Q+A: Ray Romano on Mammoths, Curse Words, and Vegas

Funnyman Ray Romano resumes his role this weekend as the voice of Manny, the worrywart woolly mammoth whose whingeing made hits out of Ice Ages 1 and 2. Now, in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Manny and the rest of his prehistoric gang will be in 3-D for the first time. Talk about evolution.

NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin sat down with the star for a chat—excerpts:

So you’re promoting Ice Age 27, right?
Yeah, feels like it.

So I guess you really enjoyed making it.
No, no, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s been a long time. It’s been eight years that we’ve been doing them. As long as they keep them interesting, then we’ll keep doing them.

Is it the easiest work you’ve ever done in your life?
No!

What’s wrong with that question?
It is convenient because you go to work and you don’t have to get dressed up, you don’t have to coerce Patty Heaton to kiss you in any scene, you don’t have to put on makeup, you don’t have to wait for lights. But it’s also different because you’re not working with any other actors. You’ve got to emote, get angry, while you’re standing in front of a microphone without moving left to right. Technically, it takes a lot of getting used to. Look, yeah, you’re not working yourself into the ground like you do in a sitcom, so in that sense it is easier.

Your character, Manny, becomes a dad. Bring back memories?
Yeah. When we recorded the scene when the baby’s born, it gets a little emotional, and I had to draw on what happened in my real life when my daughter was born. Then of course Manny thinks he knows how to be a father and he really doesn’t yet; he’s learning as he goes, and that’s all the same. I was a fumbling idiot.

Did you ever drop your daughter?
No, but when I went to pick up [my wife and daughter] at the hospital, I parked my car in a tow-away zone and I came out with my newborn in my arms and the car that was supposed to be right there was gone. So we had to take a cab back to Queens.

Was your wife ready to divorce you?
Luckily, she was still medicated. The epidural hadn’t worn off yet. My daughter’s first ride was on the meter. We had to pay 50 cents extra to have her in the car.

Your daughter must be dating by now.
Yes! I’m not as neurotic about it as my wife is. This is what I don’t get. My daughter shares everything with my wife, every conversation with her boyfriend. I remember when I was 18 and dating; I didn’t come home and tell my mom, ‘Ma, you’re never going to believe what she said today.’ But my wife gets to hear all of it and she reacts to all of it. I’m like, just relax, it's teenage love. She’s also at college. She just finished her first year.

Was that weird?
Yeah, especially for my wife because we have three boys and we took over the house. My daughter was my wife’s only ally. It was like when we pulled out of Vietnam and the Viet Cong took over.

Do you see your Everybody Loves Raymond costars?
I do. I just got back from Vegas with Brad Garrett.

I thought you two hated each other.
Why would you think that?

Because he threatened to quit Raymond over money.
That’s just business. That had nothing to do with me—that was with the network. We play a card game once a month and we do charities together. And every couple of months I play Vegas, and half the time I’m with Brad and the other half I’m with Kevin James.

Didn’t you discover him?
People think because he did a thing on my show that I discovered him, but he had a development deal before he was even on my show.

So he doesn’t owe you.
No, no. I’m going to be riding his coattails when he becomes a big movie star, which he’s about to do.

So what else have you been doing?
I’m filming a new series for TNT. It’s coming in December. I co-created it. It’s called Men of a Certain Age. It’s about three friends who are experiencing a crossroads in life. When you start wondering what’s next, who you are.

TNT is no swearing right?
You can swear. You can’t say the F word.

But you can say the S word?
Yes, you can.

So we will be hearing a cursing Ray Romano.
You don’t know how many times, nine years on Raymond, I wanted to say, "You’re full of s---, Debra!"