34
DECEMBER2015
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
yourCockney accent, and I thought I
coulddo it, too.’ Later, I became good
friendswithDwayne Johnson.He told
me what a fan he was, because I was
working class likehim.”
•
ONWINNINGHIS
TWOOSCARS:
“The first timeIwon itwas forWoody
Allen’s
HannahandHerSisters
.Ididn’t
campaign at all, andWoody didn’t
like theOscars—the night theywere
broadcast he always went and played
with his jazz band at a nightclub.
Anyway, I was doing another picture,
Jaws
something-or-other [
Jaws:The
Revenge
],foragreatamountofmoney.
SuddenlyIgotnominated foranOscar,
and I was stuck on location, in the
it.They’re not going to askBradPitt,
are they?It’smucheasier foroldermen
than women—there are more parts
written.At this point, I don’t have a
sense of competitionwith actors. I’m
competing with myself. I’m trying
to get farther and farther from the
real me. If I were to play aCockney-
accented blokewith amother who’s a
charwoman, it wouldn’t bemuch of a
challenge,would it?”
•
ONBEINGA
WORKING-CLASSHERO:
“My first role was actually as an
aristocratic officer in
Zulu
, but I still
identifyasworkingclass. BobHoskins
toldmehebecameanactorbecauseof
me.He toldme, ‘I saw youdo it,with
Bahamas. Sowhen I was nominated
for
TheCiderHouseRules
, Imade sure
Iwas there.”
•
ONMEETINGAHERO:
“I was a little boy during thewar.We
were back and forthbetweenLondon
and the countryside—I livedwithmy
mother and six boys on a farm.After
thewar,wemovedoutof our cramped
London apartment and into council
housing.Strangely,WorldWar IIwas
the best thing that ever happened to
our family. I joined the Boy Scouts,
and one afternoon, when I was 15,
WinstonChurchill came to tea.He
said one thing I’ll always remember:
‘Boys,whenyou’regoing throughhell,
keepgoing.’”
hemi culture
THE MONTH AHEAD
“IREMEMBERFIRSTSEEINGHARVEYKEITELYEARSAGO IN
MEANSTREETS,BUTWE’DNEVERWORKEDTOGETHER.
FILMINGYOUTH,WECONNECTED IMMEDIATELY.”
