Q 1

PLAYBOY: In the new Will Ferrell comedy, Blades of Glory, you play Stranz, a four-time figure-skating champ. Were you cast for your comic timing or your ability to perform a flawless triple axel?

Will Arnett: People say I move like a dancer. I get that all the time. There comes a point in your career when you have to give in to the chorus of fans saying, "We see the way you move. You're like a cat. Please, share your gifts with the world." Eventually you just give the people what they want. Actually I'm not much of a skater. The more difficult skating moves were obviously performed by trained professionals. I was able to do a few of the big jumps, but mostly I just did the smiling. When the skater finishes his routine and waves to the camera and smiles while he's waiting for his scores to come up, that was all me. I was so ready for that.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: You were raised in Canada, where hockey is a national pastime. Aren't all Canadians born with the ability to skate?

Will Arnett: I certainly had an advantage growing up in Canada. I knew how to skate. When I was a kid I played a lot of hockey. I haven't done it in a while, but I still goof around whenever I can. I'll break one of my kneecaps or purposely injure myself, stuff like that. But now I'm pretty much relegated to obsessively watching hockey. I watch every single game the Toronto Maple Leafs play all season. That's how I spend my Saturdays.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: But Saturday is the day your wife, Amy Poehler, appears on Saturday Night Live. You don't ignore her for hockey, do you?

Will Arnett: Saturdays are a big night in our house. I watch the Leafs at seven p.m. and then go see Amy on Saturday Night Live. If I'm really happy, I can pretend it's because Amy was in an amazing sketch, but it's actually because Matt Stajan did a great poke check.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Your character in Blades of Glory is a treacherous bad guy who will stop at nothing to destroy his competition. It's hard to imagine a skating villain without thinking of Tonya Harding. Did you use her as inspiration?

Will Arnett: I pictured Stranz as more of a Jeff Gillooly-type guy. Jeff was the unspoken hero in that whole Harding scandal. I remember when it first broke, the New York Post published this hilarious story about it. Her bodyguard had just come out and admitted that Tonya was responsible for the Kerrigan attack, and the Post printed this headline: BODYGUARD FINGERS TONYA. I taped the article to the back of my closet and had it up there for a couple of years.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: Why do men in competitive skating wear such frilly costumes with so many sequins and ruffles?

Will Arnett: The cast watched a lot of Olympic skating as research for the movie, and we realized you can't go too far with the costumes. Some of the outfits are just insane. Your first thought is, Well, they're obviously gay. But that's not true. These guys are incredible athletes, and the costumes are just a part of skating tradition. But I'll tell you what: I kind of liked it. When I put on the tights and the dance belt, everything is a little tighter down below. And when you're showing that much, you're gonna get some big laughs. I got kind of addicted to it.