Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley is an English actor. In a career spanning over 40 years, he has won an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA, two Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He is known for his starring role as Mohandas Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He is also known for his performances in the films Schindler's List, Twelfth Night, Sexy Beast, Lucky Number Slevin, Shutter Island, Prince of Persia: The...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth31 December 1943
CitySnainton, England
I use my intuition, my imagination, my voice and my body. That is really what actors do. There is a lot of nonsense talked about acting, but really all we do is use our voice, our body, our imaginations to create portraits about people so that you and the audience can be pulled into beautiful stories.
Ever since I did Sexy Beast in 1999 my career has been very busy and very rewarding. It's a wonderful time for me,
Quite often when I'm cast in a movie, I'm asked to bring whatever intelligence is there to the surface.
Everything that's made me what I am today is part of that process of being intrigued and curious. But I really couldn't put my finger on any specific trigger from my childhood.
The title is the equivalent of when you become a doctor after years of medical school training... I suppose after years of chewing up the furniture and scenery on stage and in films I get to Sir for being a thespian.
It doesn't get any easier. I still get very nervous and excited, but I'm hoping... what I'm trying to do is simplify. That's what I'm trying to do.
I'm holding a mirror to the audience and telling them there is a violent person in all of us.
The astonishing silences in a Tarkovsky film... can sweep you into screen and... you don't want to end.
If we hit the collective nerve of the audience on that night, that they would be standing up and rushing towards the stage to hug us.
I have done three makeup tests and I'm very, very happy with them. I am completely unrecognizable.
I told the queen that winning an Oscar pales into insignificance. This is insurmountable,
It's very difficult to be objective about one's childhood because you have no perspective on it. I have nothing to compare it with. The only way I can lead any kind of a comparative life is to portray other men.
I think that you can fall into bad habits with comedy... It's a tightrope to stay true to the character, true to the irony, and allow the irony to happen.
I'm so dependent on reacting to the other actors on the set, and to the director. I'm very responsive. I react. And I treasure the energy that reaction gives.