It can have been a nasty hair day for Danny DeVito, but one wild scene is his best memory of working with ex Rhea Perlman on the movie “Matilda.”
“I feel once they bleach my hair is my favorite,” DeVito, 79, told The Post of the 1996 film through which he played Mr. Wormwood.
“I got here in, and Rhea [as Mrs. Wormwood] is coming out of the kitchen — giving me my sugar-coated cereal we eat on the Wormwood house. And he or she goes, ‘Snickerdoodle!’ and he or she throws it up within the air when she sees me.
“I feel that’s considered one of my favorites. The youngsters — Matilda and her brother sitting there — give me that deadpan look.”
DeVito, who also directed the family flick based on Roald Dahl’s cherished novel, will revisit the film in the course of the upcoming “Matilda in Concert” event on the State Theatre Latest Jersey in Latest Brunswick.
The actor will play the narrator onstage, like he did within the movie, while the Latest Jersey Symphony will play David Newman’s rating. Perlman, who separated from DeVito in 2017, and “Matilda” herself Mara Wilson will join him on Friday, March 22.
The exes first announced their separation in October 2012. They later reconciled in March 2013 before splitting for good. They’ve daughters Lucy, 41, and Grace, 38, and son Jacob, 36.
“We’re attempting to get a couple of of the opposite characters who were within the movie to return and visit with us that night,” DeVito added.
Fans will get to listen to the live music while they watch actor Jimmy Karz, as hungry Bruce, scarf down a mountain of decadent dessert on screen. DeVito said that shot 28 years ago was particularly memorable.
“I did loads of takes on the chocolate cake,” he said. “Our Bruce Bogtrotter — wonderful young man — and we had plenty of cake.
“Emily Ferry was our prop mistress. She made tons of cake, and Jimmy just ate. We did it with all those kids within the room. It was a lot fun. I mean, like, we shot that each one day.
“And the cake was good, too!’
One other of DeVito’s roles has been on viewers’ minds recently — Vincent in 1988’s “Twins.”
He reunited with co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Oscars, and the pair staged a fun bit with Michael Keaton — the Batman to their respective Penguin and Mr. Freeze.
DeVito said a recent movie with Schwarzenegger, 76, could possibly be on the best way.
“Warner Brothers is run now by [co-chair] Pam Abdy, and we’ve talked to her a couple of movie for Arnold and I,” the actor told The Post.
“We’re excited about it. It is probably not related to ‘Twins’ or is probably not related to other things that we’ve done — ‘Junior’ or ‘Batman.’ I mean, I feel the 2 of us in a form of fun situation. I really like hanging out with him. It’s a very cool thing, and we have now a simple time of it. And he’s such a pleasant guy.”
“Matilda in Concert” takes place on the State Theatre Latest Jersey in Latest Brunswick on March 22.