Pete Postlethwaite
Pete Postlethwaite
Peter William Postlethwaite OBE was an English actor. After minor television appearances, including in The Professionals, his first major success arose through the British autobiographical film Distant Voices, Still Lives. He had a transatlantic breakthrough when he portrayed David in Alien 3, and his reputation was further solidified when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for In the Name of the Father. Following this role, he portrayed the mysterious lawyer, Mr. Kobayashi, in The Usual...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth7 February 1946
It’s like coming back to the womb. I’m coming back to my mum and it’s wonderful to see her. It’s the best space in the world. If it wasn’t for this place I don’t know what I’d have done with my life,
I exercise every morning without fail. One eyelid goes up and the other follows.
There are bound to be deniers. Whenever you set up a thesis there's bound to be somebody who comes the opposite way …like Holocaust deniers.
I refuse to be typecast, and I'll have a go at anything so long as it's different, challenging, hard work and demands great versatility.
Whenever I get a good script, I don't care whether it's telly or theatre or big screen - I'm not bothered.
I couldnt imagine living my life with another name.
At the end of the day, acting is all about telling lies. We are professional imposters and the audience accept that. We've made this deal that we tell you a tale and a pack of lies, but there will be a truth in it. You may enjoy it, or it will disturb you.
I'm not a practicing Catholic now. I didn't like what the church was doing with what Jesus had said, in a way. But I wouldn't say I'm not religious.
I like playing characters that are complex, that are intriguing, that come from left field, that do things that are unexpected. I don't like people who just follow one line and that's it - that's why I could never be in a sitcom, I don't think. They're not intriguing enough for me.
I was born and bred a Catholic. I was brought up a very strong Catholic - I practiced in a seminary for four years, from eleven to fourteen, and trained to be a Catholic priest. So I was very steeped in all that.
When I made a breakthrough as an actor, people started to say, 'Who's that bloke with the funny name?' They advised me to change it, saying it would never be put up in lights outside theaters because they couldn't afford the electricity. But I would never contemplate changing it. It's who I am.
Truth is I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it? Bollocks! Not compared to how people matter.