‘101 Dalmatians.’
NEW YORK Actress Glenn Close smiled wickedly as she brushed off some fly-away strands of hair and said, “I hope the kids hate me.”
Close, referring to her role as Cruella DeVil in Disney’s live-action version of “101 Dalmatians” opening on Thanksgiving Day, said she wasn’t too concerned about the negative reaction she will probably receive from youngsters all around the world.
“Kids often define things as either good or evil,” she said. “I made Cruella much meaner so when good overcomes evil, it will be more pronounced. Anyway, she’s very mean, but she’s also very witty.”
Not only will the kids be frightened of her character but she said the puppies and other animals in the film weren’t excited about her costume either.
“All the animals were terrified when I came out in full Cruella makeup,” she said. “None of the dogs liked me, and one of them even ran away whenever we had a scene together.”
But no matter how many times the animals were unresponsive, it was animal trainer Gary Gero’s responsibility to make sure the scene worked. Training television animals for over 30 years (including Eddie from “Frasier”), Gero said Close’s costume was really the only difficulty in filming 230 puppies.
“It’s only difficult to train the animals you don’t care about,” he said. “I don’t know that much about pigs, but our pig trainer loves them. It just depends on who you are and what animal you connect with.”
Obviously, Gero loves dogs and, along with other trainers, he prepared the British puppies for their chance in the spotlight next to Close, Jeff Daniels, Joan Plowright and Joely Richardson.
While these actors had to play characters who were immortalized in the Disney cartoon, they said it was more of an honor than a challenge, but each added a ’90s touch to make the characters more accessible to today’s kids.
“I know that people are very aware of Cruella,” said Close. “Children and adults love that character so there was a little pressure to match the cartoon. It was more challenging to work with the costume, though.”
Close said her outfit consisted of a corset, which she was only able to wear for 20 minutes at a time even after suffering a strict dietary regime.
“It was extremely difficult because you have to act like you’re used to dressing like that,” she said. “So in a sense, the design of the costume added to the design of the character. I felt I had to outdo the costume.”
Adding to the design of Cruella, Close said she read the book that portrays the villain as an actual devil.
“That’s why she likes fur; she likes to be hot,” she said.
While Close had to endure hours of makeup and shoot endless physical stunts where she said she was “wet and cold and slimy,” her costar Jeff Daniels took his role in stride.
“I’ve served my time with animals,” he said. “I worked with spiders in ‘Arachnophobia,’ geese in ‘Fly Away Home’ and now dogs. With animals, there’s no room for an actor’s ego. It’s all about serving them.”
Even though he has appeared in many classic films including “Terms of Endearment” and “Dumb and Dumber,” he said he considers himself a regular Midwestern guy.
“I’m an actor; I’m not a star,” he said. “I don’t like to fuel stardom. It’s just something I do. I wanted this part so my kids (ages 12, 9 and 6) can grow up with this movie. They’ve never seen the cartoon since, these days, they watch ‘Barney’ and ‘Sesame Street.'”
Close agreed with Daniels and said part of her enjoyment in playing Cruella came from being able to bring her 7-year-old daughter on the set.
“My daughter wanted me to play Anita,” she said. “She’s a great lover of animals and she would get so mad whenever I’d scream at the puppies.”
Even though her daughter is her greatest love, she said her other passion is the theater and she took a two-year hiatus from the movie industry to star in “Sunset Boulevard.”
“It all comes down to the theater,” she said. “An actor can really learn his craft. In the movies you have rehearsals and you’re at the mercy of an editor, but on stage you have to pull it off on your own. It gives me the most challenge, but it leaves me very fulfilled.”
Close isn’t the only “101 Dalmatians” star who has a passion for the theater. Daniels is also a connoisseur of the stage and founded his own company, Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home town of Chelsea, Mich.
“When you’re on stage in front of a live audience, you’re taught the difference between being just an actor and an artist,” he said. “I like the moments between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ more than anything.”
While Daniels and Close enjoy the intimacy of the theater, their images will be plastered on billboards and stores worldwide when the movie opens this weekend.
And despite taking a backseat role to animals, wearing a stifling outfit and playing yet another demonic woman, Close said she had a great time being part of the cast.
“A good part is a good part,” she said. “It doesn’t bother me if the women I play have echoes of each other. I play strong characters even though people may have a negative image of me because I don’t fall in the category of a fantasy woman. They just don’t know what to do with a strong one.”
