Now, he is back with another amusing love story, this time told from the point of view of the AARP set and titled "And So It Goes," which opens July 25. The starting-over tale about a cranky realtor and a late-life chanteuse bonding over the unexpected arrival of his young granddaughter reunites Reiner with his "An American President" lead Michael Douglas, 69, and allows the actor to match wits for the first time with Diane Keaton, 68.
Reiner, who puts in an appearance onscreen as Keaton’s piano accompanist and rejected suitor, continues to act—he was Leonardo DiCaprio’s father in last year’s "The Wolf of Wall Street." And he continues to fight to be able to make movies through his production company, Castle Rock, that go against the grain of a Hollywood that prefers movies populated by cartoons and comic-book heroes rather than everyday people. Here he discusses playing matchmaker for Douglas and Keaton, making movies that feature over-50 folks, his knack for showcasing catchphrases (“I’ll have what she’s having”) and a notoriously negative review of his 1994 comedy "North" by a certain film critic of much repute.
In "Sleepless in Seattle," you introduced me to the term “tiramisu” when your character was advising Tom Hanks on dating. I then tried the Italian dessert as soon as I figured out what it was and found it to be very heavy and too rich—and probably not worth the calories.
ROB REINER: You know, I think it is over-rated. Whenever I go to an Italian restaurant, I never get the tiramisu.
How many cheesy toupees did you try on before you found just the right one for your hair-challenged character in "And So It Goes"?
(Deadpan.) First of all, you have to admit it is undetectable. You couldn’t notice it was there. That was the first criteria.
How timely—considering "Jersey Boys" is in theaters—that you recruited Frankie Valli to be the club owner who auditions Diane Keaton as a featured act?
That was just happenstance. I got a call from his agent, who’s a friend of mine, and he said Frankie is looking to do parts in movies and asked if I had anything. I said, ‘As a matter of fact, I do.’ I have one part, it’s small, and if he wants to do it, he’ll do it. The great thing about the day we shot the scene: When Diane gets into character, she doesn’t think about anything else. When we did the first take, all the lights were on her and Frankie and Michael were in the back of the room in the dark—you couldn’t see them. And we were just about to do the first take and I’m at the piano and I say to Diane, “Are you nervous?” and she says, “Why?” I said, “Well, you got to sing in front of Frankie Valli here. And she said, “Frankie Valli? Where’s Frankie Valli?” She had no idea he was in the room.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmoqakmr%2B3tcSwqmihnqmys8LInq5mqp%2BXerOxyKecq2Wkmq6uv4ymoJygkZq5brDOrp6lmaNirq%2BwjJ2gmqaVYrimrdOopWahnmKur7CMrKZmoaRitLCx0g%3D%3D