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Matthew Macfadyen is a definite
star on the rise. Having attended the prestigious
RADA and performed in numerous Shakespearian productions
before landing the role of Tom Quinn in the hit
BBC series Spooks (U.S. title MI-5), he
splashed stateside last year as Mr. Darcy in the
exquisite adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride
and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, Donald
Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn. Currently Matthew
singes the Tribeca Film Festival screens with his
portrayal of a dangerously devout man of God in
Brian Kirk’s impressive debut film Middletown.
Smack in the middle of the festival, Matthew and
I sat for a bit at the Millennium Hilton which overlooks
Ground Zero.
Frank J. Avella: Did you always
want to act?
Matthew
Macfadyen: I think so, yes. I didn’t
really consider doing anything else, seriously.
Frank J. Avella: I notice you’ve
done a lot of stage. Do you prefer stage to screen?
Matthew
Macfadyen: If I had to choose, I’d
have to choose stage. But I’m glad I don’t
have to choose. If I leave it too long without doing
stage, I miss it. I pine for it. I feel a bit fake
if I don’t go back and do a play.
Frank
J. Avella: Honing
your craft?
Matthew
Macfadyen: Yeah. You're using you whole body.
And it’s a different kind of adrenaline.
Frank
J. Avella: I loved Pride and Prejudice.
Can you speak a bit about working with (director)
Joe Wright.
Matthew
Macfadyen: I loved working with Joe. I think
he did an amazing job with the movie. It’s
only an impression of the book. I think he was really
successful in telling the story in two hours and
still managing to appease the whole spectrum of
people from the hardcore Austin fans to men in the
street who went grudgingly to a girlie film.
Frank
J. Avella: And won them over.
Matthew
Macfadyen: Yeah.
Frank J. Avella: What drew you
to Father Gabriel (in Middletown)?
Matthew
Macfadyen: I thought it was...apart from
anything else...different. I haven’t played
a part like that before and I thought it was a good
script...very well written and I thought that in
the wrong hands it could have been melodrama and
that’s quite a good place to start from, in
a way. I want to see it on the big screen now. I’ve
only seen it on dvd, which is frustrating. I’m
very proud of it. It’s a simple story. And
it’s a family...it’s quite domestic.
It’s about the two brothers and the dad. And
I sympathize with Gabriel. He’s a victim,
really. He’s a baby. He’s totally asexual.
He has no way to be with people and whenever it
gets a bit too much, he closes off and starts talking
to God. He has no ability to relate to people on
any kind of normal level... He’s a bit of
an innocent. Vulnerable. And I felt for him. He
hasn’t got the tools to cope.
Frank J. Avella: How did you
prepare for the role?
Matthew
Macfadyen: I sort of let it swill around
in my head a lot. I talked to...adored working with
Brian. And we had a great dialect coach.
Frank J. Avella: You had to go
to some very dark places, specifically in the cockfight
scene and the confrontation with James in the church...after
going where you need to go as an actor, do you find
it difficult to come back?
Matthew
Macfadyen: No. No. Part of the fun is going
there and coming back. As an actor, all your channels
should be open. We spent the whole summer in hysterics.
As soon as the camera shut off, we would just collapse
and I think that’s quite a good sign. I think
if everything’s relaxed you can go and do
what the character does--which is huge--and then
come right out of it fine.
Frank J. Avella: The script was
pretty minimal. Did you prepare a backstory-- filling
in a lot of blanks?
Matthew
Macfadyen: We talked about it. You see him
as a young boy and he’s a bit ethereal and
other-worldly, probably bright. The he goes off
to...boarding school, I suppose. And the whole village
pays for it. Then we decided he went to do missionary
work in Africa. And then he would come back and
take over the parish. He’d had been secluded.
And he would have been a glamorous guy coming back
at that time...the early 60’s with the town
in a state of moral disrepair. He’s a victim
seeing everything in black or white. You either
go to heaven or go to hell.
Frank J. Avella: What’s
up next?
Matthew
Macfadyen: I start shooting, next week, a
film called Death at a Funeral which is
a farce directed by Frank Oz. I think it’s
hysterical. A comedy set on the day a guy tries
to bury his father.
Frank J. Avella: It’ll
be a nice change from Middletown.
Matthew
Macfadyen: (laughs) Yes! You’ll see
me smile...although I don’t smile that much...
it’ll be different.
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