[IMG:L]In the history of celebrity scandals, few have achieved truly positive spin. Back in November, Danny DeVito made a seemingly inebriated spectacle of himself on The View while promoting his holiday comedy Deck the Halls, staggering and slurring his speech. Later, he admitted to sipping a few too many shots of the sour fruity liqueur Limoncello with George Clooney.
But the actor who parlayed his bombastic TV stint on the woefully under-watched Taxi into a career as one of the big screen’s most gleeful comic bad guys and, behind the scenes, a respected director/producer specializes in the lemonade-out-of-lemons business, Danny DeVito‘s Limoncello label is scheduled to launch this year.
DeVito‘s current TV show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, returns for Season 3 on Sept. 13–and the first two season debut on DVD Sept. 4. The series, which DeVito joined in the second year, airs on FX, where politically incorrect antics are welcome. This year, they’ll have to top previous comic adventures like hitting on women at abortion rallies and doing crack to get on welfare.
Hollywood.com: Have you been personally supervising the production of your Limoncello?
Danny DeVito: I went to Italy, I went to Sorrento because I’m going to launch this Limoncello line. It’s great stuff, but even now, especially on the Amalfi coast, it’s like wall-to-wall folks. People are out shopping doing all kinds of stuff, playing around. The beaches are packed. Everything is humming. Every once in a while a guy goes on the beach in a Speedo that shouldn’t have one on, you get a good laugh out of it. I’m not doing that. Don’t worry about that.
HW: So you’re just going with the whole thing?
DD: When I did that thing on The View, everybody sent me like lemons, Limoncello. They were all calling me. If I go to a bar they buy me a Limoncello. A lot of people didn’t know what it was. Now I said to [my wife] Rhea [Perlman], “Well, why don’t I just jump on and start my own line?”
HW: Is that the ultimate spin?
DD: It’s a great spin, yeah. By the way, I’ve been drinking it for 12 years, from the first time I went to Sorrento. There are different tastes, so I actually worked hard to get the taste that you’re going to have. It’s all pure. It’s just lemons, alcohol, sugar and water. It’s just a fantastic drink. Usually you drink it ice cold after dinner, but you can take really fresh mints, stick it in a pot and throw some of the Limoncello in there and you’ve got a Hot Toddy that is just fantastic.
HW: How much do you have to drink to get trashed?
DD: You don’t have to drink a lot of it to get whacked because it’s 60 proof. It’s not like a foo-foo drink. It’s a really serious drink but the way they grow their lemons are really special in Sorrento. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a good Sorrento lemon. It’s amazing. The soil is all the Vesuvius aftermath of the volcanic soil and that peninsula is in the sun all day. It’s a beautiful place.
HW: Will you go on The View to promote it?
DD: Oh yeah. I would love to go promote first on Jon Stewart, because he always complains about people going last on his show, but he’s dark that week. I think The View is the proper place to do it since they are semi-responsible.
[IMG:R]HW: It won’t be the same without Rosie O’Donnell, will it?
DD: No, it’s not going to be the same without Rosie, but you never know. They might open their arms to me. I was away for a lot of that brouhaha that happened with Rosie but I’m sure she’ll go somewhere. As soon as she [lands] somewhere, I’ll go on her show too.
HW: Will you drink it live on the air?
DD: I don’t think I’ll be drinking it on The View. I might have a couple of pops before I go on. My publicist, is working that out now so I can launch the brand on The View.
HW: With It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia coming back, just how politically incorrect you can be on the show?
DD: I’m very fortunate in my life to work with people like Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olsen and Charlie Day. Their writing and their sensibilities are so right on the money, like exactly what’s going on now in the zeitgeist of America and all over the world. I just don’t know how to answer that question, like how far can you go? First of all, the first year I had a ball. I had so much fun. I just said to them, “Look, I’m following you wherever you go. Frank Reynolds wants to be part of the gang. So whatever you’re into that I can participate in, I want to do, on screen and off screen.”
HW: Are you glad it’s on FX so you can do more than a network can?
DD: We hold back on a lot because it’s really easy to say, “Hey, how the f*ck are you?” So we hold back on the language a lot but the great thing is not only the language. It’s just the intricacies of how far you can take something. Last year, they got addicted to crack because they were greedy and trying to figure out how to beat the welfare system. This year, they get greedy in other ways. I mean, [finding] the dumpster baby is just, when I read that the first time, I said, “Oh my God.” But it’s so cool and it winds up in a good way and they always wrap it up really good.
HW: What else is coming up this year besides the dumpster baby?
DD: Well, they have a bunch of cool things. We have a little mafia this year. I don’t usually like to do shows about the mob but this year was a big year for the end of The Sopranos and everything. I don’t know what inspired them but we have a little problem with some guys, let’s put it that way. They’re all fun shows.
HW: Did you actually get to shoot in Philadelphia this year?
DD: Yes, we went to Philly which was a glorious experience. We went to do exteriors for the shows and you can’t even begin to say how Philly treated us. It was so great. They just opened up the city for us. Actually Rob and I went down and rang the bell for the stock exchange. We ran a horse up Market Street or something in one of the episodes.
[IMG:L]HW: How does it feel to be hip all over again?
DD: Thank you for that. Here’s an extra $20. I feel good to be here. I feel great. I feel terrific about it. I think it’s great for the younger generation to feel like one of the guys who’s on a show like Taxi is back doing stuff for them.
HW: Are you like the elder statesman?
DD: I love that everybody’s half my age on the show because you pick that energy up. I don’t know if you have kids or if you know what it’s like to have young people around you. They give you so much. They just teach you so much. They may not know it but they give you a wealth of information and also spirit, which is like I feel like sometimes a little bit like a vampire. I’m pulling in all of that positive energy of 28-year-olds and 30-year-olds. It’s good.
