Q: Annie Hall. The Deer Hunter. Pulp Fiction. And now . . . Hairspray. You’ve been in some real masterpieces. And you’ve also been in a few non-masterpieces.
A: I’ve made—I think about a hundred movies. And there’s a good number of them that I’ve never seen. Never.

Q: With something like Gigli—
A: Which in fact I never did see, because it came and went so quickly.

Q: . . . do you ever get the feeling that, Hey, I’m working on a really bad movie?
A: Movies are terrifically optimistic enterprises. If you come into the makeup trailer in the morning and you say to the hair person, “Did you go to the dailies?” I’ve never in my life heard anybody say, “They weren’t very good.” It’s always, “Oh, my God! It’s electrifying!”

Q: In Hairspray you play John Travolta’s husband, and you two seem genuinely smitten.
A: You’re right. I think that we had a nice, as they call it, chemistry. I was very taken with him.

Q: You broke through in the seventies, a time when unconventional actors like you, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Gene Hackman could become stars.
A: I certainly have never been an actor who can play the Everyman guy—or, I don’t tend to get those parts. I’ve tended to play eccentrics. I’ve played a lot of villains, of course. I think the fact that I grew up in show business had a real effect on my personality. If you were born in New York during the golden age of television, and you grew up on Broadway, that marks you. And strangeness can translate into a little bit scary. Also, I’m very pale. I’m an indoors person. And the way I speak—I’ve never really been able to play . . . people. It’s always somebody who’s a little off-center. Those are people, too. But not your guy next door.

Q: You’re known for your distinctive cadences and rhythms. Has a director ever tried to make you change that?
A: It’s very rare, and it’s not a happy thing. You know, I get along very well with everybody. Always have. But occasionally somebody will say, “Could you read that line another way?” And I just tell ’em, “I’m sorry. I have no idea how to do that.” And the interesting thing is that the other actors, when that happens to me, they all gang up: “What? Leave him alone!”

Q: I understand you’re a great cook. Do you tend to take care of dinner at home with your wife?
A: I do. You know, it seems to me that a lot of men do the cooking. I’m not a terrific cook, but I’m good at buying things. If you buy really good stuff, and you don’t overcook it—if you cook simply, good fish and good vegetables and things, it’s healthier. I don’t know why people eat so badly. I could eat pasta all the time, but it really is fattening. And I love ice cream, but I can’t do that. There was a time, until I was in my mid-forties, when I could eat a whole pizza—and really, no effect.