Video: Matthew Broderick Reveals He Was Terrified to Sing in His First Musical

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge sat down with Matthew Broderick for a career retrospective as part of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations series. 

In the 80-minute interview, the Tony Award-winning performer talked about numerous projects throughout his career including his roles in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Producers, and his recent Emmy nomination for his appearance in Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. 

"I didn't expect it," he said of the nod for his guest appearance in the show, where he plays a fictionalized version of himself. When he initially was offered the role he recalls "They said, 'You're playing you, but it's not really you.' I hope it's not really me, because he's kind of a horrible person to work with. I like to think I'm not," he added with a smile.

Broderick went on to talk about his approach to his scripts and how he doesn't write down things like stage directions on the pages. "After working on something for 6 months, [my script] doesn't look like anybody's even looked at it...I partly don't write things like that down because, if it feels good and I understand it, I'll remember it. That's a little bit of my secret method in there," he said of his philosophy.

"If I start writing things down and doing what I wrote, I feel like I'm going to get stuck in something and I might find something better if I let myself take my time a little more." Watch the full interview now!

Broderick aslo recounted memories from some of his first stage appearances, including his musical debut in the 1995 revival of How to Succeed... "I remember the first rehearsals not even wanting to sing out loud! I remember Ted Sperling was at the piano and I would just stand there and he would sing my songs!" he recalled. He would go on to win his second Tony Award for that performance. "The ensemble was convinced we would never open, or certainly not run. Look at me now!"

Watch this full video as recounts how he first met Mel Brooks, why he loves performing the work of Neil Simon, what its like working with frequent collaborator Nathan Lane, and so much more.

About Matthew Broderick

The Tony award-winning actor was recently seen on Broadway in the revival of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite alongside his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker. Additionally, he was seen in The Starry Messenger at Wyndham's Theatre, The Seafarer at the Irish Repertory Theatre and The Closet at the 2018 Williamstown Theater Festival. Previously, he starred in The New Group's US premiere of Wallace Shawn's Evening at the Talk House at the Pershing Square Signature Center and in the off-Broadway production of Shining City at the Irish Repertory Theatre, for which he earned an Obie Award for both performances.

Other theatre credits include A. R. Gurney's comedy Sylvia alongside Annaleigh Ashford; the smash Broadway hit It's Only a Play opposite his frequent co-star Nathan Lane; the award-winning Broadway run of Nice Work If You Can Get It; the Broadway production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple; and The Foreigner at the Roundabout Theatre. In 2005, he starred in the feature film version of The Producers, reprising his Tony-nominated performance he gave during the record-breaking production on Broadway. A New York native, he made his professional stage debut opposite his father, James Broderick, at age 17 in the production of On Valentine's Day. 

Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas