Friday, June 28, 2024

Donald Sutherland / ‘I remember that bear hug and its warmth’

 

‘Mischievous twinkle’ … Land of the Blind.

‘I remember that bear hug and its warmth’

Ralph Fiennes, co-star in Land of the Blind (2006)

24 June 2024

I worked with Donald on a little-seen film called Land of the Blind, set in a dystopian, futuristic, slightly Orwellian world. He played a leftwing revolutionary imprisoned by a rightwing regime. I played the prison officer who helped to release him and witness him become, in turn, an autocratic and ruthless dictator.

The first time I met Donald was before a rehearsal on set. My father had just died and I suppose someone must have told Donald because as I walked towards him he put both his arms out and enveloped me in a huge bear hug. That said everything. I remember the warmth of it very strongly.

What impressed me about him was his hunger, his enjoyment of acting and his love of discovering the scene. He had a benignly competitive quality – he wanted to challenge you with his performance in the best sense. He wanted to go toe-to-toe with you but with a frisky relish of sharing the scene.

He was full of wonderful jokes, dirty jokes, irreverent jokes. He had a fantastic twinkle in his eye, a mischievous twinkle. He couldn’t bear smoking and I know he had strict rules about not being within so many metres of anyone who smoked. Like a lot of actors of a certain age (he must have been in his late 60s at that time), he had very precise requirements about the conditions in which he would work.

He was alive with a delight for acting, with a wonderful thirst to refine a moment, refine a shot. I remember his generosity of spirit and I’m only sad I didn’t have the opportunity to work with him again. What a loss it is. What a great actor.

EL GUARDIAN

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