When Richard Kind first took the stage in the controversial Nazi-satire musical, The Producers, he famously shed 30 pounds. As he prepares for his return to the West End production, questions arise: Is he – and London’s theatre scene – ready for his comeback? And why is the accomplished actor so unexpectedly concerned about his old flatmate, George Clooney?
Kind’s extensive filmography showcases an incredible range, from voicing a child’s imaginary friend in the Pixar fantasy Inside Out to portraying a neighbor afflicted with antibiotic-resistant pinkeye in Only Murders in the Building. His diverse roles also include a physics savant with a sebaceous cyst in the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man, Joaquin Phoenix’s final tormentor in the unsettling Beau Is Afraid, and Larry David’s notoriously insufferable cousin Andy in Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he famously debated the proper rotation of a Lazy Susan and became an unwitting accessory in the murder of a swan.
“Ubiquitous?” Kind retorts, his distinctive mouth wide in surprise. “I’m all over the bloody place! Nobody works more than me.” We caught up with the genial 69-year-old at London’s Garrick Theatre, where he is embarking on a seven-week run in Mel Brooks’ infamously provocative, Nazi-spoofing musical, The Producers. Kind is temporarily stepping into the role of Broadway huckster Max Bialystock, a character who concocts a scheme to defraud investors by staging a guaranteed flop, “Springtime for Hitler,” and then pocketing their investments once the show inevitably closes prematurely.