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What sort of movies do you just refuse to do?
I don't refuse a lot. I got offered ?Cheaper by the Dozen? and I just thought it's a good movie, going to make a lot of money but that's kind of the guy with the kid and put upon. It's just not enough of a departure from the TV character, you know? I get a lot of the Christmas movies, feel good movies, right down the middle ones that probably are smart to do because they make a lot of money.

Then maybe you could pick and choose what you want to do after it. Once a movie makes money you get a little more leverage.
Do you regret turning down ?Cheaper by the Dozen??
No. I knew it was going to be a commercial hit. I just said, ?I just can't do it.? It's kind of doing the same thing.

Is there satisfaction that you don't need to do movies for the money since you're so successful already?
Yeah. I don't need to do them for the money, but I want to do them. So I guess there is the same amount of motivation. I have this desire, this need to do it ? [but] it's not a financial need.

Is there anytime when you get tired of ?Raymond??
You don't get tired of it but there are some shows that are more fun than others, and some storylines that are more fun. Every time I think that we're coming down to the end, it's time to wrap it up, then we have a table read and it's a lot of fun at the table read. You don't have to worry about blocking this and that. It's just a script in its purest form. You're just doing it and I just say, "I'm going to miss this.

It's a lot of fun."

Do you ever miss the stand-up circuit?
I still do it, but very [rarely]. I go three or four times a year to Vegas. When I'm in the city, I go to the clubs. I started out in the city. I'm not going to never do that again. I'm going to still continue to do stand-up but not like Seinfeld. Seinfeld devoted his whole year and a half to developing a new act. I'd like to get more material. I literally have about five minutes of new material in the last 8 [years] since the show started because I don't have time.

Do you think there is too much risqué comedy out there?
I don't know. There is a good mix. There are people who like that and there is an audience for it, and that's fine.

What's going on with ?Ice Age 2??
They tell me it's coming but I haven't heard anything. I think the guy who did it has another project coming, ?Robots? or something.

Would you like to do more animated films?
I want to do that one again. I would like to do ?Ice Age 2.?

What do you think will happen in the ?Ice Age? sequel?
I don't know what he's going to do. These guys all walk off into the sunset so I'm sure there is an easy sequel in there somewhere.

This movie?s an ensemble and your TV show is an ensemble, is that a nice thing for a standup comic who has insecurities to do? It seems it allows you to disappear into a larger group.
It's less pressure. Everything is not riding on you. It's not your project; it's not your movie. But it's also good to have great people. You're surrounded by this great quality. Once Gene Hackman came aboard I thought, ?I'll muck it up this much but he'll bring it up that much, so we'll be in the middle.?

Were you intimidated by the idea of working with someone with Hackman's talent?
Oh yeah. He was very good. He's quiet. He's very shy. I don't know if he's very shy but he's quiet and he just, once we started going, like on day 3 or 4 he came over to me after one scene and shook my hand and he said, ?That was really good.? I really liked that. This was before we were friends. First of all, it gives you a little confidence. You think, ?Wow, so he doesn't think I suck.? Or he does but he's trying to say, ?Don't worry, we'll get through this.? He was very generous to me and to the other actors - and funny. [He has] a dry sense of humor. At the end of the shoot I had everybody sign my script. I was going to frame the script cover and he wrote 'it was great working with you Red' and he crossed out Red and put Ray.

How do you see the ideal way to end ?Raymond??
We've talked about it and it's not going to be like a life-changing thing because that's not kind of what our show does. We hope we have like a traditional funny episode that addresses some issue with a little bit of closure at the end. A little bit of poignancy maybe, but nothing super heavy or big.

You're not going to kill him?
No, we're not going to kill him. We thought maybe the parents move to Florida and then the whole show is about these intrusive parents and everything - there they go, and how we react. Then we just thought it's kind of expected. Let's just do what we do and have a funny show. It will have some weight to it, a little more than the other ones.

You're not going to wind up in a cell next to Seinfeld?
No.

ADDITIONAL "WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT" RESOURCES:
Interview with Maura Tierney
Interview with Christine Baranski
"Welcome to Mooseport" Movie News, Trailer, Credits and Websites