Mark Rylance has spoken out about one of the most traumatic experiences of his career.
The actor, who picked up an Academy Award for his performance in Bridge of Spies back in 2016, discussed his film career in a new interview with The Big Issue. Over the course of conversation, Rylance, 62, mentioned that he actually quit movies after starring in a homophobic action picture called Blitz.
“I gave up film acting in around 2010 when I was in a horrible film called Blitz,” he said. “I so hated it that I got rid of all my agents.”
He continued, “I thought, f*ck this and stopped promoting myself in film. Of course, nature hates a vacuum and suddenly Spielberg was brought along to a play I was doing and that whole thing happened.”
Speaking to The Irish Times, the actor further elaborated on his loathing of Blitz.
“I did this film I hated being part of called Blitz,” he said. “I thought: no, this is terrible; I am done with this.”
Blitz stars Jason Statham as a homophobic cop paired with a gay partner to track a serial killer. Of course, the movie contains extended scenes of homophobic language and harassment. It nabbed awful reviews from critics and flopped at the box office.
Hey, that would make us want to quit watching movies entirely, let alone acting in them.
Fortunately for Rylance–and for us–Bridge of Spies brought him back before the camera. He’s since gone on to star in such acclaimed fare as The Trial of the Chicago Seven and Dunkirk. He will next appear in The Phantom of the Open later this month.
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powersthatbe
Class cannot be bottled, people. Fabulous Actor, and sadly a rare quality to have integrity.
Man About Town
I haven’t seen “Blitz” but it sounds similar to “Partners” with Ryan O’Neal & John Hurt!
Inspector 57
Don’t get it. Rylance co-starred in an overtly homophobic film that he “so hated.” But, ummm, if he hated it so much, why did he make it in the first place? Surely, the homophobic content wasn’t just dubbed in after filming wrapped; it must have been in the script. Did someone hold his family at gunpoint until he agreed to make the movie?
xanadude
I agree. It seems to be a major plot line. “homophobic cop paired with a gay partner” How did he not see that coming?
Joshooeerr
It’s not always that simple. A script that looks even-handed or even enlightened can still be twisted out of shape in production by the director, or in the editing. I worked in TV for several decades and, believe me, a careless editor could unintentionally change the meaning of a scene – sometimes to the polar opposite. Leave out some reaction shots, change the pacing, or add cutaways – maybe to cover a problem with sound or lighting or performance – and you can end up with a completely different scene. So a director deciding in post-production that he wanted to make the lead character more macho and homophobic is something that’s easily achieved in the editing.
Thad
If Halle Berry made Catwoman, I’ll give Mark Rylance a pass for Blitz. Sh*t happens.
johncp56
Now i need to watch it to see how horrible it is, I love the UK actor that also was in Queer as folks , sexy monkey