THE ORIGINAL
JN: There are so many people
who take this business so seriously.
How did you avoid getting sucked
into that?
AB: My father was in this business,
and very, very early on understood
what was going on. Before you're even
able to comprehend anything, you see
the idea of what stars are all about,
and that these are just people and
there are insecurities. \ Ibli just sort of
understand something, and I never
put anybody up on a pedestal. I think
that's probably the reason.
JN: You seem so happy now Do
you credit that to your marriage and
your baby?
AB: I'll tell you something, I do
in a large way. Growing up, I always
used to notice that comedians seem
to have the longest marriages, and I
think. I know why. When you make
people laugh, it's this sort of artificial
[thing]. People love you for a minute
in a very shallow way. When you
have that, it is so great to have one
person for real, because otherwise it
can feel very lonely and weird. When
I used to do stand-up, I used to ger
up in front of 10,000 people and all
these people would be laughing and
everything. I'd go back to the hotel,
and . I wouldn't have one person to
sort of ground myself. It's just better.
I've never been happier [than] with
having a child. All the good cliches
of that, I find to be true.
with that, then you're screwed. My
wife and I, there was none of that
crap. Ir was just very, very easy.
you're in love — that sort of heady feel-
ing — you can feel very creative.
JN: Is your wife from the Detroit
area:.
AB: My wife's mother's family is
from the Detroit area. She's nor, she's
from San Francisco, but her relatives
are in that area.
JN: Even though you've made so
Many movies, you're not really con-
sidered a mainstream success. Do you
look at The Muse as being a break-
through?
•
AB: I don't think of it that way.
Something like [success] is cumulative
JN: How did you know that she
was the one?
AB: It's sort of like how comput-
ers work. The computer doesn't
know the right answer. It just knows
every wrong answer, and the one
that's left is the answer. This woman
was the first and only non-problem -
,l'atic-filled human being [I've been
with]. I was watching Tom Arnold
on David Letterman the other night
— who says more than you ever
want to hear — but he says, "When
I first met my wife, we went right to
therapy." That's a bad start. There
are enough natural problems that
come in, but if you're starting our
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JN: Were you in the delivery room?
AB: Yes. The head popped out,
and I cried. Because I was paying
per inch. This is a big head, how
long is the rest of it?
JN: You had your share of relation-
ships before you got married.
AB: I certainly did. My motto: I
was Warren Beatty without the sex.
Fal ia
Albert Brooks with his wife, Kimberly Shlain
JN: The Muse really pokes fun at
the filmmaking process. Do
Hollywood studios have a pretty
good sense of humor about these
behind7 the-scenes type movies?
AB: No, I don't think so. I think
they're very sensitive about any por-
trayals. They dour really like it
shown. By the way, probably no busi-
ness -would. Even at the Christmas
show at C; N1, the guy is probably not
at being made fun of. But
[the studios] are not known for great
self-deprecating humor.
JN: Have you ever had a muse?
AB: At certain times, Monica
Johnson, whom I write with, I've given
her that title. [And] when I met my wife.
Sometimes if you just meet somebody, a
brand-new person in your life, and if
anyway, you can't even really see it. It
just happens over a long period of time.
The best example I can give is Europe. I
don't make movies as frequently as
Woody Allen, but I know it took
Woody Allen almost 15 movies to break
[into] Europe. But now his movies do
better in France than here. Europe is
really amazingly loyal. Once they like
you, they like you. It almost doesn't
matter about the movie. So each time
with me, it's been a little more of trying
to break down that door. If I ever do, it
might seem like one movie does it, but
it [doesn't]. It's just this constant, con-
stant, constant knocking at the door.
The Muse, rated PG-13, opens
today in area theaters.
N
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INe# r.14, 95