What are the challenges of making a silent film?
Well, the fact you can’t say anything! The story has to be well constructed so that the audience is left in no doubt about what’s going on in the characters’ minds. It’s all about expression. I’ve loved silent films since I was kid, when Chaplin and Buster Keaton were about. It just amazed me that they could tell these incredible stories without speech. You like to mix it up a bit, starring in pedigree TV dramas and blockbuster fare such as the Harry Potter series and Enchanted. How do you pick your projects? They have to excite and challenge me, and be original and irresistible. I don’t make any judgements about the medium. If something comes through the door and it’s interesting, I’ll take it on, regardless of whether its radio, telly or film. I take each and every script on its own merit. I’ve just finished on Harry Potter and am about to portray Winston Churchill in The King’s Speech, a period piece with Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Gambon – it’s a g
