Friday, September 26, 1997
Graves molds himself into variety of characters
FILM: Actor makes sure he fits his collection of eccentric roles
perfectly
By Stephanie Sheh
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
"Blah blah blah, what I really care about is the acting. It’s
not about being a star." Yeah right.
But when Rupert Graves, an accomplished film, theater and
television actor from England, says it, you believe it.
For Graves, who stars in "Intimate Relations" (which opened last
week) and "Different for Girls" earlier this summer, it’s not about
being a leading man; it’s all about the character.
"I like things that take me away from myself," Graves says. "If
I do stuff which is more like myself, my natural embarrassment
comes out. I can transcend it by putting somebody else’s shoes
on."
And the very different roles in his two films definitely
validate this statement. Currently, Graves is Harold Guppy in
"Intimate Relations," for which he won the Best Actor Award in the
1996 Montreal Film Festival. Graves’ well-meaning character
stumbles into a nice family in a small provincial town only to be
seduced, manipulated and eventually driven to murder by his
landlady (Julie Walters).
Graves actually researched his real-life counterpart in
preparation for the film. He focused on the different institutions
in Guppy’s life. Guppy was institutionalized for behavioral
problems at the age of 10. He then went straight to the navy,
another type of institution.
"As soon as he goes out into the wide world he has his own
desires and other people’s desires and doesn’t know how to
operate," Graves explains. "Also, he’s looking for a family,
looking for a mother figure because he had been rejected, which
made him ripe for plucking."
"Intimate Relations" takes the bit of fact, fiction and flair to
turn a shocking murder into an off-beat comedy. In choosing
projects, Graves likes to diverge from the normal.
"I like films which put a spanner on what is considered the
normal way of working, whether it’s sexual or behavioral," Graves
says.
Earlier this summer, Graves was in another film about a
relationship that also differs from the norm. "Different for Girls"
is a love story between Graves’ character Paul Prentice and Kim
Foyle (Steven Mackintosh), a woman who used to be a man.
"Society doesn’t give you a modus operandi for dealing with
that," Graves says. "(Prentice) does on a very personal level have
to understand, debate with himself … Am I a freak for falling in
love with, you know? …Getting over that. I like that
dilemma."
In addition to dealing with the complexities of his
relationship, Prentice also becomes aware of others’ attitudes
toward Kim.
"He does stand up for him and he puts himself actually on the
line for him. He will not let people treat him as a piece of shit
or a laughing stock. He actually allows Kim to be herself," Graves
says. "I think it would offend his morality if he didn’t."
The film looks at all angles of Prentice’s dilemma, attempting
to treat the situation in an open and honest way.
"Homophobia in the world is massive," Graves says. "(Prentice)
says, ‘I’m confused. Part of it repels me that you’ve cut your dick
off.’ I think he’s quite honest about that, which is refreshing. He
doesn’t put a liberal understanding mantle on as a pretense."
While Graves never had any homophobia directed at himself for
taking on this role, a newspaper did once call Graves a gay actor,
which he is not.
"I don’t have any problems with the actual instants of having to
do a love scene with a man," Graves says. "That doesn’t bother me.
I just like things which do not challenge, but deal with or
describe how they feel with what society expects them to be
like."
Graves has never been traditional, even in his day jobs. Instead
of waiting tables as a precursor to acting, Graves was a clown in
the circus.
"It was a very small English circus with very little money and
it was the traditional traveling circus," Graves explains. "I did
slap wire, which is like high wire, but lower and more wobbly so
it’s harder to stay on.
"I think I went into the circus with the eye on performance and
that’s what I wanted to do eventually," Graves continues.
When Graves finally landed his first film role it was in the
Merchant Ivory film "A Room with a View" as Freddie Honeychurch,
Helena Bonham Carter’s younger brother.
"James Ivory, the director, is not the most decipherous. He
gives very small notes. You have to learn his body language … I
didn’t feel neurotic or anything, but I did think that I did a bad
job," Graves says. "I went up to him afterwards saying, ‘I’m really
sorry that I fucked your film up.’ But he said, ‘No, it’s okay.
You’re all right.’"
Graves’ next film is an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s "Mrs.
Dalloway," with Vanessa Redgrave. Good-looking and talented Graves
could easily become the United States’ latest hot import, but you
won’t find him in any big blow-em-up action films anytime soon.
"I’ve never really had the time to come here or the will to turn
down interesting projects at home," Graves admits. "If things do
happen and there’s a script that I like, you know … It’s just
that I’m not a very good planner. I’m not very good at building a
career."
FILM: "Intimate Relations" is currently in theaters.
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Rupert Graves stars as Harold Guppy and Julie Walters as
Marjorie Beasley in "Intimate Relations."
First Look Pictures
Rupert Graves plays Paul Prentice, a man who falls in love with
a transexual in "Differnt For Girls."