Scar power
Ejiofor takes on iconic ‘Lion King’ villain
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Now that the saga of “The Lion King” is being retold in hyper-realistic computergenerated visuals, its story of “The Circle of Life” amid a pride of African lions remains as powerful as ever.
With nods to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” — a son must avenge his father the king’s murder by his jealous brother who wants both his crown and his widow — “Lion King” has the classically trained British actordirector Chiwetel Ejiofor voicing scheming Scar.
In this new “Lion King” characters are more fully detailed, the violence and the scenic grandeur greater and that goes double for Scar.
Ejiofor, 42, knew going in that his was a hard act to follow.
“I’m a huge fan of what was done before, obviously like Jeremy Irons,” he said of the Oscar-winning actor who created the role.
“It’s such an incredible part to play, a rich villainous character and so complex. It was just really interesting to go into that psychology, to uncover that and look at it.”
Scar, unlike his robust brother King Mustafa, is physically and emotionally gray, almost gaunt.
His low wattage deceptively suggests a lazy lion yet he is consumed with devilish energy, hidden hatred for his brother, who he is eager to see die. Just as importantly, Scar schemes relentlessly to see Mustafa’s only cub and heir, Simba (“lion” in Swahili), perish so that he can be king.
“With Scar,” Ejiofor said, “I tried to have empathy, not sympathy. I tried to understand him and get underneath that the way you do with every character.
“You identify with the character, you look at the psychology, you place yourself into those circumstances.”
Scar is deceptive and cunning. He goads innocent Simba to disobey his dad and explore the dangerous Elephant Graveyard; he lies to the cub about what happens to his father,.
I asked at a recent Montage Hotel press conference: Did he think of devious Iago, the Shakespearean villain who prompts the Othello to murder his innocent wife for infidelity?
“No,” Ejiofor answered. “I don’t know if I thought of any of the Shakespearean characters directly. Obviously, it’s an amalgam of so many. But maybe.
“Iago,” he decided, “is so connected to the corruption of love whereas Scar is totally different — he’s much more invested in power.” (“The Lion King” opens Friday.)