Foley

Web posted on:
Wednesday, November 25, 1998 12:04:52 PM EST

From CNN Interactive Writer Jamie Allen

(CNN) -- Dave Foley's acting career has been on a steady rise for the past several years. Cutting his showbiz teeth on shows like "The Kids in the Hall," Foley has been seen in films like "Three Men and a Baby," "It's Pat," "Hacks," and "From the Earth to the Moon."

Now he's voicing Flik, the lead character in the new Pixar/Disney animated film, "A Bug's Life," while starring in the popular NBC sitcom "NewsRadio."

In a recent Q&A with CNN Interactive, Foley discussed the odd preparation he endured for his role in "A Bug's Life," as well the closeness of the "NewsRadio" cast, particularly since the death of comic actor Phil Hartman, who starred on the show.

Q: What did you do to prepare to talk like a bug?

FOLEY: Well, the important thing to remember is that bugs don't actually talk. They communicate with a very sophisticated system of scent trails, excreting chemicals from their abdomen, so I did a lot of preparing to do that, and then found out that I would actually be speaking as (the character) Flik ... so pretty much all my preparation was for naught.

Q: How did you translate scent trails to actual speech?

FOLEY: You can't, really. Most of the scent trails translate to, "Food is this way," "Dead caterpillar ahead." There's really not a lot of sophisticated conversation, you know, unless they start talking about socialized medicine.

Q: Have you ever felt like Flik?

FOLEY: I have certainly felt the sort of insignificance that you might feel if you are one ant among millions of ants in a colony. I think that was, what did they call that? Oh, they called it high school. So yes, I've felt that.

Q: Do you miss the days when you were on "The Kids in the Hall"?

FOLEY: I'm not sure that I miss it. I think I'm getting old enough now that I'm nostalgic about it. But when we decided to quit the show I think it was the right choice to make. I think we had hoped we might do more film work together. I think we still hope we might do more film work together down the road if we can finance another movie, considering how well "Brain Candy" did.

Q: Who's your favorite actor to work with on "NewsRadio"?

FOLEY: I can't pick a favorite. I gotta go back to work with them. I love them all. Jon (Lovitz) was hosting a benefit show at Carnegie Hall last night, so I went to see the show. Vicki Lewis sang, Jon sang, Maura Tierney and her husband were there. Andy Dick was there and a few other "NewsRadio" people. So yeah, I like them all. They're good folk; they're decent people.

Q: Phil Hartman was popular among cast members. Did his death this past summer bring the cast closer?

FOLEY: I think we were very close before that happened and remain close and certainly when that happened we sought each other out, wherever we were. And we sort of got back together again to sort of lean on each other. But we've always been a close cast. We were all very close with Phil. We shared that grieving time and maybe that does make you a little closer.

Q: You recently wrote the screenplay to the film "The Wrong Guy." Do you plan to start writing more screenplays?

FOLEY: Yeah, I hope to. I hope I can write another movie sometime soon. Ultimately, what I would like to be doing is writing and directing movies, which is a very uncommon goal, but it's one I'm going to try for.