the pink panther exclusive
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the pink panther exclusive
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Levy’s Quick-Paced Shooting Style
 Although The Pink Panther is a broad comedy, Kline approached it with his usual thoughtful diligence and researched the role by spending a few days with the French police. "Even for a broad comedy, research can come in handy. I found it illuminating to see how the French go about police work."
He says he also enjoyed the chance to work with Martin again, especially since their only other co-starring opportunity was the more serious Grand Canyon. "We'd never had the opportunity to do a comedy together, so I jumped at the chance. Needless to say, I enjoyed the process as much as I imagined I would."
Martin and Kline engaged in a slapstick dance throughout the movie and Kline, in particular, relished the physical comedy. “Having grown up on Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields, I have always relished the opportunity to do physical comedy,” Kline remarks. “It provides a rare opportunity for me to do my own stunts. The producers don't seem to mind risking my life if it gets a laugh.”
The rest of the cast for The Pink Panther, Simonds says, was similarly comprised of performers who weren’t just funny, but strong actors as well. “Beyoncé’s incredibly gifted and we have such respected actors as Jean Reno, Kristin Chenoweth and Emily Mortimer, to name just a few.”
But even the most experienced actors on the set, sometimes fell prey to Martin’s comedic genius. “Many of my scenes were with Steve and it was really difficult to stay in character because he was so funny and I never knew what he was going to do,” confides Beyoncé Knowles. “We shot this scene at the Waldorf in New York, which Clouseau basically destroys with something called a ‘Flaming Mojito.’ My character is trying to be very romantic and sexy with Clouseau, but he’s drinking this ‘Flaming Mojito.’ Steve’s expressions and attitude were so hysterical I had to keep thinking, ‘Be sexy. Please try to be sexy’ when all I wanted to do was laugh.”
In addition to being hilarious, Beyoncé says that Martin added an appealing emotional layer to Clouseau. “Steve just made you love Clouseau because even though he was funny and silly, underneath it all, he was sincere and sensitive and loving.”
The actress was pleased to be working again with director Levy, who had written and directed a popular TV series for the Disney Channel, “The Famous Jett Jackson,” in which he had cast her. “I was 16 or 17 and it was my first time acting ever and I was very nervous but he made me feel so comfortable. I didn’t know he was the director of The Pink Panther, but when I found out I thought, ‘This was meant to happen. This is a reunion.’”
Production on The Pink Panther was marked by Levy’s quick-paced shooting style. “Everyone who comes to my set for the first time — whether it’s actors or crew members — goes through some initial trauma when they realize that I always move quickly,” Levy says. “The reality is I’ve never seen anything get funnier after 20 takes. I’ve never seen a scene get funnier when you’ve been shooting it for two or three days. Steve enjoyed a brisk pace. He knew what I wanted, wanted to give it to me and then, when he was done, to move on. Some directors believe in 40 takes and maybe that works for them. For me, I try to make movies with my energy and I like to keep things moving forward and capture the momentum and enthusiasm with which I come to work. I think my movies reflect that energy.”
And that suited Beyoncé perfectly, she says, since she was sandwiching the movie between concert dates, commercial endorsements and the new Destiny’s Child album. “I only had a month off originally because Destiny’s Child was going back into the studio and I had to decide whether to do a movie or take a vacation. When I was offered The Pink Panther I thought, ‘Steve Martin, Kevin Kline — that’s not work, it’s like a summer vacation and a great educational experience.”
While Xania is a new Pink Panther character, there have been other beautiful and possibly duplicitous women in the movies before, played by actresses including Claudia Cardinale, Elke Sommer and Dyan Cannon, to name just a few. The latest Panther does introduce several a bona fide original characters.
One of them is stalwart policeman and Clouseau’s confidante and partner, Gilbert Ponton, played by the well-known French actor Jean Reno. “The character of Ponton already existed when Steve and I got involved in the project,” says Levy. “And we liked the idea of Clouseau having a true sidekick, someone who is set up to be a bad guy in that he works for Dreyfus, but develops a loyalty to Clouseau. Ponton is an incredibly likeable and sympathetic character who helps anchor Clouseau’s zaniness. The role was actually hard to cast, because we needed someone who could be a wall for Steve to bounce off of. But after meeting with Reno in Paris, I knew there was no second choice. He had that simplicity, that rock solid, steadfast quality that is Ponton.”
While American audiences know Reno mostly for his roles in dramatic, action pictures like The Professional, Mission: Impossible and Ronin, in Europe, he is also known for his work in such hugely successful comedies as Les Visiteurs and will soon be seen in the feature film version of The Da Vinci Code. As The Pink Panther moved into production, Levy became aware of Reno’s subtle comedic style — further proof that he’d made the correct choice. “Jean is funny in the quietest, smallest ways,” says the director. “He is a terrific straight man because he knows he can do very little and still be present on-screen. It takes a very confident actor to do that little and be that effective.”
Reno explains that he enjoys alternating genres. “I like change. That’s my work as an actor,” he says. “Comedy is a nice alternative for me personally because everyone is smiling and trying to make other people laugh on set. That makes it very enjoyable. As for Ponton, my job was not to imitate or compete with Clouseau, but to add something in a different way that is, hopefully, funny.”
Although Ponton is a new character, there are similarities in his relationship to Clouseau and that of his houseboy Kato in the earlier films, Levy explains. “We weren’t sure that would work today, not simply because of the political incorrectness of having an Asian houseboy in 2005, but because what worked for Peter Sellers doesn’t necessarily work for Steve Martin. Besides, I wanted to try something different. We kept the idea that Clouseau attacks Ponton unexpectedly but our joke is that Clouseau never ever lands a punch. These fights are immediately over because Clouseau is fundamentally inept at martial arts. The one punch Clouseau lands on Ponton is one of the most poignant moments in the film. The Clouseau-Ponton dynamic is comical but it is also one of real friendship. When Clouseau is at his lowest point in the movie, the one guy who stands by him is Ponton.”
Emily Mortimer plays Dreyfus' ingenuous secretary Nicole, who becomes Clouseau's helper and secret admirer, says she thoroughly enjoyed herself while making The Pink Panther. She was gratified for the chance to play against type and to explore working in comedy, especially physical comedy. "I didn't imagine they'd be particularly enchanted with me," she confesses. "So, I just decided to make Nicole as real as I could within the confines of the genre and rely on the physical parts of the scene for the big laughs. By the end, I came to enjoy those aspects so much that I lost my serious actor intent completely. I became a total comedy tart."
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