Surprise, surprise

You don't expect to interview an actor about the new Thunderbirds film and end up hearing a discourse on the saint and sinner within us all. But Sir Ben Kingsley - born Krishna Bhanji in Scarborough on New Year's Eve 1943 - is no ordinary actor.

An Oscar winner for his portrayal of Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's film about the Indian leader, the ex-Royal Shakespeare Company player's diverse screen roles have ranged from a violent gangster in Sexy Beast through Schindler's List and Bugsy to Roman Polanski's Death And The Maiden.

Many will be surprised to find him as the bad guy, The Hood, in the live action big screen version of 1960s puppet hit Thunderbirds. That reaction will please Sir Ben. "One of the things that pushes actors into the ridiculous, absurd thing they do for a living is that element of surprise," he says.

"If you're surprising people it's a way of arresting their attention in a very pleasant and non-destructive way. Magicians do it all the time to keep their audience's attention. So I really hope that I'm able to surprise audiences with choices, and also able to surprise myself."

One reason for doing Thunderbirds was it was a contrast to recent dramatic roles. He points out he's done three films set in concentration camps and that most of his characters die at the end of the film. "I was always saying to my darling wife, 'You know, I'd really like to live at the end of my movies. Never mind get the girl, just live'," he says.

The offer to be The Hood, who plots to destroy Thunderbirds and the Tracy family, came while he was doing press junkets for The House Of Sand And Fog. He was Oscar nominated for this "very depressing role" which ends with his character committing suicide with most of his family dead around him.

"It was quite draining and I didn't know quite what to do next. Then the problem was solved by not taking a vacation and not doing any acting, but by acting more, using a completely different set of acting muscles in order to give the ones that had been exhausted a rest," he explains.

"Although my kids insisted I did The Hood, there was also something in me saying I'd got to do something different. Maybe a family film where I play a pantomime villain, maybe something not lighter but at the other end of the scale. I had a wonderful time."

Sir Ben has never had any problem finding different roles. He's unsure whether he's just lucky or whether his background in classical theatre and BBC films has meant he's been more willing to do diverse roles, going from large budget films to smaller budget, more experimental films.

"I have a genuine appetite to do that. If I didn't, I don't think it would work," he says. "If I felt, 'Oh, I must strategically now look for something', that's not spontaneous, it's what your manager's telling you to do.

"I have inside a real appetite and quest for interesting work as well as work that pays the mortgage. Hopefully, that will always come. If my motives get sullied, then I think I'm in big trouble."

His kids were fans of the original series, and his 15-year-old son was among visitors to the Thunderbirds set. Sir Ben was familiar with the Tracy family's adventures himself. "You get drawn into your kids' lives and watch their TV programmes with them," he says.

"I now know My Little Pony backwards and The Wizard Of Oz inside out. And, of course, Sesame Street, which I loved watching with my kids and Thunderbirds. So, yes, I was very aware of it."

As The Hood, he flies - on a wire - at the climax of the movie, a stunt that certainly impressed his seven-year-old stepdaughter. He's proud that stuntmen told him he'd stayed up in the harness as long, or longer, than many other actors they'd seen.

"It was really exciting being up there and doing that scene. Being able to say those lines not in the quiet of a drawing room, as some revenge lines as said in Chekhov plays, but to utter them dangling from a wire over the jaws of hell and laughing at the same time. It's great stuff."

Published: 22/07/2004