
AGW: Do you think your character Jack on Will and Grace would get along with Mr. Tinkles?
He'd probably be scared of him. He'd probably take him in but not pay him any attention. We have Klaus Von Puppy the dog on the show.
AGW: Congratulations on your Emmy for Will and Grace.
I thought I was going to trip on stage. It's in the bathroom now (not really). It meant everything to me. But it doesn't keep giving. You can't rely on it to give you happiness. (It's always) next… what are you going to do? It gets you in doors but the movie world is separate from the t.v. world. When I go in for a film role, they've never heard of Will and Grace.
AGW: Tell us about growing up.
I was one of those kids who was popular "in" school then when I got out of school no one ever called me to go out and they still don't. On Saturdays I would never go out and I'd just watch "Saturday Night Live". I was in the theater group, I was in Spanish Club. Remember the movie "Lucas"? That was shot in my high school. Wynona Rider came up to me a month ago and I go 'we were in a movie together. I was an extra in "Lucas". She was blown away that that was my high school. All I did was stand there. I was out of the shot. I auditioned for commercials when I was five. It was weird. A talent guy came to our house and interviewed all 5 of us kids. Maybe it was a scam. At Illinois State I majored in Music, Piano Performance and Acting.
AGW: You're a classical pianist?
Yes. Is there a piano here?….darn.
AGW: Why didn't you stay in that field?
I got out of college and I was a musical director at a theater in Chicago and got sick of being in the pit and looking at people do what I really wanted to do. I just started auditioning for roles.
AGW: Were you a ham growing up?
I was. My favorite thing in high school was to trip. I was voted 'senior most likely to trip and fall at graduation' so I did.
AGW: How did the process (of recording the voice) work.? Did you know what Mr. Tinkles looked like first?
I did see a picture at the initial audition of each character, the Calico and Mr. Tinkles. It was just a little picture and all I had to go on and I still keep that picture by my bedside (laughs). You lay down the whole vocal track by yourself and then they go off and make the movie for 4 months and then you come back and "tweak" it for another six months. They'd show me the footage and Tinkles wasn't even there yet. They'd just tell me what was going to happen (when the computer put him in). It was hard to do that. You're not looking at anything.
AGW: Are you now typecast as a cat?
(Laughs). Yeah. I can't tell you how many times I get called…'would you play this cat?'. I'm up for the part of Catwoman.