The TV Addict with legendary funny-man Fred Willard
Not only is actor Fred Willard one of the funniest men on both the big and small screens. At age 69, he has more energy than almost anyone I’ve ever met.
For almost five hours in Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel, this TV Addict marveled as Willard effortlessly hopped from reporter, to radio station, to blogger, tirelessly promoting his current hit FOX show BACK TO YOU. And when it was finally my turn, Willard not only remembered our previous interview six months prior, but managed to be as kind, classy and funny as ever.
I have to tell you, honestly, this never gets old. Thanks to my web site I’ve had the phenomenal opportunity to interview a lot of actors. But your work in all of the Christopher Guest films is hilarious. So if I’m a little nervous… I hope you’ll understand.
Fred Willard: If you ask the wrong questions, I’ll go off like a firecracker!
How different is working on a movie like FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION versus a sitcom like BACK TO YOU?
For Christopher’s [Guest] movies, all he gives you is an outline of a scene, a fun premise and a great co-star like Eugene Levy or Catherine O’Hara. There’s very little dialogue.
A sitcom like BACK TO YOU is very tightly scripted. People always ask if we’re allowed to improvise and so far we haven’t been able to. But you didn’t miss it because the scripts are great. Of course if we start getting weak scripts by the end of the season I’ll totally lose it!
But at this point, I’m really trying my best to get every line perfect because I’d feel so bad if the writers came up to me and said, “Fred, you’re missing the joke here.”
By: Amrie Cunningham 