This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Wade Goodwyn. A new production of the classic
John Steinbeck play "Of Mice and Men" opened on Broadway this week. Directed by Tony award
winner Anna D. Shapiro, James Franco plays the role of George, and Chris O'Dowd is his
pal Lennie. They're a pair of unlikely friends, laborers during the Great Depression.
(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "OF MICE AND MEN")
JAMES FRANCO: (As George) We got a future. We got someone to talk to, gives a damn about
us. We don't got to sit in no bar room blowing in our jackets 'cause we got no place else
to go. If them other guy gets in jail, they can rot for all anyone gives a damn.
O'DOWD: But not us. And why? Because. Because I got you to look after me and you got me
to look after you. And that's why. (Laughter).
GOODWYN: Chris O'Dowd joins us from our New York bureau. Welcome, Chris.
O'DOWD: Thanks so much for having me.
GOODWYN: You're known for your work in films such as "Bridesmaids" and "This Is 40." What
drew you to this project?
O'DOWD: I have been looking for a play to do. I come from a theater background, but
I hadn't done a show in maybe five years or so. So I was feeling a little rusty and wanted
to give it a go. And I was familiar with this material. I hadn't read it in a while. But
Steinbeck, quite oddly, is very popular in Ireland. I think the first book that I read
in high school was the short book "The Pearl." And then we read - this was later on in the
syllabus in our years - "Of Mice and Men" was on it. And there's something about it
that I feel appeals to the Irish people. I think it's - all of us have chased the American
dream. So there's something very universal about it.
GOODWYN: I'm interested in kind of your experience as an Irishman and what you bring as an Irishman
to this play.
O'DOWD: Well, I, you know, I come from an agricultural background. I've been a laborer.
I don't know whether that's necessarily specifically Irish, but I definitely am used to being around
strong men who lift things a lot. And Ireland is to a small extent still a kind of an outlier
society. I'm out on the west coast of Ireland. And it's in a lot of ways a different kind
of barren, but similarly barren to California as it would have been in the '30s. So I definitely
feel that idea of being remorse.
GOODWYN: And strong men who lift things a lot. Is that a particular kind of man, you
think? A different kind of man?
O'DOWD: I think a man that is - who feels his use is his body rather than his mind is
definitely a specific kind of man.
GOODWYN: What is it like to try to take on the role of a character like Lennie? What
is the biggest challenge in doing that kind of acting?
O'DOWD: It is hard, of course. And any time you're playing someone with a cognitive disability
of any kind - it's dangerous territory a little bit. But I felt like, as long as I was specific
in my head, there was - I kind of based it on a guy that I knew from London, kind of
lived at the end of our road. Steinbeck doesn't at any stage say what exactly is wrong with
Lennie, so it's very open to interpretation. And by all accounts, it's specifically about
somebody that he knew based on another story that Steinbeck wrote about a guy with a disability,
who would get very angry and killed the boss with a pitchfork.
And by all accounts, that's who Lennie is based on. And I felt like that this character
that I knew from where I was from had a lot of those kind of - he was in that area. So
I just tried to embody him in what I was doing.
(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "OF MICE AND MEN")
O'DOWD: (As Lennie) Once, we was to the fair. And we seen some of them long-haired rabbits.
And they was nice, you bet. (Laughter). I'd even pet mice. Not when I had nothing better.
LEIGHTON MEESTER: (As Curley's Wife) I think you're nuts.
(LAUGHTER)
O'DOWD: No, I ain't. George says I ain't.
GOODWYN: This is a well-known piece of work. Did you feel that you had to bring something
new out of it or did you not feel that burden?
O'DOWD: That's a good question I kind of - I feel people bring that to it. I feel fortunate
in that I've never seen it. I've never seen a production of it. I've never - I never saw
the film. I think maybe they put it on in school but I fell asleep. That's more about
me as a student rather than the film, by the way. So I have no - I don't - I feel unburdened
by any expectations of the play.
GOODWYN: What's it like for you to play Broadway?
O'DOWD: It's an absolute privilege. Every night I feel at various moments terrified
that we have to go out and do this again, but very confident 'cause I feel the show
is in a good place. And then in that last scene, I feel very, very privileged to be
able to do it. It's - the writing is so good. Regardless of what we're doing with it, to
bring it to people who have maybe never seen it before. And I can - I believe that this
production will be seen by more people than have ever seen this play. And that's absolutely
exhilarating.
GOODWYN: Chris O'Dowd. He plays Lennie in the new Broadway production "Of Mice and Men."
He joined us from our New York bureau. Chris, thanks very much.
O'DOWD: Thanks for having me.