Sir Ben Kingsley: Why I owe Steven Spielberg so much
IT MAY have been 20 years since Sir Ben Kingsley filmed Schindler’s List but the Oscar winner says the movie’s director Steven Spielberg has had a lasting impact on his acting style.
Ben who played the Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern in the film recalls how Spielberg’s unique directing style gave him creative freedom on set.
“Steven is a remarkable man and we got pretty close. It was like being at the centre of Dante’s Inferno – and the strange thing is that’s exactly what Spielberg intended. He shouted, ‘Don’t act, improvise!’ And that’s what it was. Organised chaos and terror,” the 69-year-old Yorkshire born actor reveals to femalefirst. “We had to re-create, to re-enact the epicentre of the world’s evil. You can’t help but be affected by that.”
His career has spanned 45 years and included a stint in Coronation Street as well as with the Royal Shakespeare Company but Sir Ben says his passion is making movies.
His latest film – Iron Man 3 – is released on April 26 and sees him working alongside Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow. “Letting go between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ is one of my sublime states. I need the right director, the right script, the right set-up,” Sir Ben explains.