- 6/18/2025
Chris O'Donnell interviewed by Bobbie Wygant about Batman Forever
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I have been in Dallas, I spent one night in Dallas, that's all, that's the extent of
00:15my time there.
00:16Yeah, I'd love to come back.
00:17You've got a great time, you'd like to, you'd like it.
00:20I had a good girlfriend from a school that lives out there.
00:24Oh yeah?
00:25That's about it though.
00:27From school where?
00:29She, from Boston College.
00:30Oh, Boston.
00:31Yeah, but she came from that.
00:32Yeah, because your degree is from what, UCLA?
00:34No, I just finished at UCLA, but I have a Boston College degree.
00:37Oh, I see.
00:38I'm going to count you down, but in three minutes I'll give you a two minute notice,
00:42one minute notice.
00:43Okay, and the total is five?
00:44Yes.
00:45Yeah, okay.
00:46All right.
00:47We're just about ready and we're rolling.
00:49All right.
00:50Well, Chris will just pick up where we left off, circle the friends.
00:54Yeah.
00:55Yep.
00:56Everybody I know who has seen that picture just loved it, circle of friends.
00:59I know.
01:00I was so happy that it finally got, you know, you get worried when you do a film that you
01:05know is a good product and you're really happy with it and really proud of it and you
01:09want people to see it.
01:10And a lot of times the smaller films, they don't get the attention they deserve.
01:13And that was the experience I had on my first film, Men Don't Leave.
01:15I thought it was just a terrific film and nobody saw it.
01:18So it was really nice when word of mouth started spreading and it got some good notices.
01:22It was, I felt real good about it.
01:25You're on a roll now.
01:26Here you are, Robin in Batman Forever.
01:29Yeah.
01:30Yes.
01:31I noticed.
01:32What a difference.
01:33Yes.
01:34What an arc.
01:35Yeah.
01:36I noticed in the credits, Chris, that there is a Robin suit and a bat suit wrangler.
01:42Oh, yes.
01:43I had my wrangler.
01:44God, that's good you picked up on that.
01:46What does a Robin suit wrangler do?
01:49You cannot get into that suit solo.
01:51You must have a wrangler to wrangle you in there.
01:54It's a pretty involved thing.
01:56I mean, this is, you've got the pants and you've got the boots and the gloves and first
02:01you have to put the mask on.
02:02You have to get your eye makeup put on and they always seem to get the ink, tattoo ink,
02:06into your eyeball so you have like foggy vision for a while.
02:09And they glue on the mask.
02:11Glue?
02:12Then they dye your hair black and they put the pants on, put the top on, put the cape
02:18on, the gloves and then you're ready to be Robin.
02:21It takes a little while.
02:23And once you get, excuse me, once you get all that on, you're uncomfortable, hot what?
02:31It gets very hot.
02:33You know, you start to sweat a lot.
02:35You know, you lose a lot of your fluids and just kind of, you know, sweat it all out.
02:41But I can deal with the suit.
02:42It's the mask I can't deal with.
02:44You know, Val's costume was actually a lot heavier than mine.
02:47He had this really heavy cape and it was like bolted in.
02:50My cape was not so bad.
02:51It's just that damn mask.
02:53What is it about the mask?
02:55It's the glue and it's just the, you can take, if you had a 20 minute break, you could
03:00take half the suit off and just be in the pants and that was not bad.
03:03But you couldn't take the mask off.
03:06So you had to sit with this thing on and you'd just be sweating under it and uncomfortable
03:10and sticky.
03:11And does it make your skin break out?
03:14It just got it really irritated.
03:16Very irritated.
03:17It's kind of like when you were a kid and you went to the, you know, the carnival and
03:21kind of had like cotton candy and just junk all over you that you get at carnivals.
03:25It's like having that all over you all day and not being able to take it off.
03:29And so at the end of the day you would say, Chris, that's why they have to pay so much
03:34money for people to do this.
03:35Exactly.
03:36Exactly.
03:37I get the fact that these movies make a lot of money, you know.
03:39Just, you want to make me wear that costume.
03:42But it's not the sort of thing one would go through unless one was well paid.
03:48Well.
03:49Is it?
03:50Is it?
03:51I mean, this is something I grew up watching.
03:52I mean, Robin.
03:53How many people put on these costumes for Halloween, you know what I mean?
03:56I don't think they get paid for that.
03:58No, but I mean, they're not that uncomfortable either.
04:01The Halloween costumes?
04:02Yeah.
04:03Usually not.
04:04You can get these costumes for Halloween.
04:06Really?
04:07Yeah.
04:08Not the real thing, but pretty close.
04:10Yes.
04:11What do you suppose the Robin suit would cost?
04:13Did they ever tell you?
04:14God, I have no idea, but they put a lot of money into it.
04:16They have the Bat Costume Shop.
04:18It's like a grocery store.
04:20It's huge.
04:21And they've got probably a hundred people working there.
04:23You know, sculptors and plasters and, you know, people sewing seamstresses.
04:29It's just an incredible process.
04:31I mean, I was in there months before this thing ever started getting a body mold, a plaster
04:36body mold of me made, and then going back constantly for fittings.
04:39And they, you know, the costumes are a very big part of this movie.
04:45They spare no expense when it comes to that.
04:47What do you wear under it?
04:48A body suit or something?
04:49I have a little thong jock strap, to tell you the truth.
04:52That's all?
04:53That's about it.
04:54Wow.
04:55There's not much room for anything else.
04:57I wear a pair of underwear under it, not much.
05:00It's fine.
05:01Did you keep any memento of this film?
05:05I did.
05:06I gripped the suit.
05:07I got the suit.
05:08I got all my wardrobe, which is good.
05:09I wanted the Batmobile.
05:10The Robin suit?
05:11Yeah.
05:12I wanted the Batmobile.
05:13They wouldn't give it to me.
05:14Does the Batmobile really, you can drive it?
05:17Oh, my God.
05:18Yeah.
05:19It's unbelievable.
05:20What is it?
05:21There's two of them.
05:22They're custom built from the ground up.
05:23And the guys that made them, you know, they're just incredible cars.
05:28They took it out to the desert, I guess, when they were building it to test drive it.
05:32And, you know, you can get that thing going 100 miles an hour.
05:34How many cylinders?
05:35I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth.
05:37I don't know that much about cars.
05:38But, you know, the first two movies, they had these cars, apparently, that, you know,
05:42the grips had to push it into the scene.
05:44This one, it goes.
05:45All right.
05:46It really goes.
05:47Well, Chris, I look forward to the next visit, and we'll just pick up where we left off.
05:50Great.
05:51And congratulations to all of you on Batman Forever.
05:53Thank you very much.
05:54And especially on your performances, Robin.
05:56Well, thank you.
05:57And say hello to everyone in Dallas for me.
05:58I'll do it.
05:59All right.
06:00Thanks.
06:01Thanks.
06:02That's great.
06:03Bye.
06:04Take care.
06:05That's great.
06:06The Batsuit.
06:07Isn't it for Jamaica?
06:08Yeah, I love Atlanta.
06:09I've always loved Atlanta.
06:10Why?
06:11In some ways, it's like Dallas.
06:14In some ways, it is.
06:15I've been in Dallas.
06:16I spent one night in Dallas.
06:18That's all, that's the extent of my time there.
06:20Yeah.
06:21I'd love to come back.
06:22You've got a great town.
06:23You'd like it.
06:24I had a good girlfriend from school that lives out there.
06:27Oh, yeah?
06:28That's about it, though.
06:31From school where?
06:33She, from Boston College.
06:34Oh, Boston.
06:35Yeah, but she came from there.
06:36Yeah, because your degree is from what?
06:37UCLA?
06:38No, I just finished at UCLA, but I have a Boston College degree.
06:40Oh, I see.
06:41I'm going to count you down for three minutes.
06:42I'll give you a two-minute notice, one minute notice.
06:43Okay, and the total is five?
06:44Yes.
06:45Yeah, okay.
06:46All right.
06:47I think we're just about ready, and we're rolling.
06:48All right.
06:49Well, Chris, we'll just pick up where we left off, Circle of Friends.
06:54Yeah.
06:55You know?
06:56Everybody I know who has seen that picture just loved it, Circle of Friends.
06:57I know.
06:58I was so happy that it finally got, you know, you get worried when you do a film that you know
07:00is a good product, and you're really happy with it and really proud of it, and you want
07:13people to see it.
07:14And a lot of times, the smaller films, they don't get the attention they deserve.
07:17And that was the experience I had on my first film, Men Don't Leave.
07:19I thought it was just a terrific film, and nobody saw it.
07:22So it was really nice when word of mouth started spreading and it got some good notices.
07:26It was, I felt real good about it.
07:29You're on a roll now.
07:30Here you are, Robin in Batman Forever.
07:33Yeah.
07:34Yes.
07:35What a difference.
07:36Yes.
07:37What an art.
07:38Yeah.
07:39I noticed in the credits, Chris, that there is a Robin suit and a Batsuit Wrangler.
07:46Oh, yes.
07:47I had my Wrangler.
07:48God, that's good you picked up on that.
07:50What does a Robin suit Wrangler do?
07:53You cannot get into that suit solo.
07:55You must have a Wrangler to wrangle you in there.
07:58It's a pretty involved thing.
08:00I mean, this is, you've got the pants and you've got the boots and the gloves and first
08:05you have to put the mask on.
08:06You have to get your eye makeup put on and they always seem to get the ink, tattoo ink,
08:10into your eyeballs so you have like foggy vision for a while.
08:13Then they glue on the mask.
08:15Glue?
08:16Yeah, they glue on your mask.
08:17Then they dye your hair black.
08:18Then they put the pants on, you put the top on, you put the cape on, the gloves and then
08:23you're ready to be Robin.
08:25It takes a little while.
08:27And once you get, excuse me, once you get all that on, you're uncomfortable, hot, what?
08:35It gets very hot.
08:36You know, you start to sweat a lot.
08:38You know, you lose a lot of your fluids and just kind of, you know, sweat it all out.
08:45But I can deal with the suit, it's the mask I can't deal with.
08:48You know, Val's costume was actually a lot heavier than mine.
08:51He had this really heavy cape and it was like bolted in.
08:54My cape was not so bad.
08:56It's just that damn mask.
08:57What is it about the mask?
08:59It's the glue and it's just the, you can take, if you had 20 minutes break,
09:04you could take half the suit off and just be in the pants and that was not bad.
09:08But you couldn't take the mask off.
09:10So you had to sit with this thing on and just be sweating under it and uncomfortable and sticky.
09:16And does it make your skin break out?
09:18It just got really irritated.
09:20Very irritated.
09:21It's kind of like when you were a kid and you went to the, you know, the carnival
09:25and kind of had like cotton candy and just junk all over you.
09:28You get at carnivals.
09:29It's like having that all over you all day and not being able to take it off.
09:32And so at the end of the day you would say, Chris, that's why they have to pay so much money.
09:38Exactly.
09:39You get the fact that these movies make a lot of money.
09:42You know, just, you want to make me wear that costume.
09:46But it's not the sort of thing one would go through unless one was well paid.
09:52Well.
09:53Is it?
09:54Is it?
09:55I mean, this is something I grew up watching.
09:56I mean, Robin, I mean, how many people put on these costumes for Halloween?
09:59You know what I mean?
10:00I don't think they get paid for that.
10:02No, but I mean, they're not that uncomfortable either.
10:05The Halloween costumes?
10:06Yeah.
10:07You can get these costumes for Halloween.
10:10Really?
10:11Yeah.
10:12Not the real thing, but pretty close.
10:14Yes.
10:15What do you suppose the Robin suit would cost?
10:17Did they ever tell you?
10:18God, I have no idea, but they put a lot of money into it.
10:20They have the back costume shop.
10:22It's like a grocery store.
10:23It's huge.
10:24And they've got probably a hundred people working there.
10:27You know, sculptors and plasters and, you know, people sewing, seamstresses.
10:34It's just an incredible process.
10:35I mean, I was in there months before this thing ever started getting a body mold, a plaster
10:40body mold of me made, and then going back constantly for fittings.
10:43And they, you know, the costumes are a very big part of this movie.
10:49They spare no expense when it comes to that.
10:51What do you wear under it?
10:52A body suit or something?
10:53I have a little phone jock strap, to tell you the truth.
10:56That's all?
10:57That's about it.
10:58Wow.
10:59There's not much room for anything else.
11:01I wear a pair of underwear under it, not much.
11:04That's about it.
11:06Did you keep any memento of this film?
11:09I did.
11:10I gripped the suit.
11:11I got the suit.
11:12I got it on my wardrobe, which is good.
11:13I wanted the Batmobile.
11:14The Robin suit?
11:15Yeah.
11:16I wanted the Batmobile.
11:17They wouldn't give it to me.
11:18Does the Batmobile really, you can drive it?
11:21Oh, my God.
11:22Yeah.
11:23It's unbelievable.
11:24What is it?
11:25There's two of them.
11:26They're custom built from the ground up.
11:27And the guys that made them, you know, they're just incredible cars.
11:32They took it out to the desert, I guess, when they were building it to test drive it.
11:35And, you know, you can get that thing going 100 miles an hour.
11:38How many cylinders?
11:39I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth.
11:41I don't know that much about cars.
11:42But, you know, the first two movies, they had these cars, apparently, that, you know,
11:45the grips had to push it into the scene.
11:47This one, it goes.
11:48All right.
11:49It really goes.
11:50Well, Chris, I look forward to the next visit and we'll just pick up where we left off.
11:54Great, me too.
11:55And congratulations to all of you on Batman Forever.
11:57Thank you very much.
11:58And especially on your performances, Robin.
12:00Well, thank you.
12:01And say hello to everyone in Dallas for me.
12:02I'll do it.
12:03All right.
12:04Thanks.
12:05Thanks.
12:06That's great.
12:07Take care.
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