Exactly as he likes it
Cassam Looch caught up with Adrian Lester to talk about taking on the Bard (again), working with Kenneth Branagh (again) and saving the planet from destruction… and guess what? He’s done that before, as well!
The film is another collaboration with Kenneth Branagh. I’m guessing you enjoy working with him?
This is my second film with Ken, so he is certainly a good director. He’s a great actors director, and he’s not nothing if not bold with he’s ideas and adaptations of arguably the countries greatest playwright.
What are the differences with him being an actor as well as a director; does it vary much from other directors you’ve worked with?
Well he can cut straight to the chase, he knows what its like to generate that emotion night after night, and he knows what its like to speak those words himself. A lot of directors can also be in tune with that, but they might not have the experience to draw out some things Ken can, purely because he’s done it himself. But to be fair I’ve had a really good list of people that I’ve worked with in the past as well, I mean it really is a whole raft of bloody good directors.
Having worked with so many heavyweights, does it tempt you to work on the other side of the camera?
It does actually. I’ve got a project that I’ve been nursing for about eight months and I’m about to start approaching theatres to talk about directing it.
And are you going to be taking any advice from the people you’ve worked with in the past?
All of them! Every single one. I mean Ken for example is a great facilitator which I’ve seen first hand, and that’s something very useful. I’m not ashamed. The project itself is timely, so that’s the main pressure. It needs to get out whilst it’s still topical. But also I wouldn’t jump behind the camera just yet.
Do you think that directing for the stage is conducive to directing for the screen?
It is I think. I mean I’ve several years of tours and plays and musical so I think there is a wealth of knowledge that I can rely on when I direct. For film there’s a whole other world of technical processes that I’m only now beginning to understand.
Going back to film, what are the differences of performing Shakespeare on stage as opposed to the screen?
There are particular passages in Shakespeare that are essential on stage but not so on the screen. You have to remove anything that blocks the viewer from seeing the characters point of view. On screen of course you can problem solve in different ways, certainly in terms of the introspection because of how far physically you are away from the audience, or how close. Sometimes the words or more likely the Elizabethan language can get in the way if it’s just ‘delivered’ rather than ‘felt’, but that’s across the board and not just Shakespeare either.
And would Shakespeare have embraced the film medium?
Oh yeah, he would have had a whale of a time! He was like a ‘raider of the lost plot’, he made it for the masses and it would be the same thing for television as well. He’d appeal to the everyman as well as professors. If he wrote a comedy it would be like ‘Frasier’ or suspense maybe something like ‘24’. He would certainly get around the problems I mentioned before in a more creative way.
And this film is about...
Familial rivalry. It’s quite an intense emotion that can be seen, I mean it can be easy to dismiss someone who is getting something you want if they have different opportunities, parents or backgrounds. But what if they are from the same family? It then becomes a lot more intense… And in this play there are two pairings of brothers, and for my character it is hatred. He hates his brother for the same reasons that everyone else loves him. Once the story moves to the Forest of Arden, the characters begin to go through changes, and re-evaluations.
And now another one we’re really excited about is ‘Doomsday’, Neil Marshall’s follow up to The Descent. Is that finished yet?
It is. I’m now waiting to see it on the screen much like everyone else I guess…
You’ve done a few big budget projects...
Well it’s going to look like that, he (Neil) has taken something like 30 million (or so) budget and he’s going to make it look like 10 times as much. It’s going to be visionary and I’m really looking forward to it
Do you enjoy those sorts of films?
Love ‘em. I really don’t get a chance to see that many but definitely enjoy those fun entertaining films as much as anything else… I mean ‘Doomsday’ I get to run around and shoot stuff, great. And then I also get to play a great character like ‘Oliver’ so I can’t complain...