Danny Devito’s Kids Influence His Movie Roles

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Walking into a room full of “mom bloggers” on the Universal lot, Danny Devito announced, “I am The Lorax. I speak for the trees.” And that was just minute one of an interview with lots of laughter. In fact, For Kids Entertainment was thrilled to get a little Always Sunny in Philadelphia chat in (his current television role on FX), but also got to discuss the influence his three kids (ages 20, 26, and 28) have had on the roles he has chosen, his excitement over The Lorax and more.

Had you ever associated yourself with The Lorax character before?

No, no.

Because it’s such a great fit.

I never have. My daughters brought me Matilda and I did associate with Mr. Wormwood [my character in Matilda].

For The Lorax, I didn’t identify with the character as much as I dug him. I thought he was really cute and cool. I had done voices before and the first thing I did — because of my kids — I did My Little Pony. I played the king or somebody like that in the first My Little Pony. In fact, somebody heard that I did My Little Pony and I tweet a lot, so they tweeted me, ‘You were the voice of the pony?’ I said, no, I wasn’t the voice of the pony!

Are your kids in your mind when you’re doing a voice?

All the time, yes.

Are you kind of doing it for your kids?

I’m doing it for our kids. And I’m doing it for us, too, because what I found about The Lorax was I do everything pretty much the same wheelhouse of characters, whether I’m in Twins [Movie] or I’m in Matilda or I’m in Sunny [It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia], but a little bit more extreme in some cases. In Sunny, it’s a lot more extreme. So, I take it to the edge just a little tiny bit.

My kids are 20, 26, and 28. I’m doing this for the kids that are our extended family kids.

I’m doing it for them, but I’m also trying to think, are there people out there who are going to say, wow, that’s Frank Reynolds in Sunny as The Lorax? And it’s really kind of cool because he has the kind of sensibility. It’s not so curmudgeony, but it’s like a little bit gruff.

I just saw the movie, so I was really excited because I’ve been watching it in pieces! And now, all together, I really dug it. And also, for the audiences, I think you get me as The Lorax, and every once in a while, you might think, well, Danny came out of the couch naked in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That character ain’t got no clothes on, either, man.

Hey, you’re always naked.

I’m not always naked [laughs].

Do you feel an even greater responsibility to speak for the trees?

Yes. I’ve never been as environmentally wacky as my friend Ed Begley [Actor, Environmentalist]. He’s my dear friend. But, I was one of the first people back in the days when they gave you the EV1 car, the zero emissions car, I was one of the first people to rent that car. [My wife] Rhea [Perlman] actually rented it for me for Father’s Day, and I loved it, and I drove it everywhere.

You mentioned about your three kids – do you see any of them in Ted or in Audrey [Character in The Lorax]?

Yes, in the film. Well, I’ve seen my son look do-eyed at a young woman and win her over. He’s a romantic. And my daughters are also. I don’t know how it is with you guys, but in our family, the girls talk to me and we have a great relationship. They’re 28 and 26 now, and both have boyfriends. But, we’ve never talked about anything like dating or what would you. I gave them all kinds of really good advice, and Rhea too has given them all kinds of good advice.

What is your favorite social media outlet? Someone asked me if we’d ask you.

Really?

Yes, and I said that I would.

Well, like I say, I tweet, I’m a tweeter.

Are you?

@DannyDeVito, yes, and I tweet my foot a lot. You know about this? Troll foot? Oh, you’re going to love this.

In Sunny, we did a show a couple years ago, a couple seasons ago where we did a musical because Charlie [Character on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia] was trying to win the love of the waitress, which he’s never done, even though they just had a baby. Don’t tell anybody.

And so, we did a show, a musical. And in the musical, I played a troll. I don’t know if you ever saw that show. But, what we did was we took it on the road and went to six cities and did it live. And it was so cool. We were like rock-n-roll stars. Our fans came in droves. We sold out the Palladium.

Wow.

Every penny went to Haiti because it was around that time. We raised $300,000 for Haiti. I’d just started at the time tweeting–twitting–tweeting, what do you call it? So, I decided that I would call my right foot troll foot. And wherever I went in the world, for instance, I’ve been to Germany and Vietnam and all the places, and I’d stick my foot up and take a picture and send it.

So, that’s my art [laughs].

(To witness my new obsession #trollfoot, click here!)

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