BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., June 15, 2001 — Sean Hayes is not just Jack.
It may be hard to see him as anything else, given the hilarity of his flamboyant, Emmy-winning role on Will & Grace. But the 31-year-old actor now finds himself trying to play roles that don’t involve dancing like Britney Spears (which he did with co-star Debra Messing both in the second season’s premiere and at her wedding earlier that summer).
One way to do it is to let his voice do the acting. Hayes has taken on that task with Cats & Dogs, a live-action family comedy about the secret war between canines and felines that occurs right under their owners’ noses. Hayes voices Mr. Tinkles, a fluffy white Persian who plans to sabotage a scientist’s (Jeff Goldblum) formula for dog allergies so that cats will have the upper hand.
Hollywood.com recently talked with Hayes about life as a cat, his own animal instincts and his failed dreams as a rock star.
We’ll go for the obvious: Do you like cats or dogs?
Sean Hayes: I’m a hamster person. No — that’s so bizarre, I don’t know what that means. Please don’t say that. Now everybody is going to go, “Do you like hamsters? Why did you say hamsters? Do you have a collection of hamsters?” I’ll never live that down. Please don’t use that.
Wanna try again?
Hayes: [When] I grew up I had a couple of dogs. I like both. [But] we had a cat in college named Chloe, and it was the most evil, awful cat in the world … When we left we used to close the door and its paw would come underneath and try to paw us.
So how’d you wind up playing a cat?
Hayes: I slept with a cat. There are so many jokes there … I just called in to read and I read for Calico (voiced by Jon Lovitz) and then Larry [Guterman, the director] said, “Pick up some lines from Mr. Tinkles.” I looked it over and while he was standing there I was just reading. He said, “Try it with a German accent,” and it came out like Chinese or Japanese or something. Then I tried a French accent and that didn’t work. So I just came up with this crazy — I don’t know how it came out. It seemed very authoritative. Refined American, British, whatever you want to call it.
He could really go places with that accent.
Hayes: Mr. Tinkles is going to be on Frasier, I think, because that’s how they all talk. I would say Mr. Tinkles is a very frustrated Shakespearean actor who never got on theater, so now he’s decided to take over the world.
Did you do anything to get into “evil” mode?
Hayes: I killed at least 23 people. I was anxious to start on it.
You started off studying conducting in college and played in a band … is that correct?
Hayes: I had hair that was 20 feet high and gross ’80s outfits with rolled-up sleeves. We played a lot of covers like New Order and The Cure. Then we had our own songs and we were going to be very famous.
What was the name of the group?
Hayes: Sounds from the Stairs. I didn’t come up with it.
Do you get typecast because of Will & Grace?
Hayes: I think people are shocked when I do other characters. Right now I’m doing a little workshop play in New York and at the Groundlings [an L.A. improv troupe] and I play a completely other character … I think they are shocked when I’m not Jack. Slowly people are seeing outside of the box and realizing that I became an actor to play other roles and not just one role for the rest of my life. I’m writing stuff for myself, too, because some people don’t get that I want to do other things.
What kind of stuff are you writing?
Hayes: I like very introspective characters, like Edward Scissorhands or Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade. I like the outcast characters a lot.
What’s the future of Will & Grace for you?
Hayes: I’d like to do it until I feel like the character can’t do anything else. Right now there are many other things and some funny stuff that I just found out this week is happening on the show with my son. So we will keep exploring until there is nowhere to go.
Cats & Dogs opens July 4.
