Michael Caine

Michael Caine (b. March 14th, 1933)
a.k.a. Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr.

Raising Questions for Caine about The Cider House Rules
Despite his Oscar-winning turn in The Cider House Rules, it's easy to forget just what a cinematic titan Michael Caine was in the '60s and '70s. In the era before bullet-riddled, explosion-addled mega-blockbusters, Caine's sly British aura made him a top U.K. export and one of the world's biggest stars. Think of him as eponymous (and legendary) lady-killer in Alfie or the London gangster on assignment in Newcastle in Get Carter. Caine's output fell off somewhat in the '90s (despite a clever turn as Scrooge in A Muppet Christmas Carol), but he reemerged with Cider House, Lasse Hallstrom's touching adaptation of John Irving's novel about a New England abortion doctor running an orphanage. Caine talked with Barnes & Noble.com about American accents and his most iconic roles.

Barnes & Noble.com: Dr. Larch in Cider House Rules, is a complex character. What was his appeal for you?

Michael Caine: Well, I'm at a stage now in my career where I'm not the romantic lead anymore. I'm too old. I don't get the girl, so what I look for now is a challenging role. Dr. Larch is as far away from me in character and background as could be. That makes the part interesting to me.

B&N.com: In what ways is he different from you?

MC: Well for starters he has very different accent then me. I had never played an American accent. I have done a Southern American accent, but I have never done a straight American accent. And a Southern American accent is easy. When I was going to do my Southern American accent for Hurry Sundown, I met Vivien Leigh in a restaurant, and I said, 'Well, how do you do a Southern accent?' Because she had such a fabulous one in A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With The Wind. And she said, 'All you do Michael is just say 'Four door Ford' all day long.' And then when we were in Maine shooting ,I>Ciderhouse, I asked everyone, 'How do you do that accent?' I was told to say, 'We left the car in the car park.' But I said, 'I'm not doing that one. I'm not even going there.' So I got a coach because I didn't want to make a fool of myself.

B&N.com: I think after winning the Oscar for this role you know that foolish is far from how you were perceived. How did all that praise feel?

MC: It's extremely gratifying. Like I said, I'm not the romantic lead anymore. I used to like to get the most beautiful girl, and now I like to get the most beautiful parts. That's why I did Blood and Wine, because I liked it. It wasn't massive or anything. And then I did Little Voice, and I choose it because I loved that part and that character. I just finished another movie called Quills, which was directed by Philip Kaufman, and is the story of the last days of the Marquis De Sade. It was an opportunity to work with Kate Winslet and Geoffrey Rush, so I wanted to do it.

B&N.com: Of the 100-plus films you've done, for which ones do you think your most recognized?

MC: Alfie, Get Carter, and The Italian Job. I have iconic status because of these movies. Guys come up to me in the street and quote lines at me from these films. I would have thought people would remember me for Educating Rita, or The Man Who Would Be King, or Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Actually women always say to me, Educating Rita. I guess that's because it's the softest movie I ever did, apart from Cider House Rules. Actually, Get Carter is being remade. Jack Carter, the gangster I played 25 years ago is an American now. Sly Stallone is playing him in the remake. I have a small part in it. I was in Vancouver last week shooting for a few days, and it was good fun.

B&N.com: Jane Alexander, who plays Nurse Edna in Cider House Rules, said you seem incredibly comfortable acting. What were some of your early learning experiences?

MC: Working with director John Huston. When I first worked with Huston on The Man Who Would be King, he never said anything to me about the part. He didn't really give any feedback. He told me once, "If you cast it right, you don't have to." Houston would give you one line that he felt summed up your character. One day he cut me off in the middle of a speech, though I hadn't done anything, I hadn't flubbed or forgotten a line. I said, "Why did you cut, John?" He said, "You could speak faster Michael. He's an honest man." He never gave Kate Hepburn any direction on The African Queen. One day she said "You never give me any direction, John." So he told her, "Think Eleanor Roosevelt," which I think is so funny.

B&N.com: After so many years of success and fame, has your approach to the work changed?

MC: It hasn't changed my perspective on acting at all. There are only two types of actors basically, especially in movies. There is one actor who holds up a mirror, and he says, "Look at me." I'm the other kind. I hold up a mirror and if I've got it right, I say, "Look at you." My acting should be so human that you say, "How did he know that about me?" As for the celebrity aspect, people know that if they spot me on the street, I'll talk to them. I won't be in a limousine flashing by with two blondes and a bottle of champagne. Though, mind you, that's not a bad idea either.
August 15, 2000

Awards & Nominations