Surf's Up
Mario Cantone on Surf's Up
Looking back at the beginning of the animation process years ago, Cantone began, "They sat me down at the Four Seasons in L.A. and they said, 'This is the character we want you do. He’s a talent scout. He’s a sand piper which is very nervous bird and he’s stressed out and he works for this kind of Don King-like promoter which James Woods plays' and I said, 'Yeah, that sounds great to me.' Then I got to work with James Woods. I got to be in the room with him and improvise with him which was really fun."
Woods is known to be an intense actor and person, making those recording sessions a little more than kid-friendly. "I think it was a little intimidating. It’s hard to get in a word edgewise with him sometimes, but he plays my boss so it was good. He was a blast. I could really listen. I think he’s Hollywood history. I could listen to his Hollywood stories forever. We worked together twice before but boy he’s something. You’ve gotta keep up with him. You really do. He’s a smart man. I liked him. I really had fun with him. He swore a little bit, I did too. The two of us were a little blue. He did a little bit. Yeah, he bashed me a bit, it was fun. We had a good time. That’s the unique thing about this movie. We got to improvise. We got to work together you know I mean and you can hear it when you see the film. You get to hear the overlap."
Between Woods' Hollywood experiences and Cantone's movie star impressions, those sessions must have been a hoot. "He was Bette Davis’ good friend. Bette Davis loved him. So, I do Bette Davis and I do her on different stages. I do her when she’s young, I do her in All About Eve and I do her in Baby Jane and I do her after the stroke which is the best way to do her. So I said to him that I do her and I started doing her like after the stroke and he kind of glazed over and looked away and started talking to one of the directors and I was like, 'Okay, shut the hell up, he’s not going for that. Shut up.' So that was it. I was like ok, he’s not into that. Cut to I see him on Celebrity Poker and his charity was the American Stroke Association. And then he was on a documentary saying he didn’t like people that kind of did her and made her camp. I wasn’t making her camp. I love Bette Davis. I think she was brilliant but to do the five stages of Bette Davis is a pretty great idea. I always like doing them towards the end. That’s when they’re at their best and that’s when they’re at their most exaggerated, too. That’s my little James Woods story, but I enjoyed working with him."
Cantone was so happy with the experience that he already wants to do a sequel. His idea is to give his character a musical number. It also gave him a genuine appreciation for human surfing. "I was telling Kelly Slater, 'The fact that you’re involved with this, you obviously think this movie represents surfing in a way that is respectful and it’s valid and it’s important and you see the tragedy of it and the triumphs of it and the hurt and the pain and the joy. It’s all there.' And he said yeah. I don’t even know surfing. It’s not that I don’t like it, I’m like whatever, but this really showed me what surfing was and what it meant. It’s very theatrical. Surfing is a show. It’s a show. It’s theater. It really is so it’s not too far away from what I do."
A lifelong fan of cartoons, Cantone gravitates more towards old Disney than modern CGI. "I loved Jiminy Cricket and I still do. Jiminy Cricket is my favorite character in the world. I think he’s awesome. He was just cool and funny and snappy and yeah, he was pretty great. And I loved Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty because she was like the Joan Crawford of animated films. Yeah, I liked her. She was beautiful. She was pretty great. I’ve read Disney Animation: The Illusion… by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thompson. That book is that thick and I’ve read it cover to cover. I know about animation. I know what it is. I could never sit down and write one but I know when it’s good. I’m too lazy. That’s why I couldn’t do your job. I can’t sit down and write my own stand up, never mind write an article for a newspaper or write a novel. When someone can actually sit down and write an intricate novel and structure in a way that’s surprising and brilliant and new and thrilling and moving. It’s a mystery to me. I don’t know how people do that."
Surf's Up opens to theatres on June 8th.
For the trailer, more posters and additional movie info, go to the Surf's Up Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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