With a career spanning over six decades and retirement nowhere in the picture, how difficult is it for Sir Michael Caine to lead a fiercely guarded private life? “It’s very easy. What I do is, I lead what journalists call a boring life!” quips the veteran actor, over an evening call from London. Ahead of the television outing of his dark fantasy film, The Last Witch Hunter (on Sony PIX), Caine chats with the Weekend about how he unwinds with his grandchildren, his upcoming books and how it’s the business that retires you and not the other way round.
Owning his craft
For the 84-year-old British actor, leading a life away from the spotlight comes easy. “A lot of actors talk about having no privacy, but they are always on their iPad! Facebook, and those sorts of things, I have never exposed myself to any of it,” he says. In fact, he admits, more often than not, wearing a baseball cap when on the streets does the trick for him. Insisting that his life is quite mundane as per movie star standards, Caine says, “I’m a happily married man, completely besotted by my grandchildren. How much more boring can you get?”
KSS_JB_D51_04712 - Eggsy (Taron Egerton) meets Arthur (Michael Caine), the head of the Kingsman spy agency.
Known for his distinctive cockney accent, the octogenarian has starred in over 100 films, including Alfie, Sleuth, Educating Rita , and Hannah and her Sisters — which earned him his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He claimed his second for his outing in The Cider House Rules . Apart from movies, he has starred in a number of television shows, too, including Jekyll and Hyde and Freedom: A History of Us , a miniseries on the history of America. He also has numerous theatrical appearances to his credit. When asked about how different it is to act for the screen as opposed to acting for the stage, the actor feels each commands a different craft. “The art of movie acting is not to do any acting. You’ve got to be the person. If people see the acting, it’s artificial. In theatre, you’ve got to be acting. You’ve got to project your voice and make sure the person in the last row in the theatre hears you,” he explains.
Off screen and between pages
Today, the Oscar-winner has more than just cinematic commitments to keep him busy. Of late, he finds himself reviving literary projects he had put aside. “I’m writing two books. One is about acting — I’d written it years ago; now I’m rewriting it,” he shares. The other is a novel set against the backdrop of terrorism. “When I first wrote it, the plot had an airplane flying into a skyscraper. Of course, then we had the 9/11. It’s been a long time now, so I’ve completely changed the subject,” he says, adding that his second bid at the novel is in fact funnier. “It’s cut out to do everything with the ISIS. I am doing a crazy outlook on it!” he laughs. The actor hopes to wrap up both books in a year’s time.
Caine has also often graced headlines for being vocal about issues not related to the arts — from getting back the national service programme for youth in the UK, to the ever volatile Brexit debate. “I think everybody should be free to voice their opinions, and I don’t see why actors should not,” he is quick to comment. “The only difference being, if actors do, it’s in the newspapers. I’ve got freedom of speech like everybody else and if someone asks me a question, I will answer as truthfully as possibly,” he affirms.
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Forging ahead
For a career as long-lived as his, he doesn’t see himself retiring in the strictest sense. But he’s also aware his days are numbered. “You know you’re gonna finish eventually. But if a film wants a 100-year-old actor, you’ll get a call. On the other hand, if you’re unlucky and you make three flop pictures in a row, they’ll give you an out very quickly, right at the start of your career,” points out Caine, who had two releases this year, Going in Style and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk . Often called Nolan’s lucky charm — he cast the veteran in over six films, starting with Batman Begins in 2005 — in Dunkirk , Caine merely had a voice cameo because, as the director admitted to Nj.com, “It’s Michael. He has to be in all my films, after all.”
Come 2018, and the actor will see the release of a number of eagerly-awaited projects. First up, in March, is a documentary titled My Generation , which will narrate the story of the cultural revolution of the decade, through a montage of archival clips, music and other data. It will feature contributions from Paul McCartney and David Bailey, among others. According to Caine, the movie precedes a six-episode television series, which is still in the making. Another of his offerings that month will be in a movie about the notorious Hatton Garden Robbery, where he will be seen alongside Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent and Tom Courtenay. March will also see the Caine-Katie Holmes starrer, Dear Dictator . “It’s about a young woman and a dictator in the Caribbean. There’s a revolution and he ends up fleeing into the attic in her house!” he smiles. “I can’t wait. Everything falls in March, so does my 85th birthday!” he signs off, with childlike glee.
Catch The Last Witch Hunter on December 19, at 11 pm, as part of Sony PIX’s PIXmas Party
