Max Wright said ALF the alien made him feel more human
Many actors avoid working with animals, children and props, but not Max Wright. He's worked with all three.
The human star of 1986's ALF embraced his time working with his non-human co-star on the NBC series.
Wright played the role of Willie Tanner, the patriarch of the Tanner household. Willie was constantly stuck trying to balance his responsibilities as a husband and a father while also dealing with ALF's antics on the series.
ALF wasn't your typical family member. He was a bit strange-looking and many considered him to be obnoxious, not to mention his hunger for cats and kittens. But after crash-landing far away from his home planet of Melmac, ALF needed some help from the Tanner family.
Although ALF didn't quite fit into any category, Wright said the alien fit in his heart just fine.
"Actually, ALF makes me feel a bit more human," Wright said in a 1987 interview with Daily Press. "It's reassuring."
According to the interview, Wright admitted that working with his non-human castmate had some challenges. ALF, who was an alien onscreen, was just a fluffy, well put together puppet off-screen.
Operating ALF required a group of highly skilled puppeteers, including series creator Paul Fusco, and voice actors who worked together to make the alien come to life on the small screen.
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Wright said he was never bothered by the extra time required to work the non-human star. There were many technical requirements for ALF, but Wright couldn't begin to think of a better replacement for the alien.
"I know human actors who require as much careful organization and elaborate preparation, so I don't think it's too out of keeping or out of tradition."
So, how did the Detroit native who had a successful career in Broadway go from sharing a stage with a bunch of high class actors to keeping up with a furry brown alien?
"I liked the idea very much and a great writing staff was assembled," Wright said in another 1987 interview with El Paso Herald-Post. "It was a real first-class operation. It was easy to accept. And it was easy for me to accept the ideas of this little creature."
According to the interview, Wright said he wasn't sure if he believed in life in outer space, but he did believe in parallel universes, black holes and space travel. And more importantly, he believed in ALF.
"We never refer to ALF as a puppet," Wright said. "That word has been stricken from our vocabularies. We consider him a creature from another world. It's actually delightful, kind of like being in the Charlie Chaplin Company or the Jackie Mason act."