Rio

Rio 2's Main Villain Nigel Has His Feathers Ruffled In New Movie!
EXCLUSIVE! Actor Jemaine Clement sheds light on his evil character Nigel, revealing he finds love...

[size=200:11h4bqjk]Jemaine Clement interview: "
I was on a conference call with Krusty the Clown..."


Steven MacKenzie Apr 10, 2014

[size=150:11h4bqjk]Jemaine Clement talks Rio 2, Flight of the Conchords, New Zealand's homeless - and coming back as a hummingbird


I was walking the streets of London last night. A Big Issue seller said: “Big Issue?” I said: “I would but I’ve got no coins.” He said: “We take notes too.” I didn’t have notes either but I wanted to say: “I’m going to be in the next one!”

Welcome.
It was outside of a bar called The Golden Heart. It’s great to be in a magazine I actually buy. We don’t have many homeless people in New Zealand.

What does New Zealand do better?
There’s an efficient welfare system. You can survive on it. I lived in state housing as a kid when my mum was on welfare.

Are attitudes towards the homeless different?
I can think of two homeless people dying in Wellington and it was front page news both times – the guy with the bucket and a guy was called Blanket Man. When Blanket Man died people wrote tributes where he used to sit. They’d be painted over, then people would come and write again. Eventually the paint won but it was touching. He was like our Diana.

The difference is it’s front page news when it happens over there, whereas here it would be swept under the carpet.
Yeah, even in America they’re not seen as people. People learn to ignore them and they’re a joke. It’s quite shocking coming from somewhere like New Zealand, for homeless people to be a joke.

Are you the most famous New Zealander?
No. At the moment it’s Lorde. Peter Jackson would be above me too. Russell Crowe...

Top 10?
Definitely. But not within New Zealand because the All Blacks take up the first 15 places.

Who cares about rugby with the World Cup coming up?
This is the New Zealand attitude to soccer… when I was 12 the teacher said: “We’re doing sport, who’s for rugby?” Every boy except me put up their hand. “Who’s for soccer?” Obviously just me, and then I heard from the back of the class: “Poof!” It’s the other way round in New Zealand. Rugby is the working class, manly sport.

You didn’t like it because you weren’t manly?
I definitely wasn’t manly but neither was the person who yelled out poof. We were 12.

So we’re talking to promote Rio 2…
Yes, and I’ve heard you haven’t seen it but it’s been described to you in detail.

In great detail.
That’s a novel way of doing it. Get him to do the classics. Get him to describe the Godfather trilogy.

The guy said your character Nigel is torn between performing and being evil. Has your own career ever got in the way of your evil schemes?
I think the entertainment industry can be quite an evil pursuit. But it’s more having evil done to you than doing to other people. Are you sad to hear that?

I guessed it was the case. I’m also told Nigel quite likes Shakespeare. Is Rio 2 the closest you’re going to get to performing Shakespeare?
Someone did offer me a role in a play playing Shakespeare in Wellington. It would be better to play Shakespeare than one of Shakespeare’s characters because hundreds of people have done that and I can only think of Joseph Fiennes that has played Shakespeare.

Talking of love stories, Nigel has an admirer in the form of a talking frog but that means physical contact is a no-no.
People will relate to that, being in love with a person they can’t touch. Like a married person or a priest.

Did you study cockatoos before taking the part?
I should have. I leave that to the animators. The first time someone animated a talking animal must have been brilliant. Anthropomorphism.

That’s a big word.
Yes.

Do you feel a connection with cockatoos now that you’ve been one? Or do you have another favourite?
Hummingbirds are pretty amazing but I don’t think I’d want to be one. I’d probably go for a bird of prey. I don’t think it’s a choice I’m going to get to make.

In your next life? I don’t know if you’re given the option.
Maybe they’re listening the whole time through your life, “One time you said to some Scottish guy that you wanted to be a hummingbird, so here you go”.

On an animated film, do you ever get to meet any of the other cast?
We’re separate in our own little rooms at different times. It would be hard to get everyone in the same studio at the same time but when Bret and I did The Simpsons, we had a lot of scenes with Lisa and the woman who voices Lisa came in and performed with us.

That must have been surreal.
Even more surreal was doing the read through. We were both in New Zealand on the phone to America and they were reading the script. It was like being on a conference call with Krusty the clown, Apu, Principle Skinner – everyone from Springfield. And interacting with them. That was very weird.

What’s your favourite line from a Flight of the Conchords song?
My favourite song is usually the one we’ve just written. Every time we tour we’ll try a couple of new songs and they’re the most fun because they’re fresh and people’s reaction to them is different. They’re listening and laughing rather than singing along. But I’ll try to think of a line that I’m particularly proud of… The one that comes come to mind is, “I’m the hiphopopotemus, my lyrics are bottomless… [pause].” That’s the one I’m known for.

You could never beat “You’re losing perspective like a painting by Escher”…
That’s a Bret one.

Sorry. Bret won an Oscar for The Muppets. Are you jealous?
I hate giving speeches so I don’t think it would be worth it. I definitely don’t want an Oscar. Anything I would want to do I would hope would never win an Oscar. I want to do weird - I don’t want to do 12 Years a Slave.

You’ve been focusing on acting rather than music and Flight of the Conchords. Which do you prefer?
Music is a physical skill. I get frustrated with my ability, wishing I knew my way round a fret board better. It’s harder to assess an acting performance.

So how do you know you’re doing it well?
The acting? Oh, with the acting I don’t care.

Rio 2 is out now in cinemas