Tonight on Sunday, on the trail of the man from Pike River. Don't you think your answers could help explain what went wrong? He was the mining company's main man. Why are you hiding? But then he vanished. Gordon Ward, Gordon Ward, Gordon Ward. Where is he and why won't he answer the questions? He didn't have the guts to come back and explain why the mine exploded. Sunday seeks the silent witness. We are seeking to bring closure to this case. What does that mean? Is there new hope? Solving it, yes, of course. It didn't seem to me that they had had the benefit of a proper police investigation. New tensions,... Are you comfortable making money out of a missing girl? > ...and ongoing suspicion. And a short fat bald man... Nice. who beat the odds in Hollywood. This cunning, devious, manipulative villain. > Yes. (LAUGHS EVILLY) Dastardly. What do I have to do? Put a gun in your hand, aim and pull your finger down, you spineless wimp?! You clumsy poop! Captions by Anne Langford. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012 Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. He wanted to stay silent, but tonight you will hear for the first time from Gordon Ward. He's the man who refused to answer questions at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River disaster. Gordon Ward also failed to show at the memorial service and failed to extend condolences after the deaths of 29 men. He ran the Pike River mine for years, in fact, until just a few weeks before it exploded. Gordon Ward, as CEO of Pike River Coal, earned $500,000 a year, then he left and seemingly vanished, until now. Janet McIntyre reports. Gordon Ward, Gordon Ward, Gordon Ward ` the CEO until six weeks before the explosion. He's refused to come before you. He's provided no witness statement. Don't you think that your answers could help explain what went wrong at the mine? What message it sends to company directors and officers, should, heaven forbid, this country ever need to convene another commission inquiring into a tragedy, 'better to hide than to stand up'? < Why are you hiding? SOFT MUSIC What caused the explosions that caused the deaths of 29 men? That's the question the Royal Commission must try to answer. What went wrong? After 10 weeks of hearings, more than 50 witnesses, 70,000 pages of documents filed in evidence, we still don't know. But one man, a key person at the coal mine, someone who might have been able to help the inquiry, didn't turn up. Gordon Ward just vanished. Gordon, why didn't you come back? I mean, us coasters are looking for answers, and you didn't front up. You didn't have the guts to come back and stand before the Commission and help us find out why that mine exploded. 49-year-old Ward, originally of Feilding, was, right up until the explosion, the main man at Pike River. It's important to recognise that our first coal shipment going out today is worth just under $3.5 million. He designed it, developed it over 14 years, originally as finance manager for NZ Oil & Gas, battling to get consents, drill tunnels, get capital, cut coal. Right up until he left two months before the explosion, he was Pike River. That was the end of it. West Coast mayor Tony Kokshoorn remembers Gordon Ward, not as a visionary motivated to revive the coast, but as a numbers man. He was a hard-nosed businessman, and his sole reason for being down here on the West Coast was to set the Pike River coal mine up and make a lot of money for NZ Oil & Gas and also himself. He held, and still holds, over 1,500,000 shares in Pike. Gordon probably thought he was going to make multimillions, there's no question about that. And if the mine had succeeded, and with the coal prices where they were going, he would have actually achieved that goal, no problem at all. But Pike River was blighted with delays: equipment failures, a tunnel collapse, just getting access to coal was much harder than anyone anticipated. There is no question now we need to start meeting our production targets. The pressure coming from the board of directors to produce coal was enormous. He'd gone back to the shareholders three or four times for more money. We're talking about multi, multimillion dollars of money, $50 million and $60 million share floats. So he was under enormous pressure. By September 2010, Ward's underperformance was called into account by his board, as former chairman John Dow explained to the Commission. Issues that were of concern to the board in June and then July and then August, weren't being attended to in any kind of realistic fashion. And Ward was gone ` swiftly, silently, and practically without a trace. EXPLOSION Six weeks later, the unthinkable. There has been a gas explosion, and they are trying to make the mine safe so they can get in there and start looking for the miners that are in there. And it was the brand new CEO, Peter Whittall, who faced us, day in, day out,... It's quite conceivable that there is a large number of men sitting around the end of an open pipe wondering why we were taking our time to get to them. ...offering hope, then taking it away. This probably takes us to the point where I am unlikely to see my workmates again, I'm unlikely to see them walk out of that mine. Eight months later at the Royal Commission of Inquiry, Peter Whittle was again under pressure, and Gordon Ward ` nowhere to be seen. Mr Ward was asked to appear at the Commission of Inquiry or even provide a statement, but he declined. Had he been in NZ, he could have been formally summonsed, but because he was overseas, the Commission says it was unable to compel him to give evidence. And so the man with the longest track record at Pike River, has stayed silent. Do you think he could have helped the Commission find the truth? > I think that anyone who has potentially relevant information, and by virtue of his position, it would appear that he must have, that anyone who has potentially relevant information could help find the truth, so on that basis, yes. Lawyer Stacey Shortall is looking out for her clients Peter Whittall and five other Pike managers and directors. An ex-Wall street litigator, she wanted to ask the hard questions of Gordon Ward. What would you have asked him? I would have asked him about the circumstances that gave him comfort back in the day to proceed with the mine, given the geological and other information that was made available. He's a smart guy. He's long experienced in the industry and has a reputation as a formidable businessman, so I would have been very interested to explore what gave him comfort. Did he look to the experts and others around him in the managerial team or on the board of directors to assist him to get comfortable with the project continuing? Did you have enough staff at Health and Safety? Did you have enough staff at Health and Safety? No. The Commission of Inquiry heard witness after witness speak of shortcomings in safety systems and safety culture at the mine. Did you find there were deficiencies in the ventilation system at Pike? Did you find there were deficiencies in the ventilation system at Pike? I certainly did. Concerns that had been widely known in the community. I phoned Gordon up and said, 'Gordon, I'm hearing around town that this mine is full of methane, 'so is it, and what are you doing about it?' Gordon said, no, it's not a really high methane mine, but the ventilation that they designed for the mine would take care of that anyway. When was that? Probably between 2008 and 2009. Does Gordon Ward's absence leave gaps in the information the Commission now has? All I can say is that none of my clients were able to speak to some of the topics in as much detail as they anticipate Mr Ward could have. I mean, remember that he was the guy who was involved in the initial development of this project. He's been described in the evidence as the visionary who moved the project forward. There's been evidence that the Pike project was Mr Ward's baby. Why do you think he chose not to give evidence? I don't know. Only Gordon Ward can answer that question. Do your clients speculate about it? They understand that in coming forward and being very publicly involved, that they have met the public gaze, that their names have appeared in newspapers, they've been talked about on television, around water coolers around the country. Their actions or inactions have been subject to heightened scrutiny. They do feel that others who have not taken any public role in the inquiry have, perhaps, been shielded from that. Last November, Peter Whittall, general manager for five years and CEO for less than two months, was charged by the Department of Labour in relation to safety failures ` the only individual so far to face charges. At the same time, Gordon Ward was quietly starting a new life somewhere in Australia. < Do you know where he is? < Do you know where he is? Nobody knows where he is. I haven't heard from him since the mine exploded. He's certainly sitting under the radar, and he's making sure he doesn't come out until this is well in the past. Would you like to know where he is? > Would you like to know where he is? > Yes. Yes. Why? > Why? > Because if his whereabouts was known, then, potentially, if the Royal Commission is still looking to get information from him... They've not reported yet. It may be possible to get a statement or some information that may assist them. Where is Gordon Ward? Last December, John Campbell tracked him to Brisbane where he had been working for Queensland Coal. But Ward had gone to ground. When did he leave? I can't actually answer that. Can I take a message? 'Yes, you heard correctly. They wouldn't even tell us when he left.' Coming up, from the West Coast to the Gold Coast ` life after Pike. We finally catch up with Gordon Ward, and he breaks his silence. Look, I guess I'm prepared to say a couple of things now seeing you've gone to the effort of tracking me down here. (SPEAKS SOFTLY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) SOFTLY: Time to get up, baby. SOFTLY: Come on. Up you get. CHEERING 5 Where is Gordon Ward? Sunday found his name linked to this sparkling new property on the Gold Coast hinterland, valued at around $1.2 Million. It's just 15 minutes from downtown Surfers. They say it's beautiful one day, perfect the next, that's the Queensland dream NZers come here for. It's a promise, not a guarantee. But up here on a good day, where Gordon Ward has chosen to live, you get sweeping views of the Gold Coast, a brand new upmarket neighbourhood, all surrounded by Australian native bush, and even the company of kangaroos. And this is where we found Gordon Ward last week, settling into the home he leased for 12 months earlier this year. His family is also here. We didn't realise it at the time, but on this day, the family was finalising the purchase of a $2 million business at a shopping centre a few kilometres away. Excuse me. Gordon Ward, Janet McIntyre from TVNZ Sunday programme. Hi, how are you? Good, thank you. I'm here because you didn't turn up at the Commission of Inquiry, and I wondered if you could explain why not. and I wondered if you could explain why not. No, sorry, I can't help you on that. Did you want to get to the truth of what went on at the mine? I'm sorry, I'm not prepared to say anything else. Gordon Ward has just bought this Gold Coast supermarket, and this was his first day as the new boss. Don't you think your answers could help explain what went wrong at the mine? Why are you hiding? We found him again a couple of streets away. Here they are now. TV3's here. Look, I guess I'm prepared to say a couple of things now seeing you've gone to the effort of tracking me down here. The first thing is that I've cooperated fully with the Department of Labour and the police in all their inquiries that they have done to date. I've been interviewed by them and they have not pressed any charges against me. The second thing I would like to say is that... express my condolences to the families. In fact, that's the most important thing ` to all the families and all the people affected by the disaster. The last thing I would like to say is that there is a court hearing that is about to kick off; that is when there's going to be a very standard review of all the issues that the Royal Commission has covered to an extent, and the entire circumstances leading up to the disaster will, no doubt, be explored. But you're still required to answer questions at the Commission of Inquiry. Why did you not appear? I'll not talk about the Royal Commission. I've cooperated fully with the police and the Department of Labour. But the Royal Commission is trying to find out what went wrong. > But the Royal Commission is trying to find out what went wrong. > That's all I'll say. And you have a unique position in that you knew the mine better than anyone else. It was your baby. 'The court proceedings he's referring to are the cases against Peter Whittle, 'Pike River Coal and VLI Drilling after charges brought by the Department of Labour.' < Can you please explain why you didn't address the serious safety issues at the mine? 'Police told us they've yet to decide if they'll press criminal charges against anyone.' And just finally, um, you know, I want you to remember the families of those 29 dead men and let you know that they want answers from you. In relation to the families, I've already expressed my deepest condolences to the families, and I think it's an awful tragedy, and nobody is unaffected by it who's been involved with the company. It has had a tremendous toll on everybody, and, you know, words can't express the deepest sympathies that I have for the families, and that's all I would like to say. Thank you. He is trying to show some remorse now for not turning up, but that's not going to wash with anyone. I mean, it's 18 months ago. When the families needed support, he wasn't there. Here he is rushing down the street, and only when you hit the real raw nerve of those dead miners and the families, did he front up and say some words. I think the police have to have a very hard look at Gordon Ward. Gordon Ward won't like this, but it's a fact. If he had fronted up and told his story to the Royal Commission, he may have mitigated, but he didn't. The Commission told Sunday it has no power to force Gordon Ward to give evidence because he's overseas, but lawyer Stacey Shortall disagrees. She believes even though the hearings have ended, it's still possible to compel him to, at least, give a statement. Would you like the Commission to force him to assist? I think that to the extent he has anything that could be helpful, then we owe it to the families and all of the people who have been affected by this tragedy, to search for the truth. The Commission tells Sunday it considers it's now obtained sufficient evidence to enable it to discharge its terms of reference. It says the public hearings are completed, and, short of some major development, will not be reopened. Up next, the Madeleine McCann mystery. Just when public interest was waning, there are new leads, a new drive and new hope. Teams of specialist murder investigators from the Met are now on the case, unravelling the botched mess left by the Portuguese police. Right from the start it's a case marked by mistakes. And the man who led the investigation for the first six months, Goncalo Amaral, now admits he got things wrong. British newspapers slammed it as a 'catastrophic cock-up'. That's the Portuguese police investigation into the missing Madeleine McCann mystery. It seems they trampled a crime scene, failed to follow leads, got diverted, and after a year, simply gave up. Now the Met's assigned a whole raft of top cops, including specialist murder investigators to pick up where the Portuguese failed. Already there are new leads and new hope. But an added difficulty is in convincing all of Portugal that the little girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had nothing to do with the disappearance of their daughter. Here's Panorama reporter Richard Bilton. It is five years since a little girl vanished without trace on holiday in Portugal. Please do not hurt her. Please don't scare her. Why has Madeleine McCann never been found? Disgraceful. It didn't seem to me that they had had the benefit of a proper police investigation. Why did the Prime Minister take the unprecedented step of telling British police to investigate the case? Oh God. The Prime Minister giving an order to the police to investigate something that is closed without no new evidence about it. Very strange. And with such views in Portugal, what chance have the British police got of solving the case? They talk for the first time tonight. We are seeking to bring closure to this case. What does that mean? What does that mean? Establishing what happened to Madeleine McCann. This is Praia da Luz on the Algarve, out of season and very quiet. In May 2007, as a BBC correspondent, I was sent to this apartment block in Luz because a little girl had disappeared. What I couldn't possibly know then was how enormous this case would become, that everybody would know about Madeleine McCann, and that even now, five years on, millions is still being spent trying to solve the case. After a year, the Portuguese authorities shelved the case. But now there's a new drive to solve the mystery, and it's based here in the UK. Our initial estimates in terms of the amount of material that we are facing is that it will be somewhere in the region of 40,000 pieces of information. There is ultimately a process of us turning every single piece of paper over and interpreting and analysing what is contained within them. Operation Grange, set up after a direct request from David Cameron, is a year into its work and has already cost the British taxpayer �2 million pounds. This is the first time an officer has spoken publicly about the new search for Madeleine McCann. There is myself a detective chief inspector. I've got three detective inspectors, five detective sergeants, 19 constables and` detective constables I should say. We are here in terms of seeking to bring closure to this case. That is our ultimate objective. What does that mean? > What does that mean? > Well, closure means establishing what happened to Madeleine McCann. Solving it? > Solving it? > Solving it. Yes, of course. AIR HORN BLOWS The McCanns have never wavered from their account that Madeleine was abducted and that they played no part in her disappearance. The new review is the result of their long campaign to get the British police to re-examine the original Portuguese investigation. It's taken pressure off us, I have to say, knowing that the police are actually reviewing everything. It's a huge step for us. Since the case was shelved, four separate investigations by private detectives have been funded by the Find Madeleine Campaign. And the McCanns have issued a series of artists' impressions of how Madeleine might look in the years since she disappeared. And this is the latest picture released today by British police ` how Madeleine might look aged nearly 9. The review team finally set up last May, and made up of experienced murder-squad detectives, has been sifting through the evidence ever since. It's not simply office-based. They've travelled to Portugal four times and have visited Spain twice. But what can they do that hasn't already been done? We are drawing together information from three separate sources: the legal enforcement bodies within Portugal, the UK law enforcement agencies, of which the police are a main part, and also and, unusually, the private investigation world, which, as we know, is an element that was used by Mr and Mrs McCann to further the search for their daughter. And why? Why was this unique circumstance? Well, because at no time before have those three elements been drawn together in one place. And so what we've done over the past number of months is bring into one place, ie here at Belgravia, all of those... all of those pieces of the jigsaw. And that's important because private detectives are banned here in Portugal, so it's the first time all of the gathered evidence is being seen together. Today, the Met team said they've so far identified 195 fresh leads in their review. But concerns remain about how much can be achieved given the initial flaws in the investigation. TRANSLATOR: I'm convinced the McCann case will feature in Portuguese judicial history as a bad example; what a criminal investigation should not be. So even now what do we know for sure about the case? Madeleine's parents were five days into a week-long holiday at the Ocean Club Resort. They were there with three other families. It was at 10pm on May 3rd when Kate McCann made the 70m walk to check on her children. She told police when she entered their bedroom in Apartment 5A, the window and shutters were open, and Madeleine had gone. One of the McCanns' friends said earlier that evening she'd seen a man carrying a small child away from the block. Right from the start it's a case that's marked by mistakes. Local police initially assumed that Madeleine had simply wandered off, so it was some hours before the flat was sealed off as a potential crime scene. Access wasn't restricted. The Portuguese Attorney General would later report this meant any forensic evidence at the scene was contaminated with irreversible and undetermined damage. And the man who led the investigation for the first six months, Goncalo Amaral, now admits he got things wrong. TRANSLATOR: It's a fact that our investigation had its faults and lost a lot of time, lots of time, and a lot of things didn't get followed up. And I am just as much to blame for that as anyone else. Five years on it is easier to assess the early days of the investigation. Thousands of police files have been made public, and some of those who were at the centre of the police operation are now prepared to talk. So this is where she disappeared from. This street is lined with satellite trucks, and then the police say that they have taken in for questioning a man who lives at the end of the street. So all the journalists shift from here to there, and Robert Murat now becomes the focus of everybody's attention. Robert Murat was in his 30s and living with his mother. Half English and half Portuguese, when Madeleine went missing he offered his skills to the Portuguese police as a translator. But 11 days in with no quick resolution for the investigation in sight, the spotlight turned on him. Now Robert Murat believes that with the Portuguese police under pressure, he was an easy scapegoat. At one stage I was taken to an area where they wanted to fingerprint me and take photographs, and all that kind of stuff. And I think they were trying to disorient me because they moved me around from room to room, hallway to hallway, corridor to corridor, and it seemed very choreographed, calling out, 'Well, take photographs of him,' and you know, 'We want to send a team to Poland.' It was kind of a choreographed situation. What? To intimidate you? > What? To intimidate you? > Yeah, I think so. And it did intimidate me at the time. It's now that I realise what was going on. He was questioned for 19 hours before he was released. The next day he returned to collect his belongings, and Robert Murat says he met Goncalo Amaral, the lead detective. He basically told me it was a game of two halves, and as the night before I hadn't confessed, then he would get me on the second half, and he just kind of turned his back on me. He didn't... He just... It seemed they didn't care about the truth. That was the... That's how I felt. It was British police sniffer dogs that changed the way Portuguese detectives were thinking. The dogs indicated possible traces of DNA in the McCann family's flat and in the family's hire car. Although this was found to be inconclusive by forensic scientists, the Portuguese police made Kate and Gerry McCann arguidos, or suspects, in their daughter's disappearance. REPORTER: How do you feel, Gerry? How do you feel, Gerry? We know the Portuguese police believed they had the answer to what happened that night in Apartment 5A, because we can now read an internal interim report from the week the McCanns were declared suspects. It said,... And five years on, that view seems to be as strongly held as ever by some in the police. TRANSLATOR: I think something happened accidentally in the flat that night. In general, I think most Portuguese investigators think the same as me. And I think there will be problems for the British authorities. So, in Portugal, the police still believe Madeleine McCann died in the family's holiday apartment, and that her parents were involved. And public opinion there is still influenced by the detective who led the initial investigation, Goncalo Amaral. That's after the break. He's also written a best-selling book about it, and so far, he's made at least �300,000. Are you comfortable with making money out of a missing girl and a case you actually failed to solve? Madeleine McCann's disappearance is back on the radar. British police have launched a new drive to find out what happened to the wee girl five years ago. Specialist squads from the Met have been assigned, and already the cost exceeds �2 million. Meanwhile, the Portuguese are far from sympathetic. Sandra Felgueiras is one of Portugal's leading TV presenters and has covered the McCann story from the start. With her own nightly news show, she's watched Portuguese public support shift away from the McCanns. They were following the case as it was a big movie. So if you start saying three months later from her disappearance that maybe the McCanns are involved, people start thinking, 'Oh my God, those guys. The same that were asking for help, I gave them money. 'I tried to help them, and now they must be involved. The police is saying that.' And people's minds changed, and I never felt, really, that the Portuguese were likely to give a chance to the McCanns again. With the Portuguese police and public opinion apparently against them, the family decided it was best simply to get out of Portugal. They returned home without Madeleine. We have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter. Nearly a year later, the Portuguese Attorney General assessed the evidence and found there was no case to answer for the McCanns or Robert Murat. It's hard to describe how utterly despairing it was to be named arguido and subsequently portrayed in the media as suspects in our own daughter's abduction. Despite Kate and Gerry McCann no longer being suspects, Portuguese public opinion hasn't changed, and it continues to be influenced by the man who initially led the investigation before he was removed. Goncalo Amaral has since made this documentary sticking to his version of events. He still believes that Madeleine wasn't abducted, but died in the flat. He's also written a best-selling book about it, and so far he's made at least �300,000. Are you comfortable making money out of a missing girl and a case that actually you failed to solve? TRANSLATOR: When I left the police force it was to write the book to clear my name, defend myself from what the British journalists and some Portuguese journalists were saying, accusing me of incompetence and other worse things. By assuming a case for which there's little evidence, you actually diverted attention from the actual search for a missing little girl. The book deals with six months of the investigation and the conclusions at the time, so the investigation needed to continue. The truth is only known when an investigation is finished. Kate and Gerry McCann are suing Goncalo Amaral. They say his allegations are false, and not only libel them, but also damaged the hunt for Madeleine. Hi, it's Richard Bilton from BBC Panorama. We're here for Isabel Duarte. The libel lawyer concedes that defending the McCanns against the former detective is not a popular fight here in Portugal. I feel alone. I feel alone. < Why? I feel alone because I don't feel support, not in public opinion. I have friends that don't want to talk to me about the case. < Why? I don't understand. < Why? I don't understand. Because everyone believes in Goncalo Amaral. Everyone believes that I am defending a father and a mother that have killed the daughter and got rid of the corpse. It's taken years for the McCanns to secure a British police review of the investigation, years in which public interest in their daughter's disappearance has faded. By 2010, the case of Madeleine McCann was getting far less media coverage, and the Find Madeleine Fund was starting to run out of cash, so Kate McCann decided to write a book to tell her story of what life was like here in Luz. The book was serialised in both the Sunday Times and the Sun, with their parent company, News International, paying a reported �1 million into the Find Madeleine Fund. But it was about much more than money. The McCanns felt they were getting nowhere with the new home secretary, Theresa May, so printed on the front page of the Sun was an open letter from the McCanns to her boss, David Cameron, appealing to him as a parent to agree to a review. But Panorama has learned there was much more going on behind the scenes to try to influence the Prime Minister. It was just a year ago before the worst excesses of phone hacking were known, a time when News International seemed to have had enormous influence over Downing Street. Now, we've been told by the highest government sources that pressure was being exerted on David Cameron by News International and by the Sun newspaper, in particular, as well as by the McCanns. Within 24 hours, the Prime Minister decided that a review could be paid for out of a special contingency fund run by the Home Office and reserved for special cases. Madeleine McCann, the Prime Minister decided, was a special case. The Home Office declined to explain to us why they chose this unsolved case above any other, but a source at Number 10 told us David Cameron acted as a sympathetic parent. Of course, it's politically risky to pour millions of pounds of taxpayers' money into an investigation that might never be solved. But the man in charge is optimistic, publicly at least, saying he believes his team has the best chance yet of finding out what happened to Madeleine McCann. I am satisfied that the systems and process that we are bringing to this set of circumstances will give us the best opportunity to find those investigative opportunities that we can then present to our colleagues in Portugal. And could the mystery of Madeleine McCann be solved in such a basic way as a re-appraisal of a piece of paper that you have got downstairs? Anything is possible, and clearly within that material the answer could lie. Do you think this case will be solved one day? I really, really hope that we can make a difference, and, of course, we are here to try and bring closure for the family. The British team announced they have fresh evidence in addition to the leads from their review. It now falls to them to succeed where the Portuguese have so far failed, to solve this enduring mystery. Oh, we can only hope. Missing for five years, imagine being the McCanns. It's almost unbearably tragic. Right after the break, the biggest, smallest, man in Hollywood. This cunning, devious, manipulative villain. > This cunning, devious, manipulative villain. > Yes. (LAUGHS EVILLY) Dastardly. What do I have to do? Put a gun in your hand, aim and pull your finger down, you spineless wimp? You clumsy poop! In his socks, Danny DeVito stands about 4ft 9", just under 145cm. He's a wee guy. But despite being short, overweight and balding, Danny DeVito has overcome the odds to become one of Hollywood's most versatile actors, directors and producers. He's with Ross Coulthart of Channel 7's Sunday night programme. Mr DeVito, we are going to start recording now, so` Mr DeVito, we are going to start recording now, so` Yeah, we're good. ...I'll get everybody going. ...I'll get everybody going. We're rolling. One... CLAPBOARD CLAPS CLAPBOARD CLAPS Nice. Danny DeVito,... Danny DeVito,... Yes, sir. ...you've made a living for the last few decades... > ...you've made a living for the last few decades... > Yes. ...as often this cunning, devious, manipulative villain. > ...as often this cunning, devious, manipulative villain. > Yes, that's right. (LAUGHS EVILLY) Dastardly. What do I have to do? Put a gun in your hand, aim, and pull your finger down, you spineless wimp?! You clumsy poop. What are you laughing at, Martini? You're not an idiot. Huh? You're not a goddam loony now, boy, you're a fisherman. It was in the 1975 film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson, that Danny DeVito first attracted the attention of Hollywood. By the early '80s, he was appearing in back-to-back blockbusters. Whoa. (LAUGHS) Hey. Arrrrrgh! THUD Colton. So, you've been working here for how many years? So, you've been working here for how many years? Oh, I-I did Twins here. I've done, uh, Erin Brockovich. I produced that movie. You direct too, don't you? You direct too, don't you? Yeah, I do. Could I get you to come on the inside`? Could I get you to come on the inside`? No, I want to stay on this side. Oh, OK. You're too tall. I can't talk to you. You're too tall. I can't talk to you. (LAUGHS) No problem. So you direct as well as act? I do. I did The War of the Roses... CHINA SHATTERS ...and Throw Momma From The Train. ...and Throw Momma From The Train. Well, I loved Hoffa. I thought that was a cracker. He even produced Pulp Fiction. In fact, Danny DeVito has spent as much time behind the camera as in front. Look at this beautiful soundstage. Poly-Wood. It's, like, nothing like it. Do you get excited still? Do you get excited still? Oh yeah. Do you still get a buzz out of making films? Do you still get a buzz out of making films? Oh yeah. Big buzz. Which is your seat? 'He's back at Universal to promote his latest film, Dr Seuss' The Lorax.' I am the Lorax! It's a morality tale about industry and greed spoiling the environment. Oh! Did you chop down this tree? Did you chop down this tree? (GASPS) What's that? Hey. I think he did it. I think he did it. Huh? Hmmmmmm. The Lorax is a nice guy. The Lorax is a nice guy. He's a really sweet guy. What are you doing? What are you doing? Well, I don't know. Am I getting soft in my old age? I thought we made a deal last night. I thought we made a deal last night. Yes, we did, and I said I wouldn't chop down any more trees. And I said I'm starving. What's for breakfast? (GULPS) Er,... (CHUCKLES) breakfast is overrated. Arrrrgh! You're talkin' to Danny DeVito. You're talkin' to Danny DeVito. Ohhhhh. In what is a Hollywood first, he's revoiced his part entirely in Spanish, Russian, Italian and German. I thought, 'Why not do The Lorax voices in all the different languages myself. 'I've got a couple of minutes. Why don't I do that? How tough could that be?' Hey. (SPEAKS SPANISH) It's left him analysing the finer points on accents, no matter what the conversation. How hard is it to stay normal? How hard is it to stay normal? Ha-ha...? What? How hard is it? How hard is it? (LAUGHS) Good. Say it again. How har...? How hard...? (LAUGHS) Say it again. How ha...? Yeah. No. How hard is it to do what? Yeah. No. How hard is it to do what? How hard is it to stay normal when you're a big star? I tell you what you do. When you get to be a big star, people start fawning all over you and whatever. Don't worry about that. Just go... You wanna go do your laundry in the laundromat? Go do it. You want to go to the supermarket, you do it. You've got to keep your life going straight otherwise if you change your life for what's... then you're just giving up everything. Put your feet by my feet. Come on. Let's go. By my feet, not on my feet. His odd look has made him a favourite amongst some of Hollywood's biggest hitters. Michael Douglas I met in 1960-something. It was in the early days when we were both hippies. How about a hundred bucks? How about a hundred bucks? A hundred bucks? I'll give you a one-way ticket to` They've been good mates ever since. Not that you can tell by watching them on the screen. Let's be gentlemen. Did I tell ya I got malaria in the jail? Every time I shake, I shake like this. And if I shake my trigger finger... I feel an attack coming on right now. He said some very unflattering things about you. > He referred to you as a pig and a slob when you were living together. Well, I am a bit of a slob and I'm a bit of a pig. Is it true he ironed your boxer shorts? He was, like, very very neat. And he wanted to fold stuff. I'd say, 'You don't have to fold your underwear.' 'Yeah, you've got to fold everything.' 'Where's this come from?' I said, 'Go outside, smoke a doobie and get rid of this folding thing.' When I look at you lately, I just want to smash your face in. Come on. Smash my face. Come on. You want to smash my face? SMASH! You notoriously depicted probably one of the worst marriages ever in War of the Roses with Michael Douglas. in War of the Roses with Michael Douglas. Yeah. It's like mine. Well, exactly. You've had one of the most stable and secure marriages in Hollywood. > Big house. Big house. What's your secret? > Big house. What's your secret? > She's at one end. I'm at the other. Walkie-talkies. < I think maybe you'll, uh, like each other. < I think maybe you'll, uh, like each other. LAUGHTER It's Rhea Perlman he's talking about. They met as young and struggling stage actors. LAUGHTER How do you do? Fine. In a city famed for break-ups, their longevity makes them a Hollywood rarity. And when he looks back on his stellar career, it's this day he's most proud of. What is your secret? I mean, your marriage is nearly 40 years old. > Well, we've been married for 30 years, and we've been together for 40 years. She's my best friend. We're friends. We're really good friends, and we've had three kids, and it's really cool. Is that the most important thing in your life despite the fame? > Is that the most important thing in your life despite the fame? > Uh, let's see. Mm. Fast cars. It was really good. It was really good. I thank you very much. It was really good. I thank you very much. OK. Thank you very much. Picture? Yeah, no problem. You're a cameraman. That's our show for tonight. Do check us out on Facebook, Sunday TVNZ. Thanks for joining us.