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The European base reflects a rather eclectic European taste in the work he does. From the beginning of his acting career with the famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Malkovich has combined the experimental with the classical, and his film work has followed a similar pattern.
Oscar nominated for Places In The Heart and In The Line of Fire, he has also earned plaudits for his roles in The Killing Fields, Dangerous Liaisons, The Portrait Of A Lady, Con Air and Shadow Of The Vampire. It’s a remarkable run of movies, all the more so as his stock has remained consistent- ly high in Hollywood when he
lives so very far away from it.
“I’ve continued to work in the States at least some of the time,” he adds. “Recently I did a month
As with most actors’ children they are pretty blasé about the business, though Malkovich admits that they grew markedly more enthusiastic at the news that he would working alongside Rowan Atkinson on Johnny English.
“They liked meeting Rowan very much,” he concedes, “part- ly because they find him funny and partly because he has a McLaren Formula One car which they got to ride in. That, to them, was a good film. But generally they don’t like film sets, they’re not really interested.”
So he’s not a big hero in the eyes of those who mean so much to him then? “All parents are big losers to be avoided around their friends at any cost,” he replies, dryly, “although that one may have got me some brownie points for a brief moment.”
of shape that I feel it’s a story which I’m uniquely qualified to tell in some way.
“I always direct, but I just do it in the theatre, or fashion, or some way that’s much easier. The Dancer Upstairs took eight years. That’s not a complaint, it’s fine, I enjoyed doing it but it would have to be something I was very dedicated again to telling, to spend that kind of time.
“So that’s also very time-con- suming already. One film I was supposed to direct which hopeful- ly we’ll start here in December is The Libertine. I passed it on to someone I thought would do a better job, a director called Laurence Dunmore. Whether or not I would direct a film again would depend on so many things.”
Malkovich is also due to star in Colour Me Kubrick, based on the true story of the fraudster who passed himself off around the Home Counties as the reclusive Stanley Kubrick.
And as if all this and the implied round of house hunting that he has in store was not enough the actor has also recently unveiled his own cloth-
ing range under the inscrutable Uncle Kimono banner.
“The look is sort of late 50s- early 60s, California, Beach Boy, Palm Springs lounge lizard, Swiss banker-who’s-just-been-fired look,” he explains, adding, “it’s a lot of work.”
The look is sure to be distinc- tive, even if Malkovich himself is initially regarded as a brash inter- loper into the rarefied world of high fashion. A mere actor pass- ing himself off as a legitimate clothes designer? It’s as unlikely as a screen icon looking cool in a salmon pink suit.
CHAIR / BOARD MEMBERS Non-salaried
3-year post
First Light provides funding to enable young people between the ages of 7 and 18 from all social backgrounds across the UK to make short films including fiction, animation and creative documentaries, using a range of digital technologies. Following a successful two-year pilot the UK Film Council has confirmed First Light as a key part of its strategy for 2004 -2007.
The new Chair of First Light and members of the board will play a significant role in establishing and consolidating the scheme as a national champion and catalyst for young filmmakers. Candidates will have leadership, imagination and experience of managing and directing public and/or private companies. The roles require an engagement across a wide range of regional/national sectors including youth, film and television industries, government and funding agencies.
Applications and nominations are welcomed for the roles of Chair, board member, or both.
For full details please contact: email: info@firstlightmovies.com T: 0121 693 2091
First Light is an initiative supported by the UK Film Council with Lottery funding and managed by Hi8us First Light Limited.
First Light is committed to equality of opportunity and this will be reflected in the recruitment process.
long press tour in the States and most people seem to think I either lived in New York or that I was English or Yugoslavian. So I don’t think where I live has mat- tered at all.”
These days Malkovich, who’ll be 50 in December, seems to be less the ambitious actor, more the devoted family man, as he admits that the needs of his chil- dren – aged 11 and 12 – come pretty high on his list of priorities.
“They have a huge influence on the projects I choose,” he nods, “in terms of when their vacations are, or how long some- thing is going to take. That may seem like a daft way to choose things, but I like to have a life, and I don’t want to miss my chil- dren growing up. It does have a big influence.”
Malkovich has proved time and again that he is someone who is in regular contact with his ironic side. He has, despite expec- tations and every indication of his more intense forays into drama, proved that he has a healthy sense of humour and an ego that he is not above pricking himself.
And just when you think you have the measure of him he sur- prises you by turning in a directo- rial debut that made so many critics’ top tens and blended familiar elements in a genuinely original way. Which makes you wonder if he is eager to get behind the camera again.
“Would I?” he ponders, “would anybody in their right mind direct again? Sure, I’d do it again, but it really just depends on if I get something into the kind
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photo: Rex Features