Dom DeLuise "[Gene Wilder] says, 'I'm making a movie. Would you like to play my aunt?' The first thing I thought was Me? I have a beard." Playing Aunt Kate in Haunted Honeymoon.

THIS ISSUE > ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT > DVD/VHS

With the release of Girl Play on DVD (see "Play It Again Ma'am"), OutSmart took the opportunity to interview two of its more notable stars, Dom DeLuise and Mink Stole.

Blase DiStefano: Hi, this is Blase.
Dom DeLuise: Oh, I'm talking to you on the other phone. What should I do? I called you at your other number. Should I hang up?

[Laughs]
How come your name is DiStefano?

That's what my parents did to me.
My mother's maiden name was DiStefano.

You're kidding.
No, I have to say it all the time, because they always say, "What's your phone number? What's your social security number? What's your mother's maiden name?" So, I'm always saying "DiStefano," and I think that's amazing. Where are you? Where's 713?

I'm in Houston, Texas.
Did you have grits for breakfast?

[Laughs] No.
Sorry. I thought that Texans did that.

[Laughs] I think you're interviewing me. He's a mechanic. He's a good man. And my grandparents, who are dead, actually came from Italy.
Of course, with that name.

My parents spoke a few Italian words. Would you know what foonja means?
"Foonja." Mushrooms.

"Frown." I'm not sure of the spelling, but they would say, "Wipe that foonja off your face."
"Wipe that foonja off your face." That should be a pillow. Absolutely. My wife gave me a pillow that says, "Of all the things I lost, I think I miss my mind the most." I love pillows. I collect pillows. "Wipe that foonja off your face" is my next pillow.

Very, very fun-loving. She and I were having a conversation and she said something about pork, and I said, "I love pork." She said, "No!" I said, "Well, I love it. What do you want me to do?" And she'd hang up. We'd both laugh hysterically, and I'd call back and she'd be hysterical. We used to chat and have good good laughs with her husband. I have a rack where you can hang hats in my hallway, and Mel would put on a sailor hat, and he'd do a little character, and before they went home, she would be in the hallway laughing for quite a while. They were lovely people. He still is, and she'll always be.

You get that sense just from seeing and reading interviews with her. She had a special on TV that I saw a long time ago. I wish I could get a copy of it. She was absolutely hilarious. I remember laughing my ass off.
There's a song, "You say potato and I say po-ta-to. You say tomato and I say to-ma-to." In the special, she sang it, but she never changed the pronunciation of the word. "You say tomato and I say tomato. You say potato and I say potato. Tomato tomato, potato potato."

[Laughs ] God, she was good.
She was very unique. Also in that special, she was getting married to Dick Shawn, who played the original Hitler in The Producers. And she was visualizing him as a gorilla as she went down the aisle, having misgivings. And she won an Emmy for that special. So that's something you can find.

I haven't seen it anywhere.
I'll keep your number and call you if I find it.

Thank you! Was working on the set of a Mel Brooks film fun or serious or both?Always fun. Always dangerous, because he would allow you to ad lib. It was never serious. Sometimes it was so funny that you'd see people holding their face tight trying not to laugh. He wanted you to take risks.

Speaking of taking risks, you did drag in Haunted Honeymoon.
I'll tell you how I got the job. I was sitting at dinner with Gene Wilder, and I imitated Edward Arnold, who was an old actor, who went [imitates Arnold's laugh]--he laughed all the time. Then I imitated Charles Laughton [imitates Laughton]. And then I did Ethel Barrymore. And my Ethel Barrymore goes [his voice gets higher], "Oh, there's nothing more wonderful than a dark theater. I said to my brother John, 'John, stop drinking,' and he says, 'Ethel baby, that's all there is.'" Then [Wilder] says, "I'm doing a movie. Would you like to play my aunt?" And I said, "Your aunt?" And he said, "Yeah." And I said, "Oh God." And then I called Larry Gelbart, who wrote MASH, and he said, "What an opportunity," and I said, "Yeah." The first thing I thought was Me? I have a beard.

Then I went to London, and they glued on these pink nails, and they made my nails beautiful. Then I went to buy something at Harrod's, and when I gave money to the lady, she looks at my hands, and I said, "I'm in a movie, and I'm playing a woman." She said, "Whatever."

But then you go to work and you put on a dress and they make you up. I thought I was comical. But the critics said I was wonderful, that I was serious, that I did a good job. I had a great time.

You looked great.
I thought I was wonderful. I had to go sideways down a banister. That took quite a bit of doing.

Do you remember when you came to know what homosexuality was?
[Said very quickly in a demanding voice, but obviously joking:] We don't wanna talk about this ! [Laughs]

I was in church at the time. [Laughs again]

No. I guess I was growing up in Brooklyn, and I heard the word "fag," and then I heard the words "Greenwich Village" and "the fags in Greenwich Village." Then I played a part in a play one time, and the character's name was Mayberry Flutter. And I said, "What do I do?" And she [the director] said, "He's more like a girl than he is like a boy."

Do you remember how old you were?
I'm guessing nine. He was a sissy. That's the word I really heard. In fact, when I did the movie with Mel Brooks called Blazing Saddles, in the scene with all the dancers, I said "Pay attention to me, you sissy Marys." Did you ever see that?

Yeah, probably a thousand times.
It was like steam escaping, 'cause they said, "Yessssss." Then, also, Mel can be very rude when it comes to a minority of any kind. "Watch me, faggots."

[Laughs] That's why he's so f--king funny.
He's wonderful. He dares to go where other people fear.

Were you brought up Catholic?
Completely Catholic, yeah.

How did that jive with your . . .
At that age, there was no connection with sexuality. In the movies, I saw those people with horn-rimmed glasses, and the dead-end kids would say, "Come over here, you wanna play cards?" And the next thing you know, here's the sissy who would lose his clothes and say, "Mo-ther."

So when I was asked if Girl Play was something I'd like to get involved with, I said, "Oh, I'd love to get involved." I found out after I got there that these ladies were going to be making love in front of me, and I did my part, but it was fun. It was a different experience. They were wonderful. Everybody was laughing. I had no lines. I had to ad lib my lines. It was a lot of fun to do that. There was an assistant, a guy named Dominic, and he was the guy around me, which I thought was wonderful because I could have a foil. At the end he got passionate. I got a wonderful letter from him saying, "Thank you, it was great being with you." It was a pleasure.

It looked like fun. I don't guess you got to meet Mink Stole.

No. The amazing thing is that you can do a movie and you don't ever meet the person. Anne Bancroft did a movie with Anthony Hopkins, all about the letters of Mrs. So-and-So from Brooklyn. She did her scenes, and they were supposed to be in Brooklyn. He was in London. But it was a wonderful picture. In fact, when I saw it recently, I called her up and I said, "I just saw it, and you were thrilling."

It was very good. But then it was Anne Bancroft . . .

I have just one more question.
Yes, yes, yes.

Can you give me one word or one sentence or so for each of these names?

President Bush.
Unfortunate.

Hillary Clinton.  
Great, smart. I love her.

Jerry Falwell
Mind your manners.

[Laughs] Carol Arthur [DeLuise's wife].
The best thing that ever happened to me.