The man is pure genius. I don't think there is a single movie he has been in that I haven't liked. Even the one with Steve Guttenberg and Daryl Hannah and the haunted castle - High Spirits - I had to look that up on imdb. Anyway - Peter O'Toole was brilliant. And, on that note - here is a quote from the article about taking work as an actor:
Back Stage: I recently read an interview in which you referred to your 1991 comedy King Ralph as "bottomless stupidity." Do you always go into a film with the same amount of commitment and dedication, regardless of the project?
O'Toole: Oh, yeah. Whether theatre or cinema, acting is what I do for a living. It's how I put steam on the table. I have to earn my living. And the longer I go on living, the more expensive it becomes. I'm not going to get a Venus or a My Favorite Year or a Becket or any of those through the post every month. Maybe every 10 years I might get one. I can't always be the supreme judge of the material. If it's a good job, I'll do it. It's like asking a musician if he turns up and he's going to play Dvorak and he doesn't like it, will he bugger it about? Not at all. He's going to play it. You go out there and you plow your author. That's an old 18th-century English expression: "Come on, old plowhorse, plow your Shakespeare."
This whole article is just delightful. First there is just hearing the inter workings of a master craftsman. Then, there is the wit of a grumpy old man. Then of course, what he has learned in his years.
So, honestly, not really a blog entry, but a more - go and read this. Seriously folks, I will get a new one out soon - a real one. Promise. :)
