I’ve been waiting to talk to Bret McKenzie since I saw Austenland at Sundance in January. Sony Pictures Classics is releasing the movie this week, starring Keri Russell as a woman obsessed with Jane Austen who goes to a Jane Austen theme park. McKenzie plays one of the servants who takes a liking to her, but everyone from the servants to the love interest are actors hired to play their Jane Austen roles, and they hang out out of character when the clients aren’t around. I hung out with McKenzie on the outdoor patio of the Four Seasons Beverly Hills talking about movies, music, Flight of the Conchords and The Muppets.
CraveOnline: Are you pursuing acting more these days?
Bret McKenzie: When things come up. When they’re fun. So not really. I really enjoy doing it but I also enjoy doing the music and writing stuff, so it is still a mixture of jobs.
Did you ever expect acting to be something you were asked for?
I don’t know. I’ve done a little bit of it. I definitely like it.
It was “Flight of the Conchords” that really presented you as an actor.
Yeah, yeah. I guess I always have done a mixture of music and theater, so I’ve had experience in both.
And one of the bonuses of being an actor is now you’ve gotten to do a “Simpsons” voice. Is that the ultimate?
I know, I almost should retire. I should give up now.
Do singers love pretending they can’t sing?
I don’t know, because actors love singing. I’ve noticed that, even if they can’t sing. I think actors love singing and singers like acting, but singers putting on bad voices? Yeah, I think that’s pretty fun.
They talk about Olivia Newton-John’s “Suddenly” in Austenland. Was that ever an influence on your music?
Olivia Newton-John? She’s not a big influence on me. [Laughs]
Did you think it was funny in the movie how important “Suddenly” was?
I loved it. I love the whole easy listening thread that went through the film. I was really happy with that. One of my favorite moments is when I’m singing “Suddenly” in the background, you see Keri and J.J. [Feild] over here. I loved it.
Why did you decide this character would have a lower back tattoo?
The tramp stamp? That was Jerusha [Hess]’s idea and I’m glad you picked up on that.
Well, I remember at Sundance you showed your back to prove it wasn’t real.
Oh right, yeah, yeah.
If you hadn’t done that I would have asked if it was real.
Now I’m thinking I should just tell people it’s real. I think Jerusha just wanted the character to be as trashy and seedy as possible.
Is it a unique challenge being an actor playing an actor?
There’s a lot of layers going on. For a fairly simple, broad film, there’s surprising details and levels within it. I just wanted to make it as real as possible and I love comedies, which I think have become very popular in the last 10 years, where the comedy is grounded with a story that genuinely resonates. I think people have gotten it wrong a lot recently. It’s a difficult balance to get, but I think Jerusha really managed to crack it on this where it’s absolutely ludicrous, but I feel the audience still cares about Keri’s character.
Is it true that you’re cousins with Keri?
[Laughs] That’s a funny rumor. That’s from Sundance also. You’ve got a good memory.
Well, I wrote it down. I knew one day I would ask you.
Yeah, she has a relative in New Zealand so we may be cousins.
So really she just knows someone in the same country.
[Laughs] I think everyone’s related. If you know someone in New Zealand then you’re a cousin.
After doing Austenland do you have any sense of why women love Mr. Darcy?
I was thinking about this. In New Zealand, everyone reads Jane Austen at school. Is that the same in America. Do you have to read Jane Austen?
Maybe Pride and Prejudice.
I wonder if it’s because people are reading it at a time in their teenage years where they’re quite vulnerable, or the world of romance and love is opening up. So many women I know are hardcore Jane Austen fans. They started little Jane Austen book clubs and they get together. Do you know people like that? I feel like a few people I’ve talked about this film and they go, “Oh my God, I love Jane Austen. When I was a teenager we used to read that all the time.” Not so much guys, or definitely they don’t talk about it so much. I wonder if it’s the romance in the novels and the fact that people are reading them when they’re teenagers is what’s making it click in.
The other thing about the Darcy thing is I feel like there’s a lot of people waiting for the knight in shining armor, this romantic idea of love that is so strong in all the media and all the movies and all the books, and it’s so unreal. It’s a strange thing that we grow up being fed these stories, the fairy tale romance and yet reality is just so different to that.
Maybe I’m just cynical, but could it be that they hope the good looking A-hole is really a nice guy who loves them underneath? In real life they’re probably not.
Yeah, yeah, right. The good looking asshole usually is an asshole.
