…Which we love because the series is created/produced by Alan Spencer, whom we would swear is the reincarnation of Mel Brooks except that Mel Brooks is still incarnate. (Actually, Alan is cooler than Mel Brooks, but let’s get back to Eddie:)
Eddie Izzard Talks Snow Globes, Sex with Trees and Finding the Truth in His Outlandish Villain in IFC’s New Miniseries “Bullet in the Face” – by Danny Bowes
Known for his unique, hyper-erudite, stream-of-consciousness stand-up comedy (best showcased in the 2000 concert film “Dress to Kill”), Eddie Izzard has also spent the better part of the last two decades building a very interesting career as a character actor on both stage and screen. With the exception of his leading role on the acclaimed (though short-lived) FX series “The Riches,” Izzard’s main strength as an actor has been in the kind of indelible supporting roles that he plays in IFC’s upcoming miniseries “Bullet In The Face.”
“Bullet in the Face,” which is being spread out over two nights on August 16th and 17th at 10pm, shares with creator Alan Spencer’s previous cult classic “Sledge Hammer!” a cracked, satirical bent. It’s also met with some minor controversy for its violent content — the show’s set in a comic-book-style alternate universe full of warring gangsters, tough cops, jet-black humor and Germans. Izzard plays crime kingpin Johann Tannhauser, who spends his days engrossed by snow globes and plotting the bloody deaths of his enemies, confined to his secret lair by acute agoraphobia. It was on that note that Indiewire caught up with him on the phone after some shared excitement over Great Britain’s success in the Olympics.
So you’re an agoraphobic German crime boss in this hyper-violent comic book universe. I imagine you didn’t just look at that and just go, “This same old thing again.” I’ve never seen anything quite like this show.
Well… it has violence going through it. And there’s a question of violence in America, or last year if you went to Norway, or going back to the Second World War, how we deal with that is a weird old thing. But [“Bullet in the Face”] is comedic, and bizarro, and in thinking how to play it — trying to control the world — I felt it was an intriguing place to go.
Hmm, Eddie just might be cooler than Alan. Intriguing…especially if you know Alan. Don’t forget to watch the damn show on IFC TONIGHT. (We can’t see it because, thanks to %#@!ing DISH, we no longer get IFC!)