Carell digs past the hype to find real Bobby Riggs
WEST BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — For Steve Carell, playing the self-described “male chauvinist pig” Bobby Riggs in “Battle of the Sexes” meant finding the man behind the cartoon.
“We all knew the funny Bobby publicly, but what was exciting making this was to see the private Bobby — and let Steve show his range,” said co-writer and co-director Jonathan Dayton (“Little Miss Sunshine,” also with Carell).
Riggs, a gambling addict, lifelong hustler and former Wimbledon champion, became notorious in 1973 when he mocked women, like Billie Jean King (Oscar winner Emma Stone), who played professional tennis.
Riggs publicly challenged that he, at 55, and 26 years older than King, could beat her.
Riggs roused national interest, whether impersonating Little Bo Peep with a flock of real sheep or posing (tastefully) nude for a pinup calendar.
His bellicose taunting made for a $100,000 winner-take-all match in the Houston Astrodome that an estimated 90 million watched on TV.
“There is that public persona and this guy no one really knew,” acknowledged Carell, 55, during a press conference at the W Hotel.
During his research, he watched “a great ‘60 Minutes’ interview with him. He’s playing his character and the conversation came to his wife (Elisabeth Shue in the film) — they’d recently separated.
“He said, ‘That was for the best’ and there was all this bravado and that optimistic nature of his — and you could see this pain. That was the root I was going for.
“There was this public thing, but you could see the pain and the complexity lying underneath it all.”
There’s the movie’s circus, created by Riggs with a showman’s instincts, and then there’s his own celebrity circus, Carell noted.
“I read one review where it talked about how bad my wig was — and it’s my real hair.
“I grew out my hair and grew these massive (sideburn mutton) chops. I think Bobby wanted to get a deal with Clairol because he always mentioned Clairol — so we used the same color, which was an orangey brown. His sideburns he didn’t dye and they were gray.”
With a poker face, Carell added, “Me and my wife and kids went on vacation and they didn’t want to be seen with me. This picture did affect my love life with my wife.”