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From facing Clint Eastwood in In the Line of Fire to directing opera, John Malkovich has built one of the most varied creative careers imaginable. Now the 72-year-old Illinois native returns as a CIA agent in Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh’s brilliant black comedy.
The performance has already earned him the Volpi Cup for best actor at this year’s Venice Film Festival. After two previous nominations, could an Oscar finally follow?
Wild Horse Nine is a highly original Martin McDonagh script. Is it harder to find films like this now than 20 years ago?
I think such films would have been hard to find even 40 years ago, because most work is not written that well. That has always been true. And even excellent writing can be derailed by other factors. Scripts so good that I wouldn’t question a word come along perhaps once every 10 or 15 years.
You and Sam Rockwell play CIA agents on Rapa Nui [Easter Island] before Chile’s 1973 coup. How do you see their relationship?
Like an old married couple — theatre queens who know each other so well that the things they find irritating will never change, only become more pronounced.
How would you describe Chris? For a CIA man with a dark past, he can be very childish…
On one level, Chris is very capricious. He has his own peculiar logic: killing people is acceptable, but not while you’re eating. If you shoot at him, he’ll shoot back. Most people would question whether any of that is reasonable. He can be childlike and deeply suspicious. He says he had no friends before [Rockwell’s] Lee, and I suspect that’s true.
Did you learn much about the CIA and how it operates?
I’ve worked on several projects connected to this history. Not specifically the CIA, but some of the best writing on the Kennedy assassination is Don DeLillo’s Libra, which I adapted and directed for the stage about 30 years ago. I also perform a one-man theatre piece based on Roberto Bolaño’s Nazi Literature in the Americas, which touches on Chile’s Pinochet regime, so the subject was already familiar.
You’re described as monumental, like Rapa Nui’s stone figures, because of Being John Malkovich…
And because I have a huge head! I saw a childhood photograph and couldn’t believe how big it was.
Has that helped your career?
Actually, yes. Look at successful film actors: I once shared a flight with Bette Davis — her head was enormous and so were her eyes. It helps. The camera likes it.
Was it strange to have your identity at the centre of Being John Malkovich?
Not really. I thought it was a brilliant script and initially wanted to direct it. I asked Charlie Kaufman whether he would make it about someone else, but he said that wouldn’t interest him. I wished him luck, and the film became a great success. That success belongs entirely to director Spike Jonze and Charlie. Spike assembled a terrific cast: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and the great Charlie Sheen.
Was Charlie Sheen your pick to cast as your character's friend?
I suggested Charlie Sheen, but Spike said, “He’s in lockup.” I replied, “That’s fine — you can visit him.” Early in the film, I tell him about a coven of lesbian witches I’m involved with, and he says something like, “Hey man, give me their number when you’re through.” Not everyone could deliver that line.
Alongside theatre, you also make wine. What has that brought you?
Another way to lose money, as far as I can tell! It’s a difficult time for the global wine industry. Tastes change; younger people prefer craft beer, mocktails and cocktails. I don’t know where anyone is doing particularly well with wine.
How do you feel about being 72? Is there more you want to achieve?
I’ll continue doing work that interests me for as long as I’m able. Retirement doesn’t appeal to me; the world retires you when the time comes. That’s how it has always worked, and that’s fine.
Wild Horse Nine is in UK cinemas on 6 November.
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