An Excellent interview with AR
From www.post-gazette.com/pg/08343/933167-129.stm
Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Alan Rickman
Monday, December 08, 2008
By Patricia Sheridan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Alan Rickman says it was fun to play the role of a college professor and Nobel Prize winner in "Nobel Son."
The 62-year-old British actor Alan Rickman has proved he can do it all, playing the flawed, the villainous and valiant. American audiences became aware of him after his portrayal of the evil German mastermind Hans Gruber in the 1988 movie "Die Hard." And as Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" movies, Rickman is almost as wicked as He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Theater-trained, Rickman bounces between stage and screen, balancing a lucrative career and a longtime relationship with partner Rima Horton. Currently he can be seen playing egomaniac and Nobel laureate Eli Michaelson in "Nobel Son." In theaters now, it's a complex story with twists and turns dealing in relationships, familial bonds and the lack of absolutes in both.
Q: In the movie, the idea is expressed that good and bad are not so absolute. Is that a concept you incorporate into all the characters you play?
A: Well, I try. Just because of my training and everything else, and because of what I believe about storytelling -- that certainly as an actor you must not judge your character. It's for the audience to do that. You kind of hand over, for want of a better word, your equipment to the character, and you hope that you've judged it to be good writing because that will support you.
Q: You have said the key to a good performance begins with the writing.
A: Totally. I'm nowhere without a good script.
Q: Do you think bits and pieces of the characters you have played stay with you?
A: Um, no, I don't. I think you keep the two things very separate. My life is pretty separate. My life informs my work rather than the other way around.
Q: Was there anything about your character in "Nobel Son" you particularly liked playing?
A: I think that any man who is vaguely honest will recognize this is a world run by men for men, on the whole. This is like taking that to a ridiculous extreme. What happens then is he may be a grown man in a suit, but he's actually got the conscience and soul of a 12-year-old. So that actually, in certain places, just makes it fun to play. It doesn't mean it's fun to watch, but it's fun to play. [laughing]
Q: You appear to be very sure of yourself. How much of your confidence is manufactured, and how much was instilled in you by your mother or others?
A: I'm as insecure as the next actor in terms of, you know, whether you are ever going to work again and all of those things. I think any actor you ask will say that. This is a business not only based on ability; it is based on fashion and age and youth and all sorts of trends and tricks and so-called qualities. I come from certain strong values via a working family and family that has always been incredibly supportive. But I'm not at all starry-eyed about anything. I went to a great school, and I had some great teachers. I suppose I have always seen my job as also connected to the real world, not just, as it is, to fantasy. I hope actors see themselves on some level as being responsible citizens, as well as part of a dream factory.
Q: Have you ever considered doing a part just for the money?
A: No.
Q: Do you think you have lived up to your potential?
A: No. No, the horizon, you keep swimming toward it, and it always stays just as far away.
Q: Did you consider yourself attractive growing up?
A: No, not at all. But I never really thought about those things. I don't know, I think things changed so much when I was growing up from a teenager into the 20s. Youth started to take over the world a bit, and judgments of people changed. Eccentrics were more allowed. I think I've always seen myself as being not particularly in the mainstream.
Q: Your character portrayals are so multilayered. Is that instinctual, or do you do a lot of prep work?
A: It's just keeping myself interested, I suppose. People live in three dimensions, and they are not cartoons, and if you've got good writing, you owe it to that writing to delve exactly into this person and what they might be capable of.
Q: Do you think that great English accent gives you an advantage when it comes to seducing American audiences?
A: I don't think so. I think there are a lot of preconceptions about accents. There is a wonderful marriage of accents in people like Katharine Hepburn or Spencer Tracy. That is a beautiful use of the English language.
Q: How have you managed to keep celebrity from affecting your life?
A: Because theater remains as important to me as film, and I came to film pretty late. You have to roll your sleeves up in the theater and really confront issues in a very straightforward and nightly way. That becomes about stamina and discipline. You learn that you don't have any real freedom without real discipline. It means years and years of hard work, and you never get it right and the horizon keeps moving away. Look at this crazy world. It gets crazier and crazier to try to be an actor in the middle of things going on in Mumbai or Israel and Palestine or wherever. OK, we make people's lives easier, but we can also challenge them. There is nothing wrong with being purely entertaining, but as actors it is to our advantage to try and keep our feet on the ground.
Q: You have been in a great long-term relationship. I think you've been together with Rima Horton something like 40 years. Why haven't you married, and how do you keep it going?
A: Well, you know, those are very personal questions, and maybe one of the things that has kept me sane is not answering them [laughing].
Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Alan Rickman
Monday, December 08, 2008
By Patricia Sheridan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Alan Rickman says it was fun to play the role of a college professor and Nobel Prize winner in "Nobel Son."
The 62-year-old British actor Alan Rickman has proved he can do it all, playing the flawed, the villainous and valiant. American audiences became aware of him after his portrayal of the evil German mastermind Hans Gruber in the 1988 movie "Die Hard." And as Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" movies, Rickman is almost as wicked as He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Theater-trained, Rickman bounces between stage and screen, balancing a lucrative career and a longtime relationship with partner Rima Horton. Currently he can be seen playing egomaniac and Nobel laureate Eli Michaelson in "Nobel Son." In theaters now, it's a complex story with twists and turns dealing in relationships, familial bonds and the lack of absolutes in both.
Q: In the movie, the idea is expressed that good and bad are not so absolute. Is that a concept you incorporate into all the characters you play?
A: Well, I try. Just because of my training and everything else, and because of what I believe about storytelling -- that certainly as an actor you must not judge your character. It's for the audience to do that. You kind of hand over, for want of a better word, your equipment to the character, and you hope that you've judged it to be good writing because that will support you.
Q: You have said the key to a good performance begins with the writing.
A: Totally. I'm nowhere without a good script.
Q: Do you think bits and pieces of the characters you have played stay with you?
A: Um, no, I don't. I think you keep the two things very separate. My life is pretty separate. My life informs my work rather than the other way around.
Q: Was there anything about your character in "Nobel Son" you particularly liked playing?
A: I think that any man who is vaguely honest will recognize this is a world run by men for men, on the whole. This is like taking that to a ridiculous extreme. What happens then is he may be a grown man in a suit, but he's actually got the conscience and soul of a 12-year-old. So that actually, in certain places, just makes it fun to play. It doesn't mean it's fun to watch, but it's fun to play. [laughing]
Q: You appear to be very sure of yourself. How much of your confidence is manufactured, and how much was instilled in you by your mother or others?
A: I'm as insecure as the next actor in terms of, you know, whether you are ever going to work again and all of those things. I think any actor you ask will say that. This is a business not only based on ability; it is based on fashion and age and youth and all sorts of trends and tricks and so-called qualities. I come from certain strong values via a working family and family that has always been incredibly supportive. But I'm not at all starry-eyed about anything. I went to a great school, and I had some great teachers. I suppose I have always seen my job as also connected to the real world, not just, as it is, to fantasy. I hope actors see themselves on some level as being responsible citizens, as well as part of a dream factory.
Q: Have you ever considered doing a part just for the money?
A: No.
Q: Do you think you have lived up to your potential?
A: No. No, the horizon, you keep swimming toward it, and it always stays just as far away.
Q: Did you consider yourself attractive growing up?
A: No, not at all. But I never really thought about those things. I don't know, I think things changed so much when I was growing up from a teenager into the 20s. Youth started to take over the world a bit, and judgments of people changed. Eccentrics were more allowed. I think I've always seen myself as being not particularly in the mainstream.
Q: Your character portrayals are so multilayered. Is that instinctual, or do you do a lot of prep work?
A: It's just keeping myself interested, I suppose. People live in three dimensions, and they are not cartoons, and if you've got good writing, you owe it to that writing to delve exactly into this person and what they might be capable of.
Q: Do you think that great English accent gives you an advantage when it comes to seducing American audiences?
A: I don't think so. I think there are a lot of preconceptions about accents. There is a wonderful marriage of accents in people like Katharine Hepburn or Spencer Tracy. That is a beautiful use of the English language.
Q: How have you managed to keep celebrity from affecting your life?
A: Because theater remains as important to me as film, and I came to film pretty late. You have to roll your sleeves up in the theater and really confront issues in a very straightforward and nightly way. That becomes about stamina and discipline. You learn that you don't have any real freedom without real discipline. It means years and years of hard work, and you never get it right and the horizon keeps moving away. Look at this crazy world. It gets crazier and crazier to try to be an actor in the middle of things going on in Mumbai or Israel and Palestine or wherever. OK, we make people's lives easier, but we can also challenge them. There is nothing wrong with being purely entertaining, but as actors it is to our advantage to try and keep our feet on the ground.
Q: You have been in a great long-term relationship. I think you've been together with Rima Horton something like 40 years. Why haven't you married, and how do you keep it going?
A: Well, you know, those are very personal questions, and maybe one of the things that has kept me sane is not answering them [laughing].