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Natasha and Boris Dish on Moose and Squirrel

Look out, Lex Luthor. Hit the road, Joker. There’s a new brand of evil in town.

That’s right, straight from the 1960s, direct from cartoon reruns, the notorious No-Goodnicks from Pottsylvania are making a millennium big-screen appearance to chase down their ultimate nemesis duo Rocky and Bullwinkle, aka Moose and Squirrel.

In the upcoming flick “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” dastardly evil-doers Boris Badenov (Jason Alexander), Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo) and Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro) from the beloved ‘60s Jay Ward cartoon series have broken the secret code that separates cartoon existence from the real world and shot into the year 2000. And, in the grand tradition of Dr. Evil, they have come to take over the world.


And the only two beings who can stop them are a dim-witted moose and a squirrel who can fly.

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We recently caught up with the nefarious Natasha and Borris to get the scoop on the making of the film and the story behind bringing two of cartoon’s most kitchy pop culture icons to the big screen.

For Russo, playing the sexy femme fatale is a comedic break from her sultry turns of late, most recently opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 1999 remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair.” For Alexander, the film is just one of the many projects he’s kept busy with since ending his run on the hit TV series “Seinfeld.”

Here’s what the dynamic duo had to say:

Hollywood.com: Rene, you’ve been quite successful playing sexy leading ladies to good guys for most of your films (think “Lethal Weapon 3” and “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Ransom” and “In the Line of Fire“). What was it like to play a villain?

Rene Russo: I loved her because she’s not really mean, she’s just stupid. I wished I had more to do in the movie playing her because she was so much fun. Most of it was about hair and makeup and movement and voice, but I really did love her.

Hollywood.com: For both of you, what are some of the challenges you had to face bringing these pop culture icons to the big screen? Were you intimidated with the task?

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Jason Alexander: No, I’m fearless about butchering icons left and right. It really doesn’t matter to me. You see, it was a cartoon. Had it been played by another human being, I might have been a little intimidated. But I really didn’t think the cartoon was going to call me up and say, “You know, you stunk!” The repercussions could be pretty small.

Russo: The cartoon was pretty cheaply made, so she was really kind of one-dimensional and two-dimensional. She had like two poses, so the challenge was to make her move without destroying the whole image. I had a great movement coach who taught me how to do that. Start out a little bit stiffer and loosen up as the movie went on.

Hollywood.com: This film requires some very physical humor, and it requires you to manage some pretty wild accents. How did you prepare for these roles?

Alexander: It’s really pretty simple. You watch the tapes, you go from talking up here to talking down here, then you put in a little bit of gravel, a little bit of Pottsylvanian accent, glue on mustache and roll the cameras.

Russo: I had so many amazing people to work with. I had a wonderful voice coach. He taught me to drop my voice really low and then to have the accent, which is Transylvanian, which is different than Russian. And he was really particular about that, which really helped me. We worked about a month before the movie started just on the voice.

Hollywood.com: What about working with De Niro? This film is a BIG departure from what we’re used to seeing him do. For example, he actually parodied himself in part of the movie when he asked you two, “Are you talking to me?” Was it totally intimidating working with him?

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Alexander: He’s very sexy. You start off walking around the set going “Oh my God, that’s Robert De Niro. I can’t breathe.” But you know what, he’s just a nice guy. Very sweet, very friendly. You know, I think he was intimidated by me. He was very nervous around me the whole time. I tried to put him at ease, tell him, “I’ve worked with lesser actors, and they’ve all come through” and I would pull him through as well. So he relaxed.

Russo: He was great. I’ve always wanted to work with him. And I went up for a couple of films I didn’t get. He was a little bit intimidating to me. And I was so nervous to work with him that I forgot my lines on the first day. It was humiliating. I wanted to die. It was one of those moments where you feel like you’re about 12 years old. But he was lovely and charming and wonderful. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember the day, but to me it was such a big deal.

Hollywood.com: What about working together? You two were great as Boris and Natasha.

Alexander: It was great. We had a great time. It was an instant, easy thing. She was nothing like anything I expected her to be, sort of sophisticated and cool. She’s just a jump-in, silly, lovely, great, fun person. We had a great time.

Russo: We had a good time offscreen. I fed him and he made me laugh. We really had a great time. I love Jason. He’s so great with comedy, he’s really, really good with physical comedy. I’m really dry. So I think we were good together.

Hollywood.com: And how do you think today’s audiences will react to the film? Today’s kids seem a little more sophisticated than the children of the 1960s.

Alexander: They’ll take it differently. It was almost a subversive cartoon when it came out — the idea of having adult humor in a children’s cartoon series was a big deal. Now it’s kind of a romp. I hope it’s embraced like that. It’s goofy and silly and action enough for kids, but there’s still enough puns and oh-wow effects that grown-up people should have a pretty nice time.


Russo: I never know how a film will perform. I know that as a mom, I have to take my daughter to films all the time and I look for something that I’m not just going to fall asleep in. If I saw De Niro saying “You talking to me?” that would be enough to get me to see the film even if I didn’t like Moose and Squirrel. I think that adults won’t mind taking their kids, they’ll like it, too.

Hollywood.com: Finally, Rocky and Bullwinkle aside, who is your favorite cartoon character of all time?

Alexander: I have a draw between a very old one and kind of a new one. Actually, I’m a big Bugs Bunny fan, but he’s right up there with the Animaniacs. The Animaniacs make me laugh very consistently. Sorry, Homer Simpson.

Russo: I love Bugs Bunny. Bugs is pretty clever. I like anything that Chuck Jones does, though. He’s wonderful. Of course, when I was a little girl, Mighty Mouse was my hero. I loved Mighty Mouse.

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