Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser
Paul Reiseris an American comedian, actor, television personality and writer, author and musician. He is best-known for his role in the 1990s TV sitcom Mad About You. He is ranked 77th on Comedy Central's 2004 list of the "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time". The name of Reiser's production company, Nuance Productions, is inspired by one of his lines in the film Diner, in which his character explains his discomfort with the word "nuance"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth30 March 1957
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
Any issues my parents went through are very prominent in the movie, even though they enjoyed a happy relationship, ... The story actually started for me when my mom told me a few years ago that because she got a job, she never made it to the World's Fair in New York, and that's a missed opportunity that always stayed with her.
Bob, the guy who did 'Big Fat Greek Wedding,' immediately saw what everybody else chose to not see. This is not a little art film. Bob said, 'This is a big commercial hit.' He realized there's something about the movie that really works. It can play everywhere. It's odd when you see the things that are most personal can end up becoming the most universal.
I got the idea 20 years ago, but have to clarify to people that I wasn't writing that slowly,
One time I met him backstage to see him after a performance of a play he was in, ... He grabbed me by the shoulders.
When I did, it was very casual, but I never told him about the project because at best I knew he'd say, 'Great, let me read it' and I'd have to say, 'It's not written yet.' So I didn't say anything,
I was having the best time of my life,
It felt very natural right off the bat. It was really tailor-made for him and mine was tailor-made for me, so it was easy to jump into.
It felt like such a right idea that it didn't bother me to put it away, because I knew it would be ready when it's ready, ... When I had kids, I realized I understood my parents better. I had more compassion for them and I look at my kids and realize, 'Oh, man. This is just the same cycle all over again.'
People often ask me, What's the difference between couplehood and babyhood? In a word? Moisture. Everything in my life is now more moist. Between your spittle, your diapers, your spit-up and drool, you got your baby food, your wipes, your formula, your leaky bottles, sweaty baby backs, and numerous other untraceable sources--all creating an ever-present moistness in my life, which heretofore was mainly dry.
It is not important to know what facts are true, ... The relationships portrayed are real. My mother did have a job interview with my father. She worked alongside him for awhile;, they dated, were married and had a family. She never did get to the World's Fair.
I was visiting my parents, and I walked into a room where my father was watching a Peter Falk movie on TV, ... I think it was 'The Cheap Detective.' Anyway, my father was belly-laughing, and he never really did that. I thought, 'If Peter Falk can make my dad laugh, then I'm going to come up with a movie in which Peter Falk plays my father.'
It changed my perspective. I understood what the father was thinking in making sure that he was providing for his family. I understood what my own father was thinking. It's a better movie now because I waited.
He's 50 percent Peter Falk, 50 percent my own father,
We made this movie for $17, and nobody got anything. So it never dawned on me that we would get real people.