Is it just my neurotic distrust of nostalgia, or are there suddenly a lot of films on offer that celebrate the great artists of the last century?
So far this year, we've had Little Ashes , which revisited the school-chum days of Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca; Coco Avant Chanel (you figure it out); Glenn Gould and Hugh Hefner bio-docs; and now Me and Orson Welles , about the great director's pre- Citizen Kane years.
One could read this trend two ways (at least). Western culture is getting smarter, and grown-ups are looking for films about our collective history, not films about over-abdominalized werewolves. Or, Western culture is stalled and all we have left are memories of our glory days. On my better days, I endorse option A. Don't ask about my less-than-better days.
Directed by Richard Linklater, Me and Orson Welles stars Christian McKay, Zac Efron and Claire Danes.
Of the lot, Me and Orson Welles is the most fun. Yes, there is artist angst aplenty, and yes, people go on about art like it's a religion, but the film is quick on its feet and determined to delight first, instruct second.
No small part of that charm comes from Christian McKay's delicious performance as Orson Welles. Plucked from relative obscurity, McKay makes you wonder where he's been all these years. His Welles is note perfect - a torrent of bombast and bluff under which lurks a swamp of artistic, social and romantic insecurities.
All films about art should be so perky, since most art is not.
When you are recreating a historical figure, one we all know from many films, how do you keep your interpretation from veering into impersonation? Or does it even matter?
It's very easy, really. Everybody has their individual approach. Mine is that if you impersonate, or make an imitation, the character will be one remove from you. You will not be able to embody a character. That's why impersonators can only do a five-minute sketch. Because any longer than that, and you're bored. How could it sustain itself through an entire film? I would be bored giving an impersonation! And the audience would be bored quicker than I.
You start with an impersonation, because you think that's how you're going to get it, but, really, that's not going to get you any closer. So, I used my own experience of my own brash and hot youth! Welles in this film is 22 and arrogant and lost. When I was 22, I was a concert pianist, and I was arrogant, always screaming at the conductor. I was a nightmare. I look back now, and I'm horrified.
But you can't overplay Welles, can you? He was, by all accounts, truly larger than life.
It's amazing, people do remember him displacing air - but that's the legend you're talking about, the myth, and it's another thing to avoid. Otherwise, you'd be terrified of playing him. You'd never get near him, he'd always be on a pedestal.
Why are there so many books and films about Welles?
Oh, it's fascinating, isn't it? I have a theory that you don't love Orson Welles's films and work, you are awed by it. And yet, there are films by Capra or Hawks or Ford that you love, genuinely love. But in the film, and I hope you'll agree with this, I don't apologize for Welles.
Have you ever been abused by a director in the same way that your Welles abuses his actors?
Yes, I was once, absolutely. There was a world-famous theatrical director, whom I shan't mention…
Damn you. C'mon.
No, no. As an old man, I will! Anyway, this director came to RADA [Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London]to direct us, or rather dictate to us, and he made an 18-year-old girl cry. I'm very proud to say that I turned to him and said, "Does that make you happy?" I said, "If you want me, I shall be in the pub." Apparently, he was so stunned by this, that he said, "Well, at least one of you has shown a little bit of character." He was a son of a bitch, he really was.
Oh, just tell me.
No, no, no! Ha! I'm learning diplomacy, you see. I'd love to be able to tell you his name, I couldn't stand him.
Speaking of young actors, your co-star is teen idol Zac Efron. What's it like to be a working artist all your adult life and suddenly find yourself beside a kid who's on lunchboxes all over the world? Did you ever just want to kick him?
No! No! Ha! He became my friend! It's not his fault he's on a million lunchboxes. Now, I was introduced, via Zac, to extraordinary celebrity and fame, but that's not Zac. Zac's an actor, an actor with enormous potential.
I'll tell you a funny story about fame: I was the first actor cast in the film, and Richard [Linklater, the director]said, "I'll go and find you some stars to play with." Then he rang me up and said, "I've cast Zac Efron, have you heard of him?" And I said, "No, afraid not."
Then, that very morning, I turned on the television and there Zac was, on the BBC, being interviewed. My wife and I then went into London, got off the train, and a bus went by with Zac's picture on it. Then I picked up a newspaper, and there were stickers you could buy with his face on them. And in the grocery store there were candy bars, calendars, books, CDs, cakes - I had the cake, it was good - so, when I got into bed that night, under my new Zac Efron duvet, I knew who he was! But, oh God, no, no way could I have coped with all that, at his age, with humility and grace, as he does. Not in a million years.