The real Bobby Riggs wasn’t a sexist, says Steve Carell
Steve Carell keeps his eye on the ball in new tennis flick Battle of the Sexes
Steve Carell doesn’t have a lot in common with Bobby Riggs except maybe tennis — and then only to a point.
Riggs was a three-time Wimbledon champ and Carell’s a decent club player. But there’s more than athleticism to Carell’s portrayal of Riggs in Battle of the Sexes, which recalls mostly the buildup to the famous, televised, 1973 Houston Astrodome match between tennis star Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and the then 55-year-old Riggs (Carell).
Riggs died in 1995, so the actor relied on his trainer and close friend Lornie Kuhle to offer insight. Carell, who reunites with his Little Miss Sunshine filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, also had lots of TV interviews to consult for references.
At a Beverly Hills hotel, Carell talks about portraying the cheeky hustler.
On Riggs as an opportunist: “I think he saw what was happening in the zeitgeist and he decided to profit from it. I don’t think he cared much about feminism or chauvinism. I think he just wanted to make some dough.”
On his secondary motivation: “He wanted to be famous and he wanted to be a star. He didn’t get the money or the acclaim in the late ’40s when he played because tennis wasn’t a big deal then.”
On the blueprint for his self-promoter style: “He especially took a page from Muhammad Ali.”
On using sexist taunts to heighten interest in the match: “I maintain that Bobby wasn’t that good of an actor and that was part of his charm. You could tell that what he was espousing wasn’t connected to his heart.”
On trying to find the real Riggs: “There is the public persona and the guy nobody really knew. There was a great 60 Minutes interview, and he’s doing his thing playing this character doing his spiel. And then the conversation comes around to his wife, and how they are separated, and he says that she’s better off without him. Even with all that bravado and the over-the-top force of nature he was, you can see there’s the pain he was suffering, and that’s what I was going for.”
On looking like Riggs: “I read one review of the film that talked about how bad my wig was and it’s my real hair. I cropped my hair and grew those massive sideburns.”
On dying his hair with the same Clairol product Riggs used: “We used the same colour, sort of an orange brown.”
On how the look impacted his home life just before filming: “We went on vacation and my wife and my kids didn’t want to be seen with me. And I have to say, it did affect my love life.”
On his take on the misogyny of the time: “Let me make the definitive statement. I have no idea. I’m just an actor playing a guy. But I do get these questions that are intense, life-changing questions.”