The Verge: Christian McKay

There have been a lot of actors who've played Welles onscreen. Did you want to bring something new to the table that those performances haven't really explored?

You're a very good journalist.

[Laughing] Christian! I'm serious.

No, I saw them all. Yes, of course! It's like how I listened to other people play Rachmaninoff's Third.

I'm surprised. I know so many actors who would be terrified to look at other people's interpretations.

Really?

Sure. There could be a fear there, a fear that someone else's performance would be going through your head when you're trying to give your own.

Perhaps. I'm not like that. I have my Welles and it's interesting to watch their takes on the character. That would drive you mad if you worried about that! If I played Hamlet, I would think about Olivier, you know? There are some fantastic actors who have played Orson, including Orson himself. [Laughs] So I watched those out of interest, and for entertainment. Cradle Will Rock, Kane in RKO 281, D'Onofrio in Ed Wood...yes, I watched them.

You're definitely something of a Welles expert at this point. Did the cast or Richard rely on you as a resource?

I think so, yeah. I've done my research, and I was comfortable with what I wanted to say about the character. The great thing is that I was in agreement with what Rick wanted to do with the character, even though when I first met Rick, I was saying, "Go get a famous Hollywood star to play him. They're not going to cast an unknown Englishman." I'd never heard of me, let alone anyone else! But I had no fear, because of who I was playing. Some actors play themselves, don't they?

And are good at it.

Oh, of course. I wasn't saying that negatively -- what I meant is that they play extensions of themselves as a character. If I did that with this role, in my first film, I would have been terrified. Instead, I was playing Orson, and there was a wonderful security in that.

When you're embodying Welles so fully, do the other people on set treat you with a reverence befitting him?

Well, it's hilarious: We were in Deauxville, at the film festival, and I was surrounded by all these wonderful French filmmakers. Eventually I said, "What are you asking me about film for? I haven't got a clue!" It was the association, of course. Very strange. There was also the 85-year-old lady whose hand I held as she cried..."You're just like him." Of course, I'm not at all, but she'd just seen the play. I didn't want to say, "I'm just a character actor. You should have seen my eunuch." And Welles had left this woman for Delores del Rio. There were things like that.

Having played him onstage, did you have to pitch your performance differently to play him on film?

That was the technical problem. If you see a theatrical performance on film, it doesn't read, even if it reads perfectly well on the stage. It seems forced or hammy, a bit larger than life - but then, I'm playing a theatrical animal who's larger than life! It was terribly difficult, because I didn't want to bring him down. People say, "Oh yes, on film, you bring things down," but that's not true. You know the scene where I'm screaming at Sam Leff? How could I take that down? I'm biased, but this idiot is questioning your authority in front of your whole theatrical company! I couldn't take that down, but then again, a theatrical performance of that would have been deadly. Richard taught me -- he'd do this. [McKay subtly flicks two fingers downward] And nobody would see it. I was thrilled, though, because four weeks in, he suddenly went like this. [McKay flicks the two fingers up a little] And I suddenly boomed in the theater, "Goddammit! I'm subtle!" [Laughs] ♦

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