Sure, everyone adores the cute little robot who crushes garbage into a cube, and that’s perfectly fine. But how about a little love for the Captain? The blobby, genial pilot of the space cruiser Axiom could have easily let the remains of humanity drift forever through the cosmos, but darn it, he showed initiative! And dare I say, pluck! And who better to voice this genial blob of pluck than Jeff Garlin, best known as Larry David’s agent/sidekick on Curb Your Enthusiasm?
In an interview with The Guardian, Garlin discusses the early, not-so-hopeful days of his career. “I played the villain on Baywatch once, an evil disc jockey who tries taking over the beach, fights with David Hasselhoff and has a fantasy sequence with Pamela Anderson. I think it was the best acting I've ever done - even though when you watch it, it's obviously not good acting - but when David Hasselhoff is yelling at you, you try not laughing. And I didn't laugh, so I think it's pretty fantastic on my part.”
Things have improved career-wise for Garlin since then – not that he had much of an idea what he was getting into with WALL-E. “I really didn't have a clue that I was as much of a hero as I am. That was a huge surprise to me. It's like doing a radio show. I'm doing it scene by scene in a vacuum, not paying attention - you're wrestling this guy and that guy, talking to this one, doing all this and all that - so I'm totally out of it.”
Garlin has also been busy behind the camera, directing This Filthy World, a recording of a John Waters one-man show (“what a fine gentleman!”) and his debut feature, 2006’s I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. We’re still waiting for a rematch with Hasselhoff.
Related:
Separated at Birth: "Wall-E" and "Silent Running"
Andrew Stanton's Retro-Futurism