Spring '97 Volume II Issue 2

Robert Wuhl has been around longer than you might think, and his resume is chock-full of interesting credits. Sure, he turned up in such blockbusters as Batman, Bull Durham and Good Morning, Vietnam, but did you know Wuhl was also in Flashdance; that he penned jokes for funnyman Rodney Dangerfield; story-edited the Leslie Nielsen series 'Police Squad!" (which paved the way for the Naked Gun movies); helped write the 1991 and 1992 Oscar telecasts hosted by Bill Crystal; and directed the film Open Season? Now, as the star/creator of HBO's 'Arli$$," a wonderfully cynical, Larry Sanders-esque look at the adventures of a fictional sports agent, Wuhl's profile is higher than ever. Stepping out of an "Arli$$" production meeting to chat, Wuhl, who lives with his wife, Barbara, in Los Angeles, waxes enthusiastic about cigars, "Arli$$" and credits past.

What is the attraction of smoking a cigar?

It's oral gratification. There's just something about smoke that I really like. It's almost like an after-dinner drink. It also gives me another neat thing to put in my mouth.

I've got a box of Ashton Cabinets. They're nice, very nice. While we were making Cobb, we smoked Montecristo No. 2's all the time. Cohibas are nice, too. I hate to sound like such a neophyte about cigars, but I'm still discovering what's out there to chose from. I do remember that my grandfather used to smoke Romeo y Julietas, but that doesn't answer your question, does it?

Marlene Dietrich. And, of course, Edward G. I think Edward G. Robinson always looked great with a cigar in his mouth.

You'll see a lot more of the double-dealing and backbiting you've already gotten a taste of. You know, just the basic day-to-day life of a big-time sports agent.

I [felt that] could do satire in the world of sports, which I thought was a good idea. I thought the territory would be pretty cool and, yes, we've gotten a lot of real-life sports people to be on the show, which is great.

It's damn close. I wrote the first episode in 1992. It took four years to get on the air. Originally, "Arli$$" was going to be an episode miniseries with a beginning, a middle and an end. It turned out that HBO wanted to open it up wider, which was fine with me. But the basic show itself is pretty much what we had in mind when we started four years ago. I'm very happy with what we're doing.

Exactly. You hit it right on the head. It was a labor of love. The week Open Season opened... and closed (laughs), I was in New York City. "Arli$$" was about two weeks away from starting production. Not being a fool, I knew Open Season was going nowhere. So, it was great having another project to go right into. I was proud of Open Season. Independent films are hard work, but very rewarding.

Well... I'm not about money. I just want to do my work and, as an artist, be judged by it. Hopefully, people out there get a sense of who I am by the work I do. I make choices and I'm willing to live with them. If there's good work to be done in a film like Batman, of course I'll do it. And, if there's good work to be done in a film like Mistress, I'll do that, too. That's another one that not a lot of people saw.

Ooh, I like that one. I have a few of those credits, I think. People are surprised that 1 was in Flashdance. I had one line in that. People are surprised that I was involved in "Police Squad!".

Most people recognize me on the street for Hollywood Knights (in which he played Newbomb Turk). That was the big cult movie on cable TV for a long time. Batman was obviously a pretty big movie. Some people still recognize me for the Madonna video I did years ago ("Material Girl"). Actually, I was just on vacation with my wife in Florence, Italy, and people there recognized me from Good Morning, Vietnam. Hey, I've got an interesting cigar story about Italy...

Try to get a cigar in Italy. I dare you! Italy is not a cigar country. Go to any restaurant and you can't sit down without cigarette smoke blowing in your face every which way. But they are not a cigar nation. They have these tiny Montecristo things that are almost like cigarettes, and that's about it. You know how I ended up getting cigars? I had to go to the bars at the best hotels to get them. They don't have cigar shops in Italy. That surprised the hell out of me.