Ben Kingsley on portraying historical figures, from Salvador Dali to Mahatma Gandhi
The acclaimed British actor talks to Q’s Tom Power about his role in the film Dalíland
As an actor, Ben Kingsley likens his work to that of a portrait artist.
He stars as Salvador Dali in director Mary Harron's biopic, Dalíland, which focuses on the renowned surrealist artist's life in the 1970s.
"To create a portrait of Dali, who himself was a great portrait artist, was tremendously exciting," Kingsley told Q's Tom Power in an interview that took place at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
"It was as if I had him in my atelier, and I was glancing at him and then to my blank canvas, and then back to him and my blank canvas. I never felt that I became Dali, but I was exhilarated and exhausted by portraying him — and I use that word as precisely as I possibly can."
In many ways, Kingsley's portrayals of historical figures have defined his screen career. He's perhaps best known for his starring role as Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's 1982 film Gandhi, which earned him the Oscar for best actor the following year. But Kingsley isn't necessarily selective about the people he portrays. "It's pretty random," he told Power.
"I had no idea that I was going to be asked to play Gandhi. It was a shock…. I had no idea that Mary [Harron] would say, 'I would like you to portray Salvador Dali.' And yet, as soon as I heard those words, there was a glimmer of recognition in me…. I believe there are times when somebody nudges something and a message gets through to me that I must tell their story."
How does a genius say farewell to life? I don't think Dali — bless him — I don't think he died well.- Ben Kingsley
Yet even for a veteran actor, portraying a cultural icon can be an extremely daunting task. In the case of Gandhi, Kingsley accepted the role before he realized he could even pull it off.
"[I] then watched, I think it was five hours of newsreel footage in a cinema all by myself, thanks to dear Richard Attenborough, and left the cinema thinking, 'I can't do it,'" he told Power.
"I looked at this mountain and my ego dissolved. And I realized: I haven't got enough oxygen and I haven't got the kit. I'll never do it. And then I realized, you don't look up and you don't look down — so many metaphors about acting, I do apologize — [when] you're climbing a mountain: you don't look up, you don't look down. You're face to face with the rock in front of you. That's all you have."
WATCH | Ben Kingsley's interview with Tom Power:
The challenge with Dalíland was painting a portrait of the artist's life in his final years. Kingsley said he sees "something of King Lear" in Dali in how he struggled with his own mortality.
"How does a genius say farewell to life? I don't think Dali — bless him — I don't think he died well. I don't think he died at peace. I think he died raging against the coming of the dark. And I know that I was privileged to replicate the harrowing sequence when he's in the hospital in the wheelchair and surrounded by press, basically saying, 'I mustn't die. Don't let me die. Geniuses mustn't die.' That, for me, was a target. And I love hitting targets as an actor."
"As my great colleague Tilda Swinton once said, 'There is so much nonsense talked about acting. It is, in fact, a combination of empathy and transformation.' And Mary trusted me with both."
WATCH | Official trailer for Dalíland:
The full interview with Ben Kingsley is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Ben Kingsley produced by Ben Edwards.
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