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It's
daunting enough having to interview a theatrical giant in his dressing
room without having to ask him about a character that everybody
knows or has an opinion about, like Hamlet, King Lear - or David
Brent for that matter!
So
it was with some relief that I needed to speak to Simon Callow about
a relatively new character and the latest one that he has taken
on - the part of Mark Melon in The Holy Terror.
The
play was only two weeks into its national tour ahead of arriving
in the West End and very little had been written about it.
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| Simon
Callow as Mark Melon in The Holy Terror |
But
the part had already been variously described as 'hyperdemented',
'obsessively jealous' and 'emotionally bankrupt', so I was keen
to find out Simon's opinion?
"That's
a bit unkind" he laughs. "Although he is probably all
of those, but really he's a brilliant man."
"He's
a fantastically good publisher who has transformed the fortunes
of two publishing houses just by brilliant instincts and ruthlessness"
he continues.
"He's
fantastically good at spotting talent and seeing the potential of
projects but he's also brilliant at getting rid of dead wood."
"In
many ways he's an admirable man to have on board."
Demons
But Simon then goes onto explain how inner demons take hold and
the play follows Mark into and out of a breakdown.
"He
has always been run by adrenalin but he begins to behave in ways
which are excessive, strange and destructive" he explains.
"Finally
he does succumb to violent and unfounded jealousy of his wife and
slips into a temporary madness."
In
fact, as he goes on to explain, it's a real tale of our times.
"It's
a very characteristic story" he continues. "It could be
any high flying person. He's just crazed by his own adrenalin."
But
he is also quick to point out that it's not a moral tale as the
play doesn't say that if you behave like Mark Melon you'll end up
mad.
"What
the play says is that if you're behaving like him you may be in
the grip of something that you don't know about" he explains.
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| Simon
Callow is The Holy Terror |
"The
most important line of the play is 'It can happen to anybody, I
must insist on that, anybody'" says Simon.
"It
doesn't matter how good a life you lead, how carefully you select
your diet or how often you go to church, it's there waiting."
"It's
just about the kind of mental collapse that many people experience
at one time or another in their lives" he adds. "Much
more than is generally credited."
Laughs
Up to now, it doesn't sound like there are too many laughs in it,
but of course there are, remember who wrote it.
"Because
it's by Simon Gray, it's ironic, comic, but in a black but brilliant
kind of way, and very compassionate in the end" reveals Simon.
And
there are lots of laughs too.
"It's
very, very funny and gorgeously witty" he adds.
"But
it switches instantly from extreme pain to hilarity and even more
daringly, he [Mark] goes from being right in the middle of pain
to snap straight into comedy, which is much more difficult than
the other way round."
I thought
that playing a man having a breakdown eight days a week was quite
likely to produce a breakdown in the actor and Simon admits that
it was very challenging.
"It's
very demanding" he agrees, "one of the most demanding
parts I've ever played."
"It's
like Othello, King Lear and Hamlet rolled into one with a touch
of Delboy from Only Fools and Horses."
"It's
quite a kaleidoscope of a play, a vortex, it kind of sucks you in.
And it's also a bit hallucinatory at times."
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| Simon
Callow stars as Oscar Wilde in David Hare's The Judas Kiss -
2000 |
Revised
The part of Mark Melon is not actually that new of course. The Holy
Terror is a completely revised version of Gray's 1988 play 'Melon',
but, as Simon explains, only about two per cent of Melon is in The
Holy Terror which bears very little relation to its predecessor.
"Apart
from the characters and the situations, it's nothing to do with
Melon" he says. "It's just another view of events."
"But
he [Simon Gray] is like that. He wasn't entirely satisfied with
Melon so instead of just tinkering with it a bit, he started again
from scratch!"
Career
It's now getting very near to when Simon has to go on stage and,
much as I don't want to keep him any longer, I can't leave without
asking a bit about his extraordinary career.
Simon
Callow has directed and starred in many West End productions, including
his recent successful 'The Mystery of Charles Dickens' while his
numerous television and film credits include 'Shakespeare in Love',
'Four Weddings and a Funeral', 'A Room with a View'and 'Amadeus'.
He
has also written a number of bestselling books including 'Being
an Actor' and biographies of Charles Laughton and Orson Welles.
So,
with such a diverse career behind him, does he get annoyed when
his publicity material only ever seems to mention one job. It always
seems to say - starring Simon Callow (Four Weddings and a Funeral)
- in recognition of his memorable portrayal of Gareth in the hit
film?
"No
I don't mind" he smiles. "It's probably the way that most
people will know who I am."
"It
was a wonderful character in a very good film and I'm delighted
that people remember me for something like that. I'd be pretty cross
if they remembered me for a terrible performance in a terrible film!"
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| Simon
Callow as Charles Dickens |
But
ideally, what would he really like to see in those brackets?
"Well
- I'm very proud to have created the part of Mozart in Amadeus and
very proud to have played all of Faust - all seven hours of it"
he says.
But
Simon is particularly happy with his acclaimed performance in 'The
Mystery of Charles Dickens' which was hugely successful in the West
End and on Broadway. But his satisfaction with this was for reasons
that surprised me.
"It
restored my confidence and faith in acting" he says. "I
wasn't enjoying the experience, something was wrong."
"I
wasn't communicating with the audience and doing the Dickens play
it all came back."
Proactive
But that wasn't the only reason that Simon enjoyed the 'Dickens
experience'. It was also a celebration of a proactive man, who,
in the final analysis is not so different from Callow himself.
"It
was wonderful to celebrate such a huge man, a talent who never ceased
to labour from his earliest manhood until the day he died on behalf
of his disadvantaged fellow human beings" says Simon.
"And
he was practical, he didn't just write about it."
I suggest
that Simon has been similarly involved in bringing about change,
although he insists that while playing different parts can help
to change attitudes and while he has sat on various committees and
done his bit for charity,
Dickens was an initiator.
 I
think that at the time I wrote my first book in 1984, I was
the first well-known actor to come out as gay voluntarily, and
that was a help I think. |
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Simon
Callow
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But
Simon is too. He was involved in the foundation of Stonewall and
he concedes that this gay rights organisation has contributed to
bringing about change.
"I
think that Stonewall was probably responsible for lowering the age
of consent and getting some sort of equality and I'm very proud
and pleased to have done that" he says.
"Also
I think that at the time I wrote my first book in 1984, I was the
first well-known actor to come out as gay voluntarily, and that
was a help I think. It encouraged the others."
Talent
So now Simon is back on the stage and touring the country, giving
the regions, including the people of Milton Keynes, a chance to
see his amazing talent, before The Holy Terror arrives in the West
End. He is going back to his roots, so to speak, but does he prefer
the theatre to film?
"I
love being in films because it's a chance to get it right in very
small portions and you can do things on film that you simply can't
do in a theatre" he reveals.
"However,
I don't see how anything could really compete with the interaction
with your fellow human beings which is after all what theatre is.
For me, that's what acting is."
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