John Goodman is known to many as Dan Conner from comedy series Roseanne, but he’s equally well-known for his many collaborations with the Coen Brothers over the years. When John Goodman broke down his career for Vanity Fair in 2022, it’s unsurprising that many Coen Brothers movies came up and he had delightful anecdotes about all of them.
Speaking of 1987’s Raising Arizona (starring Nicolas Cage), which was Goodman’s first time working with the directing duo, Goodman said; “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but we were locked in the casting room for about an hour, just laughing, having the best time, goofing around. They made me laugh a lot, the writing was so damn good.”
“It was so much fun that I’d show up at work even when I wasn’t shooting just to see what they were up to. They really fascinated me, they didn’t have a lot of money to work with so they’d invent shots, they’d invent how to do things. I really looked up to them, because they were so funny and so smart.”
Goodman also discussed the filming of the Coens’ Barton Fink, in which he had to run down a hotel corridor which was on fire; “It was very safe – I had fire-proof goo rubbed all over me. My wife, who was 9 months pregnant showed up one day and this is what I was doing. She really didn’t take kindly to it.”
With The Big Lebowski, Goodman says that he immediately fell in love with the script – which is no surprise. With 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis, Goodman says; “Got a call from Ethan and he said; ‘hey Mad Man – they call me Mad Man cause of Barton Fink – I think we’ve got something for ya.’ The character became fleshed out, down to his funny hair cut…it just looked ridiculous on me. Oscar Isaac, boy, he was so good. He made it look like it was the easiest thing in the world. There’s a grace about him, he’s a great guy.”
So, we gotta call him John ‘the Mad Man’ Goodman from now on. Check out our guide to the best comedy movies and the best drama movies. You can also see our list of the best actors of all time and the best directors of all time.