SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Zsa-zsa Korda has been thinking about his own death. Not unexpected after the international tycoon has survived six assassination attempts and counting. The protagonist of the new Wes Anderson movie, "The Phoenician Scheme," is ruthless and grandiloquent.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME")
BENICIO DEL TORO: (As Zsa-zsa) I've appointed you sole heir to my estate, which you may come into sooner rather than later.
MIA THREAPLETON: (As Liesl) Why? It's been six years since our last meeting.
DEL TORO: (As Zsa-zsa) I have my reasons.
THREAPLETON: (As Liesl) Which are what?
DEL TORO: (As Zsa-zsa) My reasons? I'm not saying. I'm saying, I'm not saying.
SIMON: He's the kind of midcentury antihero you might have seen once played by Orson Wells. But after so many attempts on his life, does Zsa-zsa begin to soften? Benicio Del Toro plays the injured and often black-eyed Zsa-zsa Korda. He joins us. Now, thanks so much for being with us.
DEL TORO: Thank you for having me.
SIMON: Wes Anderson has said that he wrote this character for you and you collaborated.
DEL TORO: Well, I collaborated in the fact that - you know, Wes, first of all, he never said he was writing a part for me, this was a movie for me. He said he wanted me to be part of this story, and it happened that I was the lead. So little by little, he first sent me the first 20 pages. Then he sent me 40 pages, and I would have questions and thoughts.
SIMON: What did you want to put into this character, Zsa-zsa Korda?
DEL TORO: Well, I tell you what, I wanted to make sure that, you know, he's got an incredible arc. Where the character ends is not really where he begins, you know? So when you have a character that has an arc like that, you just want to make sure that that transition is going to be believable, that he would become maybe a better person at the end. And I believe that - when I saw the film, that it is there. We believe that this character could become who he becomes at the end, mostly thanks to his daughter's influence.
SIMON: How do you keep a straight face when you're playing a character in a Wes Anderson film? Some of the most extraordinary, absurd situations, and yet you play them deadpan.
DEL TORO: Well, you know, Wes wants you to be honest. And he never said to me, I want you to be funny. He wanted me to play it real, even if something was completely absurd - you know, play it like it's real, and don't go for the laugh. And if it's real, the laughs will follow. And so, basically, I just try to play it as honest and as - try to be in the moment and not get - you know, there were a lot of laughs on the set but maybe not in front of the camera. In front of the camera, I try to stay as serious as possible so that maybe the laugh could follow.
SIMON: What's it like to be in a Wes Anderson film? I mean, so many big names, as there are in this one, cutting up and yet keeping a straight face - is it fun?
DEL TORO: It's a lot of fun. Listen, like, I started in this world of movies as a fan. You know, so working with Brian Cranston and Tom Hanks, or Scarlett Johansson, or Bill Murray, or Willem Dafoe, Jeffrey Wright, or Riz Ahmed or Mia Threapleton. That's part of the security blanket that you get for being in a Wes Anderson film. You're going to be working with the best talent, and they're going to make you better, really. They made everyone better.
SIMON: Yeah. I had read you had a brief life as a business major and then found the theater.
DEL TORO: I don't know how brief that was. When they asked me, what did I want to do? I just put business 'cause - I don't know - I just felt like I had to put something. But then I changed it to drama when I took an acting class. And it was the first time that - I don't come from a family of theater or film. So it was the first time that I realized that this drama thing is something that you can actually study it. There's a logic to it. So that's when I realized, like, oh, there's room for improvement. That's when I decided to go into drama.
SIMON: What do you think clicked with you in drama?
DEL TORO: Maybe you could perhaps show something that I knew about life - present it. Everyone's life is different, you know? And I could show my - something about the way I experience my life. I don't know an example to it, but there was something about that. There was something about expressing yourself. There was something about saying something beyond your lines.
SIMON: You could - with your performance, you can say something.
DEL TORO: Yes. With your performance, with your actions, yes, even with your wardrobe.
SIMON: We're living in a world that has - I'll be careful with my language here - a lot of craven international business figures who have enormous power. Do you think they might learn something from Zsa-zsa's example?
DEL TORO: Sure. Why not? Yes. I'd also like to add that it's been like that for - well, I don't know - since the Egyptians. But I think they can. I think, hell, I can learn something from Zsa-zsa.
SIMON: Benicio Del Toro stars in the new Wes Anderson film, "The Phoenician Scheme." Thank you so much for being with us.
DEL TORO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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