Steve Martin Returns as "The Pink Panther 2"

After Steve Martin successfully reinvigorated the legendary Pink Panther comedy franchise in 2006, a sequel in the form of Columbia Pictures’ “The Pink Panther 2” became a happy consequence for the actor. “I love playing Inspector Clouseau,” says Martin.

“I had to brush up on the accent a bit, but other than that, it was like a visit from a familiar friend,” he continues. “This role gives me a chance to do broad physical comedy; Clouseau is truly an exaggerated character, innocent and childlike. At the same time, he thinks he’s on top of every situation, which I think is always funny. So when the opportunity for the sequel came along, naturally, the answer was yes.”

In the film, when legendary treasures from around the world are stolen, including the priceless Pink Panther Diamond, Chief Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese) is forced to assign Clouseau to a team of international detectives and experts charged with catching the thief and retrieving the stolen artifacts. Martin is joined by his co-stars Jean Reno (as Ponton, his partner) and Emily Mortimer (as Nicole, the object of his awkward affections). The investigative dream team is played by Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina, Yuki Matsuzaki (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Producer Robert Simonds observes that Martin is the film’s not-so-secret weapon. “Steve completely embodies this character, bringing so much more to it than is even on the page – and since he co-wrote the script, there’s a tremendous amount on the page as is,” he says. “We would not have made a sequel if Steve weren’t driving it. He understands Clouseau. He writes for Clouseau. He creates the world. Part of the burden of doing a sequel is that you must make it bigger, better, funnier, fresher than the first one. We’ve worked really hard to make sure that we’ve taken the characters, the sense of fun and everything that we liked about the first movie to the next level.”

“Steve brings Clouseau a really interesting combination of vulnerability and self-assurance,” Simonds continues. “He’s got a gift for physical comedy, but he is also incredibly erudite. He possesses an incredibly sophisticated sense of humor with an underbelly of big laughs. Just as importantly, his comedy is ironic and smart but never mean-spirited. All the comedy in the Pink Panther films is at the expense of Clouseau, who is simply trying to maintain his dignity in all these situations. Thanks to Steve’s performance, not only is the movie very funny, but audiences are emotionally invested in Clouseau.”

Director Harald Zwart concludes, “People love Clouseau. He has a huge heart, and though he makes a lot of mistakes, it all comes from naïve clumsiness. He’s always trying his best – it’s just that his best is never good.”