Eddie Izzard Is Hosting the Spirit Awards, But Does He Really Want To?

British comic tells us, "I'm happy to give them away, but I just don't want to host them"

Just because cross-dressing comic Eddie Izzard is hosting the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards, you shouldn't assume he'll do so in a skirt and killer heels.

"Manly clothes," he says when asked what he'll be wearing at the March 5 show. "I'm in boy mode, so if you thought I was in a girly mode, I am not."

And he's not exactly happy to be hosting the awards. He's got some mixed feelings about it…

How did hosting the Spirit Awards come about?
I was persuaded with a gun to my head.

Is that how you get Eddie Izzard to do something—you threaten to shoot him?
I'd only do it for the Spirit Awards. I think this will be my first and last awards show hosting. I don't like doing these things. I'm happy to give them away, but I just don't want to host them.

You've really never hosted an awards show before?
Nope!

Have you been asked?
Yeah, yeah, quite a few times. I told everyone, "No."

So how are you preparing for it?
I'm not. I don't know what you should do for something like this. I improvise. I never write any of my standups…We'll see on the day. It could be fun. It's just not something I want to do.

When you hear the words "independent film," what's the first thing that comes to mind?
People changing in toilets. Like when I was doing early standups, we used to change in stairwells and kitchens. I was a street performer before. Talk about independence! We would change in the snow outside. We would all just change our clothes outdoors in the snow or rain or whatever. It's that kind of thing.

The DVD of the documentary Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story just came out.
I'm very excited about that. It's six years in the making.

I loved The Riches. I thought it was great. Will you be doing anymore television?
I loved it to death, and absolutely, I plan to do another TV series. 

Any particular project in mind?
I can't really talk about it. I think that would slightly jinx it. But there are things floating around that they are offering, and then there's something that I want to do. So, we will see.

The 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards air live March 5 on IFC.