Jordan’s Daffy Move

Security is tight. Why wouldn’t it be? If the two very tall, very broad guards patrolling the third floor of the Essex House on Central Park South had even an inkling of the number of people in the lobby who would give their arms and legs to call on the man staying on the floor, they would ask for massive backup. Pronto.

By the way, when we say there’s just one man occupying this floor, we do not exaggerate. The whole third floor of this luxury hotel has been yielded to Michael Jeffrey Jordan, basketball legend, idol for children and grown-ups alike, multimillion-dollar trademark for dozens of products and now . . . a Warner Bros. cartoon character.

Actually, Jordan is a live-action star of the forthcoming mostly animated feature “Space Jam,” in which he plays a temporarily retired basketball star named Michael Jordan who is recruited by Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the gang to be their player-coach in a hoop duel against aliens who want to kidnap and export them to a tacky interplanetary theme park.

On this warm autumn afternoon, Jordan, 33, is receiving visitors from, it seems, everywhere in the universe. Yet despite this frantic pace, Jordan seems relaxed, congenial, attentive throughout the conversation about movies, loafing and the complex business of being Michael Jordan.

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Question: So, what’s it like to be a cartoon character?

Answer: (Laughs) Well, I like cartoon characters, so it’s not, like, a pejorative thing to be called one. . . . But in a strange way, I think this movie gives me a chance to show a human side to Michael Jordan. So many people give me godlike status. And that can get very embarrassing. But I’d rather be silly.

Q: How do you get silly in real life?

A: Oh, I’m a prankster. I do it to people who are my dearest friends. Let’s say it’s somebody from the Bulls sitting on the bench, eating ice cream and he just loves that ice cream. (He demonstrates jabbing his fingers into an invisible cone.) No one knows the cute silly things I do and I figured this movie would help bring that out.

Q: What attracted you about this film?

A: This was the first thing that came up where I got a chance to play myself with animated characters that I worked with before [in TV commercials for Nike]. And Joe Pytka and Ivan Reitman have their own track records. It seemed a great relationship.

I just had to play myself. Which I thought would be simple. Initially.

Q: How did it become hard to play yourself?

A: People may assume that playing Michael Jordan should be easy. To Michael Jordan. But in my real life, there’s always a shield and you never really let that shield down till you get a certain comfort around people who know you and understand who you are. What they were asking me to do is be me in a way that I feel comfortable with everybody looking at me and watching me. And that took some time.

Q: Yet you seemed loose around people like Larry Bird, Bill Murray. . . .

A: Well, we knew Bill. Larry and I knew him. And I worked with Larry before. . . . So when we got to the part about golf [in the movie], which is a common denominator with all three of us, it wasn’t hard. And Bill made sure it wasn’t hard for Larry and me by taking away the script--so most of it was freelance and we were banking off of him. It was easy because of the chemistry. He knew he was in control.

Q: I can imagine you guys and Murray goofing around between takes.

A: Actually, it was a pretty meticulous process. When things broke down or the director couldn’t figure out what he wanted, Bill took over. And to see him do that tends to relax you. It’s like, I’m with the pro. He knows what he’s doing.

Q: How much did Reitman contribute to this atmosphere?

A: He was a coach. So he had a great vision of what he wanted. And I got confused a couple times in terms of what he was looking for, especially with the green scenes [a green backdrop was used for all the animated sequences with Jordan]. I started interpreting lines my way. But he saw them a whole other way.

What was also difficult for me was the time frame. I had to do these [animated scenes] day after day and there were days that mentally I was confused about what are we doing today and what are we doing yesterday and to tie it all together.

And that’s where Ivan’s coaching came in. He helped me by bringing out little guys in green outfits to portray the different characters. And it is tough when you’re sitting here or coaching and talking to the characters and you’re moving your eye lines this way and that. But the voices are coming in from all different angles and you’re trying to focus on different moods and on what they’re saying and where it’s coming from. . . .

And there were days when I just got dizzy saying, “How’d I get myself into this?”

Q: Is the concentration required for that kind of work different from when you’re absorbed in a game?

A: No. It’s very similar. You’re going over plays, trying to evaluate the plays to get you looking at the opponent to determine what your actions are going to be. Now our offense is--and I don’t want to get too much into basketball here--but our offense is a systematic offense which the defense dictates. So there is some correlation to what I was actually doing [on film]: going with the system and being able to read the opponents and being able to make different adjustments when it was necessary.

Q: You liked cartoons as a kid. Was there anybody on TV or movies that you pretended to be like?

A: No. Cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, yes, sure. But I’ve never been into acting. Or pretending to be any kind of movie star.

Q: Not even Batman or Superman?

A: I liked them. I used to watch them all the time, but I never really pretended to be like them. As a kid you get all kinds of toys, superheroes, play guns, things like that. Nothing really beyond that.

Q: So I guess a lot more people pretend to be like you rather than the other way around. I wonder, though, what Michael Jordan dreams about being. Or doing.

A: My dream is to . . . actually be able to do nothing.

Q: Really?

A: Yep. Sometimes I think about staying in bed asleep and to have the opportunity to wake up, play golf all day.

Q: You want to loaf.

A: Loaf. Loaf without something in the back of my head saying, “This is coming two days away. One day away. Tomorrow.”

Q: But hasn’t your status given you a certain autonomy to do what you want?

A: To a certain degree. When you talk about doing things that interest you . . . like when I first decided to do this movie, I thought, “It’s great. I want to do it. See what it’s like.” But I didn’t want all this responsibility--the personal appearances, the events connected with it. . . .

The getting-paid part of it, that’s gonna take care of itself. And when all the other stuff comes, I have some reservations because I would never get to that loafing that I’m thinking about. I don’t want to worry about when I’m going to get my free time.

Q: You’re probably feeling anxious because the basketball season is beginning while you’re involved in this movie process.

A: That’s one of the negative things I’m gonna have to deal with. Hey, if we don’t get off to a good start, I know I’m gonna have to deal with it because of all the time that I’ve devoted to this project. My true love and first priority is basketball.

Q: Have you got things aligned in your life where you can at least pace yourself?

A: I’m to that stage. I see a need to do that because my summers go so fast. Even though it’s better than it was three years ago. Back then, my obligations were taking so much of my time during the summer that I didn’t have a say over what I did and I had trouble saying no to people.

Q: You agree with Bulls Coach Phil Jackson’s notion that it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey.

A: Oh, yeah, life is a journey. I agree with that.

Q: Does that make it easier to internalize all this crazy stuff you have to do in your life besides the basketball?

A: Sure. I can see the things that happen day to day that educate me about this journey that I’m on. But I like to think I’m the one who’s driving the bus.

Q: What kind of movies do you like?

A: I like murder mysteries. I don’t really go to movies as often as I would like to. When I’m on the road, I use Spectravision. I get them all maybe a month-and-a-half later than when they first come out but I stay in the room and I watch a lot of movies. And when I do go [to a theater], my wife, Juanita, and I go on certain nights when I can sneak in and get right out.

Before I could sneak in, the ushers would come down with cameras and flashlights and ask for autographs. At that time, I was really cordial and nice and I would sign. But I don’t do that any more and so now I pick my spots.

Q: Are there any movies in the last few years that you’ve liked?

A: I loved “The Fugitive.” Harrison Ford is an actor I really and truly like. He can go from comedy to seriousness to action-adventure. And Sidney Poitier is my all-time favorite. I saw everything he did when I was younger: “To Sir With Love,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “They Call Me Mister Tibbs.”

Q: Did Poitier have an influence on you beyond just being a movie actor?

A: No. I just always liked his demeanor. And at the time, he was the most prominent black actor out there.

Q: It seems that so many black kids growing up at the time looked up to him in the same way they look up to you as a model. You seem to have caught on to the responsibility that brings.

A: Right, and I think that has a lot to do with the interpretations of those ideas that you get from your parents. And I think they helped me interact and behave in different racial situations. They moved in those worlds themselves. My mother worked in a bank in a high position. My father worked in General Electric where he was a foreman.

And I think it helps me to look at other different examples. Dr. J [basketball legend Julius Erving], Bill Cosby. Guys who have always been able to get into different situations on all levels of society and make things work for them.

I know that I’m a black man in a world where very few blacks have an opportunity to make choices and cross so many different lines. But I want to be viewed as a person--but I know in some ways with one downfall it can always go back the other way. Knowing all that goes back to the education I was given by my parents.

Q: You worked with Spike Lee on commercials; are there other black filmmakers whose work you admire?

A: Oh, sure, I’m a fan of John Singleton’s. And Spike has been an innovative factor in bringing recognition to black filmmakers. Actors too. So I think my education about this industry is going to improve with the different relationships I build. I met [actor] Stan Shaw. Stan used to come out when I was filming in L.A. and he’d just sit and talk about the things he’d dealt with in the industry and how he can help me understand the business more. I’d like to meet Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson--guys who have risen to a certain level of control in the business.

Q: Denzel Washington?

A: Yeah, I know Denzel. Good friend. Great basketball fan. Lakers fan, but . . . (laughs)

Q: It sounds from what you’re saying that you want to do more of this movie thing.

A: I want to do it more, but as a hobby. With a career, you have to really devote yourself to it yearly. I’m coming from a profession where it’s already demanding. And I don’t want to get too far away from that lounging-around-loafing thing I want.

Q: But suppose the general reaction is that you’re so good in front of a camera playing yourself that they’d like to see you playing someone else?

A: I would entertain that. That’s just an expansion of the idea of seeing if I have the talent for it, seeing how people react to this project.

Q: Any interest in directing or producing?

A: No. And I think it’s because I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to dictate other people’s lives. I’d rather control my own. I’ve done some of that in the role-model sense. But I try to generalize it to the point where, you know . . . you can’t fault me for your life in terms of the choices you make. And I never want to be put in a situation like that.

Q: Amazing. Someone breaking into the movies who actually doesn’t want to direct.

A: (Laughs) That’s exactly right. I don’t want to direct. I don’t want to coach. My only coaching responsibility is to my kids [ages 8, 6 and 4].

Q: They’ve got to be excited about daddy working with Bugs Bunny

A: They can’t wait to see it. I was listening to the soundtrack yesterday and my oldest son, Jeffrey Michael [the other two children are Marcus James and Jasmine], was listening to it, trying to memorize the words so he could go to his friends with them. . . . And if I never do another one, I did it so they can enjoy the same experience I did.