Bruce Greenwood Interview

Bruce Greenwood plays a former horse trainer in Racing Stripes.

Courtesy of Warner Bros

By: Sindy

Canadian actor, Bruce Greenwood, has starred in a ton of movies, like I, Robot with Will Smith, Double Jeopardy with Ashley Judd and Rules of Engagement with Samuel L. Jackson. He's now starring in the very funny flick, Racing Stripes.

Sindy: You've played a lot of bad guys in previous roles, so what made you decide to do Racing Stripes?
Bruce Greenwood: I do a lot of serious stuff, but I'm not a very serious guy. When I read this script, at the center of this movie is a really sweet sentiment about believing in who you are and not letting people tell you what you are. You just be who you feel you are, independent of how you look. The center of the movie is about being who you are and following your dreams, so that's a good sentiment that appeals to me. And then there's all the goofy, ridiculous characters that surround the whole movie - the insane pelican with a problem, the goat with an attitude, and all the great characters that just made me laugh out loud.

Sindy: Tell me about the filming of the movie.
Bruce Greenwood: When we shot Racing Stripes in Africa, we lived in an old Dutch farm house. It was a 100 year-old farm house and it was a stud farm, so it was surrounded by purebred horses, and at night you would hear monkeys in the trees. It takes place in Kentucky, but we shot it in Africa at a place called Kwa Zulu Natal. It's a beautiful part of the world.

Sindy: What was it like to work with the animals? Did you ever get frustrated with them?
Bruce Greenwood: There's no point in getting frustrated because they're not doing nothing on purpose. They're just doing nothing because they're animals, and they don't have a sense of time. You just have to do things over and over with animals until they happen to do it right because they don't really know what you want, even though the trainers were back there holding up carrots and sugarcubes and bits of hay and rakes to get their attention. It was really fun, except when they poop on your shoe.

Sindy: You play a former horse trainer in the movie. How do you feel about horses and zebras and all those other animals?
Bruce Greenwood: I'm an animal lover. I get along with animals pretty well, just the same as I do with kids. I like kids.

Sindy: What did you enjoy most about working on Racing Stripes?
Bruce Greenwood: The people, the animals, getting to know all these people from South Africa and Australia who were doing a lot of the wrangling of the horses and the training. One of the hard things was saying goodbye to the animals because they had to stay.

Sindy: What's the funnest movie you've ever worked on?
Bruce Greenwood: Racing Stripes was so much fun to do. It's one of the funniest movies I've seen in a couple years. I think it could really appeal to everybody. There's a lot of poop humor and I have to say that this particular poop humor is quite funny. As far as poop humor goes, this is funny poop.

Sindy: Do you plan to do more family movies in the future?
Bruce Greenwood: I probably will. It was a lot of fun.

Sindy: You starred in I, Robot opposite Will Smith. What was it like to work with him?
Bruce Greenwood: He's a complete clown and the best guy ever, hysterically funny. He's a practical joker and he's just a very funny guy who always keeps the crew up.

Sindy: Did you get jiggy with Will?
Bruce Greenwood: Did I get jiggy with Will? I would have to say no! Did I have fun with Will? I would have to say yeah! But you know, I did not jig with the man, if you know what I'm saying!