When we heard we were off to interview Shorts judge and all-round legend John Hurt, we felt like we’d just unwrapped a big bar of chocolate and found a shiny golden ticket from Wonka inside. There was so much to ask him, we just didn’t know where to start. John Hurt’s acting career has spanned five decades and nearly 200 films, including Alien, 1984, The Elephant Man, 44 Inch Chest and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – not to mention a long history with short film. We made ourselves comfortable on a sunny balcony in East London and chatted to the man himself about 12 hours with glue, working with a young David Lynch and what he’s looking for in this year’s shortlist. 

We’re thrilled to have you on our judging panel this year; we know our shortlisted film makers are very excited to have their entries watched by John Hurt...

Well they’ll be watched by a lot of other people, too. That’s what’s so great about the competition - the fact that they’re all online. The films are very short, so it’s quite limiting; the point is, this is a considerable discipline.

You’re currently judging the final 12 films in this year’s competition. What are you looking for?

I’m looking, more than anything, for someone who’s going to be a film maker. I’m not looking for a polished, finished product – I’m looking for someone who understands that the image on the screen is what gives you the information. That’s the difference between cinema and literature - they’re two totally different languages. That’s what I’m looking for - I’m not looking for little literary stories with pictures.

Do you have a favourite yet?

No, it’s too early! I’ve seen them all twice so far, but I want to watch them much more than that before I make a decision. 

In 2005, a young film student approached you and asked you to appear in her short, Exit – and you said yes. What attracted you to acting in a student film, for free?

Oh I’ve done quite a few student films over the years and I enjoy doing them. If I’ve got the time and it happens to slot in then absolutely, I really enjoy them.

So if there are other young film makers out there who’d love a big name in their short, they should go for it and ask nicely?

Absolutely – always! I mean if it’s something that is interesting. I can’t speak for other people, but I’m always interested in doing something different. I’ve worked with lots of first-time directors, and actually they’re not the worry. The biggest worry is people who have a big success with their first film and are now doing their second film - they’re usually the dodgy ones! 

Are they harder to work with?

Well, it’s not that they’re hard to work with but if they have a successful first film, they tend to believe that they can really do it, and often the second film is somewhat pretentious. And then you have to wait for the third one when they realise it’s just not as simple as they first thought.

You’ve never tried your hand at directing yourself, unlike a lot of successful actors. Would you be interested in a stint behind the camera?

Well, look, as an actor I never had particular ambitions – I’m not the sort of actor that wanted to play Hamlet or Lear. I’m the result of other people’s imaginations. If they think that I can do something interesting and they offer it to me I might think ‘Oh I’d never have thought of this myself, but yes why not, let’s go down that road.’ That way I find it’s more varied and it’s the way I like it. I enjoy that. I’m less likely to direct because I find my joy really is the other side of the camera. But if somebody came along one day and said ‘I’ve got this subject and I really want you to direct it, I’d prick up my ears because I’d think “Hmmm, I wonder why.” If it really intrigued me, I’d probably say yes.

I mean, I’m capable of directing a film, but I don’t know whether I’d make a good director or not. I like working very closely with a director, but it’s full of all kinds of other technicalities that I’m not sure I’d particularly enjoy. Even now, I watch directors working and it’s two years of your life. Richard Kwietniowski, who I worked on Love and Death on Long Island with, is rapidly against actors turning to direction because direction is something quite different. And he’s right, it’s a completely different talent.

Our favourite film of yours is The Elephant Man, and we’ve always want to ask – how did they do the makeup?

Glue! They stuck glue to my face, and lots of it. And they shaved my head, of course, because they had to go underneath the cranium. Physically it was quite tough but you got used to it. When I started, the first make-up took 12 hours, and I thought, “They’ve found a way of making me not enjoy films.” But then we honed it down to seven hours, and we had a new way of shooting - we shot every other day, because it was too long otherwise – my day was about 20 hours.

But you know, it’s alright with a film; there’s light at the end of the tunnel, you know it will end. This isn’t like a seven year contract on television or something, where you’re thinking “God! This is imprisonment!” But also they were a great gang of people. Working with a young David Lynch was fantastic; the film had a very vibrant feel about it. It was a really important time in my life.

Watch this space for Part Two of our John Hurt interview, coming later this week. John might still be undecided, but if you haven’t voted for your favourite short yet, do so now.

Category: Tips from the Top

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