Ray Romano Survives "The Meltdown"

In Theaters March 31

Part of Ray Romano’s comic persona is a certain lack of self confidence. Even in doing his first movie, Ice Age, he was sure he would always be fired. Finally, when the sequel came around, he at least had the confidence that he’d won the role for sure.

“It was fun and much easier than the first time because I had done it and knew the character,” Romano said. “I was a little more secure. The first time literally thought I was going to get fired after every recording session. I am not kidding. I thought, ‘I’m not doing it I¹m not doing it right.’ This time I thought, ‘They wouldn¹t hire me again, just to fire me.' In that respect it was easier.”

Ice Age: The Meltdown follows the trio of Manny the Mammoth (Romano), Diego the saber tooth tiger (Dennis Leary) and Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) on a new adventure. As the glaciers begin to melt, the animals must travel to safety. Along the way, Manny meets Ellie (Queen Latifah), another mammoth who may be the last of their kind.

Dealing with the relationship between two mammoths tapped into more of Romano’s insecurities. “Fear of women. He’s afraid that first of all he’s the only mammoth left, that the species is extinct. It was good to see him not be so sure of himself, insecure, when he starts talking to Ellie. It was good to play this mammoth who is so tough on the outside and when it comes to women he’s tongue-tied. And that was really easy also, very organic to me, very natural not to know how to talk to women.’”

Even being a successful comedian, TV star and married family man won’t alleviate those fears. “I have a wife and kids in real life but that doesn’t mean I know how to talk to women. You talk to my wife, she¹ll tell you. My wife was the third woman, we worked in a band together, she was the third woman I asked out because the first two said no. So I give her credit.’”

For every George Clooney that charms every woman he meets, there are many more like Romano no matter how successful they may become. “Part of the reason we are in show business is because we are so insecure. For comedians there is a very low self-esteem common denominator. I’ve always said that if my father hugged me once I would be an accountant right now. I wouldn’t need to go on stage.”

In the movie, the mammoths’ relationship develops comically. Ellie thinks she is a possum so Manny has to convince her that she is in fact a mammoth like him. “He’s immediately excited that there is another mammoth on the planet and the fact that she¹s female. And I think he¹s also torn because he does have a family, even thought they’re gone, they’re still big in his heart. He has to overcome that and he has to overcome his obvious awkwardness with women. The fact that she’s a possum, that she’s a little crazy, that’s appealing to me actually. Those are the women I like, the ones who have a screw loose, because then I’m not that bad then. So the relationship, I think he gets to see her also as someone with a big heart also. I like the scene where we flash back and you see how she came to be with these possums. And we also see the way she cares for them and the friendship she has with them. So he sees her as being a good soul you know and he¹s horny, that’s all there is to it.”

Don’t think that recording a voice for a cartoon is all easy. Remember that animated characters are talking while fighting, they can’t just sound like they’re standing in a room chatting. “We kept saying, ‘You just hold your breath for a long time.’ I would hold my breath. In the fight with the trunks, Carlos the director would come in and we would have a little tug of war like that. Those physical things are always weird because you’ve got to be physical then you’ve got to stay exactly in front of the microphone so that’s kind of awkward.”

Now that Everybody Loves Raymond is over and he is settling back into the life of a standup comedian with the occasional movie role, Romano is struggling to find a new

“In the beginning it was kind of liberating to have all this time because the show was all consuming. It was 24-7 and to have to be there for your family and also the show was very hard. So at the beginning it’s great to all of a sudden be free. But after a couple of months there’s a loss. It’s like the loss of a family member, it’s a delayed reaction. You’re in denial in the beginning and there¹s this mourning period you have to go through because first of all you¹re separated from all the people you’ve worked with and the bonds you made. It all of a sudden just disappears and this creative energy you had going for nine years is gone too. That’s one of the reasons I went back into stand-up is just to get that feeling of who I was before the show because I was doing stand up for 1 years and all of a sudden the show came along and I’m out here in this bubble, this Raymond bubble for nine years. It’s really a feeling of ‘Ok so this is where I live now.’ It took some getting used to. I can give you my shrink¹s number.’”

Through all of that, his sense of humor has not wavered. “It’s always the same. It’s just what’s going on in my life. Not having sex is about half my act.”

Ice Age: The Meltdown opens Friday, March 31.