B.L. You star in Willard as a man who connects with rats and you have actually written a novel about rats. So what is it with you and rats?
C.G. I happen to have a copy of the book with me right here. It’s a book called Rat Catching and it’s actually illustrated. I published this in 1987 and I made it in 1984. It was an old text that I found without any images in it but I put a whole bunch of drawings and images in with it and rearranged and rewrote it into something else. When I first made it, I didn’t actually plan on publishing it, but it led me on to another career so to speak. I have three more books in print that I am very proud of.

B.L. And all of these are available at bookstores under Crispin Glover?
C.G. If people look up my name in the telephone book in Los Angeles or call 411 there is a number that they can call to find out how to get them. There are also various ways of finding out how to get them through the Internet as well.

B.L. So back to the rat question. Have you always been interested in them?
C.G. Well no, not really. It’s just a coincidence. My Rat Catching book just happens to have been the first one I published, but my other books have no rats in them. I have nothing against rats. I have always thought that they were nice creatures.

B.L. So it didn’t creep you out at all to be working with them for the film?
C.G. Oh no, not at all! They were really well trained and I was glad of it because I had a lot of intense and sad, emotional things I had to play and I had to concentrate a lot during those scenes. In real life I’m not a very tearful person, but there was a lot of emotion in this movie and I wanted to make sure that it felt real and true. The fact that these rats were trained so well was important because it required a lot of concentration. I was amazed how well trained they were. They’d play on cue every time!

B.L. That is absolutely wild!
C.G. Oh yeah, they were really good. Better than some actors I’ve worked with. (laughs)

B.L There’s a lot of talk that Willard is a bit of a mix between The Birds and Psycho.
C.G. Yes, the director and writer Glenn Morgan showed us those films and I had of course seen them before but it was nice that we got to see them. I actually wasn’t thinking about that so much while making it but I’m sure the director was thinking about it a lot.

B.L. I really thought that you were so perfect in this role. Was it something that you thought about doing even before you were approached to do it?
C.G. No, not at all. I had never seen the original film. I was aware of it, but initially when I heard about the idea it really appealed to me. It sounded like a good role, I read it and it was really well written with interesting psychology and I wanted to do it right away. It’s actually one of my favorite parts that I have gotten to do.

B.L. Is it? Because you have had some really diverse roles.
C.G. Yah, you’re right but this one is definitely up there. There are three or four roles that I really liked that I have played but this is the best.

B.L. So, spill the beans. What are the other ones that you really liked?
C.G. I liked one role that was in a very small film that hardly anyone has seen called The Orkly Kid it’s only a half hour long and I made it when I was 19. I liked The River’s Edge quite a lot, I’m proud of that film. Those two films I like a lot and then there are other characters that I have played that I enjoyed. I always have to wait to comment about films like Willard, I don’t know how I’ll feel about it, say in a year or so. I do feel good about my performance and I think that there are interesting things in the film and what I’m getting from people that it’s a movie that makes you think and talk about afterwards. I really like when there is some thought involved and not to have to just think about what’s being dictated to you on the screen.