Trust me, I know what I’m doingLeslie Nielsen, the man with a
straight face and a naked gun, will accept the Jack Benny Award
today. He speaks to The Bruin about his illustrious career.
By Michael Horowitz
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Who is the subject of all of these quotes?
"He’s totally nonthreatening."
"He’s all-knowing about absolutely nothing because he’s not
aware of the fact that he doesn’t know a thing."
"The best description of him is consummate obliviousness."
"He’s always looking the wrong direction at the right time."
If you guessed Leslie Nielsen, you’re not quite correct. Nielsen
answered every one, but he was referring to his Naked Gun character
Frank Drebin.
The interesting thing is that the very quality that makes people
trust Drebin is the same thing that helps Nielsen everyday: People
think they know what they’re talking about because of how they
look.
"I look like I should know what I’m talking about," explains
Nielsen. "It’s just my appearance."
"I was always cast in the early days as the young man, or the
man with the professional background, a professor, or doctor, or
diplomat or royalty even, whatever," says the Saskatchewan-born
actor, "Of course, that’s the last thing that was part of my life.
I come from moose country, and polar bear country and eskimos, and
gumbo and peat moss."
This sense of unwittingly pretending he was something he’s not
has followed Nielsen since. "You’re always fighting that uneasy
sensation," he says, "where you know you don’t belong and somewhere
along the line they may find out they agree with you."
On Thursday, his charade will continue, as UCLA presents Nielsen
with the Jack Benny Award, given for outstanding achievement in
comedy. If someone is going to say he doesn’t belong, they better
do it quick.
"The big secret is if that’s the way you look, leave it alone,"
he laughs. "Don’t say anything. If you open up your mouth they’re
liable to find out how dumb you are."
Of course, playing it straight didn’t stop people from finding
out how funny he was. David Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams
recruited Nielsen for their smash comedy Airplane! in 1980 and
things haven’t been dramatic since. "I was a closet comedian and
Airplane! threw me out of the closet," he says. "Jerry and David
and Jim spotted me for being a closet comedian and they just kept
knocking on the door."
In the last few years Nielsen has starred in numerous comedies
including the "Police Squad’s" three Naked Gun films, Repossessed
and Surf Ninjas of the South China Seas.
While Nielsen keeps a possible Naked Gun sequel on the very back
burner ("I do anticipate there’ll be a fourth one coming, yes"), he
is busy lining up seven or eight projects, some of which could
happen in the next year, none of which he is able to discuss.
Perhaps on Thursday he’ll be able to throw a little light on the
upcoming projects he deems "very, very funny."
Recently, he has returned from Jamaica, and was greeted in the
States by people congratulating him on receiving the 18th Annual
Benny award. "I’d say, ‘what are you talking about?’ suspecting
they were talking about it," he says, "but they were watching CNN,
and it was being shown around the world I guess. Very
impressive."
"I’m so happy to be a recipient," says Nielsen, "and to be
included in that incredible bevy of comedy stars who have received
the award. It has become head-shaking time for me once again. I
can’t quite believe it."
Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Steve Martin, John Belushi,
Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Chevy Chase and Whoopi Goldberg are
among those who have received UCLA’s prestigious award, presented
by Campus Events each year. The comedians go a long way to prove
Nielsen’s belief that "You ain’t living if you ain’t laughing. And
if you ain’t laughing, you better check yourself out, you might be
dead."
One of the reasons Nielsen is being honored is his ability to
sense what’s humorous and to pursue it. He feels funny scripts
leave him "itching" to work on them, but not just for the dialogue.
"It’s not a matter of saying something that’s funny," says Nielsen.
"That’s always good, but I always see things visually."
"I see looks, I see takes, I see pauses. I like to see eyes that
are at work where all of a sudden you’re inside someone’s head, and
it just breaks you up. You become a basket case you’re laughing so
hard about the situation provoked in somebody’s head."
Sometimes the peril of comedy arises from deciding where to draw
the line between hilarious and bad taste. "If (intuition) stops you
from doing something then you never find out," he says. "But that’s
why comedy is dangerous and why you have to take your shot. It’s
only after you’ve done it when you find out if it works or not, or
whether it’s in bad taste or not."
"For example, Roseanne (last year’s Benny winner), when she went
to sing the national anthem, she went there with her family, to
have a very enjoyable time. I have no doubt about it. But once the
music starts you’ve got to keep going …"
Nielsen, who belted out the national anthem himself in the first
Naked Gun, acknowledges he must have had some of these moments
himself, but he can’t bring himself to recall any. "I must have,"
he says, "but those are the things that are so tough and so
embarrassing that fortunately we do have a built-in system where we
just say ‘What happened? I don’t remember that! Sorry!’ Something
comes along to protect you from those terrible feelings."
Whether these agonizing moments can be dragged out of Nielsen in
the question-and-answer session to follow the presentation remains
to be seen. But to Nielsen’s credit, he seems to have managed to
convince Hollywood and UCLA that he belongs.
"This is the way it is," he laughs. "If a mistake has been made
it’s too late now."
AWARD: Jack Benny Award presented to Leslie Nielsen. Noon.
Ackerman Grand Ballroom. Admission is free.