CraveOnline: What do you get to play in The Grand Budapest Hotel?
F. Murray Abraham: I narrate the whole thing and I’m in it. Boy, did you see that cast list? Breathtaking, isn’t it?
Is the narrator the same character that you play?
Yeah. Same character and I get to wear a wig. I hadn’t seen myself with hair in a long time. My first impression was, “Gee, I really miss my hair.”
Is it surreal to go onto a Wes Anderson set and see the color schemes he plans out?
No, there’s nothing but his mentality, his care, his love for what he’s doing, his generosity of spirit. That’s what’s happening on the set and it involves everyone. It’s as simple as that. He has the same kind of quiet control of everything that Woody Allen does just by being very still. Woody’s very still. Wes is just having such a good time, but the fact is that their brain is dictating what’s happening.
Is playing a Star Trek something that’s on every actor’s bucket list?
That’s another interesting set, because usually when you have an organization like that that’s had such success for so long, they become insular. Not these people. They were just so welcoming. I’m so glad to be able to say these things about certain people. If there’s a movie that you mention that I don’t like, I will not gush, I must tell you. That’s who I am.
Well, we’ll see. I’ve got a few more.
But yeah, it’s fun. It’s really fun. That was a good time. We used to sing on the set. The director was a baritone on Broadway. He and I used to sing Oklahoma!, me in that makeup. It was really fun.
That was such a weird villain too because he kept having face lifts.
Yeah, I wish that had been more successful. It was a very good idea. Well, it happens.
I genuinely like Last Action Hero.
Me too.
Hearing all the problems they had with the script, was that role on the page or always in flux with rewrites?
No, no, we shot it the way it was presented to me. It was a wonderful script and Schwarzenegger was a treat to work with. I don’t know what I expected because of his politics but he’s a real pro. No, I think it was an underrated film.
It was so meta. You were playing this villain but a villain the kid knew also played Salieri. Only Practice didn’t know who he was talking about.
Yeah, yeah. The director and I used to paint flats together in New York City for $1.75 an hour.
Have you been in touch with McTiernan recently?
No, no. How’s he doing?
Unfortunately he’s in jail right now.
No, he had to go? He’s a good guy. Would you mind making sure that you say he’s a good guy? Would you mind saying that I said that? Because he is.
Absolutely. We want to see him make more movies.
Yeah, he deserves more.
You got to spoof Hannibal Lecter in National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1. Was that a fun one?
It was fun. I should’ve spent more time with it. I should’ve done him better. I should have. I should have spoofed him. There’s another good guy by the way.
Hopkins?
Yeah, I saw him do his last stage performance. He was something on stage.
Before Amadeus, you had bit parts in some major movies like Serpico and All the President’s Men. What was it like being on set there before you were even a supporting actor, let alone the lead?
You take the work when it comes. I had a family to support and I was proud being in a movie made by Sidney Lumet. I had known Al for years and he was a star at that time, and he was very generous with everyone. The other one, boy the care they took with us. That scene looks very little but we spent two weeks on that. They were very precise.
I don’t know if you know that or had read about the history of it but they shot it from the same room where the guy was looking with his binoculars at the Watergate, the other spy that was letting him know that there were cops coming. It was the same time of the morning it happened. It was the same rooms where it happened. They were very specific. It was really amazing. I really spent a lot of time on that show. I met the guy who I was playing. I wore the hat. I studied his accent and I think I was on just about that long. We were driving around the city with a camera in the car.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
