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David Suchet
In connection to the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of Terry Pratchett's Going Postal this interview showed up on BlogBuster
 
 

Going Postal – David Suchet Interview

by bbjamess on August 26, 2010 - BlogBuster

Going PostalYou have an amazing costume in Going Postal…

It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Aren’t I lucky? I wanted to please all the cult-y fans who have seen Terry’s illustrations of Reacher Gilt. It’s a wonderful character in the most amazing story. He’s so tongue-in-cheek and it’s very funny – he’s the ultimate satire of someone who will do anything, who is so immoral. I mean, he’s awful, he’s appalling, and I love the fact Terry has him as a pirate, the ultimate in cruelty and theft. There we are flying around the planet on the back of a turtle and there’s this pirate figure who is just taking from everybody and doing everything he can to be ruthless and win, to have as much money as possible. He just doesn’t give a damn about anybody or anything.

He must be a wonderfully ripe character to play?

Oh, he’s fantastic. Last Friday I was on the set of Poirot, then got on a plane to do this, and the two characters are poles apart.

Do you enjoy disappearing so deep into a character?

That’s what I do. If I’m given anything, if I’m given a talent at all, it would be the talent to disappear and become somebody else rather than being a personality actor. I’m not really interested in that form of acting, I’ve always been a character actor from the early days of rep. If you have a voice like mine and if you have a shape like mine, at age 20 you look 40. I’ve always sort of looked the way I am from a very, very early age – I haven’t really changed that much – and in the days of rep I automatically played middle-age roles. I’ve always disappeared, I’ve always had to find a way of changing myself to become somebody else, and that’s really what I do.

Where you familiar with Terry Pratchett’s work?

Not at all. I knew the films, but that’s all. It was the same with Agatha Christie – I wasn’t an avid reader and I feel rather guilty about saying that but it’s true. Same with Terry’s work – it’s not my genre of reading and I don’t read much fiction because my whole life and work is fiction. I read scripts and I read books surrounding the scripts, a lot of adaptations and original scripts, so I like factual books or I like watching movies.

What do you make of Discworld and Going Postal?

Extraordinary. My first thought was ‘How big is this turtle?’ That imagination says it all. And of course it appeals across the board – adults love it as much as children and I’m sure I’ll be booed and hissed by generations. I can bring my fans to this, too. I’m now watched [on Poirot] by around 750 million people worldwide, which is a lorra, lorra people. I can hopefully bring all that lot, hopefully if they follow me.

Do you like getting feedback from the fans?

I like getting feedback if they’re happy. I don’t like getting feedback if they’re not happy because I don’t want to let them down. I’m an actor for other people, I don’t act for myself; I act for writers and the public. I serve my writers for the benefit of the work to go out to the public, that’s my job, so of course I want positive feedback. If I’m doing a book that is a cult and is read by millions and millions I hope not to disappoint.

Has Terry given you any feedback on Gilt?

No, but he gave me a lot of feedback and a lot of comfort regarding another character I play, which is one of his favourites of all time – Blott On The Landscape. He and his wife were huge fans. That was by Tom Sharpe, who is another cult in his wonderfully cartoon, satirical way. Terry and Tom, although they’re different, are just as whacky as each other.

Did you meet the Pratchett fans who came on set as extras?

I did yes and they were delighted – they were thrilled to bits. I was so glad I passed their test and they were such nice people. I think it’s wonderful we have people who are… I won’t say nutty enough to do what they do, but they are extraordinary in wanting to get dressed up as the characters and all that. We signed a lot of things for the website and they’re raising money for Alzheimer’s.

Are you an enthusiast about anything yourself?

I’m not a great cult fan of anything that I would go that far. I suppose I do that in my life anyway. I’m very grateful to all those people who do go that far, though. When you’re doing a period piece like Poirot where would we be without those people who collect old cars?

How do you prepare for a role like Gilt?

In the same way I prepare for any role: Study, study, study, script, and on and on until I really understand what the author wants. Then in the preparation of the role, when I’ve got what the author wants, I try to be as imaginative as I can so I’m not just duplicating what is written on the page. That would be boring and literary so I have to inhabit the role, personify it and become a person that the people, when they see what I do and hear what I speak, can go ‘Yeah, that’s it!’

How’s it been working in Budapest?

To actually walk into a big outdoor set is very rare these days. It’s a 360 degree world and you’re really living in it.

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