How did you feel about doing a sequel?
No problem. I immediately wanted to do it because I had a lot of fun on the first one. The first 30 minutes of "MiB" were dedicated to putting forth a premise, creating a world in which there is an agency called Men In Black and we invited the audience into this world and then the story went on. When the film was over, I thought "I want to know what happens next. I want to go on some more adventures with these guys."
Did you and Will click straight away on set?
Well we had to. I was making another film when Barry Sonnenfeld [the director] started shooting so he had to shoot all the scenes in which I didn't appear first. Then he had Grand Central Station booked for a day's shooting - and that isn't easy to get - and I was filming up until the day before that in Washington State. So I flew in and we had to go that day at Grand Central. So we really had no choice, no warming up between Will and I. But happily that wasn't necessary, we were already good friends and have a good solid working relationship. And we worked really hard.
Do you like doing comedy?
Comedy roles haven't come my way a lot. I've really had a wonderful time doing this. I didn't have a lot of experience in my professional life with comedy so, after doing "Men in Black" and now this one, I now know everything there is to know! Really, the secret to being funny is to do everything Barry tells you and to stand very close to Will Smith... and then people think you're funny.
Why do you think the idea of aliens among us and agents tracking them down is so appealing to people?
I think it's funny, exciting, adventurous, scary, mysterious and then it's funny again. After you've seen it, you like to think back. If we've done our job right, the film is a lot of fun to remember.
Would you do "MiB III"?
Oh sure. I'd be ready to go tomorrow. They're some of the happiest days of my working life. I have a lot of fun and it's a great opportunity to make a lot of people laugh.
