SAN FRANCISCO – Jon S. Baird‘s Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Hardy (John C. Reilly) biopic is already being lauded by critics as a fine portrayal of the larger-than-life duo. Reilly as Oliver “Babe” Hardy is uncanny. Paired with Coogan’s Stan Laurel, the two actors portray the complexities of artistic collaboration through the comedy duo’s personal and professional lives with heart and tireless commitment. If it weren’t for Coogan’s admiration and respect for Reilly’s breadth of work as an actor, he wouldn’t have joined Baird’s project. The reverence was mutual for Reilly, and, from day one, they were inseparable on and off the set.
Over the course of his career, Reilly has worked with some of the industry’s most skilled directors including Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Lynne Ramsay. On top of his dramatic work, Reilly has quietly become one of the leading comedic actors of the 21st century, starring in such comedies along the likes of “Step Brothers,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” and his zany collaborations with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim as the character of Dr. Steve Brule.
In “Stan & Ollie,” Reilly portrays the third historical character in his career behind Nikola Tesla in “Drunk History” and Noah Dietrich in “The Aviator.” While in San Francisco promoting “Stan & Ollie,” I spoke with Reilly about the trials, tribulations, and rewards of making the film, Baird‘s singular vision, his physical transformation, tracking shots, working with Coogan, that Paul Thomas Anderson story, and more.
Jon S. Baird is the person who convinced you that you could take on the role of Oliver Hardy. What were these initial conversations about?
In the first conversation, I was like, “I don’t look like him, so how were you thinking of doing the physical [aspect]?” He’s like, “Well, would you gain weight [laughter]?” And I was like, “No,” because I had just lost about 30 pounds. I got chubby for a while. And it took me so long to lose that weight. And he’s like, “Okay. Fine. No. Just do a fat suit, then. We’ll do prosthetics.” I don’t think I could have healthily got to the weight that Oliver was, anyway.
And then I just slowly started dipping my toe into the water. Little things like the CGI version of the makeup. They sent a computer file to show you what it would look like. I go, “Hm. Well, I kind of look like him [laughter]. Alright.” And so, that was another small confidence step. And then I started to engage in the script and talk about what kind of movie we wanted to have and what we were going to focus on. And that was another thing that gave me confidence because they were taking my ideas and incorporating them.
So, the physical transformation helps you get into character more readily?
That gives you the confidence to explore the internal qualities of the character. Once you’re working with someone like Mark Coulier – he’s one of the greatest prosthetic guys in the whole world right now – you kind of go, “Alright. At least I know I look like him.” But it’s funny. I would just get lost in there sometimes. You forget what people are seeing. I was wearing brown contacts, too, which makes you look very different. And you just forget. You think, “It’s just me inside here,” when you’re not filming [and] talking to people.
I threw a party at the end of the shoot at my house for the crew. And I was getting these weird looks. And I was like, “What is going on? Why is everyone acting so weird?” And finally, one of the ADs pulled me aside. He’s like, “John, people on the crew have not met you before. They’ve only seen you as Oliver. You get in at 4:00 in the morning. You do that makeup. By the time everyone gets there, all they see is you and that costume. So, people have not seen you with blue eyes. People who didn’t meet you before they started working on this film are meeting you for the first time at this party as yourself.” So, it was interesting.
And contrarily, was it difficult to do all those sprightly dances and skits in that suit?
Well, not as hard as it was for Oliver Hardy to do [laughter]. That’s one of the stunning things about a guy that big. He just had such natural grace. It’s incredible. The weight was not the thing. Although, I did have extra weights put inside that suit just to remind me that there’s a density to the thing.
But the tricky thing working in that suit was the heat. You’re insulated. All of your skin is covered up. The only thing that was exposed was the center of my face and the inside of my hands. Everything else is covered with a wig, or a costume, or rubber. So, you could easily get heat stroke in a couple minutes if you weren’t hydrating. I wore this thing called the cooling suit underneath. It looks like a t-shirt with plastic tubes all over it. You plug this thing into a cooler that pumps ice water up and down these tubes through the shirt.
I’ve never done hard drugs, but I would imagine it feels something like plugging into the cooling suit and just like *tilts head back*, “Ah.” It’s pretty important, not only for your own health, but for the health of the makeup, too. Because you can’t sweat too much or else the whole thing just starts popping off. There is a little shot in the movie where you see the last dance sequence of me just sweating. Did you notice that?
I did. I was wondering how much of that was real.
You can see the light is hitting me. You can see sweat flying off me. That’s my sweat. Because I’m sweating so much inside the suit, it would travel down the piece that was on my arm, and then little tiny holes would start to open up where the prosthetics were attached. And I’d swing my arms, and this water would come flying out of it because I was sweating so much inside there. But I was so glad that he got that. It’s such a great detail. Sells the roar of the crowd and the smell of the greasepaint.
