Exclusive: How John Lithgow's SPELLBOUND Role Expanded With a Showstopping Musical Number

These days, John Lithgow is staying busy. Following his acclaimed turn as Roald Dahl in the new play Giant (which just announced a West End transfer), the Tony Winner is also starring in two new movies- Conclave and Spellbound.

With the former being a tense religious drama and the latter an animated musical, the two films could not be more different. However, Lithgow consistently brings his unique presence and vocal prowess to each and every role he plays and these two are no exceptions. 

BroadwayWorld sat down with the prolific character actor to discuss voicing the character of Minister Bolinar in Spellbound, how his role in the film grew over time, and why children are the best audience members.

This interview has been condensed for clarity and length.

I understand that the character of Minister Bolinar and your role evolved throughout the process of the film. What did that look like?

I was soldiering away doing my best Bolinar, singing in two duets, and showing up once every six months to do a little bit more. That's the rhythm when you do an animated film: they do all the work and you show up now and then. There was a long period when they didn't call me in and I assumed they had replaced me. But, I finally got a call and, to my astonishment and delight, they had tested a rough cut of the film to a big audience and people loved the character of Bolinar. So they had doubled my part and given me this extraordinary body-switching plot twist and written me this showstopping song. Alan Menken and Glenn Slater were up for the task, and I'm sure they were delighted to hear that they could write a flat-out comedy number for me.

They actually played the song with full orchestration and with a Broadway star singing my role and doing a great job. I mean, to the point where I was intimidated. I didn't think I could ever do it as well as he did. I found all this out on a single morning and immediately started recording it. I came back and had several other sessions and I dutifully showed up with my Hollywood vocal coach, Eric Vetro, to get my voice back in shape to sing it. It's amazing. I get my own Hakuna Matata number that simply delights everybody. 

In the song, Bolinar tries something new and is thrilled with it. Is there something in your career that you were hesitant to try, but ultimately were surprised you enjoyed as much as you did?

You've almost defined my career in a nutshell. There've been so many roles that were somebody else's bright idea, which I never thought I could do. Situations where people had more confidence in me than I had in myself. And I suppose that's very Bolinar. The best examples are Winston Churchill in The Crown and Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garb. When people come to me with roles where they see me but I couldn't even imagine myself playing the part. If you're a very lucky actor, that happens to you now and then. With me, it happens all the time because I'm known as this wacky character actor who's willing to try anything. Sometimes, it goes horribly wrong and I do something that's a true embarrassment. But it doesn't matter because nobody ever sees it.

You’ve written children’s books and created music albums for kids. And, of course, this movie is something that children will enjoy. What draws you to storytelling for children?

As actors, our great aspiration is to create a suspension of disbelief. Persuading an audience that, even for half a second, they're not watching a fiction- they're watching the real thing. You always try for that and occasionally you achieve it. And when you achieve it, you've created a little miracle in telling a story that, even for a nanosecond, persuades people that it's actually happening before their eyes. But that suspension of disbelief never happens with grownups because they know they're seeing a fiction. It happens with kids all the time because, developmentally, they're not there yet. They think this is the real thing, and it's so thrilling to give them that experience.

I've done a lot of children's concerts which are performance pieces. I will do things like  introduce myself and sing a song all while wearing a silly hat. And then I'll ask the conductor to just tug on my sleeve and whisper in my ear, and I'll say "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I do this all the time. I come out forget to take my hat off. But if it happens again, be sure to tell me." And over the course of the concert, about four or five times, I will wear several progressively sillier hats. 

These kids will go completely berserk trying to remind me. They will scream. And that's a suspension of disbelief. It is rocket fuel for actors because adults will never give you that enthusiasm. They'll stand up and cheer, but they won't scream.

One of the themes in Spellbound has to do with the darkness we sometimes feel. There's a quote where one of the Oracles says, “Everybody has dark feelings. It’s what you do with those dark feelings that count.” Is there something you do to help combat dark feelings when they arise? Is there a place you like to go, or music you like listen to?

What a lovely question. A lot of it connects with my wife and my private life. I take great refuge in that because usually my anxieties have to do with things that happen in public such as disappointments in my profession.

But I must say that the work itself is a great solace. It's a very intense thing that I do. And sometimes it is shot through with anxiety because things aren't going right. But it's a wonderful creative process and the payoff is so extraordinary. I must say that I just idly think of wonderful times on stage, particularly if I've just done something that is still very much in the front of my mind.

I've just completed an extraordinary experience in London in a play called Giant in which I play Roald Dahl. It's a huge success and the most exciting new play I've been in since M. Butterfly. And these nights I go to bed just thinking about the experience of doing this play and waking up in the morning, just remembering how well this scene worked and what an impact I had. I have this extraordinary feeling of completion.

 With such a diverse career, I'm sure one of the rewards of continuing to work is finding new challenges to explore. What did Spellbound offer that felt particularly unique or different for you? 

I think it was that big number, "I Could Get Used to This." I was so thrilled that it had been tailored for me. I actually have not had a chance to talk to Alan Mankin about the creation of the song, nor have I even met Glenn Slater. But I have to think they had as much fun writing it as I had recording it. And I simply have never been given quite that much of a joyous task in the area of music. I've done lots of musicals and operettas, lots of Gilbert and Sullivan, and two big Broadway shows. I won a Tony Award for one of them. But this was something special. I think about Robin Williams' voice in Aladdin and Nathan Lane's voice in The Lion King. I got that fun treat too! And I never thought I'd be able to hold that last note. I only did one take, and by God, I nailed it. 

Spellbound is now available on Netflix. Watch "I Could Get Used to This," sung by Lithgow, below.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos