Thinking about last week’s blog in which we talked about the importance of supporting British cinema, it occurred to me that British actors have long had an incredibly important role in world cinema.
It’s not just stars like Cary Grant, Richard Burton or Anthony Hopkins who have fled these shores to take centre-stage in Hollywood or actors like Kristin Scott Thomas who have forged an alternative career in Europe but we have long had a reputation for supplying the world with terrific supporting casts – people who give a film that security, that feeling of strength in depth.
In the past this has included brilliant actors like Basil Rathbone, Claude Raines, James Mason, Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor or Charles Laughton. Today our list of supporting actors looks even more dazzling filled by such Class A acting talent as Jim Broadbent, Hugh Bonneville, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson, Jim Carter, Bill Nighy, Olivia Williams, Rosamund Pike or Michael Gambon.
These are big names which give serious weight to a film without being the star name above the title. Their presence in a film is almost a mark of quality. Their appearance in the cast list is enough to make you realize that here is a movie which can be taken seriously.
It may be a light and fluffy romantic comedy or a heavyweight literary adaption or even a historical drama but whatever the genre, if you have a combination of the above names in the cast, you realize that the film-makers have thought long and hard about what they are doing.
Why are British supporting casts so good? It’s quite simple, these are talented individuals who are more concerned with being actors than being stars. Also they realized long ago there is no such thing as a small part. Maggie Smith and Jim Broadbent can steal a scene with a glance.
They are not concerned with being the hero or the girl who wins the heart of her one true love. They know that being the quirky friend or the evil villain will get them more interesting characters to play, better lines and more importantly a much longer career.
Stars tend to burn brightly but they are yesterday’s heroes before you know it and the supporting cast are off providing a new selection of best friends and dastardly bad guys for a new generation of Hollywood heroes.
