Spellbound star John Lithgow talked about his wonderful role as Bolinar in the Skydance Animation musical and singing a song by Alan Menken. Plus, his thoughts on Conclave and 3rd Rock from the Sun. Directed by Vicky Jenson, the animated musical movie will be released on Netflix on November 22.
“Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria, who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters. Spellbound is directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek) with an original score from EGOT-winning composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Glenn Slater (Tangled). A Netflix Film from Skydance Animation, Spellbound boasts an all-star voice cast led by Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Nathan Lane, Tituss Burgess, with Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman. Spellbound is written by Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin, and Julia Miranda and produced by John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Bruce Anderson for Skydance Animation,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: John, you play this minister at first, and then you get transformed into this animal sidekick. It’s so fun. The director said that that transformation wasn’t initially in the script. So, did you get to see that role kind of morph over time? Because it’s a much more active role than it seemed like it was initially planned to be.
John Lithgow: Well, I can tell you a story about that. There was no such plot twist in the first script I saw of the entire film [of Spellbound]. I just did my best hand-wringing counselor to the princess. Bolinar, I sort of developed that character in front of a microphone, had a lot of fun with it, and I saw a lot of mock-up animation. Vicky Jensen, our director, whom I knew from Shrek, she gave me a wonderful sense of the entire film. A film that really moved me tremendously because although it’s a delightful and comic film, it’s about some very serious things, but clearly Bolinaris comic relief. So I gave it all I could and just hoped for the best. When you record a voice, you sort of show up once every six months or so to add a new verse to a song or do a rewritten scene.
Well, a lot of time went by, like 10 months, and I heard nothing. I thought, “Well, I guess they’ve replaced me. They found a better Bolinar.” It’s happened to me before. That’s animated films. They shuffle around voices. But no, I got a call and was brought in. It turned out that in the meantime, they had tested a very rough mock-up of the film, I think in Tucson or something, and Bolinar had been a huge hit. They decided to give him this extraordinary plot twist where he switches bodies with Flink. Suddenly, instead of my voice coming out of the Bolinar animated figure, my voice came out of Flink. They even created this amazing song just for me. Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. They went to work, and they wrote, “I Could Get Used to This” when Flink for the first time, well, Bolinar for the first time, tastes the food that Flink is accustomed to eating, that is, little maggots, larvae, and worms. It turns out he absolutely hates the notion, but then he tastes it and realizes it’s not bad at all because it suits his new metabolism. Well, this all was given to me, including an entire recording of the song with a fabulous Broadway actor singing my song. Instead of thinking I’d been replaced, I learned that my part had been doubled, and I got to solo in an animated film to Alan Menken’s music. I mean, it was a fabulous day.
That song is a real standout in the film, too. As you mentioned, Menken is just a genius. You’re part of a few other songs, but you are the solo vocalist for this. How crazy was that experience that you got to solo this song?
It was a dream come true. I have to say I was quite intimidated by because… Well, for one thing, to my shame, I have forgotten the name of this wonderful Broadway actor who did the temp voice. Boy, I wish I had it. He was so good that I was afraid. Oh my God, I’m never gonna do it as well as he, but I really applied myself. The thing I absolutely dreaded was hitting that last long note. But we recorded the whole song. I think there were two sessions because by the time I came back to it, they’d rewritten some of the lyrics. I worked very hard with a great vocal coach too, who helps all the Hollywood actors sing songs.
I came in, and I finally recorded everything, and we saved that last long-held note till the very end. I braced myself. I took a huge lung full of air, and I just [does an extended note]. I could see everybody behind the glass, holding their breath. Is he going to make it? Is he gonna make it? And they were completely elated because I knocked it out of the park after struggling through all these recording sessions. It only took one take. I only did it once. They didn’t dare try it again.
That work really paid off. What’s so great about that song is that you’re carrying the tune, but you’re also really leading with the character first. What’s so special about these types of musicals is that it’s less about having the greatest singers sing it. It’s more about leading with the character and moving the story forward. Since you are such an experienced actor and you’re so great at crafting characters, does that make it a little less intimidating since you can focus on that?
I’ve done a lot of singing on stage, starting when I was in college days. I was actually in eight different Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. I ultimately have done two big Broadway musicals. One of them ran for a year and a half, the musical of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I won a Tony Award for Sweet Smell of Success on Broadway back in 2002 for Best Actor in a Musical. Something that I’m usually embarrassed to even admit out loud because I ain’t no singer, but just as you say, I’m a character actor-singer. Everybody always invokes Robert Preston and Rex Harrison — if you can just put the song over, people don’t quite notice that it isn’t the most beautiful singing in the world. And I hit all the notes, at least if they give me enough chances.
You’re wonderful in this role, and I also loved you in Conclave. What I love about that movie is that deep down, even though it has this air of prestige because they’re determining the Pope, it’s all these very gossipy, scandal-driven men. It’s a little bit trashy in the most fun of ways deep down, and it really just humanizes everything. What did you find most interesting about that role?
Just exactly what you have described. The fascinating duality between a sacred calling and very down-to-earth worldly ambitions, emotions like envy and jealousy, and greed and ambition. It’s just marvelous, the tension in every single one of the characters on the great wide spectrum between faith and ambition. You know, all of us fall somewhere along that spectrum, and a lot of us characters keep those feelings deeply hidden or disguised. So, every single character has his own story to tell, and the story, just everything fits together into this wonderful kind of suspense thriller plot, which has this astonishing surprise ending.
The ending to my story happens away about three-quarters of the way through the film. But to me, what’s fascinating for my character is, well, spoiler alert, he endures a great traumatic downfall, but he has to stick around because it’s a conclave. It’s sequestration. It’s like he has to stay in prison. He can’t just walk away in humiliation. He has to sit there among the College of Cardinals in humiliation. I thought that was an amazing story to tell in one character’s journey. One out of several. The terrible fall from great confidence, self-assurance, if not arrogance, and dreadful humiliation. That was my story. But there are about eight or nine concurrent stories that get told, all of them performed by these wonderful international actors.
I used to watch 3rd Rock from the Sun so much with my grandfather, and we had so many great memories just laughing at that show. It still holds up and is very fun to revisit. How do you view that show’s legacy? It’s such a comfort watch for me.
Oh, it’s so nice of you to bring that up. I loved the experience of 3rd Rock. It was six years of nonstop, helpless laughter. You never saw us breaking up in the completed episodes, but we broke up constantly while we were rehearsing it. We just knew how funny we were, and we could hear it in the response of our studio audiences. It remains a show that just infallibly makes you laugh out loud, just a tremendous creation. I think 3rd Rock, you don’t see that kind of comedy these days. Comedy seems to have transmuted into something much more complex and intellectual. This is just completely daffy. This wonderful swing between smart and stupid. We sort of had our own trademark kind of comedy, and it just made us all so happy.
Thanks to John Lithgow for taking the time to talk about Spellbound.
