"Last year, on December the 26th," "Nigel Hawthorne died of a heart attack" "After an 18-month battle with cancer." "When I heard the news," "I knew that the acting community had lost a great artist" "And I had lost a friend." "We worked together on "The Madness Of King George"" "And I experienced the remarkable abilities" "That made Nigel the great actor that he was." "In that defining role" "He carried the film and all of us with him." "This omnibus documentary you're going to see tonight" "Is about Nigel's life and career." "It was filmed over four months in 1999." "And in spite of being a modest man who guarded his privacy," "He opens up and is easy with the camera." "It was clear that Nigel was at a remarkable peak" "Of a long and successful career." "It was a happy time for him" "Before the cancer took hold." "But it was also a time of intense work" "As he prepared to take on the role of King Lear," "Which was to be the last major stage performance of his career." "As you will see from the film," "Even though he was not yet ill," "He'd thought about death" "Inevitable perhaps when you're playing King Lear." "But even in the months that followed," "In the worst moments of his illness," "Nigel was confident he would get better..." "And it was much too soon for him to go." "He died at his home in Hertfordshire" "In the company of his partner Trevor Bentham." "This film is a tribute to Nigel" "And his work." "( Asian-style music plays )" "1999 was a watershed year for Nigel Hawthorne." "It began with a knighthood" "Honoring his many great performances on stage and screen." "From his role in the award-winning sitcom "Yes, Minister,"" "To his oscar-nominated performance" "In the film "The Madness Of King George,"" "Nigel Hawthorne's career" "Has encompassed everything from sitcom to Shakespeare." "But now, at the age of 70," "He faces the greatest challenge of his career" "Playing King Lear in the Anglo-Japanese production" "Which opened in Tokyo and transfers to London" "For the Royal Shakespeare Company's millennium season." "But Nigel Hawthorne's success has been hard won." "Until he found fame at the age of 50 with "Yes, Minister,"" "He had endured almost 30 years" "Struggling for recognition as an actor." "Try this one right here." "Hawthorne:" "Now, you see, having reached the age of 70," "I just want to do something new." "I just feel that there's something" "I want to find new areas before it's too late." "I suppose I'm trying to make up for lost time, really." "Woman:" "This can be white." "Hawthorne:" "Or it can be white." "In my case, certainly, it's been a late development," "But I don't know whether I'd've been able to handle it" "If it had come earlier." "If I'd been successful earlier" "My personality might not have been able to cope with it." "I was a terrible mess as a young man." "Would love to have been more relaxed, more at ease." "Narrator:" "Although born in this country," "Nigel Hawthorne grew up in South Africa." "At 19 he decided to pursue a stage career," "But South Africa offered limited opportunities." "So in 1951, he decided to return to Britain." "Hawthorne:" "We had no money as a family." "My dad, when I left Cape Town," "Just said, "I'm sorry, I've got nothing that I can give you to help."" "So I arrived in England with £12." "And it was stupid, I know." "I just had to keep working" "And try and find a way of making a living." "Narrator:" "But for years, Nigel was to struggle" "Through a round of failed auditions," "Humiliating bit parts and unemployment." "Hawthorne:" "I got to the point" "Where I wanted to give up" "And I just couldn't understand why I was doing it." "But I knew that I really needed" "To justify to my father and my mother, too," "My choice of career" "Because they'd been very against it." "I think my mother had been softer about it than dad." "When occasionally he did write to me" "And I suppose in the first six years I was away" "I had two letters maybe." "And they were always scribbled" "On the back of one of my mother's letters" "And ended up "Best love, dad." and there were things like," ""If things aren't going well, you can always come home."" "And I suppose those were the sort of things" "That are like red rag to a bull to me," "And I'd say, "No, I'm not coming back."" "Nigel and I shared a dressing room together." "And he was always very intense" "And very keen," "But he'd get very despairing" "Because we both had one thing in common" "We both slogged away, me for 20 years, him for 15," "And got absolutely nowhere." "Jimmy was always going on about the scripts he was writing" "And how everybody was terribly excited about them" "And I was thinking, "Oh, yeah, I'll bet."" "And he wrote something." "He said" "About the home gardens-- the BBC were considering it," "And I thought-- and I remember saying at the time," ""Oh, that sounds wonderful, Jimmy." "That's great." "Great."" "And thinking, "God, comedy series about the home garden."" "Anyway, that turned out to be "Dad's Army."" "Man: ¶ Who do you think" "¶ you are kidding, mr." "Hitler?" "¶" "Hawthorne:" "Then years later I bumped into him," "And he asked me if I'd like to be in it." "And I could hardly speak I was so thrilled." "¶ ..." "Stop your little game... ¶" "Perry:" "I said to David," ""I've just seen Nigel Hawthorne."" "And he said, "Who's Nigel Hawthorne?"" "I said, "Marvelous actor." "Fantastic!"" " Salesman, yeah." " Not impressed." "So I said I had a long talk with him" "And he's" "He's absolutely finished." "He's fed up." "He's going back to South Africa." "He said, 15 years of struggling" "And he's leaving." "He wants to get back in the sun." "I said, "It's nice to give him a part." and Dave said, "Oh yeah."" "And the script arrived and it was one line." "It was on a couple of weeks ago in fact." "And it was..." ""Yeah, that's my bike," I had to say." "Fraser, bend his legs." "You-- did you tell one of your blokes to take my bike?" "Yes, I did." "What about it?" "You can't go around taking private property!" "This is an emergency." "I'm a captain of the home guard." "Well, we shot the scene" "And he was a bit unsteady actually," "Because he was nervous. 'cause when you've got a tiny part it's awful." "So we finally put it in the can" "And I turned to Jim and I said," ""This friend of yours, he's not very good is he?"" "A lot of people rise above it." "I don't think I was ever able to, quite." "I always got..." "Sort of mortified and wounded..." "And went into hiding because of it." "And I suppose that was very much my nature." "Yeah, it hasn't been easy straight and narrow." "Making do, getting by-- just." "You don't have to tell me something." "I got a fairly decent job now." "I sell bathroom tiles." "Car goes with it, expenses." "Oh, it's not much, but it's honest." "And you sleep at night." "Mirren:" "There are actors that you know" "They're going to struggle as a young actor," "But you know that they're around about 35, 40" "Because they're not pretty" "And there's something substantial about them," "Even at the age of 18 or 19," "That really militates against a lot of roles" "For young people." "But you know that if they can just hang on in there," "That when they're in their late 30s, early 40s" "Is when things are really going to cook for them." "I think that happens to people" "Who get more interesting as they get older." "And also because he never looked like" "A sort of shining juvenile." "Some people don't look like that." "It's a lot to do with the looks" "And how you then project yourself." "I think his luck changed" "Because he got a role that suited him terribly well," "And that was "Yes, Minister," in which he was totally brilliant." "Quite wonderful." "He made the program." "So it just shows that you've got to keep going" "And wait until the great opportunity arrives." "Narrator:" "At last in 1979," "Nigel Hawthorne got the big break he'd been waiting for" "As the pompous civil servant sir Humphrey Appleby" "In what was to become one of Britain's most popular sitcoms." "Fowlds:" "It was a joy." "We got on straightaway." "And the scripts were brilliant" "And seven years just flashed by, really." "I wish we were still doing it in many ways." "Ah, minister, allow me to present sir Humphrey Appleby," "Permanent undersecretary of state and head of the D.A.A." " Hello, sir Humphrey." " Hello, and welcome." " Thank you, sir Humphrey." " I believe you know each other." "Yes, we did cross swords when the minister gave me a grilling" " Over the estimates in the public accounts committee." " I wouldn't say that." "You came up with all the questions I hoped nobody would ask." "Opposition's about asking awkward questions." "And government is about not answering them." "Well, you answered all mine anyway." "I'm glad you thought so, minister." "Mirren:" "I think his performance in "Yes, Minister"" "Was successful because it was serious." "Of course it was comedic," "But he never played it comedically." "He played it absolutely seriously." "And actually, it was quite a scary character, too." "He was a very intimidating character" "And very controlling character." "We are the flower of government, Bernard." "Local government may be a dunghill..." "But it grows beautiful roses." "You mean, uh...?" "Yes, that's right." "But if we try to clean up the dunghill," "And..." "Lose our balance..." "We land in the..." "Narrator: "Yes, Minister"" "And its sequel "Yes, Prime Minister"" "Are seen in over 30 countries," "And even Margaret Thatcher declared it her favorite program." "At last Nigel Hawthorne was able to pick and choose the parts he wanted." "They know what to expect from us." "They know that we're not afraid." "We shall triumph, mr." "Harding!" " We shall triumph!" " ( coughing )" "There's nothing major wrong with me." "Just a slight inflammation of the tubes which attacks me from time to time." "No, it's nothing." "Rather suits you." "( coughing )" "Suzman:" "I think people often like tacking labels like," ""a comic actor," "a serious actor"-- onto people." "And that's okay, but it's also quite boring" "And quite limiting." "Because an actor of Nigel's stature" "Is obviously larger than just a-- that." "You know, they go together" "A tragic actor, a comic actor" "If you've got that sort of depth-- and he has." "Narrator:" "But it was on stage" "That Nigel Hawthorne first showed" "The emotional intensity of which he was capable." "In "Shadowlands" he played Oxford don C.S. Lewis" "Who fell in love late in life with an American divorcee" "Only to lose her to cancer." "Towards the end of the rehearsals" "When we were inter-running the play," "Nigel was so affected by the emotion" "Of having to tell this little boy" "About his mother's death," "Or about being brave" "So that the both of them could carry on," "Nigel himself broke down and cried." "In fact he went on crying well past, I suppose," "What could be considered a comfortable time," "So much so that even though my character by then was dead," "I just got up and walked into the middle of the scene" "And put my arms around him" "Because it was not C.S. Lewis that was crying," "It was Nigel." "Narrator:" "But in spite of the acclaim he received in "Shadowlands,"" "And his success in television drama," "Nigel Hawthorne was rejected for the film role" "Which went instead to Anthony Hopkins," "Considered a safer bet at the box office." "Lapotaire:" "I think 10 years ago," "Possibly a lot more than now," "British actors understood" "That if a play was going to be turned into a film" "A Hollywood film" "Then it wasn't even" "Within our..." "Thinking that it could come to us." "Narrator:" "And it looked as though it would happen again" "With the stage play "The Madness Of George III,"" "In which Nigel Hawthorne played the title role." "When the film was proposed," "He was so convinced he would lose out again," "He decided to take a gamble in Hollywood." "I'd assumed that Tony Hopkins would be given the part." "And-- and then Joel Silver, who was the..." "Big action movie producer in Hollywood..." "Had been to see the stage version at the national" "And offered me this character..." "Cocteau in "Demolition man."" "And I thought that that might give me some viability in America." "I did see "The Demolition Man."" "It's truly a forgettable movie," "And I think there were 95 people" "Who could've played that part." "I can't think of anybody who could've done George." "I thought it was brilliant." "Narrator:" "So against expectations," "Nigel Hawthorne got the title role in the movie "The Madness Of King George,"" "Thanks only to the insistence of the playwright Alan Bennett." "And it was "The Madness Of King George,"" "Not "Demolition Man,"" "That earned Nigel Hawthorne an oscar nomination for best actor." "Hawthorne:" "As I was about to get out of the cab" "I saw Stallone, and it had only been" "A few months since I'd worked with him." "And I got out, I walked about that far away from him" "Nothing." "And I was nominated." "I think Nigel recognized" "That this was one of his seminal roles." "It was that sort of..." "Slightly mad" "No, not the madness of king George," "But the madness of Nigel Hawthorne" "In his total commitment to this." "I was quite nervous about him, physically, sometimes." "Because..." "He gave so much" "I was frightened that he would exhaust himself." "Goldwyn:" "He saw him as an ordinary man, not as a king." "And he played the king sometimes with absurdity," "If you examine that part" "A little outrageously." "He wasn't a king descending into madness." "He was an ordinary man who just happened to be a king." "And I think that's part of the brilliance of the performance." "And if you look at the picture as many times as I have," "You see that." "And you see" "That that didn't just happen." "That was part of the brilliance" "That the actor brought to the part." "Hawthorne:" "Sam Goldwyn rang me up from America" "And said, "Well, we have a problem over here" "Because we've got a title 'The Madness Of George III.'" "People'll say, 'If it's George III, what happened to the other two?" "'" "You know, it's like Rambo."" "I said, "I see what you mean."" "So he said, "We've got to know it's about a king." "We don't know he's a king."" "So I said, "Why don't you call it 'The Madness Of King George'"?" "He said, "That's so simple."" "( chuckles )" "Narrator:" "In "The madness of king George,"" "Nigel Hawthorne drew on his own troubled relationship with his father." "Hawthorne:" "Dad was, I suppose, quite eccentric" "And I use him all the time." "I suppose very often now quite unconsciously." "I just remember things." "The way he would do things," "The way he spoke to people." "I don't think he was ever..." "As angry as he pretended to be." "He always seemed..." "To get quite a bit of amusement" "Out of speaking to people in" "In an angry way." "And I don't think that he really meant it." "Dad was..." "Old enough, I suppose, by the time I really got to know him," "To have been my grandfather." "He was someone we were rather fearful of" "Because he was very strong" "And he demanded his role" "As a victorian father." "Narrator:" "For years, dr." "Charles Hawthorne" "Ran his own medical practice in Coventry." "Then in 1932," "He decided to begin a new life in the sun" "With his wife Rosemary and their four children." "So the family, including the three-year-old Nigel," "Set sail for Cape Town." "Hawthorne:" "The cape was a very, very English place" "Because it was still part of the empire then." "The people seemed to want to remain English." "And certainly the lives that my parents lived were very English." "You know, we shot bolt upright" "When "God save the king" was played." "And there were union jacks everywhere." "You knew it was all, really" "Obviously a colonial part of Britain," "But it was still very much part of Britain." "This is where the royal family were put up" "When they were here on a royal visit in" "I think it must have been 1947." "And I was there with my little flag" "And certainly my parents went" "To the garden party that was thrown." "And my mother looked rather like the queen mum" "And people waved at her" "And she waved back and smiled graciously." "And everyone thought that she was." "I think that my relationship with my mother" "Was a good deal closer than that I had with my father." "She told me once that she had never been in love with him," "But she believed that he would be" "A good father for her children." "We had a nurse called nurse Walkerdine," "And there were four children, so the twins" "My brother and sister-- used to go in the double pram" "And Sheila and I were on reins." "And we used to go all the way around here." "It's quite different now." "There's obviously some sort of amphitheater here" "Which certainly wasn't there." "But the museum was of huge fascination for us." "And it has the most wonderful collection," "To children, of bushmen..." "Who have huge bottoms." "And it used to be a total fascination for us" "To see these wax figures of bushmen" "And wonder why they had such big bottoms." "And the nurse told us" "That they were for storing water." "But we were never absolutely sure" "How they got access to the water." "Narrator:" "Although the family were not catholic," "Nigel Hawthorne was sent to one of the most" "Prestigious schools in the Cape" "The Christian Brothers College." "Hawthorne:" "This was not a particularly happy experience for me" "And I think that at one time" "I would have been really quite brainy," "Quite academic." "But it was sort of knocked out of me." "I was very fearful of the brothers." "They were very aggressive." " So are we going to visit?" " Yeah." "Certainly." "( knocking )" "Good morning." " Hello." " Say good morning to sir Nigel." "Kids:" "Good morning, sir Nigel." "Well, that's very nice." "Do sit down." "Sir Nigel was in this school 52 years ago." "In fact he was in this very classroom." "Is there anyone who'd like to ask him some questions?" "How many children..." "Were in your school altogether?" " How many?" " Yeah." "Well, there were..." "About 30 of us I think." "Come sit with me here." "Come and sit." "About-- good, we've got three of you now." "There were about 30 desks." "But they weren't double desks like this you've got now." "They were all single desks" "And they were somehow crammed in." "And the teacher's desk was never there." "It was always right in the middle." "And this-- the virgin Mary," "Was usually in the middle" "And sort of dominated the blackboard." "Were the brothers here, too?" "The brothers were there, yes." "We didn't have ladies" "Didn't have girls like you in the class." "And we weren't taught by ladies." "We were always taught by brothers" "Who wore black priest's clothes" "Like a cassock," "And with-- with a collar there," "And a big broad sash" "Which went down the right side." "And they used to beat us" "Regularly like gongs." "( laughs )" "And if we didn't do anything right," "We were given beatings." "And aren't you glad it isn't that way today?" "I think that this outward-going child..." "Eventually started to grow inward." "I didn't really know who I was," "What I was, or where I was." "I was spotty and skinny" "And I really felt that I didn't exist as a being" "I'm not saying I was particularly different from any other boy," "But I would like to have been brought up there now." "I suppose I-- when I was growing up as a young boy" "And going into puberty," "I knew that there was something wrong somewhere," "And I didn't quite know what it was." "There was nobody to talk to." "Even my father" "We weren't even told the facts of life," "Despite the fact he was a doctor." "Narrator:" "Charles Hawthorne had performed" "In the famous footlights theater company while studying at Cambridge," "But he was much less enthusiastic" "About his own son's theatrical career." "Hawthorne:" "He really didn't understand about plays at all" "Had no liking for them." "He used to call them dressing up." "It was a sort of sissy side" "That he didn't want any part of" "Or want his children to be part of." "And so to see one of his own sons" "Moving in that direction..." "I think rather horrified him." "And so this" "This began a sort of a breach between him and me" "Which we were never able to fill" "Because he" "I think he tried to like me..." "But didn't." "Felt disappointed in me." "He wanted to be proud," "And I think he knew that he wasn't going to be." "And so I've always regretted, really," "The rift between us." "And I'd like to think that now" "When things became better for me" "And I became more successful" "That he would be proud." "And I'm sure that would be the case." "I think he would be tickled pink" "That things worked out all right." "Narrator:" "In the late '30s, dr." "Hawthorne moved the family" "To a new house on the coast." "I love the sea." "I always have-- just love it." "I've always found it..." "A friend rather than an enemy," "Rather than something I should be frightened of." "I always felt at ease." "And I think I did almost drown" "When I was quite young," "But my father pulled me out." "And since then" "I've developed a love of the sea." "My father was very keen on swimming." "First thing in the morning," "He would go down and swim in the Atlantic" "Which was always ice cold." "And to do that he would don" "A terrible old bathing costume with moth holes." "And off he'd go, and take Austin, the dog," "Who would bark alongside the car." "And dad would drive-- just around the corner, really." "We could easily have walked." "But he would drive to this funny little beach," "He would dive into the water," "And swim about four strokes." "Because there really wasn't much further to swim." "And then he'd come back on the beach" "And do some embarrassing exercises," "And run up and down a bit and then go home" "With Austin barking again alongside the car." "So he was odd." "This is the next bay to Camps Bay," "And it's called Barley Bay." "I don't quite know why." "And there's our house right in the middle of the bay." "All during the war," "I spent the most wonderful childhood," "When other children were, of course, deprived" "And being bombed and things." "We didn't see any of that." "So, if you like, it was a wonderful..." "Opening to a life, and a very healthy one," "Because one was getting all that fresh air" "And the swimming and the mountain climbing and everything." "Narrator:" "But while the Hawthorne's house" "Was in a fashionable new suburb of cape town," "The family maid Lina commuted from the flatlands beyond." "Nigel Hawthorne hasn't seen her for many years." "Hawthorne:" "Where Lina lives, of course," "It's one of the dreariest parts in the whole of the landscape." "It's such a beautiful landscape" "She has a view of the mountain." "And the Cape flats were originally" "Where the sea was." "'cause the sea swept right across" "From bay to bay, from ocean to ocean." "And..." "She's somewhere in between." "So it's not very beautiful." "And because of "the group areas act"" "And all those appalling pieces of administration" "That went on in the apartheid era" "A lot of the Cape colored people" "And the black people were moved out" "Of what looked like desirable residencies..." "For white people," "And thrown out into the Cape flats" "To keep them out of the way." "It always seemed to me" "An appalling act of barbarism." "( African-style music plays )" "Hello, Henry." "Very good to see you." " Are you going to allow me in?" " Yeah." "( laughs )" " Is she inside?" " Yeah, Lina is inside." "Let me go and see her." "( whistles ) Where's my girlfriend?" "( laughs )" " Hello." " Hello, my lovely." " How are you?" " How are you?" " Fine." " Lovely to see you." " Nice to see you, too." " Ohhhh!" " A long time, eh?" " A long time." " How are things?" " Things is fine." "I only want you to get married." "( laughs )" "I would have married you" "And then you went and got married yourself." "Oh, I see." " Can I take this off?" " Yes." "Whee, an unveiling." " Where do you want the milk?" " On here." "Whenever we come here we have" " Lots of cakes and lots of snacks." " I didn't bake any cake." "No, we don't need cake." "We just had breakfast." "How much milk?" "Milk-- oh." "Shall I take mine?" "Yes." "Not too much, you see." " Lina:" "Don't waste it." " That's lovely." "Yeah, perfect." "There we are." "Do you know we've kept in touch through the years?" "Yeah, all these years." "I only want you to get married." "( laughing )" "Lina:" "There's lots of things" "A person has already forgotten about, you know?" " Mmm, I know." " What you've been doing in your young days" "And all sorts of things." "I was very terrible when I was young." "Were you a bad girl?" "If you want to know all these things," "Then you'll say, "No, it can't be,"" "'cause you've never been married." "One night, I went to a dance" "The other night, in a beautiful dress." "Did you make your own clothes?" "I used to make it, but then I was..." "Hawthorne:" "I suppose I-- when I was growing up," "There was always this problem that I wasn't married" "And people used to say, "Isn't it about time?"" "And it must have seemed odd to my parents" "That I didn't have girlfriends" "Or anybody-- there was nobody in my life." "Narrator:" "For years, Nigel Hawthorne's private life remained private." "Seamus, come on." "Then in 1995," "On the eve of the oscar ceremony," "He was interviewed by a gay American magazine" "About his 18-year partnership" "With screenwriter Trevor Bentham." "Hawthorne:" "Although we were sure that everybody knew" "There was no reason for them not to know" "Actually having the press say it" "Made it easier eventually" "Because if it's out, it's out." "If you're out, you're out." "When we were brought up," "If you were a homosexual" "You kept quiet about it." "And I suppose running away to England" "When I was 21" "Was again not facing up" "To my sexuality." "And so for years in England," "I lived a sort of double life..." "And never-- never felt..." "In any way at ease with being gay, as we call it now." "Never-- never liking the world very much." "Finding..." "The more extreme..." "The more extrovert gay people offensive" "And alien to me." "And so I was sort of somewhere in the middle" "Of all that and not" "Not able to find somebody" "That I could share my life with." "Because I couldn't" "I found going into the bars and the clubs and things," "Where you met those companions," "Didn't suit me." "Although I used to do it," "But in a very half-hearted and embarrassed way," "Feeling that I was going to be recognized" "And reported to the police or whatever." "When I first met Nigel, he was pretty insecure." "He was quite..." "Nervous." "He was quite truculent, actually." "He could be very difficult to work with." "I knew," "Because I was working with him in a stage-managerial capacity." "Quite moody." "Not always popular with the other members of the cast." "And then..." "I would like to say it's because we started living together," "But at least it gave a kind of security" "That wasn't in his life before," "And a calming down." "My life has changed out of all recognition." "I've become more at ease with myself." "I don't have these black depressions" "That I used to have." "They're very much a thing of the past." "Narrator:" "In spite of going though such a mudslinging episode," "Nigel Hawthorne's reputation with the public has grown" "And he recently received the ultimate accolade" "Of a knighthood." "Nigel is a grown-up." "And so he's grown up into the great parts." "And in a way the logic of his career" "Looking at it from the outside as I am," "Seems perfect." "He literally can..." "Do everything and does everything." "So many actors now give up the theater," "But Nigel never has." "He's always gone back to the theater" "And practiced the craft in the theater." "The fact that he's now" "Coming up to playing Lear" "This is right for Nigel" "Because he's ready to play Lear." "He should play Lear." "It's his part." "( Asian-style music plays )" "Narrator:" "After his performance as George III" "The story of a king descending into madness" "Nigel Hawthorne was approached several times" "To play King Lear," "But he was determined to wait for the right production." "Now he has accepted the offer" "From director Yukio Ninagawa," "Who has won great acclaim" "For his Japanese interpretations of Shakespeare's plays." "( speaking Japanese )" "Via translator:" "I think there is always something new" "In the way he portrays characters" "Something which ordinary people do not even notice." "He surprises us by showing" "How a human being can be." "Here's the patient, my lord." "Hawthorne:" "King Lear, of course, is awesome," "And I tackle it with trepidation." "But I do tackle it." "And I don't hang around thinking," ""Oh, I'm never going to be able to do this."" "O, Reagan, Goneril," "My old kind father," "Whose frank heart gave all" "O, that way madness lies;" "Let me shun that; no more of that." "Hawthorne:" "I think most people when they get to middle age," "Would rather settle for an easy ride" "Generally speaking." "I never wanted an easy ride." "I always wanted an interesting ride." "( rings softly )" "This is the prayer gong" "Of a buddhist temple which was built" "The same year as the great fire of London-- 1666." "Wonderfully peaceful here." "Little lady chattering away like a sparrow." "But otherwise just the cicadas in the trees" "Right in the middle of Tokyo." "Around there is where you go and pray." "I'll have to take my shoes off first." "This looks like King Lear and the fool on the heath." "The old man there on the left," "And the fool resting" "Like the scene we did yesterday" "Hair, eyes," "Slightly mad." "Strange to find that here." "We're not allowed in there." "( Ninagawa speaking Japanese )" "Via translator:" "There is no Japanese actor" "Who is 70 years old and as capable" "And beautifully aged as Nigel." "Aging for the Japanese" "Is to become like a withered tree" "Quiet, static" "And without desire." "But Nigel is a 70-year-old man" "Who is still fighting." "Hawthorne:" "One of the things about "King Lear"" "Is that you know you're moving towards a man's death." "And he says right in the beginning" "He's going to crawl towards death." "He's not going to..." "Embrace it willingly." "He's going to make the most of this retirement period" "That he can." "( traditional Japanese music plays )" "And maybe that's what King Lear is:" "Man at the end of his life moving towards death" "And not really wanting to confront it." "Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester." "Bentham:" "I don't think of him as an old man." "I can't think of him as an old man." "I can't-- 70 doesn't look old on him." "He doesn't behave like an old man." "He behaves exactly the same way as he always did." "He plays tennis, he swims," "He rushes about." "He gardens." "He's incessant." "He's absolutely" "The energy level is enormous." "There are people who just don't grow old." "Hawthorne:" "I think mortality is always very frightening to confront." "You have to face up to it." "And I do know that undertaking something" "As monumental as Lear at 70," "When most people tackle it in their 40s," "Is asking for trouble..." "I suppose." "But I think I'm all right." "( violin music plays )"