I've just started making character notes for Brian Hamilton in The Murder Game and this is what I've got: Ex-racing driver; drinks to excess; vain; misses being important; weak - easily swayed; dubious morals - content to live off wife and betray her trust whilst doing it.
I play lots of these blokes, so I suppose I must look like a bit of a bastard. You find that directors frequently cast you as similar character types if you work with them more than once, especially in film. In Folie a Deux I played the twin of a character from another of Sean's films, and you don't get more carbon-copy than that.
There's plenty of meat on these characters, at least. My nightmare roles are romantic leads - I played Jack Chesney in Charley's Aunt, years ago - drippy, insipid and uninspiring. In post-show discussions I'm always telling students that you can't do too much work for a part, but I confess that parts like that floor me.
Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses - now that's a part. What a shit that man is! Here's a scarily youthful me playing him at drama school last century:
2 comments:
I remember you playing that Valmont - perhaps the only person reading this blog who does. You were quite amazingly good. Funnily, whenever I do any acting (rarely obviously) the parts I'm best are very sexualized and sexy women - not at all how I think of myself! Maybe we're both revealing some unknown inner self? Of course, there's also the fact that villains and sexy women are more complicated than romantic leads and nice girls, so perhaps they bring out more...
I think it's an inner wannabe self, flying hopelessly in the face of public opinion! Well for me, anyway. A Latin handle on its own cranks up the sexiness considerably, though, if you were afflicted with a Classical education as I was. And I have no doubt you are the only one who remembers that Valmont...
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