Metro interview
Jul 10, 2007 11:40:02 GMT
Post by rai on Jul 10, 2007 11:40:02 GMT
Cute little interview. As a sideline, I saw Roger Waters last night at the Boston Garden. It was FABULOUS. He sang several songs from R'n'R, and had a wonderful tribute to Sid Barrett while singing "Crazy Diamond".
Anyway, here's the interview.
Rai
60 SECONDS: Rufus Sewell
by ANDREW WILLIAMS - Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Actor Rufus Sewell got his big break in the TV adaptation of Middlemarch. Since then, he's popped up as the baddie in various Hollywood films including A Knight's Tale and The Legend Of Zorro. In The Illusionist, he stars as villainous Crown Prince Leopold, who mucks up Edward Norton's love life. The Illusionist is out to buy now on DVD.
Can you do any magic tricks?
I used to have a magic trick which involved a bit of fag ash. I’d drag it out as a last-ditch attempt to get the attention of a girl I was trying to impress. It involves depositing a small amount of ash about her person and then revealing it later on – hey presto – as if it had just arrived there. I don’t remember how I did it. I never did it sober.
Do women find being covered in cigarette ash irresistible?
It was slightly more successful than you’d imagine but not very much.
Do women find being covered in cigarette ash irresistible?
It was slightly more successful than you’d imagine but not very much.
Did you have a nice time making The Illusionist?
Yes, surprisingly, seeing it’s the sixth film I made in a row in Prague. After months on end there, the announcement ‘we’re filming it in the fabulous historical city of Prague’ didn’t have me leaping for joy. Once I got over the shock of having that ridiculous beard glued to my face every day, it was enjoyable.
Have you got any tourist tips about Prague for our readers?
You’re picked up by someone speaking English, you go to work where everyone speaks English and then you get dropped back off at the hotel where everyone speaks English, so you become lazy and don’t see the city. After doing six films there, I only learned the words for ‘beer’ and ‘horse’ and I’ve forgotten the word for ‘horse’. When I was doing The Illusionist, I cleaned up my act and concentrated more on the architecture than the bars. It’s an extraordinary place and a wonderful Art Deco city – it was untouched by the wars. They tend to film in old bicycle factories and underpay their Czech workers. As soon as people wake up to the fact they’re having the mickey taken out of them, Hollywood moves on to somewhere like Romania.
I'm branching out - I play t**ts as well as baddies these days
Why do you prefer doing independent films to the Hollywood ones?
I’ve only done the bigger films because I’m not getting offered other things I’d prefer to do. Turning down work until you get offered something you like is a risky game. After months of unemployment, you can end up doing something worse than what you’ve been turning down. So far, it’s going pretty well. I’ve just done an independent film in Canada for around $15 (£7.50). It’s about a depressed woman who finds someone to kill her on the Internet – and it’s not me for a change. I’m branching out – I play twats as well as baddies these days.
Why do you like doing those kind of films?
The larger the film, in my case, the more likely I am to play a generic character who isn’t interesting. If it happens that I get offered interesting parts in big films, then I do them – but I want to have an interesting career and that means I need to work in independent films. There’s less pressure for characters to be good or bad in that bulls*** way they can only be in Hollywood films.
So have you been turning down superhero films then?
If I rant on about how I only want to do independent films and then decide to do a superhero film in six months time, then that’s my f***ing business. You do what you feel like doing at the time. I might fancy doing another Legend Of Zorro.
What’s the biggest extravagance you’ve seen on a big-budget film?
My status on sets has been up and down throughout my career. I’ve had enormous trailers and also been stuck in a toilet with a bin liner over the bog to pretend it’s a dressing room. That’s good. I did a film called Dark City years ago with the biggest trailer I’ve ever had – it was like a National Express coach. I thought there’d been a mistake and wandered out looking bemused and someone rushed up to me to check everything was OK. They were worried I’d throw a hissy fit, whereas I was just speechless they’d given me my own telly.
You won a lot of theatre awards for Rock’n’Roll. What have you done with them?
I keep them on the shelves. I want to look at mine for a little while before I put them in the toilet. I always wanted to start getting awards so I could be nonchalant about them.
Do you still get mistaken for Joaquin Phoenix?
It’s happened a couple of times recently but it doesn’t happen as often as it used to. It’s funny now but it used to really p*** me off. Since The Illusionist and Amazing Grace, I don’t clench in the same way I did when people come up to me. When I get asked to sign something, I always ask them who they think I am. I also get mistaken for Lovejoy. Mistaken identity isn’t always a bad thing. My mates used to be in the Royal Shakespeare Company and I learned very quickly that if I hung around the local pub with a dodgy Shakespearean beard, American tourists would tell me ‘You’re all so wonderful’ and buy me lager. I’d leave it until after the first drink to explain who I really was.
www.metro.co.uk/fame/interviews/article.html?in_article_id=56537&in_page_id=11
Anyway, here's the interview.
Rai
60 SECONDS: Rufus Sewell
by ANDREW WILLIAMS - Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Actor Rufus Sewell got his big break in the TV adaptation of Middlemarch. Since then, he's popped up as the baddie in various Hollywood films including A Knight's Tale and The Legend Of Zorro. In The Illusionist, he stars as villainous Crown Prince Leopold, who mucks up Edward Norton's love life. The Illusionist is out to buy now on DVD.
Can you do any magic tricks?
I used to have a magic trick which involved a bit of fag ash. I’d drag it out as a last-ditch attempt to get the attention of a girl I was trying to impress. It involves depositing a small amount of ash about her person and then revealing it later on – hey presto – as if it had just arrived there. I don’t remember how I did it. I never did it sober.
Do women find being covered in cigarette ash irresistible?
It was slightly more successful than you’d imagine but not very much.
Do women find being covered in cigarette ash irresistible?
It was slightly more successful than you’d imagine but not very much.
Did you have a nice time making The Illusionist?
Yes, surprisingly, seeing it’s the sixth film I made in a row in Prague. After months on end there, the announcement ‘we’re filming it in the fabulous historical city of Prague’ didn’t have me leaping for joy. Once I got over the shock of having that ridiculous beard glued to my face every day, it was enjoyable.
Have you got any tourist tips about Prague for our readers?
You’re picked up by someone speaking English, you go to work where everyone speaks English and then you get dropped back off at the hotel where everyone speaks English, so you become lazy and don’t see the city. After doing six films there, I only learned the words for ‘beer’ and ‘horse’ and I’ve forgotten the word for ‘horse’. When I was doing The Illusionist, I cleaned up my act and concentrated more on the architecture than the bars. It’s an extraordinary place and a wonderful Art Deco city – it was untouched by the wars. They tend to film in old bicycle factories and underpay their Czech workers. As soon as people wake up to the fact they’re having the mickey taken out of them, Hollywood moves on to somewhere like Romania.
I'm branching out - I play t**ts as well as baddies these days
Why do you prefer doing independent films to the Hollywood ones?
I’ve only done the bigger films because I’m not getting offered other things I’d prefer to do. Turning down work until you get offered something you like is a risky game. After months of unemployment, you can end up doing something worse than what you’ve been turning down. So far, it’s going pretty well. I’ve just done an independent film in Canada for around $15 (£7.50). It’s about a depressed woman who finds someone to kill her on the Internet – and it’s not me for a change. I’m branching out – I play twats as well as baddies these days.
Why do you like doing those kind of films?
The larger the film, in my case, the more likely I am to play a generic character who isn’t interesting. If it happens that I get offered interesting parts in big films, then I do them – but I want to have an interesting career and that means I need to work in independent films. There’s less pressure for characters to be good or bad in that bulls*** way they can only be in Hollywood films.
So have you been turning down superhero films then?
If I rant on about how I only want to do independent films and then decide to do a superhero film in six months time, then that’s my f***ing business. You do what you feel like doing at the time. I might fancy doing another Legend Of Zorro.
What’s the biggest extravagance you’ve seen on a big-budget film?
My status on sets has been up and down throughout my career. I’ve had enormous trailers and also been stuck in a toilet with a bin liner over the bog to pretend it’s a dressing room. That’s good. I did a film called Dark City years ago with the biggest trailer I’ve ever had – it was like a National Express coach. I thought there’d been a mistake and wandered out looking bemused and someone rushed up to me to check everything was OK. They were worried I’d throw a hissy fit, whereas I was just speechless they’d given me my own telly.
You won a lot of theatre awards for Rock’n’Roll. What have you done with them?
I keep them on the shelves. I want to look at mine for a little while before I put them in the toilet. I always wanted to start getting awards so I could be nonchalant about them.
Do you still get mistaken for Joaquin Phoenix?
It’s happened a couple of times recently but it doesn’t happen as often as it used to. It’s funny now but it used to really p*** me off. Since The Illusionist and Amazing Grace, I don’t clench in the same way I did when people come up to me. When I get asked to sign something, I always ask them who they think I am. I also get mistaken for Lovejoy. Mistaken identity isn’t always a bad thing. My mates used to be in the Royal Shakespeare Company and I learned very quickly that if I hung around the local pub with a dodgy Shakespearean beard, American tourists would tell me ‘You’re all so wonderful’ and buy me lager. I’d leave it until after the first drink to explain who I really was.
www.metro.co.uk/fame/interviews/article.html?in_article_id=56537&in_page_id=11
