-Hello Kevin. -Hello.
Very nice to meet you.
Thank you.
Thanks for making this documentary or at least contributing to it. I think it's fascinating
to go behind the scenes on something as grand as this, and what was interesting though is
it all seems quite... It's all just people working hard. That's what it is.
Yeah, I mean I suppose for people who don't quite get theatre to some degree. For people
who don't really go. We've sort of made the movie partly for them. We've also made the
movie for people who love theatre and love to go to the theatre, and I guess on this
particular scale, it's a pretty unusual opportunity to go behind the scenes and to see what it's
like to be an actor in a company and to put together a part and to do classic work on
a big grand scale across so many countries and cities around the world. You know, it's
rarely done anymore. So I'm really glad that we've decided, let's capture what this experience
is like.
It must have taken it out of you as well. Because it's actually, by the end of it, you're
quite exhausted watching it just because of the repetition, and I've always wondered how
a stage actor is able to continue to do that for how many shows? 300?
I mean, we probably did a little more than 200 performances in the course of the ten
months that we did Richard III, but I guess it's a little bit like... I always like to
make the analogy of sports because that's something people can sort of understand. Like
if you were to say to somebody, well isn't it boring going out and doing the same thing
every night? You know, it's the same words, and I go well but if you went out every night
and you played eight nights of tennis. Yeah, it's the same rules, but it's a different
game every time you're out on a court. You're working on a different part of your game.
Your partner's working on a different part of their game, and the act of being watched
changes it, so it's always new. It's always fresh. You're always extending yourself and
trying new things and going new places, and it's always different because the audience
is responding differently. So in fact, it's never the same.
Is there ever a fear that you'll have a Shakespeare nerd in the front row who is analysing the
language? Because the language is so precious, you think if you just skip a word, there's
probably some really geeky...
The truth is sometimes... Our students seats are always the front row, and so sometimes
a young actress will come with a script, looking, and you're just like put the script down.
Just enjoy it. Just put it down. Yeah, we definitely get some nerd people in the front row.
And when it comes to learning the language - this is quite a child like question, but
you do watch segments of the show in the documentary, and you sit there wondering... I don't care
how many years you've gave me or anyone perhaps, is it like a muscle that you kind of have
to exercise in order to... Because that very first line, if you for some reason had a blank.
That's it. You're done.
Yeah, it is true that when you forget in Shakespeare, and I often forgot, and I would often make
up things just to continue talking. Weirdly I was able to end things in iambic pentameter,
which is always very odd to me and the rest of the company, that I would still somehow
make it the right rhythm.
Regular language you would turn Shakespearean?
I would completely... I mean sometimes, you just say... your brain is not working and
your tongue is not working and sometimes comes out of your mouth that is not even remotely
close to what Shakespeare wrote, and it makes no sense, but oddly it sort of times out rhythmically.
And I actually, I think it was the first day of rehearsal that I actually said the wrong
line. The very first line of the play I said from another play that starts also with now,
and everyone thought I was making a joke, but I was actually just nervous.
Kevin Spacey the professional.
I was really nervous. But I also think the great thing about Shakespeare too is even
for people who are not familiar with the language, in the sense that it sounds so different and
it's so new for a lot of people, is that it doesn't even matter that you don't understand
the words because Shakespeare made up about 3,000 words. Number one. And I think that
if you can follow the story, and I think it's so clear about relationships and stuff that
it's actually kind of easy. Like if you just sort of like ease into it and let ten minutes
go by, it'll actually start to wash over you, and you don't really have to worry about it
after awhile. You can sort of just follow the play.
-You kind of tune your ear to it as well. -Yeah exactly.
Do you see parallels between Richard III and any Hollywood bosses? Big producers, big ball
busters?
No, I did a movie many years ago called Swimming with Sharks, in which I played a studio boss,
and at the time, I remember him telling who I was basing my character on, but I never
actually met any of those people. Yeah, I mean, I guess there are some ball busters
in Hollywood who have incredible reputations for being absolute witches to work with, but
I'm kind of lucky. I haven't really come across them yet. I haven't really come across them.
I've been fortunate in my film experience to have very few experiences where I was working
with people who are just horrible.
And quickly, before I go, because I know I have to go... House of Cards. It's a phenomenon.
I bet you didn't think it would be. Lots of fans across the world. Has anyone come up
to you that you didn't expect would watch it? I think Barack Obama's a big fan, isn't he?
Barack Obama's watched it and apparently enjoys it very much, though I've never had a conversation
with him about it. Bill Clinton likes it a lot. "I love it. House of Cards." And it's
been interesting to go sort of around the world and see people... I went to China recently,
and it is huge in China, which is sort of surprising since in season two, we have some
Chinese relations that don't go all that well, but apparently it's very, very big in China.
So it's very interesting to see how the show's been responded to. Fans have been awesome.
I'm very lucky.