He cleared his throat and launched into a matter-of-fact speech about the process of walking through walls.
Or is that a tradition hes leaving in the past?
I think it might be, Rylance tells EW with a laugh.
Credit: Amy Sussman/Invision/AP
My wife says I should move on now.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your character inBridge of Spiesis such an enigma.
What parts of him did you find most intriguing?
MARK RYLANCE:I was most curious about the reports that he had been trying to improve his painting.
He was not an extraordinarily talented painter, but he was very serious about improving.
Maybe that was one thing about him that could be real?
Yeah, maybe so.
What a lonely, solitary life he led.
He didnt have any romance.
Someone who wanted to be that private and that isolated also was curious to me.
When we first see him in the movie, hes painting a self portrait.
He mostly painted pictures of down-and-outs, bums and stuff, as they might say in those days.
There was speculation that it was about his feelings about the American system failing people.
Is a life of acting like being a spy?
Particularly in the theater.
Youre stealing peoples secrets.
You convince them to give up their life and imagine the life youve created is real or more interesting.
If its a good play, theyll cry or think private thoughts about their lives or laugh.
There is something like that in the objective of our two businesses.
Do you like that, or is it maddening?
Its very enjoyable for me.
Its exciting and its a little bit powerful to have a secret.
I think thats the shadow side of it.
If you held a secret from someone its a little bit withholding, like a poker player.
Ive always felt claustrophobic in one sense of identity.
If anything Ive had to work to develop a sense of my own identity.
I used to really hate it when people defined me.
Whats your process like as an actor?
I feel like that character inBeing There.
I like to play.
Im quite simple really.
I like to play and inhabit my character.
I really like to inhabit the situation.
Its the situation that intrigues me.
Sounds like you immerse yourself in the character while the real you disappears for a while.
I like to connect with the other actors in a fantasy situation.
I mean, I learned things about him there, too.
Hes not standoffish at all.
I think I reveal more of myself when I pretend to be someone else.
Im looking forward to seeing you inThe BFG.
I read the novel to my young daughter and we especially liked the giants fantasy pidgeon-English Gobblefunk.
Human beans, and snozzcumbers, and catatasterous situations…
Gobblefunk!
It was a thrill.
Its a book everyone loves very much, so you feel quite responsible.
And excited at the things we were finding.
It was very, very playful.
We have a teaser trailer, but what can you tell us about the actual appearance of the Giant?
Its motion capture, like the way Andy Serkis made Gollum.
Because you didnt have to hit marks.
The whole setup was very much like a playroom.
