 |
Michael Gough Interview
by Judy Sloane
as featured in the August 1995 issue of Film Review Special #12
Posted by raleagh on Mon, 21st January 2008 at 6:09am
This article has been viewed 1246 times |
ALTHOUGH it's all change in the Batcave, with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton behind Batman's cowl and Joel Schumacher assuming Tim Burton's place in the director's chair, Michael Gough reprises his role as Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, once again in Batman Forever. No one is more surprised that Gough has survived the latest re-invention of the Batman franchise than the 78-year-old actor himself.
"I never thought for a moment that I would be doing Batman Forever," he explains. "I thought that I had done two, and had enjoyed them very much indeed, and that with a new director and a new Batman there was absolutely no reason on Earth why they should have the same Alfred. I never thought that I would do it, but I was delighted when they said 'Come on'."
Having spent more than 59 years as an actor and appearing in over a hundred stage, screen and television productions, Michael Gough is a truly veteran performer. Born in Malaya in 1917, Gough spent his childhood in England where he made his stage debut in 1936. Ten years later, the actor made his first big-screen appearance in the Gothic melodrama Blanche Fury and subsequently played a variety of roles in all manner of genres, ranging from such low-budget Horror movies as Dracula, Konga and Trog to high-class period dramas Henry VIII and his Six Wives and Out of Africa. Gough believes that he was originally cast as Alfred due to Tim Burton's desire to infuse a Gothic resonance into his big-budget reworking of the Batman mythos.
The actor was familiar with the comic strip lore thanks to Alan Napier, the late British actor who played the Oark Knight's servant in the classic Sixties TV series. " Alan was a friend of mine," says Gough. "We'd worked together in the theatre and when he played Alfred I became very interested in his character. I remember that I wrote to him and said, 'Alan, you made Alfred look like a very interesting character because it appears as though he does nothing at all but he is, in fact, a very important character' , so I had that link before I ever knew I would play the part."
"He was very reserved, very impeccable and I watched him a lot; I didn't really have a lesson in how to look after silver, how to polish glass and all the things like that, I learned just by watching him. His persona was so good and he was absolutely brilliant." While Cough "enjoyed everything" about working on the first two Batman outings, he is particularly proud of the latest instalment, Batman Forever. "I think it's the best yet," he states. "I think it's marvellous. It's funnier and it's not quite as intense as the first two films. It's difficult to explain but there's nothing sick about this picture at all - not that I'm saying that about the other ones - but somehow this film is lighter and more accessible than its predecessors."
Gough had no problem adapting to the new actor in the Batsuit as he had already worked with Val Kilmer on the 1984 spy spoof Top Secret!, and is equally full of praise for teenage heart-throb Chris O'Donnell, who plays Bruce's partner against crime, Dick Crayson/Robin. "It was nice working with Val again and Chris is a brilliant actor," he enthuses. "The three of us worked very well together. I liked Michael Keaton very much and we became mates, but everyone knew that the chemistry would be there between Val and I because we had already worked together . "Val and Michael are very different personalities," he adds, "but they both play the same character and the relationship between Alfred and Bruce Wayne remains the same."
The actor finds it more difficult to compare Batman directors Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher who, he claims, are completely different to work for but very talented in their own ways. "Tim very much leaves it to you. He casts the characters very carefully and once you're cast, it's up to you," says Gough. "Joel is just as sweet as Tim but is more concerned with shaping you and stretching you a little bit, which I love" he says, 'I think you could be a bit quicker here', 'You could be a little bit more straight here', and so on. He's lovely to work with as well."
With talk of a fourth Batman movie, Michael Cough would be happy to don his finest suits and re-join the fight against evil once again, and has one ambition for his character to fulfil. "I would love Alfred to drive a horse-and-cart, a pony and trap or something like that," he states. "I would need to go to France to start riding again but I would enjoy doing that, and I've done it in two or three films. And of course, because Alfred is the only servant and does everything himself for his master, if we did have a pony and trap, Alfred would have to ride it. Yes, that would be lovely ." |
|