New York, May 3, 2008 – John Goodman prepared for his role in Speed Racer by growing a mustache, he said at Saturday’s U.S. premiere, the big finale for the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.  Goodman insisted that the Wachowski brothers, who directed, are not weird.  “They’re very funny”, he said.  Actor Kick Gurry seconded that, and added that the “crazy talented” Wachowskis are not really reclusive.  “They like the art to speak louder than words,” Gurry said, noting that they attended Speed Racer premieres in London and Berlin.  “They’re doing a movie over there, so they couldn’t be here”, he told us.

Emile Hirsch said he was pleased to be a part of the movie, because he grew up watching the 1960s Speed Racer TV series. “It was the show I always would wake up and watch on the Cartoon Network.  They have the reruns of them”, the 23-year-old Into the Wild star said.  His favorite car is the Mach V, “Speed’s car”.  Susan Sarandon’s character makes lots of pancakes in the movie. “I feel like I’ve been preparing my entire life for flipping those pancakes”, said the Oscar winner, who brought along her kids Eva Amurri and Miles Robbins to the premiere.

Stephen Colbert popped in to check out the movie with his wife and three kids, as did Fred Durst, who was a juror for the Tribeca festival this year.  Robert De Niro slipped in just before the movie started.

Photos: Joy E. Scheller