Two actors received the Maverick Spirit Award, Cinequest’s highest honor, this year. The renowned Sir Ben Kingsley, known for his work in films like “Ghandi” and “House of Sand and Fog,” and actor Jon Polito, a character actor with over 200 credits to his name, both had separate ceremonies and participated in lively moderated discussions with the audience on Saturday, March 5.
Sir Ben Kingsley shed light on his methods of preparation for a role. He explained that first he must either recognize the character he will play or be curious to get to know him better; then he uses that recognition or curiosity, along with careful reading of the script, to really get to know the man well. He said he found that Don Logan, his character in the popular film “Sexy Beast,” was filled with “the rage of the unloved child.” Sir Ben also described how he got interested in acting: he was at a performance of “Richard III” at Stratford-upon-Avon, with Ian Holm in the title role and was “overwhelmed by his performance.” Due to a combination of incredible heat in the theater and his own emotional strain, he actually passed out and had to be revived by an usher before watching the rest of the play. He became determined to act, and the rest is history.
Jon Polito’s talk took place after the world premier of his latest film, “Charlie the Ox,” in which he has a small but memorable role as an actor who gets caught up in the battle between a safecracker and the gangster who dupes him. Polito was in top form, cracking jokes and keeping the audience equally fascinated and in stitches. He explained that he doesn’t do a great deal of preparation in advance for a role, beyond learning the lines; he prefers to see his costume and bounce ideas off the director and actors before making hard decisions about his part. “I think of acting very much like a game, a sport,” he said, “you have to jump in and see who’s playing.” Having done both stage and screen work, he explained that when he’s on stage, he can play to the crowd and it works, but that for film, you can’t play to the camera. He actually picks people in the crew, people behind the camera, and uses them as his audience so he can forget about the camera.
Overall, Saturday was a delightful afternoon and evening with two chances to learn from these fascinating, but very different, veteran actors. Although there was some difficulty and chaos around the seating for Polito’s event, the repeat screening of the film and a repetition of the discussion allowed just about everyone a chance to see him, and both events were a hit with audiences.