Backstage
- Tim Daly Interview
Tim
Daly reprises benchmark role as Man of
Steel in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Private Practice actor returns to
Superman: The Animated Series role for
all-new DC Universe Animated Original
PG-13 Movie available today, Sept. 29
For
most fans, Tim Daly patented the
All-American trust within the voice of
the title character for the landmark
Superman: The Animated Series. Daly
returns to his heroic roots today as the
Man of Steel in Superman/Batman: Public
Enemies. The film is available today,
Sept. 29, in Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def, DVD,
OnDemand, Pay-Per-View and for download.
Beyond his 52 episodes and several
movies as the voice of Superman, the
Emmy nominated actor has had a prolific
career on television as the star of
numerous series, most recently
continuing as Dr. Pete Wilder on ABC’s
Private Practice and most notably for
eight seasons as Joe Hackett on NBC’s
Wings. The New York City native, who
made his feature film debut in Barry
Levinson’s 1982 classic Diner, has also
had plum guest starring roles on The
Sopranos and From The Earth To The Moon.
Warner Premiere, DC Comics and
Warner Bros. Animation presents the
all-new Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
in a Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def edition, a special
edition 2-disc DVD, and a single disc
DVD. Warner Home Video is distributing
the action-packed movie today, which is
also available OnDemand and Pay-Per-View
as well as available for download.
In Superman/Batman: Public Enemies,
United States President Lex Luthor uses
the oncoming trajectory of a Kryptonite
asteroid to frame Superman and declare a
$1 billion bounty on the heads of the
Man of Steel and his “partner in crime,”
Batman. Heroes and villains alike launch
a relentless pursuit of Superman and
Batman, who must unite – and recruit
help – to stave off the action-packed
onslaught, stop the asteroid, and
uncover Luthor’s devious plot to take
command of far more than North America.
Daly found time away from the
Private Practice set to answer a heroic
number of questions regarding his
longstanding connection with the Man of
Steel. Read on …
QUESTION
Can you recall your initial audition for
Superman?
TIM DALY Yes, I
remember it very well. The wife of one
of the writers on Wings knew Andrea
(Romano, casting/dialogue director),
and, I guess they had been having
trouble casting (Superman) for some
reason. I don’t really know why. She
suggested me and I came in and read for
them, and they sort of hired me in the
room. I was just shocked, but I was
thrilled, because it was Superman. And,
you know, if someone's got to keep
America safe for democracy, it might as
well be me (he laughs).
QUESTION What are the challenges to
voicing Superman?
TIM DALY
Superman is a real boy scout, a real
straight arrow, and yet he does have
certain moments of kind of ironic humor.
The challenge is not to tip him into
cynicism because he is not a cynical
guy. He is truth, justice and the
American way. He is about trying to do
the right thing and trying to be earnest
about his goodness. What makes him fun
are those little moments where he
reveals that he actually does have a
sense of humor.
Also, Superman
has always gotten the crap kicked out of
him by various laser beams, electrical
force fields, bombs, kryptonite and new
weapons – so there's a lot of grunting
and straining and screaming noises that
you have to do. There is so much
punching and fighting that I find myself
standing in front of the music stand and
the microphone, pinching myself and
torque-ing my body around as if I'm
getting punched or straining against
someone or grabbing someone by the
scruff of the neck. The key is to push
out of your mind the embarrassment of
what it would look like if someone
actually saw you do that in your shorts
and flip-flops when you're supposed to
be the Man of Steel.
I think
probably the most fun I have as Superman
was in the episodes with Superman and
Bizarro, where he changes into this sort
of idiot Superman and his whole demeanor
sort of changes. He's not really
deviously bad, or not consciously bad,
but he does a lot of bad things because
he can be manipulated – of course, by
Lex Luthor.
QUESTION What
do you bring to Superman?
TIM
DALY I guess the actual embodiment
of that character (he laughs) – no, I'm
kidding. I ain't no Superman (laughs). I
guess I bring whatever little quirks
make him more real. I like to think that
this is my wheelhouse Superman. Whenever
you reprise something, you hopefully
reinvent it a little bit. If I had
portrayed Superman as a live action
person, I would really have wanted to
know that there was a new spin on the
ball.
QUESTION You’ve
been away from the role for a while –
did recording Public Enemies present any
new revelations about the character and
doing the voice?
TIM DALY The
most surprising thing about it was that
I missed it. I found that I really had
missed doing Superman. I thought that
particular script was really good. For
those of us who are interested and aware
of new certain things in our world and
our country, I think that it presents a
very kind of subtle social commentary
which I think is cool and relatively
bold for something that's a DVD release
of a Superman animated project.
QUESTION How did recording with
Kevin Conroy influence your performance?
TIM DALY Voicing animation is
always interesting because you don’t
have to all be in the room together. It
can be done separately. But it's always
better when you're in the room because
then you're responding to someone else.
Kevin is such a good Batman and, unlike
Superman, Batman is pretty cynical. He's
of darker character. When you have those
two flavors playing off each other in
real time, there's a lot more sizzle to
it. You're not in a vacuum. So being in
the studio together is definitely
helpful.
QUESTION True or
false – did you beat out Kevin Conroy
for the role of Joe Hackett in Wings?
TIM DALY All I know is that we
both screen-tested for the part on the
same day. The screen test was odd
because I was there, and we were sort of
observing each other. We both
screen-tested with Steve Webber, who
apparently had the role (of Brian). What
I remember the most about the aftermath
of that is Webber coming up to me as we
were shooting the pilot and saying,
"Hey, Tim, great to meet you. I could've
sworn I was going to be working with
Kevin Conroy.” I was like, “Oh, well,
thanks, buddy boy. It's going to be a
great eight years.” And I still can't
get rid of him. I had dinner with him
two nights ago.
The sad part is I
think he was serious. I think he was
telling me that he thought I was not
going to get the part. He was like, “Hi.
You know what? I really thought you
sucked in the screen test. I'm so
surprised you're here.”
QUESTION Did you enjoy the “buddy
cop” aspect of the film?
TIM DALY
Superman and Batman have a good flavor
to them, much like Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid or Nick Nolte and Eddie
Murphy in the 48 HRS movies. They're
sort of thrown into a situation where
they have got to respond to a dilemma
and they have very different points of
view about how to deal with it, but
ultimately they bond as a team. And it's
funny having these two guys who are so
different working for the same cause.
QUESTION When you were first
cast as Superman, did you understand the
importance of the character to the
world, and were you surprised by the fan
reaction?
TIM DALY I admit to
my own shame that I took it just on a
lark. I thought, “Oh, this would be
fun.” And then I started to realize that
Superman actually meant a lot to a lot
of people. I feel badly that I didn’t
take a moment to understand that I
actually have a greater responsibility
than I thought I did. I understand that
now, and I enjoy my responsibility and
have more of a profound sense of it.
Every once in a while, someone comes
up to me and says, “Excuse me, are you
Tim Daly?” And I say yes and they say “I
have to tell you, I am such a huge fan
of yours, and my favorite work of yours
is the voice of Superman.” I'm always
sort of surprised when that happens – I
used to think that it was all about the
kids watching those animated shows, and
who did the voices didn’t really enter
their consciousness. But there are
people that it means a lot to and I'm
always a little bit taken aback by that.
And I'm thrilled when that happens.
QUESTION Which character do
you gravitate toward: Batman or
Superman? And why?
TIM DALY I
like Superman better. Not just because I
play him, but I think because I'm a
little bit of an idealist and Superman
is, too. He's a little bit more pure.
He's about saying that good can win,
that you can have goodness be the order
of the day. Batman is somewhat more
realistic in terms of the human psyche
because he's a little more tortured –
he's darker, more cynical and more
street savvy than this strange guy that
landed in a cornfield in Kansas. But for
the purposes of having a super hero, I
think having someone be good is more
satisfying for me.
QUESTION
Is there something you consciously do to
put that sense of trust in your voice as
Superman?
TIM DALY It's acting
101. I see what Superman is supposed to
say, and then I say it as truthfully and
straightforward as I possibly can. It's
always more fun to play villains and
there's a lot more latitude, but it's
way more difficult to play the good guy
– especially someone as squeaky clean
and straightforward and All-American as
Superman. You really have to commit to
the idea that this guy believes in his
mission, that he's telling the truth and
that he's looking somebody in the eye
and giving it to him straight. It's
surprisingly difficult to do.
QUESTION You may not be Superman
in real life, but you do act as a super
hero in representing The Creative
Coalition, right?
TIM DALY I'm
not Superman. No, I'm just me. One of
the great things about cartoons is that
they're not real – you're not watching
real people and it engages your
imagination. One of the cornerstones of
America is that we are creative
thinkers. We're innovators. And in order
to continue to be innovators, we need to
train the creative minds of our
children.
The Creative Coalition
is a non-profit, non-partisan arts
advocacy group. It's made up of people
who have attained a high level of
visibility in the entertainment world,
and we have two essential missions. Our
core mission is to promote federal
funding for arts and public education
and freedom of speech. The other thing
that we do is we use in a responsible
way this notoriety that we've gained to
focus attention on issues of public
importance that affect everybody, issues
that otherwise might have a little more
difficulty getting the attention they
deserve. I personally became involved
because I believe that it is vital to
the survival of our culture to have arts
be part of the public school curriculum.
I could spew tons of boring data – but
the bottom line is that when you're
teaching a child, you have to teach the
entire child. Kids that study the arts
are better mathematicians and scientists
and politicians … and voice actors.
They're not just better artists.
QUESTION In conjunction with
everything else you've done as Superman,
can you envision how the fans will
embrace this film?
TIM DALY I
think that, interestingly enough, this
particular film will work on a pure
light entertainment level because
there's all the fighting and characters
and technological things involved. But
there's also this subtle social
commentary that I think that people who
are more thoughtful or sort of
discerning about that the progress of
Superman over the years will be very
interested in. I think that a lot of
people will love it. Other people might
be a little discomforted by it, which I
think is great to stir things up a
little bit.
QUESTION And
finally – I’ve heard that you not only
like Bugs Bunny, but regularly quote
him. True?
TIM DALY You cannot
go wrong with Bugs Bunny. He's the
coolest cartoon character ever. I quote
him all the time. There's a hotel in New
York – Le Parker Meridien – and they
used to have old Bugs Bunny cartoons
playing on the TV in the elevator, and I
would find myself staring at the
cartoons. My floor would get there and I
would just push a different button so I
could finish – I'd just go up 20 more
floors so I could finish watching the
Bugs Bunny cartoon.
For more information, images and
updates, please visit the film’s
official website at
www.SupermanBatmanDVD.com.
Suggested captions for attached images: S_41.jpg Superman must battle
both super heroes and super villains to
help save the world in Superman/Batman:
Public Enemies. The DC Universe animated
original movie will be distributed
September 29, 2009 by Warner Home Video.
Tim Daly (Private Practice) provides the
voice of Superman.
S_02.jpg
Tim Daly (Private Practice) provides the
voice of Superman in Superman/Batman:
Public Enemies, the next DC Universe
animated original movie, which will be
distributed September 29, 2009 by Warner
Home Video.
Heroes.jpg United
States President Lex Luthor recruits a
key quintet of super heroes to track
down the Superman and Batman, including
(clockwise from center) Captain Atom,
Power Girl, Black Lightning, Starfire
and Major Force, in Superman/Batman:
Public Enemies. The DC Universe animated
original movie will be distributed
September 29, 2009 by Warner Home Video.
SB_23.jpg The Dark Knight and
the Man of Steel go from heroes to
hunted in Superman/Batman: Public
Enemies, the next DC Universe animated
original movie. Warner Home Video will
distribute the film on September 29.
Metal_11.jpg Metallo points a gun
– loaded with a kryptonite bullet – at
the Man of Steel in Superman/Batman:
Public Enemies, the next DC Universe
animated original movie. Warner Home
Video will distribute the film on
September 29, 2009.
Trademark
information for the images: SUPERMAN
© Warner Bros. Ent Inc. BATMAN © Warner
Bros. Ent Inc. "SUPERMAN" and “BATMAN”
and all related characters and elements
are trademarks of and © DC Comics. ©
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
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