Eddie Izzard and David Paymer Interviews - Ocean's Thirteen

with Rebecca Murray

Streets were closed down and the bleachers set up on Hollywood Blvd were crammed with fans at the North American premiere of the action comedy, Ocean's Thirteen. And the red carpet was packed with celebrities including Eddie Izzard and David Paymer.

Eddie Izzard Photo - Ocean's Thirteen Movie Premiere Eddie Izzard Photo David Paymer and Brad Pitt Photo - Ocean's Thirteen David Paymer and Brad Pitt Photo Eddie Jemison Photo - Ocean's Thirteen Movie Premiere Eddie Jemison Photo Ocean's Thirteen Cast - Ocean's 13 Movie Credits Starring George Clooney Kirsten Dunst & Eddie Izzard Photo-The Cat's Meow Movie

Transcript: Eddie Izzard and David Paymer Interviews - Ocean's Thirteen

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the North American premiere of Ocean's Thirteen.

Eddie Izzard ('Roman Nagel')

What's it like returning to the Ocean's franchise?

Eddie Izzard: "Well, I was in the cast of the last one and my role, Roman Nagel, my character, is designed that if you go to the bathroom, if you go to the toilet a lot you'll miss me. You have to choose your times not to go to the toilet and then I'll be there. But I think all the films, if you look at them, it's really about my character. It's not about the other guys. It really spins around me. I'm like a rock in a rapid, and the story spins around it. I think that's how it works."

Are you the only one who's figured this out?

Eddie Izzard: "Yeah, I'm the only one that's figured that out. And everyone else will disagree with me but I've worked this one out and I'm sticking to it."

Are you going to be in Ocean's Fourteen?

Eddie Izzard: "Well I am but I asked Jerry [Weintraub], 'Is there going to be a Fourteen?' He said, 'Yeah, there's going to be a Fourteen.' Steven [Soderbergh], 'No.' George [Clooney], 'No.'"

Maybe it'll just be you.

Eddie Izzard: "Maybe just me. Then it won't really be Ocean's. It'll be Nagel's One. Nagel's One, that's a different kind of thing. It's more of an indie film."

You've also got Across the Universe coming up, right?

Eddie Izzard: "Across the Universe is coming out. The Riches just finished last night – the season finale last night. We're coming back next March so yeah, it's crazy."

Can you explain Across the Universe?

Eddie Izzard: "Well, it's a story written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the screenplay. A story about an English kid who ends up in America and goes through this journey but the Beatles songs are the background. All the music, all the driving scenario of the music is written by the Beatles and is done by other people. It's not the original Beatles songs; it's done by different artists."

Do you sing?

Eddie Izzard: "Well, I speak-sing. 'For the benefit of Mr. Kite, there will be a show tonight…' I just sort of talk endlessly and then I adlibbed endlessly. And then I had to learn all of my adlibs so that I could repeat them [while lip-synching] because we did these big numbers. I had to hit exactly the same adlibs, which was really tricky."

David Paymer ('The V.U.P.')

Tell me about your role in this.

David Paymer: "I play the hotel critic for the grand opening weekend at Al Pacino's new hotel. He wants everything to go well but the gang has another agenda. They want to make sure that the critic – me – has a terrible time and they make sure of it by doing some horrible things to me which you're just going to have to see the movie to believe. Throughout the movie I'm the victim of some interesting hijinks."

And were they all written into the script or did these guys come up with some on their own?

David Paymer: "Most of them were in the script, yeah."

How much fun was it to join a cast like this that's already established and to get to work with these guys?

David Paymer: "It was great. They're all so welcoming to me and there's a real feeling of camaraderie. I just felt very welcomed from Steven on down."

Talking about Steven Soderbergh, does he allow a lot of collaboration with his actors?

David Paymer: "He absolutely is open to any ideas that you have. He'll listen to anything that you have and he'll try anything that you want to try. He's wonderful in that way."

Why do you think audiences love these Ocean's movies?

David Paymer: "Well, I mean they're cool, you know? They're just kind of cool. They're like we want to be but we can't quite make it."

Do you think there will be a Fourteen?

David Paymer: "Judging by the response to this movie, yeah, I think there sure could be."