Steven Spielberg's execution of the late Stanley Kubrick's vision was a commercial disappointment and a critical mixed bag, but at least one good thing has emerged from A.I.--the rising career of Teddy. After making his film debut as synthetic David's teddy bear friend, the ursine newcomer waits for the opportunity to prove his range.

I caught up with Teddy at a restaurant in a Northern California suburb. Overall he seemed a bit different than his on-screen image. For starters, his voice, so proper and modulated in A.I., is at least a few octaves lower in person, almost rough-sounding, even. He was not the reassuring presence his character was, either, which will raise eyebrows in the industry but raised our spirits since we got a provocative, enlightening interview-one that ended prematurely. What follows is taken from our meeting last week over honey and crackers:

Cultureshark: Thanks for talking with us. We hear you were upset with some criticism of you on this website. Our movie reviewer said that your presence in A.I. was "too distracting, even as comic relief, " and a Backstage Ass column called you the Jar-Jar Binks of 2001.

Teddy: (angrily) Yeah, I know. My people didn't want me to do this interview because of that. Who was that jerk, anyway?

CS: Uh, he like, doesn't write for us anymore...or something?

Teddy: Oh. Well, you know, it's like the reaction to the movie itself-not everyone gets it, but I gave Steven the best performance I could-because I am a professional and because – (pauses, puts hand on heart and points to ceiling) Stanley would have wanted it that way.

CS: Uh, great.

Teddy: (breaking into laughter) Kidding! I mean, the guy made some cool movies, but what the hell was Eyes Wide Shut? And Spielberg's acting like Kubrick was the Father of Filmmaking the whole time. That got old quickly.

CS: While I was watching A.I., my partner on this site whispered to me, "I'll bet THAT wasn't Stanley Kubrick's idea," after you were introduced. Pretty safe assumption, eh?

Teddy: Oh, no! My character was totally Kubrick!

CS: Really?

Teddy: Yeah, he loved gadgets and all that, which is pretty well known, but what is not known is that he was a huge Teddy Ruxpin collector. He had dozens of the damn things lying around, you know. Steve would always tell me that…so I guess I was basing my performance on what Kubrick's Teddy Ruxpin dolls were like. Geez, how sad is that?

CS: You did seem to have a good on-screen chemistry with Haley Joel Osment, who played David. What was it like working with him?

Teddy: He's as great as they say he is, but to me, he's just a good kid-that happens to give really good belly rubs. And, uh, don't read anything into that, you hear me?

CS: Was it physically demanding for you to keep up with a healthy young boy and an actor in his prime?

Teddy: Well, I have short legs, so just staying with them when we did all the walking was a challenge, sure. But the real bitch was that scene where I get dropped out of the balloon –

CS: You did that yourself, didn't you?

Teddy: What are we gonna do, use some generic teddy bear and shove him out? That would look fake.

CS: Uh, yeah, I guess so.

Teddy: I bit my lip and did it, even if it hurt like hell. I like to get a scene right, but I really didn't think we needed to do 10 takes of it. Which reminds me...

(at this point he excused himself, reached under the table, and appeared to grab a pill, which he inserted in his mouth)

Teddy: Prescription! Totally prescription! My shoulder's been killing me lately.

CS: So, regarding A.I., were you happy with the finished product?

Teddy: As soon as I stay awake through a whole screening, I'll let you know! No, I'm kidding. I mean, it may not have cleared the fence, but at least we were swinging, right? Let's say it wasn't quite what I expected. I certainly don't think my character was used as well as possible.

CS: Did you have any input to the direction of your character?

Teddy: Are you trying to start something?

CS: (startled silence)

Teddy: What's the matter, kid? Honey sticking to the roof of your mouth? (awkward pause) Ha! I'm joking again. To answer your question, no, Steven didn't really listen to my suggestions. I was constantly trying to take off some of those smooth edges and make my character less…damned sickeningly sweet. But he was very focused on his, quote unquote, vision.

CS: Are you getting a lot of extra attention since the film was released?

Teddy: Yeah, and I don't mind the attention, but you know what gets me? The poking. Everyone thinks they can come up and poke me and I'll-I don't know, I'll giggle or something. I'm not the freaking Pillsbury Doughboy, you know!

CS: But you did get a lot of exposure from the movie...

Teddy: Which was out for, what, a whopping 3 weeks? I got more exposure when I "accidentally" opened the door to Frances O'Connor's trailer...

CS: Uh, OK. So are you worried about getting roles after this? It seems obvious there will be no sequel for both commercial and artistic reasons. What's next? What about being typecast?

Teddy: You mean am I worried audiences will always think of me as a lovable, cuddly toy? I can live with that-better than them finding out the truth! Heh heh!

CS: How did you get cast in A.I.? Did you have to audition?

Teddy: Well, hello! I'm a talking bear! Do you think Spielberg just went to "central casting" and said "Get me a talking stuffed bear?" He'd get laughed at harder than after he showed the final print of Hook.

CS: Wow! Pardon me for saying so, but you sound a little...bitter.

Teddy: I can joke about him…what the hell, he stiffed me for Minority Report.

CS: Minority Report? You mean the movie he just shot with Tom Cruise?

Teddy: Yeah, we talked about that…"I'll keep you in mind for future projects, that kind of crap." I'm not holding my breath. Look, I'm unique, which helped me get this role, but I'm not exactly drowned with offers now, being...

CS: A bear?

Teddy: What? No, I meant because I'm short. You're really hung up on the bear thing, aren't you?

CS: Uh, I didn't mean any offense...

Teddy: I was JOKING again! This ain't the Times, man! How many people read "Cultureshock" anyway?

CS: Er, that's Cultureshark.

Teddy: Yeah, Culturesmack. Let's have some fun, man. Hey, I'm unique, which can get people's attention, but it's also a bad thing. I mean, how many really good bear roles are there?

CS: Well, there was The Edge, but that was sort of a different bear type, I guess.

Teddy: The doll route might have some choices. Look at Child's Play. That guy's got himself a nice little franchise there. That's ALL he's got, but hey, it's pays the bills, know what I mean? (At this point Teddy started weeping softly, then appeared angry all of a sudden) Child's Play! I don't want to get stuck in that kind of crap! Tell you what, if they greenlight a Teddy Ruxpin biopic, I'm the man. Too bad Stanley friggin' Kubrick didn't leave behind a box of notes on THAT movie!

(At this point Teddy's publicist, who had been sitting at a nearby table unbeknownst to me, came over and asked us to stop the interview. He apologized and said Teddy had been suffering from "exhaustion" as a result of intense publicity work for A.I.)

This interview ran in its entirety, despite this publicist's requests, with no material altered or deleted, except incidental parts of conversation that were removed for clarity. We wish Teddy best of luck in dealing with his issues.