With only two competitors in the Oscar race for Best Song, a much-deserved win for Bret McKenzie’s “Man or Muppet,” a soaring anthem that speaks to the existential dilemma all of us have grappled with at one time or another, would seem all but assured. But one need look no further than Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’s Best Picture nomination to know that the whims of the Academy are often dubious and unpredictable. And so an airtight case must be made for “Man or Muppet,” lest Oscar voters take leave of their senses and pull another Marisa Tomei.
I could go on and on about the merits of "Man or Muppet" (click here to watch it) – or any of the other wonderful songs McKenzie penned for The Muppets soundtrack, for that matter – but I feel the case is best made by the man himself, with whom I chatted earlier this week. Read on, and tell me that Bret McKenzie doesn’t deserve an Oscar for merely existing:
Is this your first time composing music for a feature film?
Yeah, it kind of is.
And you’re already Oscar-nominated.
It’s a good start! [Laughs] It’s awesome. I had no expectations to win any awards. Didn’t even think about it. We were just busy trying to make songs that work for The Muppets. So it was a great twist of fate.
There wasn’t a point when you were writing where you thought, this is the Oscar song?
[Laughs] No, but you know what? Jason [Segel, Muppets star and co-writer], he’s a very positive guy, and he was like, “We’re gonna be singing this at the Oscars!” He actually did say that one night. We all thought he was crazy.
Which makes it all the more disappointing that there won't be performances of nominated songs at this year’s ceremony.
I know. It’s a shame for us, because it would have been great to get a man and a Muppet up there on stage.
You’re no stranger to awards, having won a few for Flight of the Conchords.
Yeah. I’ve been to the Emmys. And Jemaine [Clement, McKenzie’s Conchords mate] and I won Wellies, which is a Wellington comedy award, in New Zealand. We won a little gumboot.
Wow. So compared to a Welly, an Oscar probably isn’t that big of a deal.
It’s pretty small, yeah. [Laughs]
Do you think you’ll even show up for the ceremony?
I don’t know. I might go see a movie that night. I guess I could watch [the telecast], but then again I’m really into Boardwalk Empire these days. [Laughs] This whole Oscar thing is so fancy. Yesterday I went to the Nominees Luncheon – they have a luncheon for all the nominees – and it’s by far the fanciest luncheon I’ve ever been to. You get to sit with all the other nominees, and I was sitting at the same table as Meryl Streep, which is a pretty fancy situation.
About as fancy as it gets.
Pretty much, yeah! We did this big photo, and Spielberg and Scorcese were right behind me. It was pretty amazing.
Did you get to interact with either of them?
No, I’m pretty shy around the Hollywood A-list. I talked to more of the comedy people, like Jonah Hill. That was exciting.
It has to be a little odd that there are only two nominees in your category.
Yeah. I was thinking about it, and with only two nominees, these are the best odds I’ll ever have of winning an Oscar. The only way it would be better is if there was one nominee. When I found out there were only two, I thought there’d been a mistake, that maybe they’d forgotten to put someone on the list. I think that the category is quite specific. It’s about songs that are used in films. It seems like musicals have a real advantage, because the songs are integral to the picture.
Do you plan to do more music work for film, or was The Muppets more of a one-off because you were working with (Muppets director and Flight of the Conchords co-creator) James Bobin?
Yeah, I definitely want to do more musicals. I love it when characters break out of a scene and start singing. [Laughs] I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving that moment. It’s such a funny thing, I guess because there’s so few of them made now. I know they’re doing Les Miserables. It’s one thing to do it seriously, which I don’t mind, but because it’s such a serious genre, to do it as a comedy is just ripe for gags.
That’s part of what made Conchords so great: Your character were so serious in their silliness.
Yes, that’s what I find funny, that mixture of sincerity and comedy. It’s like the more sincere it is, usually the funnier it is. I think that’s why “Man or Muppet” works so well. Jason does this incredibly honest, open-hearted performance, where he’s really pouring his heart out on the screen up there. I love that. It’s a great way in a film to hear what a character is thinking. You can so easily do it in a book. In films you have to see the action of the character, but song lets you open the character up to the audience.
Have you finished shooting your part in The Hobbit?
Yeah. I was an elf – Lindir. That was a great experience. They filmed that in Wellington, where I’m from, so it was very convenient.
It’s a short commute.
Very short – much shorter than the commute from New Zealand to L.A. But it was great, because I was an extra in the first film, then I had one line in the third film, and this time I’ve got maybe a few lines. I got to be on-set, and I was allowed to look the actors in the eye this time.
You lightly spoofed Lord of the Rings in Flight of the Conchords. Had Peter Jackson seen it?
Oh yeah. Jemaine and I actually sang that song at the wrap party for Lord of the Rings. That was a pretty crazy thing. Within that song we do these impressions of Gandalf and other characters, and Ian McKellan and them were there while we were doing the impressions.
What did they think of your impressions?
I don’t know – I think they were all quite drunk.
You’ve got Austenland, from Stephenie Meyer and Jerusha Hess, coming up. Can you tell me a little about it?
It’s about a woman who goes to a Jane Austen “experience” weekend, where she’s promised a Mr. Darcy romantic encounter. It’s like Fantasy Island, but for Jane Austen fans. I play a stablehand.
I’m guessing you got to make eye contact this time?
A lot of eye contact! A lot of lip contact as well. It’s like a rom-com, and I’m a love interest. [Laughs] It’s a different role for me. Keri Russell is really good. Man, those Mickey Mouse Club kids really know how to act.
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