Tweed-Jacket Kingsley
Vanity Fair Daily's Julian Sancton recently spoke to distinguished wackazoid actor Ben Kinglsey, who's portraying yet another psychiatrist in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island and, he says, playing it fairly straight and tweed-jackety. (The working title, he says, is Ash Cliff....terrible! Means nothing!)
Kingsley discusses his craft and his background as a classically trained Shakespearean interpreter. He's a superb actor -- one of the best -- but don't be fooled by such talk. Just as the Superman TV series in the 1950s taught us that George Reeves wore tights and could fly faster than a speeding bullet, Sexy Beast and his other nutter roles (You Kill Me, The Wackness, Lucky Number Sleven, Mrs. Harris, etc.) taught us that Kingsley is a raving loon under the skin. All that Gandhi and Turtle Diary and Betrayal stuff was a put-on. He was having us off!
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 2, 2008 at 10:50 AM
comment #1
btwnproductions
says ...
"Having us on" is I think the correct expression.
Posted by btwnproductions
at May 2, 2008 11:12 AM
comment #2
calraigh
says ...
He's also completely insufferable.And insists on being called 'Sir'.This is first-hand experience by the way.
Posted by calraigh
at May 2, 2008 11:13 AM
comment #3
calraigh
says ...
Haha! It is ''having us on''. ''Having us off'', as in 'having it off' has completely different connotations.They're all filthy.
Posted by calraigh
at May 2, 2008 11:16 AM
comment #4
Adonis
says ...
Calreigh,
Interestingly I only demand being called 'sir' in bed... but I digress.
Actually, You Kill Me is one of my favorite guilty pleasures (well, not that guily as I think it's a solid film), anyway I laugh so hard at that one.
Posted by Adonis
at May 2, 2008 11:48 AM
comment #5
corey3rd
says ...
wasn't Ash Cliff one of Ma and Pa Kettle's kids?
Posted by corey3rd
at May 2, 2008 11:54 AM
comment #6
Jeffrey Kunze
says ...
Anyone ever see the 1998 version of Shakespeare's Twefth Night where Kingsly plays Feste the Fool. Great performance.
Kingsly's no doubt a talented actor but seems like he would be extremely arrogant if you ran into him on the street. Maybe he has to compensate for being incredibly short and incredibly bald.
Posted by Jeffrey Kunze
at May 2, 2008 12:07 PM
comment #7
thorsen1nk
says ...
I think The Wells is confusing "having us on" and "getting us off." Eroticomic cabaret here we come!
I think the fact "Sir Ben" made fun of himself on the Sopranos--a HEE-larious episode, btw--shows he's not a total runaway egomaniac. He was robbed of an Oscar for Sexy Beast.
Posted by thorsen1nk
at May 2, 2008 12:16 PM
comment #8
lazarus
says ...
I don't know why anyone would think "Ashecliff" is a more marketable (or better) title than "Shutter Island". It's a thriller, right? Why change the name of a book by a popular author?
Posted by lazarus
at May 2, 2008 12:29 PM
comment #9
Arizona Joe
says ...
Ben insists on being called "Sir?"
No wonder he was putt off by Christopher Moltisantii's muffin basket.
Posted by Arizona Joe
at May 2, 2008 1:00 PM
comment #10
calraigh
says ...
Adonis-If you're anything like your name, I guess you can demand what you want...eh?
I stand by my statement.He is superciliousness personified and I'm afraid it has tainted my viewing experience of him.He was never a hero of mine but the maxim still applies, ''never meet etc...''.
Posted by calraigh
at May 2, 2008 7:23 PM
comment #11
lbeale
says ...
I've interviewed scores of actors in my career as an entertainment industry journalist, and when folks ask me what was the worst interview ever, hands down it's Ben Kingsley - Total. Pompous. Asshole.
All you need to know about Kingsley is that of all the knighted actors out there - McKellen, Caine, Hopkins, etc. - he's the only one who insists on being billed as, and referred to, as "Sir."
Jerk.
Posted by lbeale
at May 5, 2008 8:15 AM
comment #12
DarthCorleone
says ...
I know I'm late and that no one will read this, but I couldn't let this stand.
I have also met Mr. Kingsley. I spent two hours in a car with him. I'm not some hotshot journalist; I was driving him back and forth across LA. He did not insist that I call him "Sir," and I found him to be very personable and friendly. (I haven't seen his latest credits, but based on the associated film at the time I met him, it's a myth that he insists on being credited as such for all his films.) He even sat in the front seat with me for half the time. We discussed all manner of topics, and he was genuinely inquisitive about my life. He was also very self-effacing. There was absolutely no reason for him to even give me the time of day in the context. Additionally, based on his phone conversations that I overheard, he seemed like a very down-to-earth, kind person.
So, I'm sorry that some of you had bad experiences with him, but I guarantee those experiences are not representative of him as a whole, as no single interaction is.
Posted by DarthCorleone
at May 5, 2008 1:19 PM
comment #13
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