behind them. When I played Rudyard Kipling [in The Man Who Would Be King], that was quite easy, too -- just stick on the mustache, and that's the performance.
But really, you just try every day to get more unassuming. When you play a genius, it's impossible, because everyone has to say that you're a genius. You can't possibly say it yourself! So you make yourself as unassuming as possible. The authority is already there.
Q: You've played so many real-life figures, so why Tolstoy? And why at the end of his life?
A: I thought of the vast life that Tolstoy had, and you can't make a biography of him. It wouldn't be a movie, it would be a series of movies, and it would take four years to film. But the last years are the most humanizing, with the most passion and agony. And I thought that was great, that perhaps he wasn't the dry old sock that people think he is, only because he's so remote to us.
Q: Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) wants him to leave his work and property to the Russian people. His wife Sofya (Helen Mirren) wants him to leave it to his family. How much in conflict was Tolstoy between his ideals and his real life?
A: Was he in conflict? I think he lived his ideals. I think his beliefs were heartfelt. I don't think there was anything wrong with him espousing those beliefs and also posing in a photograph with his children. Why the hell not? I know some people thought he was a hypocrite, but he was bigger than that. He was being manipulated, but he could pretend that he was not being manipulated, and just carry on, just as he would have. He doesn't care at that stage.
Q: What was working with Helen Mirren like?
A: Helen and I didn't rehearse, because we didn't have time. But that was all easy and fun. Helen and I both know that if you aren't having fun, you should get the hell out. She's one of the sexiest leading ladies I've ever had, and she's just extraordinary. We just rolled around the floor laughing. But she's lasted through thick and thin, just as I have. I've never been out of work, since I was a kid.
Q: Why do you suppose that is?
A: I'm lucky. I've had amazing luck. I suppose on the screen, things changed for me when I played Mike Wallace [in The Insider]. It wasn't a huge role, but it was a fascinating role, and that was an important movie. And then the scripts got better.
I grew up in Quebec, and Montreal got all the French movies, because of the relationship with France, and I watched them all. Those were terrific influences, more than the English-speaking actors. Our own homegrown films were mostly porno, actually. They started with porno films in order to raise the money to do good work, and I thought that was a wonderful way to do it. I thought, "Why don't we just stay with porno?"
Q: Then there would be no Oscar talk! You were in four movie this year that could be nominated for Oscars. Is that overwhelming?
A: It's not overwhelming, it's work! And it's fun work, actually. I enjoyed all those films. I had fun with each one. Doing Up and 9 was like doing radio again. Up was a knockout, but I can say that because I'm just a voice. As to Oscar, we don't talk about that, because if we do, there's no point in going on.
