Listen to the Brideshead Revisited Reunion radio programme – now on BBC iPlayer!
Jeremy Irons offers advice for First Night jitters
JEREMY IRONS (was asked to give advice in reference to Keira Knightley and her West End opening of The Misanthrope):
Jeremy Irons has had a long career on stage and screen. His theatrical work includes the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and Broadway.
His film and TV work includes Brideshead Revisited, The Mission, Reversal of Fortune and The Lion King.
What she’s got to be able to do is to emit what she’s feeling – which she’s used to doing to a camera which is about two feet away from her – to an audience of however many thousand so that they know what she’s feeling and thinking in the same way that the camera does.
She’s also got to make sure that her voice is supported – you have to be heard by more people. But she’s a good actress and so that’s the important thing – you can learn all the other things if you have a clear and honest way of playing.
But it’ll be a learning curve for her, and I can’t wait to see it. I think it’s very brave of her. When you’re out of your metier you get a bit nervous – that’s understandable – but if she’s any good, I’m sure within a week she’ll find her feet.
I think it’s a very good thing – this cross-fertilisation. In theatre we need stars to get the audiences in, and people will go and see her – a very beautiful and talented lady.
VIDEO – Jeremy Irons at the Hudson Union Society Luncheon
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Jeremy Irons Revisits Brideshead – from The Advocate
April 08, 2009
Jeremy Irons Revisits Brideshead
Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder in 'Brideshead Revisited'
The original 1981 BBC miniseries Brideshead Revisited returns to television on here! TV, and Jeremy Irons — taking a break from starring on Broadway in Impressionism — takes a moment to revisit Brideshead. When Brideshead Revisited first aired on the BBC in 1981, it was truly a pioneering moment in film. Gay cinema had yet to be fully realized as a genre, the AIDS epidemic hadn’t yet ravaged the gay community, and Jeremy Irons wasn’t yet a household name. Brideshead instantly became a classic, and though the relationship between Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte didn’t dissolve into an explicit, sexual tryst, audiences read between the lines — and got a good deal more than cinema had offered up in the past. Brideshead returns to television this month on here! TV, and Irons — now not only a household name but an Academy Award– and Tony Award–winning actor — took some time out of his busy schedule starring opposite Joan Allen on Broadway in Impressionism to revisit Brideshead with Advocate.com.
Advocate.com: When Brideshead Revisited first aired, did you have any idea the impact the film would have on its gay audience?
Jeremy Irons: It was not something I especially considered. I hoped it would be enjoyed by everyone. I was most concerned to capture the relationship with Sebastian accurately, believing that [Evelyn] Waugh wrote it to be a close platonic relationship of the type not easily understood by audiences increasingly exposed to relationships that are either gay or straight. It was a pioneering bit of filmmaking at the time. Was there any backlash? No, there was no backlash at all. We were fortunate that it was, it seems, almost universally admired as a series that captured a particular time in English life.
Have you revisited Brideshead since making the film? Brideshead was filmed at Castle Howard in Yorkshire. The house belongs to friends of mine, so from time to time I’m invited back. For some of the time we filmed there I stayed at the house. I do remember one night when I returned late from a night out, and I had been told the alarms had been left off and was asked to turn them on before I went to bed. However, someone must have turned them on before my return, for as I opened the front door all hell broke loose with sirens, bells, and flashing lights. In my slightly inebriated state I could not work out what to do, so as the household began to appear down the stairs I slunk off to my bed. As I dropped off into sleep I heard the police cars and fire engines approaching down the drive, answering the false alarm. There were some long faces at breakfast the next morning!
You’ve never been one to shy away from controversial subject matter — Damage and M. Butterfly come to mind. Why do you think audiences so often equate controversy with sexuality? Controversy is often caused by sexuality, since sex remains still somewhat of a forbidden fruit for many audiences. It is, after all, something most of us keep quite private, and probably rightly so. However, I see no reason to shy away from any subject that film storytelling should discuss. Lolita probably caused the most controversy, but since it is a classic work, and beautifully made, I have no regrets.
You’re back on Broadway, working with Joan Allen in a play about art — and you just wrapped a film with her about the life of Georgia O’Keeffe. Have you two bonded over art, or is it just coincidence? It is pure coincidence that both the O’Keefe film and Impressionism are set around the art world, as it is that in both I play opposite Joan Allen. A happy coincidence since she happens to be one of America’s most interesting actors, and a wonderful person to boot.
What’s next for you? When the run of Impressionism ends I hope to go back to film for the rest of the year. I have a few projects lining up, though with the current economy, which affects film financing as much as anything, I shall be interested to see what makes it through.
High Tide Festival to Discuss Brideshead Revisited
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED : From Page to Screen
with CHARLES STURRIDGE AND DEREK GRANGER 
Saturday 9th May 2009
The Main House, The Cut // 19.30
The director and co-adaptor of television’s most iconic series discuss the journey of writing for the small screen.
Spread out over nearly 13 hours, Brideshead Revisited represents not only a celebration of a world gone by, but also a summation of a particular style of British television literary drama now also a thing of the past.
Sturridge and Granger have worked together on two Evelyn Waugh adaptations, Brideshead Revisited and A Handful of Dust, and E.M.Forster’s classic text Where Angels Fear to Tread, and will explore the contrasting quests for best realising such revered texts.
With clips from Brideshead Revisited, A Handful of Dust and Where Angels Fear to Tread.
Day and Weekend passes now available, please call 0845 673 2123 or visit: http://www.hightide.org.uk
Day passes available for only £40 and entire weekend passes* for £70. Limited number of passes on sale- buy quickly to avoid disappointment.
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jeremyirons.net 
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