''I Haven't Found Smiley!'' Said Alec Guinness - Director John Irvin about Alec Guinness and Michael Jayston - video Dailymotion

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Director John Irvin (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, miniseries 1979) sharing his memories about working with Alec Guinness (who thought he hadn't found the essence of George Smiley) and about Michael Jayston, the best choice for the wonderful, loyal Peter Guillam. Clip  from "Alec Guinness: A Class Act" (documentary, 2024).

Transcript

00:00I'd leave that coat on if I were you, George. We've got a long way to go.

00:07Well, you're not me, Peter.

00:09Yeah, he did. He put me up for it. I know he did.

00:12He wouldn't admit it, though, ever.

00:14He didn't have casting approval, but we thought it'd be helpful to know

00:19if there was anybody, for instance, that he actively didn't want in the company.

00:25And we were talking about Gwilym, and he said,

00:28I think Michael Jason might be useful.

00:33Michael, consummate actor, an actor who gives an awful lot.

00:41He doesn't take it.

00:43The success of that relationship is Michael's generosity.

00:50I mean, as an actor, he gives, gives, which is great acting.

01:01Four o'clock in the morning, you're right, the telephone rang.

01:04I sat bolt upright, not thinking that, you know, some emergency, you know, something dire.

01:10And it was Alec, and I said, Alec, what's the problem?

01:15And he said, I haven't found him. I haven't found Smiley.

01:19I said, well, you know, I've seen the rushes.

01:23I know you don't need to see the rushes because you told me you see them long before I do.

01:28I've seen the rushes, and you are Smiley.

01:31He said, no, I haven't found him. I can't find him.

01:34I don't think I'm fat enough. I haven't put enough weight on.

01:38I am drinking lots of Guinness, but I haven't, I haven't found him.

01:43I said, it's four o'clock. We're on set at seven.

01:47I want to turn over at eight.

01:49I'll see you on location, and perhaps we can discuss it then.

01:53But I would like, if you don't mind, to get an hour of sleep before I get up.

01:59And click, I put it down. I was furious.

02:03So I tried to get to this location.

02:07I told my AD, keep everybody back.

02:10I said, where is he? Is he here?

02:12He said, yes. Makeup, yes.

02:14And I saw him at the top of Primrose Hill, walking, pacing backwards and forwards.

02:20And I went up the hill and shouted at him when I was about 20 paces from him.

02:27And I said, Alec, this is your start, Mark.

02:31It's a two shot, no cuts.

02:33It's a tracking shot all the way down the hill.

02:35I hope you know your bloody lines.

02:38And I was furious.

02:41And we never discussed from that moment on, never once again,

02:45did we ever discuss his embodiment of George Smiley.

02:53Once in a while, he would add a word to the script, like sumptuous,

02:57running with that greasy spoon.

02:59Well, that was sumptuous.

03:03That was his line.

03:08But in the business, I mean, he was meticulous.

03:13Patrick Stewart was Carla.

03:16And Carla, being the prisoner, was released into a room to meet Smiley.

03:21Could we take those things off his hands?

03:26And when he came in, he sat down and Smiley passed him a lighter.

03:38When John Irving saw the rushes, he wasn't happy with Carla's hand

03:42because he'd been in prison for a while.

03:44And he thought the hand was too, too new.

03:49So he decided that he'd do it again.

03:52Of course, Patrick Stewart was on for another job.

03:55So Lizzie Rowell, who's the makeup lady, did an audition of hands.

03:59And I got the part.

04:01Guard.

04:07So I had to sit down and take the lighter.

04:11lighter from Alec.

04:13John Irving, the director, said, Alec, Alec, you don't have to be in this scene.

04:17It's just the lighter coming across the table.

04:20And then Alec, in his being Alec, he said,

04:22I'm not going to leave a fellow actor to sit at a table on his own

04:27without an eyeline, John.

04:29I've got to be here for him.

''I Haven't Found Smiley!'' Said Alec Guinness - Director John Irvin about Alec Guinness and Michael Jayston

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