In a conversation at VultureFestival with Carrie Brownstein, Jeff Goldblum opened up in his own strange way. Read a transcript of their chat, which touched on music, curiosity, parenting, Robert Altman movies, and 'The World According to Jeff Goldblum'
Photo: Bobby Doherty When Jeff Goldblum was a kid, if you can imagine Jeff Goldblum as a kid, he was “wildly obsessed” with becoming an actor. “Every day before I went to school, I took a shower with this glass door, and it would steam up and I’d write, ‘Please God, let me be an actor.’ And then before I left, I would wipe it off.” Jeff Goldblum recounted this and more childhood stories as a part of this year’s Vulture Festival, for his panel “Jeff Goldblum’s World.
My dad came from a poor family from Russia. They came here and had a little luggage store [inside] a candy store. He needed to pull himself up by his bootstraps. He thought at 18 that he’d either be a doctor or an actor, and chose to be a doctor but always had an interest in theater. My mother flirted with the stage also. They would drive to New York and come back with cast albums from the musicals they’d seen. They had sophisticated taste; they saw Lee J. Cobb do King Lear.
I’ll tell you one thing and then I’ll stop for now: These art classes that I went to at Carnegie Museum, I’d walk through the dinosaur display, which was the biggest at the time. I’d take this wonderful class. I must have been 12 or 13. At the end, when my dad would pick me up, I’d be waiting outside.
And then Pam, a real artist, who, during our upbringing, would sit there, quiet. She was the last one — two years younger. She would draw things, always drawing on a napkin. That was always part of her salvation and her character. She’s devoted her life to it, and to this day, she’s making stuff that she’s excited about.
That night, I remember my parents were in the audience. After I came off, they said, “How’d you like that?” I went, “I did. I did!” That’s all I said, but I think I had already decided for myself, I want to be an actor. Then when I took that Carnegie Mellon course, I was wildly obsessed with it. Every day before I went to school, I took a shower with this glass door, and it would steam up and I’d write, “Please, God, let me be an actor.” And then before I left, I would wipe it off.
That’s the question: When did I decide that I was an actor? Well, you know, I was always thrilled, as I still am, to fill out forms saying, “What’s your profession?” and go, “Actor.” I’m still tickled to do that. I would say I’m an actor, but I felt, “Jeez, I’ve got a lot to learn.” When you were in those early films, first starting out, who was the first person that you were working with — an actor, writer, director – to really impress you?
Anyway, soon I came across Robert Altman, who was a pillar, a model, an exemplar of artistry and originality and beauty and loveliness and great. I’d never seen it before. She drove me to Westwood — didn’t know what that was — to his Lionsgate operation there. There was this kind of Spanish-y-looking courtyard, and I’ll be darned, Robert Altman was up there, and Gwen Wells, with whom I did another movie after California Split. [Altman] said, “I just did this movie, M*A*S*H.” He was great. Seeing that that night, getting off the plane, was striking and remarkable.
When would you ascribe the transition from being unknown to known? Was it with The Fly or Jurassic Park? And what was that shift like for you? I think this idea of relatability — which I do think is kind of a strange currency to be in the marketplace, because I think it doesn’t serve everyone well — serves your Disney+ show, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, really well.
Newtopia is that production company, and the creative people, Karen McGann and Kathryn O’Kane, were two of the directors who worked on that. They do a good job. When I see it again, I’m always delighted by it and oftentimes choked up. I love the way the show came out. I tell that story, “Oh, you know, the dog should be biting my butt,” and then they cut to the Buster Keaton thing — they’re good. They know how to do that.
Anyway, after the show, they said, “That was good. We have an idea. Maybe you want to do a show on your own — a new kind of show.” And I said, “Thank you so much. That’s great. You guys are great. And I’d like to work with you. I do have an idea for how I might approach it: I could think and talk at the same time. I’d like to just not be in a studio. Let me interact with people.
They’re so playful and curious. Seeing the world through their eyes and wanting to do things with them is just great. I don’t want to endanger them or exploit them. But we said, “Hey, you should come to work [with me to see] all these things you’d be interested in.” I went to Legoland, which they would have loved — I didn’t take them.Well, that wasn’t part of the thing. [Producers] kind of decide, “Hey, maybe your kids could be part of this thing, the fireworks thing or …”No.
I mean, there is a very moving moment in season two where you meet with some self-proclaimed witches, and one of them does a reading of past lives. She talks to your deceased parents and siblings. Anyway, there were three of these witches but I loved them. As I said to them a little bit, a lot of my life in acting has been devoted to the unseen and the imaginary and openness to the miraculous of one kind or another, and especially the era in which I was introduced to acting. At Carnegie Mellon, in those courses, there was yoga, which was very new then, and Eastern ways of opening yourself up. That was part of what appealed to me.
One thing that I did find on the internet — the best place for finding this stuff — is all the ways that people really love you and want to use your face to sell things.Oh no. Oh my God. I don’t think I’ve seen these particular ones. Wow. Oh boy.
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