CHRISTOPHER LEE interview en FRANÇAIS (2001)

Hello and thank you for being with us for this exceptional bolero in the company of a real gentleman and international actor, Christophe Hurley. Christophe Hurley, hello! I am very happy to welcome you to Monte Carlo TMC in Bolero. So you are here in Monaco for the celebrities tournament. That's right. And you almost won, since you were in the team of Kevin Costner and Robert Wagner. Yes, because I am a member of the same club in Los Angeles as Mr. Wagner. When I go back to Los Angeles next time, I will certainly speak with the committee. You would have deserved the cup, but Robert Wagner went to get it for you. Maybe. Are you passionate about golf? Absolutely. I started after the war, 1940-1949. I started and I am completely passionate. Do you do big tournaments? Yes, I did them, even in the championships when I was much younger. But now I play, we call them pro-am, that means amateur professor, etc. I play with the pros, I play with the amateurs, the celebrities, etc. I did it in the United States, I did it in Europe, I did it everywhere. You go around the world. Yes, I am completely passionate about the game. It is almost the only game I can play at the moment. You are English, you were born in London. Yes, I am English. What is very strange is that you have on one side a military colonel, so completely English, and on the other side you have Italian blood in your veins. Yes. And what blood, since it is your mother who was a real Italian countess, whose beauty was celebrated by the greatest painters and the greatest sculptors of the time. And she comes from a very, very large family, one of the largest families in Italy. One of the largest, that is luck then. Because I knew that the family was very old, very old. I knew that for a long time, because my mother told me, of course. The name of the family is Carandini, Carandini. It is a family from Modena, I think. But I have a cousin in Rome. It is the only family that bears this name in Italy. I have a cousin in Rome who is an archaeologist, the greatest, the best known in Italy, for example. I was with him two or three years ago. And then he told me, you know that the family is very old. I said, yes, yes, but... He said, but I found ceramics in Lombardy. And then the name of the family was written in Latin, Carandinus. It can date back to the time. Of the Romans? It means, yes, it's Roman. It means that the family is more than a century old. No, much more. About two thousand years. Yes, it's fabulous. But when we go back to your genealogical tree, we realize that you have relatives, people from your family, relatives of Charlemagne, of Napoleon. There is even one who married a Borgia, it's the Borgia family. I don't know if it's true, this story. It's the legend. It's said that some of the family married the Borgia family. But because of my job, you know, it's a bit too much. But then you received a very severe education. At first you did it on your father's behalf, he printed you a... My father and my mother divorced when I was four years old. So I didn't know my father very well. When I was much older, when I was still young, I knew him. But at that time, I didn't know him very well. And then my mother remarried again, my stepfather they say. Yes. English too. Yes, English, yes, that's it. And then again, divorce, etc. Sixteen years. You were sixteen? No, no, no. Yes, yes. Sorry, I was sixteen. And my sister, she wouldn't like me to tell you this. And then get older. So in 1938, I had to leave school, because I didn't have the money to stay. And then my mother was alone with two teenagers, if you will, with nothing at all. But with nothing at all. So, that's life. It's a great defeat. And if you succeed, then it's victory. I had to go to work at the age of sixteen, it's not much. But they paid me a Sterling book a week. Why? What was it for? I was a messenger, in the city of London, in the centre of London. At the bank? Yes, I was an office boy, they said in English. I put the stamps on the letters, I answered the phone, I brought tea for the secretaries, etc. It was nothing, but I could live. And my sister worked too. And then the war broke out. And then you joined the Royal Air Force. Yes, I was lucky, because I joined in 1940-41, and demobilized in 1946. So I spent between four and five years during the war. At first, as a pilot. In bombers, fighters, etc. But because I had problems, I couldn't continue. And then I was with the special forces, I think. Yes. Did you have secret services? No. Not yet? Not at all. You hadn't entered our lives yet? No, no, no. They asked me if I was a spy. I said no, no, no. Can you imagine that I, with my height, 1.85 meters, I can speak seven languages. that I can hide among the crowd? It's impossible. But the intelligence service is the English counter-espionage. Yes. And you were part of the intelligence service. In a way, I was in the intelligence service. Yes, that's right. And I was with some groups that were really weird. For example, the Popsky Private Army. Popsky, P-P-A, that's what it's called in English. There were only a hundred people in it. I was also a paratrooper. I was also with, I don't know if you know the word, SAS, the SAS. Yes. SAS, the special service. Yes, the special service. I was with them too. Towards the end of the war, I was in the Balkans. I met Marshal Tito. I was in contact with him as a British officer. So I traveled everywhere and I'm lucky, I assure you. I'm here. Here, alive. Yes, that's it, alive. What memories do you have of this whole period? Naturally, I forgot a lot. A lot. You can't say everything either. Sorry? You can't say everything either. No. I defended myself. You know, because I signed a document. And I don't know you at all in French. But in English, the translation is secret, official, etc., etc. If you sign the document, it's for life. It's for life. So when I wrote my autobiography, I received a letter from the Minister of Defense telling me, you know, that you have no right to speak, etc., etc., etc., nor to write, etc., etc. Even today, even today, the people who were in the services... Secret. The paratroopers, the commandoes, the swimmers, the divers, etc., etc. They don't have the right to speak. If you sign a document and then you write something in a book... Yes, well, okay. Directed. Yes. Does what you've experienced look like all the espionage films that we see in the cinema, or are these films just a pale copy of reality? From time to time, we find a film that has a bit of reality. It's like, for example, when you see a superb film like Schindler's List, when you see the concentration camps and after the war, for a little over a year, I was in... I don't find the word in French. A committee, you say? Yes. Of war crimes. Ah yes, yes. And then we started in Austria, southeast, the city of Klagenfurt, and then, little by little, Austria, Germany, Germany, and finally Poland. And naturally, I had visited several concentration camps. Some of them were empty. There were others that weren't. And we'll never forget that. Naturally, it's impossible to show these situations on screen because people were dying at the time. It's impossible. You can't find actors who are skeletons, it's impossible. And the thing you can't feel is smell. It can't be shown on screen. That's why I asked you about reality. Reality. I can tell you about reality, but I'm much too old now to play a character in a story. Reality surpasses fiction, absolutely. So now we're going to take a short musical break, and then you're going to tell us how you got from the army, from the secret services, to the cinema. So, Christophe Hurly, how did you get from the army, and from the intelligence service, from the special forces you belonged to, to the cinema? How did you get the desire, because after all, it was the demobilization, how did you get the desire to become an actor? It's a really strange story. I didn't know at all what I wanted to do. Naturally, I didn't want to go home for a book a week. And then one day, I had lunch at my cousin's, who was the first Italian ambassador in England after the war. He had a rather difficult job, as you can imagine. His name was Niccolo Carandini. And during lunch, he asked me, he asked me the question, he said, What do you do now? Do you know what you want to do? I said, No. Maybe a diploma, I don't know, but no. And he said, all of a sudden, he said, Have you ever thought of being an actor, an actor? I said, No. And then he replied, But you know that your mother sang well. I said, Yes, I know. She wasn't a professional actress. She was certainly the most dramatic actress of my life, I assure you. And when I told her, I want to play the role of the actress, she said, Oh, like that. Like Sarah Bernhardt, for example. Oh, what a tragedy. Oh, the family, etc. Oh, the shame. Oh, yes, absolutely. She said, But what would the family say? I said, But listen, listen, Mom. I always say, You. And then I said, Listen, Mom. Do you remember? You told me from time to time about your ancestors. Not about your parents, but before. Your ancestors. Yes, my ancestors. You told me that, not my grandfather, but... Your great-grandfather. Great-grandfather, yes. And great-grandmother were perhaps the first opera singers in Australia. And they had the first opera house in Australia. Yes. They played on stage. They sang. And little by little, I found photos in Sydney, where I was a few weeks ago, of my great-grandmother, who was English, and the girls, the five girls, who were very beautiful. And when she was 85 and older... On stage. When I was very, very young, all of them sang perfectly. Perfectly. And my great-grandmother, she was called the Rosignol of Tasmania. Yes, of course. And I programmed them. I lent them to the Sydney Opera. And I'm telling you this story because it's in the blood. It's in the genes. He knew it. He, Niccolò Calandini, he knew it. He said to me, you know that your great-grandfather, great-grandmother, etc., he told me the story, the same story that my mother knew. Maybe it's in the blood. So go and think. Think. And tell me one day, if you made the decision, I left the embassy and for the next few weeks I thought a little. Because when I was very young, at the age of 10, 11, 12, at school, I played two Shakespeare plays. The first was in I-5, in which I played the role of the Dauphin of France. Because I was the only one who could speak French. I didn't speak French in the play. And your beginnings were difficult? Sorry? You made the decision to leave. I made the decision. I said, why not? Why not? It could be very interesting. So why not? Why what? But you have to learn the trade. Because I didn't know anything at all. Nothing. I was an amateur. So one day I went to see the head of the Rank organization. He told me, you have everything we want. We'll give you a contract for seven years. I'll never forget the first time I was on stage. The audience won't forget either. Because I reacted to everything the others said. If there was a woman who came in and said, there was death in the family. I said, oh. And when it's raining outside, I found an umbrella. I did everything. And then the first act. You left on your own? No, no. After the beginning, the producer came and said, Christopher, you can finish everything on your own. On your own? I said, I don't understand. He said, but you play all the roles. All the roles. So you can continue. So I learned right away. But from the point of view of the contract, which was for the films, he told me, you're too tall. And you look too strange. Strange. And also from a stranger. Without Italian. Of course. So, no, no, no. Too strange and too tall. It's like saying to someone, you have red hair, and you can't play the piano. Yes. It's crazy. So why hire me? After two years, at the door. And now. No, no. At that moment. It's not the right word. After those two years, in which I learned nothing at all. And I was a bad actor. Naturally. Because no one told me. That's what you have to do. Do this, don't do that, etc. Listen, listen, listen, etc. For the next ten years, I learned my trade. Because I traveled everywhere in Europe. France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden. Everywhere. I was with groups that sang. I sang too. And then I was in little films in which I spoke English, the language of the country, etc. And then, little by little, it took me ten years, little by little, I learned my trade. And when the opportunity came, in 1957, the first film I made for La Compagnie des Hommes, I was ready. Because I learned. And that's what I say all the time now. Because I'm old. I'm an old actor, naturally. And I say to young people, listen, listen. Listen to what you are told. Because you need at least ten years, I think. To learn a trade. Yes. That's true. All trades. Everywhere. So, I know you don't like to talk about it much, when you are told about Dracula. But I have to talk about it, because it's still a role that marked you, and people are still very present in your mind. I have to ask you questions. When you were offered the role of Dracula, did you hesitate? Because your career had really begun. Yes, yes, yes. It's true. And I've always said it's true. I've always said I was very happy to play him the first time. And maybe the second. Or maybe eight, I don't remember. It was very important for me. Because for an actor, there are two things. That you are known by your face, or that you are known by your name. If you have both, stuck together, you are known by your name, and you are known by your face, if you like. That's it. You are known. Yes. And it was by chance. I didn't expect this role. I had already read the novel, which the others hadn't, I think. And then I played it. And it was by chance. You saw what happened. You saw it all over the world. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. How many times did you play Dracula? Unfortunately, about six, I think. Six times. Yes, I said unfortunately because the third time I was asked to play the role, I said no, no, no, no. Because you go so far from the character of the author. In the novel, you don't give the sentences written by the author. The character of Dracula changes, changes, changes. In modern life, for example, etc. I said no, no, no, no. Not possible, not possible. You have to follow the novel. That's logical, isn't it? So they said no, no, no, no. You have to do it, you have to do it. I said no, I refuse. I don't want to. Not at all, not at all. I refuse. Oh, panic. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. Oh, the producer's lines. You have to do it. I insisted, I insisted. And I said no, no, no. I don't want to. Why, why? Because the script is bad, etc. You have to do it. I said, well, why are you telling me that? Because I've already sold it to the Americans with you. We'll take a short musical break. And then you'll... Because I have other questions for you. Christopher Lee, forgive me for talking to you a little more about Dracula, because you still have an exceptional record, more than 250 films, and you've only shot six or seven Draculas. Yes. But when you were offered the role, weren't you afraid to know that the previous actor had been completely invaded by the character, had gone mad? Yes, yes. He was buried in the cellar, you know. Yes. Buried. But he wanted it. Oh, yes. Yes, yes. It was the place of the negotiation. In my opinion, the character, for about ten years, between 1958 and... 1968, 1969, prevented me from playing other roles. I was a little trapped. You were trapped. But what was the most difficult for you? Was there a lot of psychological work in the character of Dracula? Yes, it's very difficult, because, you know, it's an imaginary story. Also, the name Dracula is a just name, because it was the name of a prince of Wallachia. Wallachia still exists in Romania. It was a prince, a voivode, as he was called, who was really a bloodsucker, if you say so, who was really a tyrant, who was really a sadist, etc., etc. Incredibly cruel. He was called Vlad, Vlad Lampaler, for good reasons, I assure you. Vlad Tsepesh in Romania. Was he a seducer? Yes, he was an incredibly cruel man. I think that the novel, the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, knew it. So he made a salad, if you will, of the mythology of Central Europe, because there are people who don't spend the night in cemeteries now, in some places. Not at all. The peasants, etc. So he knew the legends, he knew the mythology, he knew the history of the real, because Drac is dragon. It means, his father was a knight of the order of the dragon. That's Drac. Hul, in Romanian, is the. And a suffix is son. Dracul a. It means the son of the knight of the order of the dragon. He signed Dracuila, Dracule, Dracula. He did incredible things during his life. And I think the author knew it. So, I read the book. I knew it was an imaginary character, naturally. The whole story was, if you will, imaginary. And I found it was a romantic character, from the point of view of women, and very erotic also from the point of view of women, heroic from the point of view of men, with incredible power, but, but, he was, what do you say, cursed? Cursed, yes. Absolutely, immortality. Awful, that. Awful, immortality. He didn't want, he didn't want to live, live, live. He only wanted death. And if you read the novel, you will find, at the end, that a kind of joy passed on his face when he was really dead. I always tried to put, to put in the roles I play, the same if you speak, not even his age, but the villains, if you will, the evil heroes, if you will, I always tried to put something in, sadness. Always unexpected. It is absolutely necessary that the audience is a little bit upset. Ah, I didn't expect that with this gentleman, with this girl, etc. You have to do something unexpected, always. If you are mean, if you will, then a little humor in it. But do women crack for men who scare them, or for the bad guys? Because at the time of the Draculas, I think you received thousands of letters of love. How do you explain that? Not vulgar, I assure you. No. I had weird letters, yes, very weird. There were students in Romania who didn't speak English at all, who were looking for the right word in dictionaries, and they wrote me a letter. I still have it. It's fabulous. Dear sir, they took, I don't know what, a dictionary, etc. You are undoubtedly the most terrible actor in the world. It prevented me, as I told you, to do other things during a certain period. Always vulgar, not Dracula. You played a few bad guys. I played bad guys. A Parisian journalist told me that. It was a perfect sentence. But it's interesting. I don't play villains, I play characters, imaginary or not. In the 60s, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, and after that, no problem. Because after that, I did comedy in the United States. You have Dante, John Landis. Raoul Walsh. Raoul Walsh, no? Raoul Walsh, but that was before. Orson Welles, John Huston, Nicolas Ray, who is very famous in France. Several others. Molinaro. Twice. I was very happy to play with him. You have a kinship with, you are the cousin of Ian Fleming, who was the creator of James Bond. Did you know him well? Very well. Did he look like the character in his life? A little bit. Really? A little bit. Ian could be a little difficult. Yes. He loved food, cuisine. He liked to drink, but not much. He was during the war intelligence of the English Navy. Yes. He was a very intelligent man. He knew the secret service very well, because he was in it. He wrote the novel, the first, Casino Royale, and then Doctor No. He wanted me to play the role of Doctor No, but when he spoke with the producers, Saltzman and Broccoli, it was too late. He was already dead. Unfortunately. We played a lot of golf together. He was very charming, very intelligent, with an excellent taste. Excellent. We are going to take a short musical break, and then I would like you to tell us about the two women of your life. Yes. Christophe Lally, you did not come alone here in Monaco to this celebrity tournament. The two women of your life are with you. You are two supporters of Chouala. Yes, absolutely. So there is Gitte. Gitte. G-I-T-T-E. Because she is Danish. It's Birgitte. And Christina. Our daughter. You have almost 40 years of marriage. Next year, in March, 40 years. And how did you meet? It's a very strange story. As soon as possible, I would say. I was not married. I was engaged once with a Swedish woman, but it did not work. She was not married, my wife. You were already very famous, or not? Quite famous. She was a model, of the last age, of the great style. Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel. She worked for Balenciaga, Balmain, Chanel, Dior. The greatest. And then, we had at that time Danish friends. You are not married? Oh, that's terrible. You have to know this woman who is Danish. She is incredibly beautiful. She showed me the picture. Ah, it's for you, it's for you. She is for you. She said the same thing to my wife. Oh, you are not married. You have to know this gentleman, etc. They showed her a picture. She said, By chance, I was on holiday, Christmas, in Copenhagen. And then one day, they arranged a date. There were four of us. I asked my wife to marry me after two days. Two days? She said yes, after four days. Oh, that's great. We risk a little. You had waited too long to know. I am very lucky, I assure you, because I have a wonderful wife. Yes, she has a lot of class. She is very elegant. Very elegant and very patient. With someone in my profession, you know. And we lived for three years in Switzerland. And our daughter was born in Switzerland, in Lausanne. And she is with us. Christina. Her name is Christina, yes. And then she looks a lot like the Carandini family. You know, it's really weird. She met the Carandini family once after my cousin's death. My cousin Niccolo, whom I have already told you about. We were in Rome and we went to see the whole family, the widow, etc. And when she came in, she was young, in the big room, the whole family said, ah, the face of Carandini. Yes, it shows. And what does she do in life, Christina? She works in a big computer company. I don't understand at all. Very computer. Yes, yes, yes. Internet, etc. It's called Globix. It's a huge company in England. And what would have been your reaction if she had told you, I want to be an actress, Dad? She never said that. Fortunately. Because today, it's not life for young people, I think. You are not chosen because of your talent. From time to time, if you have talent, it's very good. But it has completely changed our profession. It's always the money, the money, the money. She takes what? 4 million, 5 million, 10 million. Or he takes 15, 20. But you, you only have 12 million. So we don't take you, we take this man or this woman because it's 15 million. Ah yes. It's crazy, but it happens. But from time to time, you naturally have people who play comedy very well. You have very good actors and actresses, very, very, very good. But there are no giants, no more. Not in my opinion, like Spencer, Tracy, like Clark Gable, like Gary Cooper, the others, I've known them all. James Stewart no longer exists. He's a very good actor. For example, I'd go see Gene Hackman in N'importe Quoi. Me too. He's a superb actor. Yes. I have a niece who became one of the first actresses in England, in the theater, in principle. My sister told me one day, 25 years ago or more, Harriet, that was her name, played comedy. It was like my mother. What a shame, etc. You have to talk to her. I talked to her. I told her the truth. There are ups and downs, there are problems, yes and no, etc. I told her everything, almost everything. And it's not always a question of talent. It's not a question of talent. Not always. If you already have talent and you have a role, it helps you a lot. What people sometimes forget, even the producers, the editors, etc., and the other actors, it must be a collaboration, not a confrontation. Of course. When you go to the movies, are you a good audience? Rarely. Are you a good audience? Do you like to be afraid? No. I don't like to be afraid. When you talk about horror movies, there were great masters, Alfred Hitchcock, for example. I always go to see his movies because he doesn't show you everything. That's the secret. Roman Polanski, with Rosemary's Baby, was the most horrible movie I've ever seen, in terms of horror, the most frightening. There's nothing in it. Nothing. You think you see. That's the secret. Don't show everything. If you show everything, there's no surprise. Now, for thirty years, maybe less, twenty years, everything is shown on screen. The poor actor is between two extremes, make-up and special effects. It's like an avalanche coming down on you. That's why it's so difficult. I'll tell you the truth, if you want to be an actor, but I have to tell you that there are problems too. One last musical break and then you'll tell us about your other passions in opera, and your latest film, The Lord of the Rings. Christopher Lee, your real passion is opera. Yes, without a doubt. I was born with a voice. With a voice. That's good luck. It's a legacy. I've already told you about my great-grandfather who was an opera singer. I've always wanted to be an opera singer. It didn't happen. I sang a lot. I recorded operas in the United States. I sang a lot from time to time. I still have a voice. If I were an opera singer, I wouldn't be here now because I'm too old. But I'm not. I'm very sad. You have no regrets. Absolutely. That's life. You've just finished playing in the new episode of Star Wars. Yes, it's not finished. Can you tell us a little bit about the shooting? A little bit, but I can't tell you the story. I can't tell you what I'm doing. I can't tell you what's going on. It's over. I've already told you the secret. We had to sign in the New Zealand Ring of the Rings and in Star Wars in Australia. We had to sign this confidentiality document. I won't say anything. I can tell you that I'm in it. That's all. The company's advertising because it's in the magazine that you can buy now. Lucasfilm's advertising printed Christopher Lee plays the role of a charismatic separatist. That's all. That's all you can tell me. What does that mean? I don't know. The film will be released in 2002. Yes. I have to go back to Australia in March to finish it. All of us. For Star Wars. Before that and during that and maybe a little bit more, I played the role of Saruman, Saruman, the white wizard in The Lord of the Rings. Three books. Three films. You're in costume. You can't tell me. I'm a wizard. It's not a modern story. That's all I can tell you. I regret it, but that's all I can tell you. The first film will be released in December next year. December 2nd. December 3rd. I don't know. It's not over yet. The shooting lasted about a year. Did you sign for other films? Almost. Like all actors, I'm very superstitious. If I tell you I'm going to do this or that, it's because it's signed. Before I sign, it's over. And now, after your stay in Monte Carlo, are you going back to London? Not right away. We're going to Mougin. Golf in Mougin. Golf in Mougin, yes. For my wife and our daughter. It's the first time that my daughter has come here, to Monte Carlo. When I was very young, when I was 8, I was in Menton every summer. I was alone on the beach. There was no skyscraper. There was no traffic. There was no TV. Nothing at all. Yes, but the sea was already there. The sea is always there. So your daughter discovers the Côte d'Azur. Yes, for the first time. I hope you'll come back to your family very often. Me too. We were very happy that your stay in France was so beautiful. Thank you very much. Thank your wife and all my friends and your daughter. My pleasure.