Greta Scacchi has known The Last Impresario’s young director, Gracie Otto, since Otto was a child. The actress, who features in the documentary about theatre and film genius Michael White, talks to us about White’s influence on her own career, her crush on former co-star Harrison Ford and upcoming movie, The Falling
MICHAEL WHITE WAS ESSENTIAL TO SO MANY PRODUCTIONS, INCLUDING THE MONTY PYTHON MOVIES. WOULD YOUR 1987 FILM WHITE MISCHIEF HAVE BEEN MADE WITHOUT HIM?
It would not have come about without his belief in it, and I feel very grateful for how he really engineered some of the first breaks in my career. He was very enthusiastic about it. He had conviction and handed the book to me about three years before it was actually made, so he did go hustling around, putting up his own creative views on it. He was largely responsible for sniffing out the director and putting various people together.
DID WHITE MISCHIEF OPEN A LOT OF DOORS FOR YOU IN THE STATES?
Yes, it really did. I mean, I could have gone to America before, but I was very resistant to it; I wasn’t somebody that was going to go rushing to Hollywood for the sake of it. On principle, I was rather allergic to it.
DIRECTOR GRACIE OTTO DID A GOOD JOB ON THE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HIM, THE LAST IMPRESARIO
I found it quite impressive that a girl of my daughter’s generation – in fact, they’re best friends, my daughter Leila who’s 22 and Gracie – should recognise the quality in a much older man like that and be interested. Otto met White, 78, at Cannes and was struck by how well known and important he seemed among the other stars, though she’d never heard of him. We get so aware gradually of how little patience the younger generation have with what older people have achieved, and I think it’s a real credit to Gracie – and quite unusual – that she’s picked him out. I’ve been with her right from the beginning, when I was first encouraging her to go ahead and do something, after meeting and falling for Michael White. In the film we see, through her young eyes, her fascination of that exciting time when radical things were going on and new ground was being covered in theatre and dance and comedy, because of Michael’s work.
BACK TO YOUR CAREER, WAS IT A CULTURE SHOCK GOING FROM LOW-BUDGET MOVIES LIKE DEFENCE OF THE REALM, TO A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR THRILLER LIKE 1990’S PRESUMED INNOCENT?
It was an exciting experience because it meant going to work in America for the first time. It was a high-budget film, so it was a huge leap from anything I’d been used to in England, Australia and Italy, where things are relatively low-budget, people work very hard and film crews are very good, but they’re under time pressure and don’t have so many resources. This was a luxury of resources, accommodation and everything, and we were given access to lawyers. There was a group of lawyers who were employed full time just to advise the actors. I’ve never since worked on something where the actor is given free reign to do authentic research with any amount of budget and support from whoever in high places.
HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH HARRISON FORD?
It was thrilling. Both Bonnie Bedelia and I both had a crush on him, vying for his attentions, and he made no sign of a response to either of us. He was happily married at the time, and very shy, very sensitive and nice to work with.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING MOVIE, THE FALLING
It’s quite ambitious, because it’s a tricky subject. It’s based on the true stories of teenage girls; pubescent girls who have mass hysteria, desire to commit suicide or sexual fantasies and fainting epidemics in a school in the Sixties, so it was marvellous to work with these very talented teenagers. They were the leads, and then there were a few of us older actors playing the hideous staff members in this girls’ school – I was the most hideous of all. I played the dreaded history teacher; a monster. And I liked playing that. I like having gotten to an age where I can let it all hang out and play character roles.
WE DON’T SEE ENOUGH OF YOU IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE MOVIES THESE DAYS. IS THAT BECAUSE YOU PREFER THEATRE?
Well, I spent the first 15 years of my career hankering to get opportunities in theatre, and I was being bombarded with film offers and no theatre offers. Then I spent the next 15 years having success, finally breaking into theatre, and the film roles relatively dried up, particularly in the last 10 years, because they just don’t know what to do with actresses of my age – especially if we have a reputation for being glamorous and desirable. Suddenly, by your mid-40s, you’re not desirable any more. Actually, it probably started in my late-30s, so I can’t complain, because I always wanted theatre work, and that’s going very well.
WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE STAGE ROLES?
I’ve had lots of meaty roles here and in Australia, Italy and France. I’ve played some of the roles I really dreamed of playing, like Hester in Deep Blue Sea, and Kate in Harold Pinter’s Old Times, and I even played Desiree in A Little Night Music at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. I played Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart in Sydney, and my last role in England, which was very successful, was a tour of Bette And Joan with Anita Dobson, playing Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, so that was thrilling.
- The Last Impresario is in cinemas now.