Baltimore writer and filmmaker John Waters has appeared on the talk shows of Stephen Colbert; Bill Maher; David Letterman; Craig Ferguson and John Mulaney, among others, but he had never chatted on air with the ladies of “The View” until this week.
Waters made his first appearance on the ABC-TV talk show along with Aubrey Plaza and Amy Sedaris during a 10-minute segment on Thursday.
The purpose was to promote an eight-episode adult animated comedy series that will debut on Amazon Prime Video on April 20. It’s called “Kevin,” and it’s about a neurotic housecat named Kevin who breaks up with his owners and moves to a pet rescue facility, where he meets a band of misfit animals who help him realize what he wants out of life.
Plaza created the series with Joe Wengert and Dan Murphy and plays Dana, one half of the human couple that leaves Kevin behind, and other characters. Waters provides the voice of Armando, “a gorgeous, sarcastic and no-nonsense Persian cat who has sworn off all humans in favor of the freedom he gets out of life as an ‘independent’ cat,” according to Prime’s character description.
Sedaris is Brandi, a brassy Shih Tzu who runs the pet rescue. Whoopi Goldberg, one of the hosts of “The View,” provides the voice of Cupcake, a feral hairless cat at the pet rescue.
First-time guest
Other hosts of “The View” on Thursday were Joy Behar; Alyssa Farah Griffin; Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines.
While the three guests got to promote the new series, they talked about a lot of other subjects as well.
Plaza, who has been on “The View” before, joked about her pregnancy. It was her first televised interview since she confirmed this spring that she and actor Christopher Abbott are expecting a baby sometime this fall. She was noticeably pregnant and assured fans that “the cat is doing great.”
Sedaris, also a first-time View guest, talked about the inspiration for the voice she used for her character in “Kevin” and gift-giving ideas.
But much of the segment was devoted to first-time guest Waters and his views on a variety of topics, from turning 80 on April 22 to his recent participation in a ‘No Kings’ rally in Provincetown.
Since Waters plays a cat in the new show, the ladies wanted to know, does he consider himself a cat person in real life?
“Well, I’m not lonely, so no,” he replied. “People get crazy when I say that…I like cats, but they hide from you. If you take their cat box out, they reward you by bringing you a dead mouse.”
Waters said his character in “Kevin” is “a cat that doesn’t get along with humans, so I was typecast.”
‘The ultimate hair hopper’
Asked a political question, Waters defended the cardboard sign he held up during the ‘No Kings’ rally in Provincetown. It read: TRUMP RUINED BAD TASTE.
“I believe you use humor to win in politics,” he said. “You make people laugh and you can change their mind and they’ll listen.”
President Trump “did ruin bad taste,” he said. “It’s no fun anymore. He’s a hair hopper and I think Whoopi knows what a hair hopper is – a white person that spends too much time on their hair without irony and brags they’re rich. He is the ultimate hair hopper.”
“Hair hopper, hair hopper, hair hopper,” the ladies repeated.
“It’s a Baltimore term,” Waters told them.
Waters mentioned that he’s known Goldberg for years.
“I knew Whoopi really a long time ago because her assistant was friends with Divine,” he said, referring to actor Harris Glenn Milstead, who starred in many of his movies, including “Pink Flamingos” from 1972 and “Hairspray” from 1988.
“My favorite quick story about her, and it’s a tragic one, but ‘Hairspray’ had just come out and it was a huge hit and Divine died and it was terrible,” Waters said. “Whoopi knew and she sends the funeral the flowers: ‘See what a good review will do?’ Divine would have loved that.”
Not for eight-year-olds
Others in the cast of “Kevin” include: Jason Schwartzman; Patti LuPone; Quinta Brunson; Cary Elwes; Tig Notaro; Aparna Nancherla; Gil Ozeri; Addison Rae; Nicole Byer; Charles Melton and Joe Locke.
“Kevin” is “a lot of fun,” Goldberg told the audience. “I don’t know if I would recommend it for eight-year olds, but it is fun. If you’re looking for some fun, you’ll find it here…There are fabulous lines in this, and we all have them.”
Waters, meanwhile, is in the midst of a seven-city tour of his spoken-word show: “Going to Extremes: A John Waters 80th Birthday Celebration,” with stops coming up in New York City, Miami and the Washington, D. C. area.
He marveled that “Kevin” gave him an opportunity to work with celebrities such as Broadway icon LuPone, who voices a “Broadway pony” named Patti LuPony.
“I never thought that I would have a scene with Patti LuPone, much less playing a cat,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen when you’re 80 years old.”
Click here to watch the segment of “The View.”
