Actor Rufus Sewell comes of age - NJ Star Ledger
Nov 1, 2007 19:09:55 GMT
Post by ukelelehip on Nov 1, 2007 19:09:55 GMT
Actor Rufus Sewell comes of age
Thursday, November 01, 2007
BY STUART MILLER
For the Star-Ledger
NEW YORK STAGE
NEW YORK -- Rufus Sewell is having a busy week. On Sunday he opens in Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll," his second Broadway appearance. And this past Monday, Sewell, who first earned notice in England in Stoppard's "Arcadia" in 1993, turned 40.
That birthday practically screams mid-life crisis, especially for someone who has chiseled good looks and makes a living in a youth-addicted industry. Yet Sewell, who has appeared in recent movies including "The Holiday," "The Illusionist" and "Amazing Grace," is as content with aging as he is excited about the opportunity to act in Stoppard's exploration of the intersection of rock music and the Czech revolution.
After all, the British actor has been evaluating his life and career for two years already.
"It was 38 that was a big deal for me," he says half in jest. "At 37, you're thinking, 'Yeah, yeah,' but then you hit 38, which is practically 40 -- and 'practically 40' is what does it. After that, actually turning 40 is a relief."
Sewell says he's at an age where everything is finally coming together. His father died when he was 10 and his delinquent teens were replete with truancy, drinks and drugs. He says from then into his early 20s, he had something of an older soul, or at least an older appearance.
"There was something vaguely, sadly 30s about me," he recalls. "People would say, 'How old are you, 30- ...' and I'd say, '23.'"
Naturally, Sewell couldn't wait to reach 30, but when he did, people still placed him as a decade older. Only now is he no longer ahead of his time.
"Now I've caught up with myself," he says, adding that cutting out the nightlife and cigarettes helped transform his outlook. "I don't want to have a conversation that leads to a bus hitting me, but I feel very healthy, and I feel physically better than I've ever felt before. I've got my act together and this is a good time for me."
Having a role like Jan in "Rock 'n' Roll" certainly helps, says Sewell, who won the Olivier Award and just about every other honor London had to offer during the play's West End run. Jan is a Czech outsider in London who returns to Prague in 1968 in the hope of fomenting the nascent push for freedom through rock music, specifically the homegrown (and apolitical) Plastic People of the Universe. (The soundtrack is also filled with Syd Barrett's solo work, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, with splashes from Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Velvet Underground and U2.) Jan's story is contrasted with that of his Cambridge professor Max (Brian Cox), an obstinate, unreformed Communist. Stoppard carries their journeys from the rolling of the tanks through the return of hope in 1990.
"He's a multifaceted, complex character, a complete person with the benefit of having the intellect of Tom Stoppard," Sewell says of Jan.
In addition to the challenge of playing intelligent and conflicted, Sewell gets to age from his 20s to his 50s and shift between two accents. But wait, there's more, he says. "It also has the most amazing speeches, a love story, really good rock 'n' roll, and it's directed by Trevor Nunn."
Just as Sewell didn't hesitate about tackling this part, Nunn and Stoppard knew Sewell was the man they wanted.
"We needed a kindred spirit to Tom since this play is kind of autobiographical," Nunn says. In "Arcadia," Sewell had proved "quick-witted and sparky with an innate comic sense," he adds.
Sewell's emphasis on television and film over theater since then (his prior trip to Broadway was the short-lived "Translations" in 1995) has helped, Nunn says -- their use of close-ups has made Sewell ever more precise.
For Sewell, theater is also a welcome reprieve from screen work, where after "Arcadia" he was long typecast in period pieces ("Middlemarch") and more recently as a villain ("The Legend of Zorro").
"In theater, people just tend to think of me as an actor," he says. He hopes that showing his versatility on stage will translate to similar opportunities on screen.
"People are only just beginning to get the idea of what I might be able to do, and so am I," he says. "If it goes the way I want it to, and I don't mean upward in a trajectory -- it could be outward, in really diversifying my roles-- that to me would be really exciting."
Thursday, November 01, 2007
BY STUART MILLER
For the Star-Ledger
NEW YORK STAGE
NEW YORK -- Rufus Sewell is having a busy week. On Sunday he opens in Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll," his second Broadway appearance. And this past Monday, Sewell, who first earned notice in England in Stoppard's "Arcadia" in 1993, turned 40.
That birthday practically screams mid-life crisis, especially for someone who has chiseled good looks and makes a living in a youth-addicted industry. Yet Sewell, who has appeared in recent movies including "The Holiday," "The Illusionist" and "Amazing Grace," is as content with aging as he is excited about the opportunity to act in Stoppard's exploration of the intersection of rock music and the Czech revolution.
After all, the British actor has been evaluating his life and career for two years already.
"It was 38 that was a big deal for me," he says half in jest. "At 37, you're thinking, 'Yeah, yeah,' but then you hit 38, which is practically 40 -- and 'practically 40' is what does it. After that, actually turning 40 is a relief."
Sewell says he's at an age where everything is finally coming together. His father died when he was 10 and his delinquent teens were replete with truancy, drinks and drugs. He says from then into his early 20s, he had something of an older soul, or at least an older appearance.
"There was something vaguely, sadly 30s about me," he recalls. "People would say, 'How old are you, 30- ...' and I'd say, '23.'"
Naturally, Sewell couldn't wait to reach 30, but when he did, people still placed him as a decade older. Only now is he no longer ahead of his time.
"Now I've caught up with myself," he says, adding that cutting out the nightlife and cigarettes helped transform his outlook. "I don't want to have a conversation that leads to a bus hitting me, but I feel very healthy, and I feel physically better than I've ever felt before. I've got my act together and this is a good time for me."
Having a role like Jan in "Rock 'n' Roll" certainly helps, says Sewell, who won the Olivier Award and just about every other honor London had to offer during the play's West End run. Jan is a Czech outsider in London who returns to Prague in 1968 in the hope of fomenting the nascent push for freedom through rock music, specifically the homegrown (and apolitical) Plastic People of the Universe. (The soundtrack is also filled with Syd Barrett's solo work, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, with splashes from Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Velvet Underground and U2.) Jan's story is contrasted with that of his Cambridge professor Max (Brian Cox), an obstinate, unreformed Communist. Stoppard carries their journeys from the rolling of the tanks through the return of hope in 1990.
"He's a multifaceted, complex character, a complete person with the benefit of having the intellect of Tom Stoppard," Sewell says of Jan.
In addition to the challenge of playing intelligent and conflicted, Sewell gets to age from his 20s to his 50s and shift between two accents. But wait, there's more, he says. "It also has the most amazing speeches, a love story, really good rock 'n' roll, and it's directed by Trevor Nunn."
Just as Sewell didn't hesitate about tackling this part, Nunn and Stoppard knew Sewell was the man they wanted.
"We needed a kindred spirit to Tom since this play is kind of autobiographical," Nunn says. In "Arcadia," Sewell had proved "quick-witted and sparky with an innate comic sense," he adds.
Sewell's emphasis on television and film over theater since then (his prior trip to Broadway was the short-lived "Translations" in 1995) has helped, Nunn says -- their use of close-ups has made Sewell ever more precise.
For Sewell, theater is also a welcome reprieve from screen work, where after "Arcadia" he was long typecast in period pieces ("Middlemarch") and more recently as a villain ("The Legend of Zorro").
"In theater, people just tend to think of me as an actor," he says. He hopes that showing his versatility on stage will translate to similar opportunities on screen.
"People are only just beginning to get the idea of what I might be able to do, and so am I," he says. "If it goes the way I want it to, and I don't mean upward in a trajectory -- it could be outward, in really diversifying my roles-- that to me would be really exciting."
