Rufus in Vanity Fair Italy

[ophelia]

Thank you very much Germanlady and Judy. How wonderful

Love how he met his idols.

David Bowie. He was fantastic. He laughed at my jokes, more than others. And when one laughs at my jokes I immediately think that they have a great sense of humor.


The day after meeting Bowie, I had a appointment to work with Robert De Niro another idol. We read a script, and we spent a few hours together. And, just as with Bowie, I realized that the only way to survive encounter with someone you've admired for years , forget that it is your great hero to concentrate solely on the fact that it is a person, otherwise you will not able to keep the conversation going.


Must remember this advice when I meet the gorgeous Mr Sewell.

Love Ophelia xx

[anniem]

Thank you for posting germanlady and for the translation Judy.

[judypatooty]

Thanks for the new word, Rueful! "Googlish" is exactly how the translation came out. Believe it or not, what I posted is after I had edited Google's version! It kept saying "she" instead of "he"!

[rueful]

Nov 15, 2011 15:04:46 GMT judypatooty said:

"Googlish" is exactly how the translation came out. Believe it or not, what I posted is after I had edited Google's version! It kept saying "she" instead of "he"!

I believe you! Those things are always hilarious. Thanks again for making the effort. I couldn't figure out how to copy and paste from that website. I hope you didn't have to retype the whole thing!

Thanks for the new word, Rueful!

Googlish--the tortured English generated by Google translate.

There, now it has an official definition. Soon all the popular kids will be using it.

[judypatooty]

Nov 15, 2011 15:25:57 GMT rueful said:

Nov 15, 2011 15:04:46 GMT judypatooty said:

"Googlish" is exactly how the translation came out. Believe it or not, what I posted is after I had edited Google's version! It kept saying "she" instead of "he"!

I believe you! Those things are always hilarious. Thanks again for making the effort. I couldn't figure out how to copy and paste from that website. I hope you didn't have to retype the whole thing!

Actually, I did. I originally tried an online free OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program which claimed it could work with .jpg files, but it created a real mish-mash. So I just opened up a window showing a table of extended ASCII codes and the image in another and went to town!

Now I know how to insert all sorts of interesting accented letters that don't appear on my keyboard! (I was going to demonstrate it in this reply, but when I type "alt+133" or "alt+151" another program on my computer pops up.)

[rueful]

Well that is going waaaay above and beyond the call!!!!

Thank you, Judy!

Or as Googlish Rufus would say, "I was round. Several round!" ;D

[anglophile]

tells a second imaginative identity of the first President of the United States as a hunter vampires.

not to be too critical of a writer who is clearly a fellow fan, but this sounds as though lincoln is being identified as the first president of the u.s. washington must be spinning in his grave. on the other hand, i probably couldn't list the emperors of rome in order, either. ;D ;D

all in all, though, it was a lovely pick-me-up on the first dreary, rainy, truly cold day of the season. i'll practice gratitude instead of picki-ness.

and thanks for making the words and the photos available to us all.

[anglophile]

Relieved! The best part of life are promises and disappointments. If something ends, means that there is something new, perhaps better, waiting for you.

ok, the next time we bemoan rufus' limited appearances or an end to a project, we must remember the example he has set for us and look forward to the 'something new, perhaps better,' that is waiting for him.
and, so far, that seems to be working pretty well -- even though it's going to take some doing to get over losing zen and jacob an a weekly basis.
so he's not only gorgeous and talented and funny and sexy, he's also truly inspiring and encouraging of our better selves. what more could we ask for -- except the chance to see those things up close and personal on a regular basis. ;D ;D

[nell]

Many than for posting he link Germanlady and for the Googlish translation Judy

[dovescorpio]

Love the article and the translation - thank you!
One thing, when I clicked on the link, could see other stuff but not R's article. Would appreciate the publication date of the mag if anyone can figure it out. Thanks!

[castaneasativa]

ladies, thank you very much for posting this and for the translation!
It would be so nice to hear his voice... speaking Italian words.
ciao ragazzi

[judypatooty]

Nov 15, 2011 21:09:30 GMT dovescorpio said:

Love the article and the translation - thank you!
One thing, when I clicked on the link, could see other stuff but not R's article. Would appreciate the publication date of the mag if anyone can figure it out. Thanks!

Hi dovescorpio,

Thanks for noticing that! You need to scroll down to find the post that has the photos in it.

Here's a direct link, though: forums.thefashionspot.com/showpost.php?p=9927609&postcount=453

I'll go back and modify germanlady's original post so that the link is updated.

[rufianren]

Hi guys,

Delurking to post a translation below of the article. Please feel free to correct typos and the like (brain is not at optimum).

Cheers, Renata
----------------------------------------
Rufus Sewell

Why don't we have a picnic?

It might be because of his dark gaze, it might be because of his physique: if they need a villain, they call on him. "And when I turned them down I didn't work for a year." And then inventing a hobby so as not to have to say that...


The appointment is for a coffee at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Rufus Sewell, very tall and very handsome in person, is the guy who, among other things, broke Kate Winslet's heart in 'The Holiday' and is the lead in 'The Pillars of the Earth', directed by Ridley Scott, showing from 4 November on Rete 4. You've seen him in a bunch of films, including 'The Tourist '(in a silent role, another inexplicable thing in an inexplicable film), but maybe you don't remember his name because he is often off the radar. He is not a star, not a devotee of the red carpet. He might even have enjoyed that, but now this is his life: he is the English actor often sought out for period films, the one with the slightly sombre face who makes makes you exclaim "oh gosh, what's his name?".

On the rainy morning when we meet Rufus has just come back a few days earlier from New Orleans, from the set of a vampire film produced by Tim Burton. It is called 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter', and is the story of a fantasy second identity of the first president of the United States, as a
vampire hunter. Rufus is the head of the vampires who are being hunted.

How boring, this vampire mania. How did you also end up in it?

I'm the last to get on this train, but I have to say that I have always wanted to play a vampire, since forever. Many years ago I was a step away from playing Lestat, the hero of Interview with a Vampire.

And what happened?

[What happened was] that an actor more famous than me, one Tom Cruise, said he was interested and I was out.

Since then, however, you've almost specialised in villain roles.

That's true. The more money there is in a film the more likely it is that I will play the villain.

Do you mind?

I mind that they still write things in which there are good guys and bad guys, I mind slipshod [lazy] screenplays which, unfortunately, are in the majority.

Have you ever said no?

Yes. Afterwards, though, I didn't work for a year or two. And so, in order to get back to work, there I am doing a villain again, here and there.

What do you do when you're unemployed. I've read that you like photography.

I have to admit that I have started to tell some of your colleagues that photography is my hobby because I am embarassed to tell the truth. If I'm not working, I live. I go to the dentist, I watch TV and complain, I look around, basically I do the things that everyone does, but it seems unsuitable to tell journalists, so I invented the photography thing. In reality, on a day like today I do something else. I'm organising a picnic in my garden.

Its's raining, that doesn't seem like a great idea.

It's my girlfriend's birthday. [Ami Komai, hairstylist, they have been together for two years - editor's note]. We've already invited a ton of people.

But do you actually take any photographs?

Actually yes. I have a couple of super-professional cameras. I take portraits of people, trying to catch them in a moment of distraction, when they're not posing too much.

And what are you like when you pose?

I don't like to smile, I don't think I look good. So I put on my standard Duran Duran or Depeche Mode face, very Eighties.

Did you like those groups?

Not particularly. The only one who existed for me was David Bowie, I was a rabid fan. I had hair like him, dresed like him. Unfortunately I didn't have the body.

How do you mean?

I was chubby. Very chubby!

Did it bother you?

Like all adolescents. My brother made fun of me, he called me The Fat White Duke.

But then you lost weight. I'll bet, however, that your brother got fat.

Not a bit, damn him. He's always been thin, whereas I have to work to stay in shape.

Did you ever meet your idol David Bowie?

Yes, and I even told him about my brother rechristening me with that name, He was great. He laughed at my jokes, more than anything. And when someone laughs at my jokes I immediately think that they have a great sense of humour.

Meeting one's idols very often risks being a disappointment.

The day after meeting Bowie I had an appointment for a job with Robert De Niro, another idol. We read a script and then nothing came of it, but we spent a few hours together. And. exactly like with Bowie, I realised that the only way to survive an encounter with someone whom I had admired from
afar for years is to forget that he's a great hero and only concentrate on the fact that he's a person, otherwise your risk not even being able to have a conversation.

Last year you lived in Rome in order to film 'Zen', a TV series which, sooner or later, is supposed to be shown on Canale 5. When you are working abroad to you sometimes find one of your older films being shown dubbed on television?

Yes, often! It's a very strange sensation! For example, I saw a bit of 'Dangerous Beauty' [film from 1998 - editor's note] and I liked myself better in Italian. They gave me a much stronger voice, better suited to the character.

Lately you've appeared in television series which have subsequently been cancelled: it happened with 'Eleventh Hour' in the United States and 'Zen' in England. [Were you] disappointed?

Relieved! The best part of life are promises and disappointments. When something ends it means that there is something new, maybe better, waiting for you.

Optimist.

More than anything, terrified of routine. The more successful a series is, the more you risk not doing anything else for months, maybe years.

Are you telling me that if they offered you the leading role in the next Grey's Anatomy you wouldn't accept it?

Never say never. But the idea that my fate is sealed scares me more than being unemployed.

You're English: did you choose to live in Los Angeles to have an American career?

I came her for 'Eleventh Hour', I met my girlfriend and I stayed. It was not planned.

You've already been married twice: will you get married a third time?

Now you want to know too much!

Do you think your marriages didn't work because of the work you do?

When a relationship ends everyone tells themselves a more or less convincing story about the reasons why it ended or might have continued. And, when observed closely, every relationship has some malfunction which often, paradoxically, is what keeps the whole thing going.

Tell me about your son Billy: he's nine years old, does he watch your films?

Yes, he has seen some and understands what my work is. But a few years back, when I was filming with Banderas, he was telling everyone that I worked with Zorro.

That's funny.

Yeah, but it's not an original anecdote, I've mentioned it in other interviews. I'm sorry about recycling the joke but it's the most amusing thing my son has said.

It's astonishing that you're letting me know that this is something that has already been published. Usually your colleagues repeat the same things to everyone. Thank you.

Not at all. Can I go now? The picnic under the deluge awaits me.

[vmaciv]

I love his honesty and his sense of humor. I hope by the time he got to the picnic the sun was shining. Although I am willing to bet he would brighten up any day.

Thanks for the translation. I agree it is way beyond the call of duty.

I hope Vanity Fair prints the article in the US

[nell]

Thanks for the translation Renata