Jeremy Irons
Spotlight By: Benjamin Lee
Once you've passed the acceptable age to play boy wizards, hobbits or dragon riders, the role of the wise mentor is the one to beat. Ian McKellen scored an Oscar nomination as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the late Richard Harris gained a whole new generation of fans in the early Harry Potter movies and now acclaimed British actor Jeremy Irons is following in their footsteps with Eragon.
Irons plays Brom, the mysterious villager who helps young Eragon to accept his destiny as a dragon rider. It's an exciting role for Irons, best known for his work in period dramas such as Brideshead Revisited and The French Lieutenant's Woman. Being part of a big-budget movie was a thrilling opportunity for the 58-year-old actor but according to Irons, it was the story itself which had the biggest appeal
'What's great about the movie is that it's written by a 15-year-old' Irons expresses, 'It's not written by a Hollywood scriptwriter. It's a rites-of-passage movie about how you deal with life and your role in life. It's set within this fantasy world but it has a great sweetness to it.' The film is based on the novel by Christopher Paolini, a teenager when he wrote it, now a 23-year-old with an illustrious writing career.
Although Irons was deeply impressed by Paolini's source novel, it wasn't until recently when they actually met. 'I didn't meet Christopher till about a week ago' Irons admits, 'It was at a screening actually. It was a great sign that we had the writer at the screening because most writers who have their books turned into movies end up deeply unhappy'. Irons, himself understood the difficulties of turning such a well-loved novel into a feature film.
'A novel has a certain length and a film is much shorter' he states, 'Eragon is a novel that many people are fond of and we have a certain responsibility when we turn it into a film.' But Irons is proud of the final product and believes it will appeal to the many millions of die-hard Eragon fans.
Written by a 15-year-old and starring alongside 18-year-old Ed Speleers meant that Irons was playing wise mentor on and off set. Irons admits though, it was a role he enjoyed playing. 'Ed's an extraordinary guy' he admits, 'He has a wonderful quality. I mean, he looks great. The girls adore him. He has a humility and a desire to learn which is tremendous. Now and again I was able to guide him a bit. The relationship we struck off-screen we very much use onscreen as well'
As well as acting alongside Speleers, Jeremy Irons spent a lot of the film acting alongside a range of special effects, which involved him using a lot of imagination. 'Always when you act you have to imagine things that aren't there' Irons believes, 'You have to ignore the cameras, the lights and create a reality. Concentrating on your own world is one of these things you do as an actor whether it be on stage or on film.' Even with a film that has such a wide range of CG, Irons was relaxed about the process. 'The fact that we were playing to a dragon that wasn't there, we had poles and tennis balls to create the three-dimensional size of this thing which would later be added' he shares, 'It's just one further piece of technology that we had to deal with.'
Did he ever get tired of acting alongside a tennis ball' 'For me, the tennis ball was a dragon so no!'
For a film to create such a fantastical world, it was important not just to include all of the special effects but to find just the right location. 'We shot in Hungary a lot of the time' he recalls, 'Slovakia, Vancouver, Iceland. We're creating this fantasy land and we needed mountains and rivers and rapids and rocks. There were some incredible locations. They were often very hard to get to so there was a lot of traveling, a lot of walking, a lot of carrying equipment up mountains.'
When it came to physical exertion, Irons didn't have a problem with really applying himself to the role. In fact, it was something that he relished. 'I'm never happier than when I'm on a horse!' he jokes, 'It's great when you have a bit of action to do. I've done a lot of characters where everything is quite cerebral and there's a bit of a boy's adventure in me so I'm happy doing all that stuff.'
When it comes to wise mentors, Irons sees his character as emulating one of the greatest mentors of all. 'My character fits in the shoes of Obi-Wan-Kenobi' he believes. So will he be back for any more Eragon movies' 'We will see, we will see. Anything can happen.'
Right now, Jeremy Irons has one thing on his mind. 'I have Christmas going on' he admits 'I'm looking forward to stopping for a bit. I have various projects that are simmering on in different ways. The one I do first will be as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.'
For Jeremy Irons, an illustrious career on stage and screen has finally brought him the role that most actors dream of ' a character worthy of an action figure.
