Seth MacFarlane, the 39-year-old creator of "Family Guy" and last year’s blockbuster comedy "Ted," graces Entertainment Weekly’s Oscar Odds issue this week.
He’s also about to headline an Academy Awards telecast (Feb. 24 on ABC) that is being called particularly song-and-dance heavy. Here is an excerpt approved to reprint from EW:
Entertainment Weekly: With the Oscars, there’s kind of a tug-of-war for your attention.
Seth MacFarlane: "At the moment there’s room for everything that needs to get done. It’s the dancing that’s just kicking my ass. I’m not a dancer. I know my limitations."
Entertainment Weekly: It’s going to be a music-heavy telecast this year. Since you recorded a 2011 album of swing-jazz songs, "Music Is Better Than Words,: was that part of the appeal?
Seth MacFarlane: "Yeah, the show is the performance style that I enjoy, very old-fashioned. I like that Sinatra and Dean and Crosby and those guys used to just get up and sing without having to go through a workout on stage. That’s one of the things that struck me about the Super Bowl. During that halftime show I was like, "Wow, [Beyoncé’s] not even really singing. She’s just exercising and barking orders at the crowd." Just sing the song, for Christ’s sake!"
Entertainment Weekly: How’s the rest of your Oscar prep going?
Seth MacFarlane: "Everything else is more or less as expected. It’s the time commitment I just don’t think I could do again. It will have been almost six months that I’ve been working on this. [Laughs] And I’m still going to get savaged in the press, so… Tina [Fey] and Amy [Poehler] will do it next year and they’ll get rave reviews."
Entertainment Weekly: How does your personal life affect your creative life? You’ve been linked to [Game of Thrones’] Emilia Clarke. Would you now like to discuss the details of your romantic situation in a national magazine?
Seth MacFarlane: "I’m always so habitually, instinctively silent about that stuff. I will say, she is an incredibly kind, supremely talented person and one of the hardest-working people I have ever met. It’s a pain in the a__ because if you date, at a certain point you’re in a relationship and at a certain point you’re playing the field. It becomes this thing of trying to find places where you can have some privacy, where you’re not going to be accosted by people and suddenly linked to someone as if you’re in a serious relationship. It can particularly f--- with people, if you’re dating somebody who is not in the industry, who isn’t accustomed to being chased by paparazzi. If it’s somebody of quality, they don’t like it. I’ve had that happen where they’re like, ‘I don’t really like this.’ And to me there’s no better mark of somebody you actually want to be with than somebody who has that reaction. But it can be a real issue. It’s really kind of creepy."
Also in the issue:
STEWIE’S ADVICE FOR SETH
Exclusive to EW, Family Guy’s little hellion offered 10 tips to Seth on hosting the Oscars.
1. Don’t just start using my voice when you get nervous.
2. Repeatedly point to Jack Nicholson, even if he’s not in the crowd this year.
3. Don’t try to kiss Halle Berry. She’ll probably get one of her white guys to beat you up.
4. When you first come out, make sure you wear a name tag. No one over 40 knows who you are.
5. If 'Ted' wins for Best Picture, make sure you—ha-ha, just kidding.
6. When you first come out, make sure you wear a name tag. No one over 40 knows who you are.
7. Let Nick Nolte sniff your hand before you try to touch him.
Link to story on EW.com: http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/02/13/this-weeks-cover-seth-macfarlane-oscars/
