Paging Dr. Wolper! Michael McKean voices
egomaniacal Arkham Asylum psychiatrist
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1


Michael McKean just can’t stay away from the fanboy realm.

The versatile star of film, television and stage continues to deviate
from his mainstream roles to appear in all forms of super hero
entertainment, this time lending his voice to the egomaniacal Dr.
Bartholomew Wolper in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

Frank Miller’s landmark graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight
Returns, Part 1, is the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of
DC Universe Animated Original Movies. The film arrives September 25,
2012 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD, On
Demand and for Download.

McKean is a key member of a voice cast that features Peter Weller
(RoboCop) as Bruce Wayne/Batman, David Selby (The Social Network, Dark
Shadows) as Commissioner Gordon, Ariel Winter (Modern Family) as
Carrie/Robin, and Wade Williams (Prison Break) as Harvey
Dent/Two-Face.

McKean is best known for his portrayal of David St. Hubbins in This Is
Spinal Tap, a role he’s been perpetuating along with his bandmates for
more than a quarter of a century. McKean actually is a talented
musician – he’s quite handy with a harmonica, guitar or keyboard. His
honor role of movie credits include Best in Show, 1941, Planes, Trains
& Automobiles and A Mighty Wind.

McKean initially drew the public’s adoration as the first half of the
inimitable duo of Lenny and Squiggy on the 1970s favorite, Laverne &
Shirley. He served as the self-centered, sex-driven boss Gibby on one
of HBO’s first original sitcoms, Dream On; and he was a member of the
core cast on Saturday Night Live from 1994-1995. McKean’s
primetime appearances number in the dozens on series like Friends,
Curb Youth Enthusiasm, Law & Order (two different characters, eight
years apart) and The X-Files.

Even within those roles, McKean found his way into fanboy fun –
playing Perry White during a 1995 SNL. He would revisit the role six
years later on Smallville. In fact, McKean is one of only seven actors
to appear in both Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and
Smallville – and the only one to also give voice to a character in a
DC Universe Animated Original Movie.

McKean’s been to the Batcave before, too. The New York native voiced
the 1950s Joker and a Mutant in the “Legends of the Dark Knight”
episode of The New Batman Adventures, as well as voicing Sneak Peek
for Batman Beyond. For Justice League, he voiced The Sportsman.

The DC Lineage dips into his personal life, as well. McKean is married
to actress Annette O’Toole, who has the distinction of playing Lana
Lang opposite Christopher Reeve in Superman III, and as Martha Kent
for 10 years of Smallville.

McKean obliged us with a few minutes to chat about his latest animated
role, and a few other subjects near and dear to fanboy hearts. Take a
read …


QUESTION:
How did you come to think of Arkham Asylum psychiatrist Dr. Bartholomew Wolper?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
Dr. Wolper is a very, very good shrink … if you ask him. He’s a guy
who likes the sound of his own voice; he finds his ego very soothing,
even though it seems a little ponderous from the outside. But he is
convinced of his own genius, and definitely convinced that these poor,
twisted souls who have been entrusted to his care are redeemable
because he knows who the real bad guy is.


QUESTION:
And that “bad guy” is?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
Wolper thinks that Batman is a social disease. He thinks that it is,
in fact, Batman’s ego that is driving the crime wave in Gotham City.
And he sets out to prove it. I don’t think he actually makes the case,
but you can’t tell him that (laughs) … or anything else, for that
matter.


QUESTION:
How did you approach playing this character?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
My first impulse was Dr. Phil, but it didn’t work – it was too folksy.
I think that a man whose ego is such a construct that it supersedes
everything else around him, that’s kind of an interesting character to
portray. There are some great examples in history. And I think a man
who plays God – especially when it concerns human intelligence, human
psyche, human emotions – he’s kind of like a prestidigitator. He’s the
expert in the room, and when he tells you something is so, he expects
you to believe it. And it’s only when he comes right up against the
real world that it all falls apart.


QUESTION:
In addition to acting, you also direct. And you’ve worked with Andrea
Romano on a number of projects. What makes Andrea so good at what she
does?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
Andrea Romano has a kind of a soothing, friendly personality, which of
course masks a tyrant (laughs). Kidding, kidding. I think she’s an
amazing talent and I trust her implicitly. Often if I’m directing,
I’ll say, “Look, I won’t give you a line reading, but” and then I’ll
try to make my case and get you to say what you’re supposed to say. As
an actor, I actually ask Andrea for a line reading, because she knows
exactly what she’s doing. She’s been doing it a long time, and she’s
the best in the business. So I utterly respect her taste and opinion.
And she’s also a great cheerleader – there’s never a time when I think
“Geez, I don’t know what I’m doing here.” Even if I don’t know what
I’m doing, she always convinces me that I do … and then she sets me
straight (laughs). It’s kind of brilliant.


QUESTION:
Does being part of a Batman film have any personal significance for you?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
When I was a kid, I adored the Bob Kane’s 1950s Batman. I liked the
Superman comics and Justice League and Flash and the Atom – nobody
does The Atom anymore, and that was a cool super hero – but I did love
Batman. I loved the fact that they always found a way to stage the
climactic scenes in a warehouse of gigantic toys, or huge oversized
stuffed animals. And even as a kid, I sort of knew, “Well, (Kane) is
sort of bored. He wants to draw something new other than just a street
corner and a couple of guys fisting it out.” So I was a big comic book
fan, and I loved the DC stuff.

When I went to college, the ABC series began airing. I was at Carnegie
Mellon and I’ll never forget that everyone was looking forward to
Batman and it was going to be the best thing ever. In those days,
there was only one or two TV sets in the entire dorm. So we went down
to the common room at McGill Hall and the show came on – and the
minute the “pows” and “bams” and sound effects came on screen, the
whole place went insane. Now these were all young men of ages 17 to
23, but suddenly we were all kids again. It was phenomenal. So it is
kind of nice to revisit that (memory) by being in this film.

I also had the honor of playing the Joker in one of Mr. Timm’s
episodes. Mark Hamill was doing the voice at the time, but they had a
flashback to the 1950s,so I got to play the Joker in one episode. That
was pretty exciting, too. And now it’s nice to be in a full-scale,
class production like this.


QUESTION:
With all your years of comic book reading, and your interest in the
super hero realm, do you have a character you’d most like to play or
voice?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
Comics actually taught me how to read. From the age of 3 or 4, my
older sister would help me along with my reading lessons, telling me
how to sound out words. Then I’d sit with my comics and really develop
my reading. I remember that as I was reading comics, I had voices in
my head for the characters. But I honestly don’t think I have one that
I’d really want to take on. Maybe Bizarro Superman. That’d be fun to
do.


QUESTION:
You’ve carved quite the resume of film, TV and stage performances, and
yet you find time for a lot of animation voiceovers. For you, is that
additional work … or working fun?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
It is an awful lot of fun. The only time I don’t like voiceover stuff
is if I have a ton of ADR work to do. I did a film called Short
Circuit II, where I had a lot of scenes with a robot. And it was a
real robot – it was operated off screen, but it really was a
mechanical man. And, of course, they had the motors going at all
times, Every move the robot made, there would be a noise with that
movement. So every scene I had with this damn robot, which was about
half the film, I had to loop everything. And that drives me crazy. But
when you’re working with people like Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche
– I did a bunch of Animaniacs and a couple of Pinky & the Brain
episodes – those guys make it such a great party atmosphere. They’re
so funny and so smart – just amazing people to work with. That’s the
best part of the job.


QUESTION:
With so many memorable roles in your lengthy list of credits, what do
people stop and ask you about the most?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
I guess Spinal Tap, just because we keep coming back. We made the
movie 25 years ago and occasionally we “tour” and make TV appearances
and put out product. So people know me from that. Occasionally
somebody will come up and say “You’re Gibby from Dream On,” not very
often, but sometimes. Laverne and Shirley – not so much. That’s a long
time ago, and we’ve all changed (laughs). And, of course, the last few
pictures I made with Chris Guest. People love Best in Show. People
always say the same thing to me about that film – they say, “You know,
you and your boyfriend had the best relationship of all the couples in
the film.” And they’re so totally right (laughs). We were made for
each other. So that’s a lot of fun, too.


QUESTION:
Dr. Wolper is actually featured in both Part 1 and Part 2 of Batman:
The Dark Knight Returns. Can you give us a little teaser of what to
expect in the second half of the story?

MICHAEL MCKEAN:
The Joker is kind of Dr. Wolper’s pet patient. He is the most
irredeemable, as far as society is concerned, which Dr. Wolper takes
as a challenge. He’s thrilled and delighted when he sees the Joker
making such progress, and he thinks that he’s done so well that the
next step is to bring him out into the public to kind of show off his
own work. It doesn’t go well.