DeVito, Perlman waltz with `Matilda'

LOS ANGELES They're one of Hollywood's most successful couples,both careerwise and at home. He's developed from a curmudgeonly TVcharacter actor into a movie star, acclaimed director and in-demandproducer. She has four Emmy Awards and is executive-producing andstarring in "Pearl," a new fall series for CBS. They have threechildren, with whom they read books every night.

All that, and Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman get to play thescuzziest couple alive in "Matilda," the movie version of a book bysardonic children's author Roald Dahl, who also wrote James and theGiant Peach, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As Harry andZinnia Wormwood, the parents of the precocious, telekinetic titletyke (played by 9-year-old Mara Wilson), the Wormwoods are a monumentto bad taste, anti-intellectualism and other extremes of suburbanobliviousness - everything the deceptively streetwise DeVitos aren't.DeVito also directed "Matilda," which opens Friday.

What do they have to say about the film?

Q. Why make a movie out of such a bizarre book as"Matilda"?

DeVito: Three years ago, our daughter Lucy brought it into thehouse. All her friends told her about it, she thought it was greatand we all read it together. We found it really empowering andexciting, with great parts for Rhea and I. These parents from hell -we could have a great time, stretch it out and explore all thedarkness.

Perlman: I love the extremes to which Dahl takes things. Ilove how funny they are and how kids just gravitate toward his books.They have wonderful messages, like this one's promotion of literacy.But my kids don't read Matilda and go, "Oh, that's a very empoweringstory." It's more like, "Wasn't she a neat kid?" They're extremelyimaginative stories and they don't talk down to children at all.

Q. Some may feel the darker aspects of "Matilda" - thenegligent parents, the sadistic school principal who hurls childrenover fences - might not be appropriate for kids, or even project ananti-family message.

Perlman: That's been said about "Pearl" (in which Perlmanplays a working-class widow who decides to go to college for thefirst time), too. Really, it's a very tame show, and this movie isall right for kids.

People are just getting really out-of-hand about that stuffthese days. It's kind of scary in a way; it's not that far from"Fahrenheit 451" or something, book burning. Some people want tocontrol everything so much that there's nothing left.

DeVito: The psychology of all the great fairy tales recognizedit was important to explore the darkness - without damaging anybody -to the fullest, in order to achieve any brightness and victory andbliss. Admittedly, a lot of it's there for me in "Matilda" because Ikind of like that stuff. But I've shown it to hundreds of kids whojust adore the movie. We can get overprotective about these things,although I think it's good to be the monitors of what your childrensee.

Q. Let's take a look at the views of family in films thatDanny's directed. "Throw Momma From the Train" was about killingyour mother. "The War of the Roses" was about hating your spouse.This is about awful parents.

Perlman: (Laughing) It sort of balances, y'know? If hedidn't have that outlet, I think I'd be in very big trouble. Thefamily thing is really important to us. We both spend a lot of timewith our kids, it's a priority we just make time for. Of course,it's harder to make time for each other.

DeVito: People ask me why I gravitate toward these reprehensiblecharacters like Louie De Palma (the angry dispatcher in the sitcom"Taxi") and Sam Stone, who wanted to kill his wife in "RuthlessPeople." It probably has something to do with the family I came fromin New Jersey. My mother and father stayed together for 50 years,and they probably shouldn't have. I love them, they cared for us,but they lived in their own world. My two caregivers were my oldersisters. They were real gentle and sweet and kind to me, and theystill are.

I don't know. I really can't put my finger on it. Maybe it'sme laying down on the sofa when I read a script, and somethinghappens inside. But I think it's just a coincidence.

Q. What is working together like for you?

DeVito: Rhea and I always talk about everything, whether she wasdoing "Cheers" and I was doing "Taxi," or I'm directing movies orworking with Mikey D (longtime pal Michael Douglas, his collaboratorin films ranging from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to "Romancingthe Stone"). She's really 100 percent with me and very supportive.And as an actress, she's really dedicated to what she does. And verychallenging.

Perlman: This was a great experience for us because he's usuallyworking on his thing and I'm working on my thing. This was a chancefor us to actually go off to work together in the same car at thesame time, spending some time together doing something we love.

But it was a little scary for me at first. Is he going to likewhat I'm doing? We hadn't really worked together in thatdirecting-acting capacity for a while. But once it got started, wewere both on the same track and feeling comfortable, it was reallyfun.

Q. Rhea, why go back to the sitcom grind with "Pearl"?

Perlman: It's actually the best situation to be in as an actressbecause it's a wonderful, creative job and you don't have to travelall over the place, get up at 4 in the morning and come home at 10 atnight. Y'know, your kids see you, and they know where you are.

Q. How do you like producing?

Perlman: It's interesting, especially if there's some projectthat you really love and feel that you can help get done. But Iguess acting is the main thing I'm interested in. Also, I feel thatthere's a thing like working too much, in terms of your time. Thereare other things I like to do in life.

Q. Danny's company, Jersey Films, has had great successproducing the likes of "Pulp Fiction" and "Get Shorty." What's yourapproach to producing?

DeVito: The idea behind Jersey Films is to embrace youngfilmmakers and get their work made. It's a wonderful thing to doyour best to make it as comfortable as possible for the artists towork, try to make sure no outside influences try to steer them oneway or another. Try to support them and contribute any way you can -make it a good working environment, that's the main thing.

Bob Strauss is the film critic of the Los Angeles Daily News.