You talkin’ to me?
Film quotes pose as questions. Film stars try to cope. In the crosshairs this month: James Purefoy
You talkin’ to me? I sincerely hope so. Unless you’re Siri. You never know these days. You can either surf, or you can fight. Given a choice, I would surf. But if you want some, I’ll give as good as I get. Why so serious? It’s quite rare to see me serious off screen. I often play quite intense, serious people on screen. I like to think I approach most of life with a perpetual sensation of wryness. What’s in California? I can say what’s not in California – the four seasons. I have a theory that that is why they’re so obsessed with youth, because the passing of time means nothing to them. In England, we get a real sense that that’s another year gone, because we’ve gone through spring, summer, autumn, winter. They don’t have that there. I don’t think they ever really notice one year melding into the next. If you could change something in your life, anything at all, what would it be? Not inhaling the first Embassy No. 6. That was a mistake. Do you like what you do for a living? These things you see? Very much. I’ve seen polar bears hunting in the Arctic, I’ve seen tornadoes in the bayou, I’ve seen Sean Bean conducting cockroach races in a shitty hotel in the Crimea, and much more besides. When you can live forever, what do you live for? A pint of Butcombe ale as the sun goes down over the Somerset Levels. If I could live forever, that’s a thing I would do every day. Only two kinds of men get shot: criminals and victims. Which one are you? I don’t get shot. I do the shooting – or stabbing, to be more precise. The weird thing is, I read reviews saying “James Purefoy has made a career out of playing baddies”, but it depends what you watch, really. I’ve played bad guys but I’ve played good guys as well, and some interesting people who aren’t necessarily bad or good but are in a sort of grey area. What would you do if you knew you had less than one minute to live? Tell the truth. All of it. We play a game, don’t we? All of us people who are in the public eye, we don’t tell the truth. You don’t say the bad things. I long to be able to say the bad things. I like to be surprised... I like to be surprised between “action” and “cut”. Not any other time! I like it when you’re doing a scene and you’re in the moment. That’s what defines you as an actor – can you deal with anything that’s thrown at you? I like it when mistakes happen. SD ETA | 20 NOVEMBER Momentum opens this month.
‘I’ve seen tornadoes in the bayou, I’ve seen Sean Bean conducting cockroach races’