The actor-turned-director speaks to Anna Walker about his most ambitious project to date.
Rome has been Rupert’s home since January. He’s here filming an upcoming TV adaptation of The Name of the Rose, and there’s still another month until they wrap. But today we’re talking about a bigger project—one that’s been ten years in the making.
Several critics have described Rupert’s turn as the Irish playwright, poet and infamous wit Oscar Wilde in The Happy Prince (a film he also wrote, directed and produced) as the role he was “born to play.” But when I ask if he’s comfortable with that notion, he shifts in his chair uneasily.
“Well I always think it’s quite a dangerous thing to say. It has slightly reductive undertones…but that’s if you’re being paranoid and going over it asking, ‘what does that mean?’ ” He pulls an agonised face, disarmingly goofy as he contorts his handsome features.
“No, I think Wilde is a great role for me, so I agree. What I loved most though,” he grins deviously, “was working with me as a director.”
I laugh, caught off guard. Would he say that he’s his favourite of all the directors he’s worked with?
This story is from the July 2018 edition of Reader's Digest UK.
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This story is from the July 2018 edition of Reader's Digest UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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