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The Lightsabre Interview Julian Glover
Welcome to Lightsabre
and the second part of our recorded interview with Walter Donovan and General
Veers actor Julian Glover. Q – Veers certainly has an aura of command and doesn’t seem overly intimidated
by Lord Vader. What is it about
General Veers that you believe made him such a fan favourite? A –
I said to Lucas earlier I said `This man is a General. You don’t get to be a General if you’re a
wimp.’ And of course you have to be
subservient to Darth Vader, he’s the guv’nor, but
you don’t have to be sycophantic. Then
he (Lucas) said `No, absolutely not.’
And in that one scene I was reasonably instructed by Darth Vader. I thought it made sense, I’ve forgotten it
now, but it seemed to make sense at the time.
Q – You are one of
only a few men to have been in a Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and a
Bond film, perhaps the only one. How
thrilling is it to be a part of probably the four major movie franchises? A – I was only a voice in Harry Potter. I couldn’t play the part (of Arragog the Giant Spider) because I didn’t have enough legs. I feel pleased and lucky that I got to do those particular movies. I can go to conventions and hold my head up quite high that I was in them. Also in my past I was in other things that weren’t quite so big, like Doctor Who, films like Quatermass and the Pit, those kind of series in the 70’s like the Avengers, and Jason King. I don’t remember what I did in that, played a villain probably. I did three Avengers, and that thing Roger Moore did…The Saint, I did that as well. That was when I first worked with Roger, which I did again on the Bond film. In fact I saw him recently; he came to see me in a play which I was doing in the West End. Q – Tell us something
of your recent stage work. You
recently performed in Taking Sides with Neil Pearson, a play that focuses on the
interrogation of your character Furtwangler by
Pearson’s Major Steve Arnold, an American interrogator working for the
De-Nazification Tribunal in post-war Germany. A –
Yeah, I did another play since then which I finished a month ago, The
Dresser, I was doing that and Roger came to see that. Everybody came to see it, I have to
say. I did it with Nicolas Lyndhurst
(Rodney from Only Fools and Horses). Q – Because you’ve been so versatile in your roles, have you
ever come across typecasting, being asked to constantly play the same thing? A – The only problem with typecasting is if people
only ask you to play younger brothers or a layabout. That’s typecasting, if you’re always asked
to play the same things. Actually
rather like Nicolas, he knows that job (Only Fools...) was very good to him, very good to his
career. He doesn’t resent it, he knows
it was a very important thing for him and he knows he was damn good at it,
that’s why he was so popular. None of
us mind being recognised for a particular
thing. Nicolas isn’t only recognised
for that, people remember Butterflies for instance. I’ve been lucky in that my face fits all
sorts of different categories so I can play a down and out and I can play a
general. I’ve been lucky. Q – Star Wars is a worldwide phenomenon. Do you enjoy interaction with the fans? A – Yes I do, as long as they’re not silly. I could do with a few less requests for autographs every week, takes up rather a lot of my time. It’s extraordinary for such a small part, what the leading actors get I just can’t think. I could do without that, but it’s all part of the game. If I don’t do it then they won’t like me. I go to conventions, I certainly work very hard at them, I do my best to go out and meet them and talk with them.
Q - Do you enjoy conventions?
A - Not very much frankly, they’re rather hard work
just signing those autographs. I was
at one last week, I was in Metz in France which was
quite a good convention. You get about
a bit. Indianapolis,
that was alright, one in Dallas.
But you don’t stay there long enough to enjoy the place. But I do like meeting the fans, that’s
good. As long as they’re well
organised, and frankly if you’re looked after properly then they can be quite
fun. But otherwise, not inspiring
work, let’s face it the creative juices don’t flow. But you do your best and you meet some
extraordinary people on this side of the camera too. Some of the actors who do those things are
extraordinary. Q – What was it like to be directed by Irvin Kershner and the master Steven Spielberg, and what
are their differences in directing style? A – (Kersh) doesn’t really do
much directing, he’s got a fantastic eye for shape and crisis. The difference between the two of them
really is that Kershner loves the cinema but Spielberg is in love with
it. He just worships it, and he does
almost everything himself. I’m sure if
you asked him to do a set up he’d operate the camera himself, he likes all that thing.
Whereas Kershner is happy to trust us to do that as long as we do it
correctly. He’s more of a patrician is
Kershner, and I liked him, a very pleasant man. Spielberg is simply in love with the
cinema, but his respect for the actor goes beyond respect, it goes for a
great liking. There’s no question of
it being silly people who stand on boxes (actors) we are a positive
contribution which is why he gets such good performances out of people. The reason that Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade was such a good choice, because it was a love story between two men
(Indiana and Henry Jones Snr),
and those two men were played by people who were not just film actors,
they’re fine actors. And Spielberg
arranged that, he got that combo together.
That’s apart from all the pyrotechnics and the wonderful things that
happened in it. That is, for my money,
the reason why that film was so successful.
He’ll say to you “Do such and such “ and
you’ll say “Why have I got to do that?” and he’ll say “Well just do it for me
because Spencer Tracey did it in such and such.” “Oh I see,
I’ll do that.” Q - What do you
foresee for yourself in the future? A –
Tremendous financial success! No, I
don’t know. I’ve just done one of
those Lynda La Plante things for television, quite
big on television and I’m talking about doing a play later in the year,
possibility of a film coming up but things are very quiet. I was a tremendous success,
I have to say, in The Dresser. You
have to be a tremendous success in the West End not to work for six months, everybody thinks you’re out of it. I’d like to go on making films, but it gets
more difficult the older you get, the number of
parts for old people run out. In any
film how many old men are there, not too many. You have to hope you get in things like
Troy or a Roman epic or something like that.
I have nothing exciting on the stocks, I wish I could tell you I was
going to be in so-and-so but I can’t. Q - So you can go and watch telly or mow the lawn. A – I’ve done both of those things today. Literally, I’ve done both of those things
today! And I’m very sad indeed that it
is now raining. Q – That’s fantastic, I really
appreciate that. A – Good job. God bless you and thanks for asking. |
