“The theater is unique, more organic and more alive than the cinema,” says the actor, who returns to the stage in the mind of a serial killer
“My only talent is curiosity.” With his deep and rhythmic voice, relaxed and smiling, John Malkovich (Illinois, United States, 68 years old) says it. After more than a hundred films, a handful of stage challenges and several television series behind him, the experienced and esteemed actor arrives in Madrid to play a sexual predator. He has been touring the world for five years with ‘The Infernal Comedy’. Confessions of a Serial Killer,” a monologue accompanied by an orchestra and two sopranos offering only two performances today and tomorrow with the 2,500 seats sold.
Malkovich plays Jack Unterweger (1950-1994), a known killer of a dozen prostitutes. “I cannot justify a character as dark as this. I never know if such a person can be justified or condemned. It is difficult to redeem a murderer; perhaps he can redeem himself, although I always develop a certain brotherhood with the characters I play’, Malkovich confesses on the eve that he takes on the role of the criminal in the courtyard of the Conde Duque Center in Madrid.
The seasoned actor believes that the theater is “much more organic than the cinema”, although standing on stage or standing in front of the camera on set are two sides of the same coin: effectively lying to tell sometimes great truths. . According to him, the difference lies “in the fact that the theater is no longer only organic, but also ephemeral”. “It changes, it is unique and you live. And not the cinema. The representation of the same theater work will always be different, and a film will be the same now or in five or twenty years,” he says. He expects that he will leave room for improvisation on stage and that his two roles will not be identical.
«Theatre and film are like music to me. The violin would be the cinema and the theater the piano. Both have their difficulties, but I try to interpret the score with the same dedication and intensity,” he assures. And the music is crucial in the production that he brings to Spain with two sopranos and a string ensemble. “Music is like being touched by a move. You can’t face it head on, you have to surrender, let yourself be overwhelmed. It is a unique experience and I enjoy it immensely,” he says of a production in which baroque music predominates and works by great composers such as Mozart, Gluck, Haydn, Vivaldi, Boccherini, Weber and Beethoven are played.
Throughout his career, Malkovich has displayed his talent and earned his enormous prestige by playing humiliated, mischievous and sinister characters. “But I’m not sure there’s anything good about playing bad characters,” he says. “In addition, I don’t think there is anything good or bad about giving life to twisted creatures or those who make bad decisions, although it is clear that they are the basis of the drama,” he admits. “It’s not my job to characterize the wicked and deep down I don’t think there are any differences between the good guys and the bad guys,” he stresses. “I don’t approve or disapprove of the characters. I’m just doing my job,” he concludes.
He assures that to carry out his interpretive challenges, what moved him and still touches him is curiosity about the world and his peers. “I don’t know if I’ve evolved: maybe I’ve even regressed. Obviously everything changes, but I don’t see myself very different from when I was young,” he says, aware of being absolutely lucky. man has accompanied me since childhood. We are clay and we change, I insist, but my only talent is curiosity. I have it very clear,” he adds.
The serial killer who brings Malkovich to life has left his poetic confession in writing. A famous writer, poet and journalist, an incorrigible womanizer and a failed example of redemption, he was imprisoned and pardoned for the murder of an 18-year-old prostitute whom he choked with her own bra. While in prison, he wrote several books that caught the attention of storytellers such as Günter Grass and Elfriede Jelinek, future Nobel Prize winners in Literature, who joined a movement to demand the killer’s release, arguing that his case exemplifies retaliation. integration would be. After his release, his involvement in the murder of eleven other women in Vienna, Graz, Prague and Los Angeles was proven. He fled to the United States, was arrested in Miami and transferred to Austria. Sentenced to life in prison, he committed suicide on his first night in prison.
“It’s always positive when someone is offended by what you’re doing. It always has a good component,” ironically when asked if a group had protested for giving life to such a despicable creature.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
