Q: Hi Sir Anthony. You worked with Russell Crowe many years ago. Now you’re back playing the old, wise Methuselah alongside Russell in the biblical epic, Noah.
A: Yes. I worked with Russell many years ago in Melbourne, Australia. It was 24 years ago on a movie called Spotswood. In the US it was called The Efficiency Expert. Russell was only playing a supporting part, but back then you could see he was going to be The Russell Crowe.
Q: How was that reuniting with Russell after so many years?
A: Great. He’s a solid, powerful actor. No-nonsense. He arrives on set, gets on with it and does what he has to do. We respect each other. I like him and he seems to like me. I like Australian actors because there’s a touch of the bad boy in them. I know Sam Worthington quite well. They make their statement. They are what they are. There’s always a fall out from people if you are a strong individual. You are always going to get slighted at the top because not everyone is going to like what you do. Another Aussie, Chris Hemsworth, is a great guy. What’s great about Chris is he has never lost his cool. It takes a lot to be a big star and keep your feet on the ground. Good for him.
Q: You have achieved everything that needs to be achieved in Hollywood. You’re 76-years-old and must receive a lot of scripts. What was it about the role of Methuselah in Noah that excited you enough to sign on?
A: Darren Aronofsky invited me to play the role. I happened to be on my way from Los Angeles to England to do another film, the latest Thor, and I stopped off in Reykjavik, Iceland, to meet with Darren. I read the script. It was very good. It was only three days work. I spent three days sitting in a cave on a comfortable stone (laughs).
Q: A comfortable stone? So it wasn’t a film set. You were in an actual cave?
A: Yes (laughs). We filmed in a cave. It wasn’t green screen. It was an actual cave about 30 minutes drive from the hotel in Reykjavik. Thankfully it was a comfortable stone. But, Iceland is just stunning. It is basically a volcanic island so the landscapes were amazing.
Q: You have also worked with the great directors. How does Darren Aronofsky compare?
A: Darren is a great director to work with. He’s very quiet, efficient and gets on with it. He knows what he wants to see. He’s a perfectionist, but he’s not one of those micromanager perfectionists. He let’s you do what you think you can do. It’s a good combination. I’ve worked with a couple of good directors who were like that.
Q: Darren has made some great films over the years, with amazingly different subject matter. But they all have similar themes too.
A: The Wrestler was extraordinary. I’m a member of the Academy and voted for Mickey Rourke to win best actor for The Wrestler. I also loved Black Swan, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream. Darren is an extraordinary man. He knows his subject matter. He’s almost a biblical scholar, although he’d probably disagree with that.
Q: In making Noah, what did you learn about the story?
A: Nothing (laughs). But, I will tell you when I saw the finished film for the first time I was astonished by the scope and magnitude of it. Those great rock monsters came out of nowhere. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s new. I don’t think they were in the Bible’. Maybe they came from Gilgamesh or some other legend because there have been many deluge legends. There’s a touch of science fiction in this, I guess. But, it is a powerful story, the way Darren has directed it.
Q: In what way?
A: I think his Judaic senses and knowledge of the human struggle and human condition. Most of the stories in the Bible deal with human pride and arrogance and then the prophets come along and say, ‘Hold on boys. We’re getting above ourselves’. The Greeks called it hubris. You get too close to the Gods and you get destroyed by them. In the New Testament Jesus says, ‘Relax. Let go. We are God. We are of the father’. 
Q: There are a lot of great actors in the film – Russell, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone and the list goes on. What actor or role were you intrigued by?
A: Ray Winstone’s great performance as Tubal-cain. He’s the man who symbolizes human greed, avarice, violence, destruction and he himself is destroyed. If you look at history, that’s how it goes. If you wipe out 50 million people like the guy in Germany did all of those years ago, you will end up destroyed and in a hole in the ground. There’s retribution. It’s the same with all of the great monstrous dictators – Mussolini – they end up either disenchanted, alone, destroyed and torn to shreds by their own egotism.
Læs også: Det begynder at regne, 21. August: NOAH
