Q: I am 12 years old I am from Malaysia. I'll be going to London in May
this year and I'm wondering what plays will be on then, preferably for
children my age and above.
A: When you arrive in London buy "Time Out" magazine
which lists all the plays that are on in London. Apart from the
blockbusting musicals, you should be able to get cheaper tickets on the
day of the performance, either from the box-office of the individual
theatres or from the half-price booth in Leicester Square.
As for what is appropriate for you to see; when I was your age I
liked Shakespeare and other "adult" plays. You might start at
the Royal National
Theatre where there will be a number of good shows on. There are
afternoon performances on different days so you should be able to see 8
shows a week with luck. . . . I hope you have a wonderful visit.
On Fame
Q: First off, I think you're quite talented and want you to know that
you were an answer on Jeopardy today! ("He was knighted in 1991 and starred
in 1995's Richard III")
A: I really don't know what to say! "Ian" is quite a
useful word for crossword planners and has had me as a clue twice in the
New York Times puzzle.
On Acting School
Q: I am a high school student with aspirations of becoming an actor.
What acting courses or classes have you taken? And also, what previous
experience did you have before moving to film? I read somewhere that you
started on stage, then moved to movies. Do you have any advice for
aspiring actors like myself?
A: I didn't go to drama school and the only formal classes (of
voice, stage-fighting, dancing) have been as occasional supplementaries to
specific acting jobs. The Stage
section of this website will confirm that I "started on stage,
then moved to movies". See as much acting as you can on stage and
screen and analyse (with friends perhaps) why some is good and some isn't.
Act yourself as much as possible (paid or not) with people whom you admire.
Cold Comfort Farm
From: Patty Fraser fraserpatty@hotmail.com
Q: I want to say how much I enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm! How you managed
not to laugh when you were in the pulpit, I don't know.
A: The simple rule of playing comedy is to play the truth of the
situation — Amos Starkadder is deadly serious in the pulpit and puts
the fear of God into his congregation. Only the audience, outside the
situation, sees the fun. There is nothing less amusing than an actor who
can be seen trying to get a laugh.
Acting at 35
Q: A question about classical acting. A friend is just starting to take
lessons in Shakespearean acting: what do you think a person who is now 35
and has past "method" training should concentrate on?
A: Other correspondents have found useful John Barton's Playing Shakespeare (available as book and video) in which he
trains me and many others from the Royal Shakespeare Company to be alert
to the ways in which Shakespeare's verse advises the actor. In the
introduction to the published screenplay of the Richard III
movie (available here), I analyse the verse a little to make the same point.
Learning Lines
Q: What is your favored method for setting all of your lines to memory?
A: I first learn the thoughts and the feelings which underscore
the words.
Hollywood Homophobia
From: mortyt@aol.com
Q: I would like to ask Sir Ian how he feels about Hollywood's double
standard about gay actors. The Hollywood establishment is supposed to be
so liberal but there seems to be a permeating homophobia.
A: It amuses me how vote-grubbing politicians accuse Hollywood of
being liberal when its history and its present are stained with
reactionary tradition. Ronald Reagan's social attitudes are much more
representative of the Hollywood culture than the liberal caricature.
Just as over the years Hollywood movies have misrepresented the
lives of black and native American people in favour of honouring only
white-skinned immigrants, so gay people (until very recently) have been
slandered onscreen as misfits worth only a giggle or a fatal accident to
confirm society's prejudice against them.
Thanks in part to the alertness of GLAAD and others who monitor
public broadcasting and the media for anti-gay material, Hollywood's films
and television have noticeably matured in this regard. Los Angeles, like
other great cities in the States, is at ease with gays and lesbians, who
particularly in West Hollywood have an open presence that the authorities
respect. The local Lesbian and Gay Center is a model of enlightenment,
charitably caring for young people who identify as gay and have been
abused or abandoned by their families.
Yet, geographically close to such enlightenment, the dull, old
Hollywood ethos survives. Young gay actors, for example, are advised by
their agents, managers, casting directors et al to hide their
homosexuality just as Rock Hudson, Marlene Dietrich, Montgomery Clift and
so many others have done in the past. This policy of lying can only work
with the connivance of the media who oddly go along with the doubtful
belief that an openly gay actor will not be accepted by the public.
There are many fewer gay actors out in Hollywood than on Broadway
or in the West End. In the UK, I am proud to be in the company of Simon
Callow, Michael Cashman, Rupert Everett, John Gielgud, Nigel Hawthorne,
Simon Russell Beale, Antony Sher — all of whom are out and all of whom act
straight parts onscreen with acclaim. There are no British star lesbian
actors but as everyone knows there is a host of queer singers and comics
of both genders who shame our closeted colleagues.
That famous actors in Hollywood or anywhere else feel the need to
lie about their sexuality is a potent example of the strength of
internalised homophobia. There is no need. Meantime I suspect the
Hollywood Closet will be the last to fall and I love Anne Heche and Ellen
DeGeneres.
Apt Pupil
Q: In Apt Pupil, the one gay guy seemed like a total sick
creep. . . and then YOUR character kills him. I'm surprised you didn't
hesitate at playing this.
A: The homeless man (played by Elias Koteas) who alarms Dussander is only after a drink
and maybe a night's shelter, although he mistakes the old man's friendship
with the young Todd as predatory and attempts some feeble blackmail. This
hardly adds up to anything gay. I thought it important to see Dussander in
action. If the script had been expecting the audience to somehow
sympathise with this murder, I would not have played him.
Prejudiced Yobbos
Q: I know it's difficult, but as a woman of color I've always heeded my
mother's advice when dealing with prejudiced people: "Consider the
source." Most of the yobbos spewing anti-gay remarks about you are
nerdy, frightened little boys (and girls, I guess, although I doubt it)
whose only method of feeling "manly" is to be as offensive as
possible in a public forum.
A: Many thanks particularly for passing on your mother's sound
advice.
