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08/05/2006
Film Festival Q&A... with Malcolm McDowellBritish actor Malcolm McDowell began acting when he was recruited for a school play and hasn't stopped, despite never taking an acting lesson. After small parts with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he made his screen debut in 1969. He was 26 when he starred in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 masterpiece film, "A Clockwork Orange," as the leader of a violent, futuristic gang. Thirty-five years and so many movies later he's lost count, the star talked about the legendary film, its director and his career-defining role with Record-Eagle staff writer Marta Hepler Drahos at the Traverse City Film Festival. Record-Eagle: How are you finding Traverse City and the Traverse City Film Festival? Malcolm McDowell: Very pleasant. I'm here because of one reason: Michael Moore. And who wouldn't be? I'm a great admirer of his. Not only is he a brilliant filmmaker, he's made documentaries a really important film form again and I'd like to thank him for that. Although as an actor there's no chance of me being in any of them. But I'm thrilled for him because he's politically such a brave person. And what he's done takes a lot of courage and we should all back him up. And I'm not really into the Republican, Democrat bull****, I'm just talking on a human level, as an intelligent human being and a generous one that he is. He puts his money where his mouth is. Now I learn that he's put up a lot of money for the festival. I don't know anyone else who'd do that, frankly. I hope this community gets it, loves him for it and can get past the bull**** of "Oh, well, he's anti-president." Anti-president, my a**. He's just anti-stupidity-knee-jerk reaction, he's anti-that, like every concerned citizen should be. RE: You're also here because of the Stanley Kubrick retrospective. Your portrayal of Alex DeLarge in "A Clockwork Orange" jump-started your screen career? MM: Actually it didn't. Because when I'd done this (1969) film, "If," that was a very important film and that really took me to Stanley Kubrick because he saw the film and he loved it. So when he read "Clockwork Orange" — this is what I was told later — he only thought of my face as the part. I was very lucky because Stanley Kubrick was one of the great masters of film and there was a handful of truly great ones ... The amazing thing is that "Clockwork Orange" was the most popular film of the ones that Kubrick made and it's still as fresh as ever. It's still being played. I think its even more (relevant) today. The interesting thing is that when it first came out, nobody could get past the violence of it. When we made it, we made a black comedy. It was pretty black, but it was a black comedy. Now audiences just roar with laughter. So they really get it. Now we've caught up. When I saw it four years ago or the last time I saw it, I was amazed at how much the audience got in terms of comedy. It was just really nice to see. RE: Does it bother you that 35 years later, after everything you've done, you're still known best for that role? MM: Not really, because it was a career-defining role and how many do you get in a career? It's not that many. John Gielgud was always known for his Hamlet because he's an excellent Hamlet. But you know, roles I've played lately are very different. So I think that young people know me from (the HBO series) "Entourage," they don't even know "Clockwork Orange," so that's interesting in itself. It used to (tick) me off, but 10 years after I did it, I said, "Well, you know. I'm doing another film now; I don't give a damn about that film." But the truth is, with time, you go, "Hey, wait a minute. You should be so lucky." And that's the way I feel now. I'm so fortunate to have made it. It still is such a living thing in a way, even though a lot of the people who were connected with it are gone now. But it's still an amazing piece of work. RE: I read that your role as the leader of the violent gang was so unforgettable that the public couldn't separate the character from the actor later. MM: It wasn't the public, it was the people that cast films, and the directors. I think it was so indelible at the time. Which was, of course, a back-handed compliment. But I was (ticked) off because they just wanted me to play the same part, which I refused to do. And Mick Travis in "O Lucky Malcolm," which I got to do straight after, was the antithesis of Alex, he was an innocent. And then you've got idiots like (then critic) Charles Champlin of the L.A. Times saying, "Well, it's basically the same part." It isn't the same part. RE: The role you play in "O Lucky Malcolm" was inspired by your work as a coffee salesman. How did that and other jobs that are unrelated to the film industry help you with your acting career? MM: When you're a salesman, you do tend to change your spots with whomever you're trying to sell to. I was selling coffee in Yorkshire to these landladies, and if you know England, you know that, especially in Yorkshire, they don't drink coffee, they drink tea. So I was sort of, "Oh, that young fellow," "Oh, the coffee man." And they would be asking me things like, "Can you fix the espresso machine?" And I'd say, "Fix it? No, I just sell the coffee. I don't know about that. You have to get the mechanic to do that. But I'll try." I remember once I was there eight hours trying to figure it out and completely ruined it for them. But it was a very good place. I always say it was my drama school. And the joke was, because I followed a guy who was the salesman for that area who literally sold everything but coffee — he was into selling nylons, watches, radios on the side — by doing just the minimum amount of work, I was setting records for the territory in terms of sales. And in fact, they all thought that I was some wunderkind, which was actually untrue ... I used to go places and they'd say, "That watch I bought is not working. I want (a replacement). "I'd say, 'Watch? I'm the coffee salesman.' "Well, we bought a watch from ..." And I'd say, "He's no longer here. That was illegal dealings." So it's all in the film. We used everything. And it's a beautiful film. RE: Why do you think that there was such furor over "A Clockwork Orange," which was actually x-rated at one time? MM: Films have to break boundaries and we're always pushing the boundaries. The thing about "Clockwork Orange" is its brilliance, if you like. It's not just a violent film. I don't think there's hardly any blood at all. The only blood actually is mine, from a nosebleed. It's all sort of "mind." It created a futuristic world which foretold, by the way, all these gangs and drugs, and that's what (novel author Anthony) Burgess and Kubrick were able to do. And so it's really brilliant from that point of view. You have this dichotomy, this central character who is really an immoral character, he's a murderer, he's a rapist, but he has redeeming qualities, one of them being he loves Beethoven. You can't be all bad if you love Beethoven. So my job was, I suppose, to make him tough and yet make sure we didn't lose the audience. So I chose to do this in his love of life. You can't hate somebody, even if they're doing the wrong thing, if they love life. And that was the way I did it. It was a conscious decision on my part to do it that way. It was hard. It was a very delicate line and at times I wasn't sure I could pull it off. RE: What are some of your favorite memories of working with Stanley Kubrick? MM: Actually he had a great sense of humor when you found it, very dry. Which sort of really suited me because mine is a bit the same. And I really could make him laugh. I could make him laugh so much at times that he would actually cry. And when he went, he really went. So that was very special. RE: You've played such a wide range of roles — everything from Caligula to H.G. Wells to John Lennon to the mad scientist who killed Captain Kirk in "Star Trek: Generations." Weren't you even "a British person" in South Park? What do you look for in a role? MM: I don't. They look for me. You can only do what you're offered. I like to think of myself as a working actor. It's not to say I would do absolute cr*p, if I thought it was. But if it's actually cr*p with a big, big payday, because I'm pragmatic — I have to pay my mortgages, you know — of course I'll do it. Because I'm a professional. And I don't censor the roles I play. If I have to play a murderer, I don't say, "Oh, dear, I've got to get into the skin of a murderer, otherwise I won't know how to do it." Because I'm a professional, of course I know how to do it. So I don't need to go into a big method thing and all that. But I have been very lucky. I recently did a film with Bob Altman playing the artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet in a beautiful film, a little vignette kind of film, called "The Company," which is a beautiful film. And to work with a master like Bob was a thrill for me because I'd known him for 40 years and I used to joke to him, "Don't ever be a friend of Bob Altman if you want to be in one of his movies." We've always had a great time together, he and I. Wherever we met and whatever city we were in, we'd get together, have dinner, and have a raucous time, great laughs, into the wee hours. And we were naughty boys, really; nothing malicious, just good-natured. And I did a wonderful film in Russia called "Evilenko" about a serial killer. It's quite an amazing film. RE: And then there's the (1998) remake of "Fantasy Island," in which you play Mr. Roarke, and (1996-1997's) "Perl" with Rhea Perlman. I've read some criticism that sometimes you're in some real "dogs." Should every dog have its day? MM: Of course. The thing is this: I'm not the director of the film or the writer. I'm only the actor. I'm not an artist. I just say what they give me and try and make something interesting out of it. It's the best I can do. It's not rocket science. And I try to do it with humor and I try to do it with energy, and I try to have fun. Some of the films are absolute cr*p, but there you are. As I say, I'm a working actor. You learn something from everything. And I've done a lot of work, so of course you're going to get your (share) of terrible movies, but I'm always looking for that little pearl in the oyster. "Evilenko" is one of them, and there's another one called "Gangster No. 1" which is the most profane, violent film I've ever made, but it's a brilliant piece. So there have been some great parts in my life. I'll do "War and Peace" in Russia at the end of the year. And before that I'm going to do a film in Toronto, "A Pound of Flesh," which is based on a true story about an English professor at a university on the East Coast who, to help his female students pay their way through college, sets up an escort service. So basically he's an English professor-pimp. It's a lovely part and he's an adorable man. RE: It sounds like you don't have any trouble getting parts. MM: I've been kept pretty busy. I've been doing "Entourage" this year, and they wrote a very nice part for me on "Law and Order." Normally they don't, it's all plot. Really, if they had a gorilla with a pipe in its mouth as one of the actors, you'd never notice. But this was a really good part, so I did it. "Monk" I did because of Tony Shalhoub, who I adore. RE: So you're not one of those movie actors who pooh-poohs the small screen? MM: God, no. I mean, I'll do a radio play if it's well written. I don't really care.
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