Hugh, it's lovely to see you again
Thank you very much
And may I congratulate you on your burgeoning career as a movie star.
Oh well now, stop. Don't even start
Like the rest of the world I assumed when you stopped working with Steven [Fry] that you would just fade into obscurity.
Actually I presumed exactly the same thing. I thought "that's it", but in a way I feel like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders, I'm free to explore other avenues.
So "Stuart Little", a film I saw in America where it was number one in the movie charts.
It was. It has been hugely successful, apparently. I wasn't there when it was all happening but...
But it [might] not have worked. There are a lot of factors involved here - one has to believe in a tiny living mouse-like creature, which is adopted by a couple of... surprisingly normal folks.
Why adopted? It's even weirder in the book actually because Mrs Little gives birth to a mouse. Of course you try and do that on film [and] it's... tricky.
And also it would call into doubt your manhood.
I suppose it would. I hadn't thought of that angle.
What's it like working with Geena Davis? I mean... both of you do bring sort of a weird quality to it.
Weird
Strange, you know, because you're not just goody-two-shoe parents, I think you hint at... a dysfunctional thing that would lead you to adopt a mouse in the first place... in a pleasant way.
In a pleasant way, yes. It isn't really explained. We felt [...] it was best to sort of scoot over that. We have a solitary withdrawn son and we want a companion for him. Why we decided to adopt a mouse is still not clear to me, even after all these months.
Great seeing you again. I really like the movie, and as ever you're such a welcome screen presence.
You are kind, you're very kind
And this is not ironic
Excellent.
Read Hugh on working with Michael J. Fox, and working with an invisible mouse .
