Ben Whishaw

Spotlight By: Benjamin Lee
BenjaminLee@TheCinemaSource.com

Best known to movie viewers for his bit-parts in Layer Cake and Enduring Love, Ben Whishaw has finally attained the unattainable. The lead role in a $60 million movie.

Co-starring opposite the likes of Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman, it's a production most young actors would give their right everything to be involved in. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is the highly anticipated new drama based on the cult 1985 novel which casts Whishaw as the remorseless killer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.

Whishaw is also known for his stage work. His most renowned performance prior to the movie was that of Hamlet, himself. He's a character that Whishaw found easy to segue into Grenouille. 'I think there's a definite sort of similarity between them' he admits, 'Something about their obsessive nature and the fact that they're both isolated, introspective people. I guess they both have to carry something, whether it's an evening in the theater or carrying a whole film'

For relative unknown Whishaw, the task of carrying an entire film was intimidating. It's especially hard given that the character he plays uses so little dialogue. Whishaw admits it wasn't easy. 'It was a real challenge' he states, 'We shot the dialogue stuff with Dustin in the first few weeks and I thought this is crazy. These are the only few scenes that I have to speak in and we're doing them in the first weeks. It was actually a great place to start though because it established the character and moving into the silent stuff didn't seem like a leap at all because we felt like we knew who he was.'

Playing such an iconic character can transform one's career. From now on, he will be the character Whishaw will be most known for playing. He admits it was important not just to see Grenouille as a cold-blooded killer. 'We started to work on the character by thinking of him not as a monster' he recalls, 'Although there is something monstrous about what he does. We tried to get below the surface and find out what it was that lay behind that brutality. That was what I thought would be what would make people want to spend two and a half hours with him even though he's strange.'

For such a quiet, cunning character, Whishaw shares that it was a tough spell to snap out of at the end of the day. 'I don't try to stay in character but sometimes it's hard if it's emotional and it sort of lingers around' Whishaw tells, 'Because this character was so alone so much of the time it did take a while to shrug off. I got a bit withdrawn.' Despite his actions onscreen being so evil, Whishaw admits that there's a level of empathy that you can achieve with Grenouille. 'I think I'm fairly stable but everybody has some kind of issue or some area of sadness.'

In order to get the coveted part in such a large movie, Whishaw tells that the simplest thing to do was to make nice with the director. 'The biggest thing that attracted me was Tom (Tykwer)' he reveals, 'I immediately got on with him. He really made me look at the character and the story in a different way. He had a very particular interpretation of what the story meant and what it was about.' For Whishaw then, the audition process was an easy one. 'It was really quite brief because Tom and me had such an immediate rapport'

In adapting what many called an 'unfilmable' novel, the makers had one major hurdle: visualizing smell. It's a hurdle that Whishaw believes was well and truly accomplished. 'I think what's powerful about the novel is that the description is vivid enough that you imagine you're smelling' he says, 'I think the film works in the same way. It wouldn't work if you put smells in the theater. I think that would be the absolutely wrong choice'

The character Whishaw plays has a mission to create a perfume based around the scents of women he has murdered. His talent is his sense of smell and it's something Whishaw started to notice the importance of off-screen as well as on. 'I don't think my sense of smell improved but certainly because I was thinking of it day in and day out I was definitely more aware' Whishaw admits, 'I think I take more time to appreciate that sense. I'd get a kick out of smelling something that I probably wouldn't have before.'

Near the film's climax, there is a scene where Whishaw gets to be the center of attention for an enormous crowd of extras. It's an experience he relished. 'It was amazing' he recalls, 'It was the closest I've got to feeling what it's like to be a rock star. That kind of animal adoration. I loved that moment.' But would he love it if it became a regular feature in his newfound celebrity life' 'I think it's nice in a controlled environment but I can't imagine why anyone would like it if they were walking down the street and people started throwing themselves at you.'

It's early days for Whishaw as the film is only just being unleashed on the public. 'I haven't been recognized yet no' he admits, 'The one thing I do get recognized for is a character I once played on television called Pingu. Sometimes people shout Pingu at me as I'm going up the escalator on the tube!'

It's something which is likely to change, especially given the high profile of his next project. 'I just finished a film about Bob Dylan' Whishaw reveals, 'Bob Dylan is played by about seven different actors. One of them is Cate Blanchett and one of them is a twelve-year-old black boy. It's a kind of strange exploration of him.' Will we be seeing a Ben Whishaw album out in the near future then' 'I don't get to sing which is probably a good thing!'

At the age of 26, Whishaw has starred in films and plays which mostly explore the darker side of the human condition. Would he be happier starring opposite Julia Roberts in a lightweight romantic comedy' 'I don't really imagine that would be something I'd be good at' he admits, 'I'm not sure it would excite my imagination.'

For now, as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, Ben Whishaw gives one of the most thrilling breakout performances of the year. His move from stage to screen has been effortless and his wish to avoid the pitfalls of fame hint that his career will be one to watch. After all of the grime and grubbiness of the production, it seems he's come out of it smelling of roses.