13 Inane Questions with Danny Woodburn

For the last two years, Danny Woodburn has been tussling and grappling with Michael Richards' Kramer on "Seinfeld." When the show ends in two weeks, Woodburn may or may not make a cameo appearance as Mickey, the high strung actor.

In an interview, Woodburn was very candid about how he got into show business and the treatment of little people on and off-screen today.

Is there still a stereotype involved in casting little people?

There is. Most of the roles are predominantly stereotypical. I think the kind of "Amos and Andy" things that went on from the '30s through the '60s are still going on with little people, and only in the past two years of my career are things changing.

And in the past, I think there's been only one other actor who has shown something different, and that was Michael Dunn. He was in the "Wild, Wild West" series and he had done a film, "Ship of Fools," and various other things. Real parts with a realistic view. Not always the elf or the leprechaun or the dirty ... A lot of times men are portrayed as dirty, the sexual deviant sort of role.

I've never understood that. Why do you think that stereotype is there? That little people are horny all of the time.

I think that probably comes from ... I think it's very puritanical, in the sense of the Salem witch hunts of the 1600s. Little people were often being accused, just because of their abnormal appearance. I think that Sader reference that little people are deviant.

Now that you're becoming widely known, do you have ideas for your own projects?

I think the best way to change the stereotype about little people or any people, is to portray that individual in a human way.

Like on "Seinfeld" pretty much all the characters on the show are pretty unlikable. They're a sort of backstabbing group of unusual friends. And my character has a big temper, and is highly volatile and is always ready to throw down with somebody. And I think that sort of portrayal is very positive for little people.

What sort of input did you have with that character?

There were a couple of things that I didn't think were done on a very equal level. The first episode where I was fighting with Kramer, they had me jump on his back. And I [went] to Larry David, the guy was very open to everything; he was the man on the show.

I said I think it would be much more realistic and more funny if we were to go at it on an equal level. Face off, head to head, rather than me jumping on his back.And I have to admit that we did rehearse that back leap with Michael. He is a wild man. He slammed me against the wall, and I'm like, "You know Mike, you're padded up, I'm not." We're like bashing down the set walls and stuff. And it's just rehearsal. And he always goes, "Now we're just gonna go at half speed." And then we would just tear everything apart. And I'd be like, "Oh my god, show night's gonna be full speed. I have no idea what's that's gonna be like."

I think you two make a great team on the show. Have you talked about doing any other projects together?

Michael and I keep in touch fairly regularly, every couple of months we chat, or we'll bump into each other, or I'll do the show and we'll hang out a bit.

He's a very sweet man. HeÕs probably as eccentric as Kramer, but in a different way. I really enjoy his company and I would love to work on a project with him, and if he's open to that, then I'm open as well.

Do you have any similarities, as far as attitude goes, to your character Mickey?

Yeah, I think I would love to be that volatile. I would love to always be ready to go off like that and not get injured. I would love to be able to kick anybody's ass.

Why did you pursue a career in acting?

My reasons for pursuing a career in acting aren't quite as noble as trying to change the stereotypes, but while I'm here that's exactly what I want to do.

How are you treated when you first come onto a set?

I think it depends on the capacity in which I'm coming to the set. I had done a lot of stand-up work. I would say I'm treated pretty equally for the most part, except every now or then there's a director who thinks he has an original idea, and it's usually some stereotypical idea.

[He would say] like, "Why don't you go up and you bite him on the ass." And that's really dehumanizing. That's not something I want to do. And they just don't know. I immediately make the clarification that that's not something that I would really ever consider doing in my life.

When were you first diagnosed?

I was eight years old, but I think I knew I was a dwarf before I was eight. My particular type was diagnosed when I was eight.

A lot of dwarves have health problems. Have you had many?

Yeah, largely skeletal. My hips, knees, ankles. I have scoliosis as well. I had a detached retina in my left eye because of my syndrome. There's hearing loss. Eyesight problems. Dental problems. All kinds of different physical problems.

How do these ailments hinder your career?

It makes it difficult to do stuff. It's difficult for me to be on my feet for a long period of time. And this year I was a series regular on the "Conan" series, and I did a lot of my own stunts. And it was a highly physically challenging job. I made it through best I could, but, myself, I had about fifteen operations and corrective surgeries, mostly on my legs.

You said before that you do stand-up. Does a lot of your comedy deal with your being a little person?

I'd say about half of it does. A lot of people might think they're height jokes, but they're not. They're perceptions of average sized people, regular everyday folk, about little people. It sort of focuses on the incorrect perceptions of little people.

I say, "A lot of people don't know this but the word midget is a derogatory term. We don't like to be referred to as midgets. We'd much rather be known as coloreds, wetbacks or gooks."

You joke about the word "midget," but ever since political correctness became the norm...

You know I consider political correctness to be a backlash on that word, because ever since I was a kid I've found it insulting and hurtful and painful. It's a label that has no human connotation to it, whatever. It's like saying nigger.

Ever since I was a kid, long before PC got popular, it has never been OK in any little person's book. So it's more of a backlash that little people are getting. The moment you tell everybody that you can't say these things, everyone wants to say them. I say it in a way that, I think, teaches people that it has the same meaning as being called a wetback or a gook or colored.

I think the strange thing about it is, the word has never been treated like as a derogatory term in the public.

I think it's only because the general public does not look at little people on an equal level. They say midget and think itÕs okay. They say, that's what you are. The truth of the matter is, we're humans, not midgets.

How often do you hear it and is it hard to be polite about it?

I still hear it. I was just on a commercial job last week and one of the producers said she wanted to take my pictures so she could match them for the stunt midget. And I said, "That's not right." I said that it would be a little person that would be coming in, a stunt man.

Yeah, I almost always hold back, unless someone wants to get into an argument. I don't hold back in the sense of not saying anything, but I politely correct, instead of saying, "You know what, don't fu**ing say that." I mean, that's what goes through my head. How could you be so stupid to say that sort of thing, when it's obviously a non-human thing to say. If I were to refer to every Jewish person everyday of my life as, "Oh, there's Bob, the Jew," I would think people would get tired of hearing me refer to them as Jews all the time. Are you Jewish?

No.