Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Actor who began his career in radio.
On the island
Eight records
All the music I've I've chosen I I realize by accident is Nearly all of it. is related to my adolescence for some strange reason. And Janacek was the first piece of inverted commas. classical music which I grew very fond of as a child.
And this brings back the memories of of my early adolescence, of sitting up until dawn in a bus shelter. close to my home, watching the sun rise over the docks.
When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be
What is twofold? Keats is my favorite poet. and Richardson For me. is The Magician of the Theatre.
Symphony No. 5 (4th Movement)Favourite
Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink
Well I couldn't go on a desert island without Marla. He's come to mean quite a lot to me these days. When I actually read reviews of Mahler's music, for a thousandth of a second I feel proud.
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
This man I think that I'm about to is Bob Dylan. who I think more than anybody else in my childhood probably is the greatest single influence. on my thinking, on my music, on on anything.
L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale)
Again, another very nostalgic piece of music to me. It was the theme music used in a An amateur tape drama that I did when I was a child.
This is some uh music from a film, one of Ten best films I've ever seen, called Offunegro, which is about twenty years old.
Variations on a Theme of Paganini
I found it electrifying, a quite brilliant piece of work.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:55How did you get into [acting in radio plays at school]?
I spent most of my time at school. In we had a little theatre there, and we had a dramatic society, and I spent all my time not working, but acting. And somebody saw me and dragged me along to the BBC and I did a little audition for Trevor Hill and Herbert Smith up there. And that was it.
Presenter asks
3:53Why [did you study] law?
For a very simple reason. I'd read classics at school. I did Latin, Greek and ancient history. Everybody said I must get a degree. I was a fool to become an actor. I had to get something behind me. I didn't want to continue with classics, because I didn't enjoy it that much. And the only thing that I was qualified to read without any previous qualification was law.
Presenter asks
4:35Had you got any money to fall back on [when you became an actor]?
It's it's amazing, isn't it? The pride of a of a An adolescent. refused any help at all from my parents. I insisted that As I was going against their wishes in becoming an actor in the first place, that either I did it on my own or I didn't do it at all.
The keepsakes
The luxury
typewriter, paper, and a table
if one is going to be on an island for all these years and one will obviously have some thoughts, then it would seem wasteful not to put them down.
Presenter asks
12:12How did you get on with [Ken Russell]?
We played cat and mouse for a couple of days. He didn't know who I was, I didn't know who he was. … But I I noticed that Ken's obsession with his work meant that he was giving a hundred per cent the whole time, and it seemed to me only fair if I did the same. Even if you make mistakes, as long as you're trying your hardest, he's perfectly happy. He gets very unhappy if somebody slacks. That's that's where the reputation comes from. But uh we got on very well.
Presenter asks
17:02Did you hesitate before accepting [the role of Jesus Christ]?
Oh, very much so, yes.
Presenter asks
25:19Would you try to escape [from the desert island]?
I think I probably would but being an extremely cautious person, I would only do it under totally ideal circumstances. In other words, if a fifty foot launch was accidentally washed ashore, I might get on it. It would take me many years to build the raft big enough for me to dare to escape on it.
“Nearly all one's memories are associated with mu music, or music brings back, or music is the only thing that in fact sparks off. genuine, deep emotion about something that's past.”
“I discovered that I could do something which other actors didn't seem to be able to do, which was to keep my eyes open for three or four minutes at a time without blinking, even in the brightest light. And I thought about it, and I thought about the thread between the eye and the person who is watching. And then every time you blink, that thread for a thousandth of a second is broken. So I decided not to break it.”