'Now in the Wings on a World Stage': Kevin Spacey introduces his latest project
- 10 years ago
Even a two-time Oscar winner can still have a point to prove, as Kevin Spacey was keen to explain.
With his new documentary “Now in the Wings on a World Stage”, the American actor lets his personal passion for theatre roar. The film introduces audiences to his stage career as he tours the world with his own company’s production of William Shakespeare’s “Richard III”.
Spacey, who has been the artistic director at London’s Old Vic Theatre since 2003, said his decision to step away from Hollywood for a while struck many as an unusual choice.
“Over the last ten years, since I’ve had success in film and then I went off to London to start a theatre company, a lot of people look at me like that kind of dog, like sort of a little puzzled. Like, ‘why do you want to do theatre and why did you go off and run this theatre for ten years? I don’t get it.’ And, isn’t theatre boring? Why don’t you just do movies and make a lot of money?’ So I made this movie to sort of answer some of those questions.”
Directed by first time filmmaker Jeremy Whelehan, the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the production as well as the performances of trans-Atlantic theatre group the ‘Bridge Project’; a three-year venture between the Old Vic, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and director Sam Mendes.
Front and centre in the film is Spacey’s love of theatre.
“First of all, it is the actor’s medium, whereas film is not. Film is the director’s medium and the editor’s medium. You have no control over how a performance will come out in a film or a television show,” Spacey said, adding “And I always try to remember that no matter how good I might be in a film or a television show, I’ll never be any better. It’s frozen. In the theatre, I can be better. I can be better tomorrow night than I was tonight. I can be better in two weeks.”
“Now in the Wings on a World Stage” is out now in the US and Canada, and opens in the United Kingdom on June 9.
With his new documentary “Now in the Wings on a World Stage”, the American actor lets his personal passion for theatre roar. The film introduces audiences to his stage career as he tours the world with his own company’s production of William Shakespeare’s “Richard III”.
Spacey, who has been the artistic director at London’s Old Vic Theatre since 2003, said his decision to step away from Hollywood for a while struck many as an unusual choice.
“Over the last ten years, since I’ve had success in film and then I went off to London to start a theatre company, a lot of people look at me like that kind of dog, like sort of a little puzzled. Like, ‘why do you want to do theatre and why did you go off and run this theatre for ten years? I don’t get it.’ And, isn’t theatre boring? Why don’t you just do movies and make a lot of money?’ So I made this movie to sort of answer some of those questions.”
Directed by first time filmmaker Jeremy Whelehan, the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the production as well as the performances of trans-Atlantic theatre group the ‘Bridge Project’; a three-year venture between the Old Vic, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and director Sam Mendes.
Front and centre in the film is Spacey’s love of theatre.
“First of all, it is the actor’s medium, whereas film is not. Film is the director’s medium and the editor’s medium. You have no control over how a performance will come out in a film or a television show,” Spacey said, adding “And I always try to remember that no matter how good I might be in a film or a television show, I’ll never be any better. It’s frozen. In the theatre, I can be better. I can be better tomorrow night than I was tonight. I can be better in two weeks.”
“Now in the Wings on a World Stage” is out now in the US and Canada, and opens in the United Kingdom on June 9.