'Acting is not a battle or ego game'
Sir Ben Kingsley plays Ibrahim in The Thursday Murder Club
Netflix
- Michael Hodges
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How did you get this role?
My agent told me Steven Spielberg was after me for a project; I’d said yes four times before he got to the end of the sentence. Then I heard Chris Columbus was directing and I was over the moon. I Googled him a million times to find out what the project was, but only at the very last stages of my being invited was I told it was The Thursday Murder Club. I hadn’t come across the book and I thought it was delightful.
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Pierce and I gently refer to ourselves as Lauren and Hardy
Sir Ben Kingsley
You’re 81 — is it pleasantly surprising when all the lead roles are played by senior citizens?
From my perspective, it isn’t surprising because of my work in Shakespeare and then playing Gandhi going from his 20s to 80. That sweep of mortality, that sweep of our journey on this blessed Earth, is celebrated by including everything – even the darker side of getting older. I feel mortality should be ever present in any story that explores the human condition.
Sir Ben Kingsley in the title role of Gandhi, 1982, for which he won the best actor Oscar. Alamy
Do egos and styles clash when big-name actors come together?
No, ensemble pieces tap into the essential exercise of being an actor. Spencer Tracy, one of my heroes, said, “Make the other guy look good,” which is honestly the opposite of some of the garbage that’s pumped into students by acting coaches who say you have to “win the scene”. It’s not a battle or an ego game. At times the quartet on the screen broke into two duets, and Pierce and I became complementary forces – we gently refer to ourselves as Laurel and Hardy. That was a joyful discovery for both of us, I think.
Ibrahim is the quietest of the four Murder Club sleuths — were you taken by him?
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I’m fond of him, and I admire him, because he only speaks when it’s essential. He’s kind and his ego is comfortably in the right place. But he knows he’s a very, very good psychiatrist. And, if I’m asked, I’d love to put on his bow tie again.
Authors
Michael Hodges
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