Since Charles Dance captivated millions of women as Guy Perron in TV's "The Jewel In The Crown" his career has decidedly taken an upward swing.
The tall, lean, striking actor spoke to me during rehearsals for his recent appearance
in one of those fascinating "Tales Of The Unexpected". In 'Skeleton In The Cupboard'
he played a man with a 20-year-old secret. There is nothing secretive about Mr Dance. In fact I found him openly honest and as charming as you would imagine. He keeps his interviews to a minimum. He has his list of 'No No's'. Fortunately I wasn't on it.
Life for Charles Dance has been full of unexpected events. His own tales of the unexpected are numerous and fascinating. For starters he never expected to become an actor in the first place.
"I expect you've read about my adolescent stammer," he smiled when I
mentioned his press coverage.
"Tell me more!" I said.
"It just disappeared as fast as it came. But
it did take away all my self-confidence during
my teen years.
"One's adolescence manifests itself in
different ways. My stammer took away all
my self-confidence. All the confidence I had
when I was a child suddenly drained away.
When I was about 18 or 19 the stammer
just went, and so did all the inhibitions. Not
that I am, now, what you would call an
extrovert person. I'm much more of an
introvert. Most actors are. Of course there
are those wonderful exceptions."
When Dance was released from the
problems of his embarrassing stammer, a
different personality emerged. Suddenly the
drive to be an actor began to take over.
Until then, acting was something he never
really considered.
"I've been a plumber's mate, a builder's
labourer, a head waiter, a dresser and a
graphic designer," he said.
For a while it looked as if Charles would
follow his mother in the 'service' business.
She had been a waitress at Lyons Corner
House, where she had met his father, a civil
engineer, who died when Charles was four.
"I did rise to the dizzy heights of a head
waiter, yes!" he said. "I had done a lot of
work in hotels – kitchen porter, hall door
porter, coffee waiter, wine waiter, commis
waiter. Then I applied for a job as a head
waiter at a hotel in Cornwall, not terribly
unlike the one in "Faulty Towers"!
"I was in my element because I had two
waiters, a waitress and a commis waiter
working for me. It was wonderful!"
When he decided to take up acting after
having studied to become a graphic designer
in Leicester, he asked two veteran drama
coaches to teach him. They did their job
well.
Could he recall the first time he gave a
performance in public?
"Sure. I can. I played the Swedish boyfriend in a play called 'It's A 2' 6" Above The
Ground World'. The title refers, actually, to the approximate average height of the
genitalia from the ground, you see."
I did see.
From those obscure beginnings, Dance
went on to spend five years learning his craft
with various repertory companies, followed
by another five years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. "I've done 17 Shakespeare plays," he said with the air of a man who remains proud of that particular fact. So he should be.
At this year's Cannes Film Festival he was
seated at the top table with Princess Diana
and Sir Alec Guinness at a very posh
celebrity bash to honour Sir Alec, one of
our great acting knights who remained
slightly bemused throughout the entire
proceedings.
If Dance hadn't yet realised it, this was
the night he must have finally felt he had
indeed 'arrived.'
Was it unexpected? Was he surprised to
find himself on the top table with such
distinguished companions?
"Well, not exactly," he replied. "I knew
I was to be seated at the top table, somewhere. But it wasn't until I walked into the dining room that I found out I was going to be sat next to the Princess and Sir Alec. That was a surprise.
"I had previously escorted Princess Diana
to a screening of Hannah And Her Sisters
in Edinburgh, so you see, I had been 'tried
out'. I couldn't have been too bad at the job!
So I was asked again at Cannes. Quite
flattering, really. The Princess is good company. It was all very pleasant, and unexpected, yes!"
On the other hand Meryl Streep wasn't
quite what he expected when they starred
together in Plenty.
"You're going to ask me about Meryl,
aren't you?" he said. "You've been reading
the cuttings, I know! Listen, Meryl works
under tremendous pressure, and she works
in a particular way that wasn't a way I was
used to working.
"There were some tensions, but I do
have the highest regard for her. She's had
labels pinned on her, like we all have. All the
time, people are watching her box-office
grosses very closely. Audiences see her
movies because Meryl is the star and that's
an enormous pressure to work under. If that
pressure manifests itself in her being a little
distant at times, then so be it."
Working with Shirley MacLaine on the
TV production of Shirley's book, Out On
A Limb, was a far happier experience for
him. He nodded in agreement.
"Shirley is extraordinary. More than a
little eccentric! It was marvellous, and a
great pleasure to work with her. A STAR
in the proper sense of that word," he said.
"Shirley works from the gut. Meryl is
much more cerebral. That's the essential
difference between them. But both are consumate artistes. Shirley has been at it longer. She has come up the hard way, having started out as a chorus girl. That's not to say Meryl hasn't worked hard for it. But Shirley is from the days of the old Hollywood star system, and is a wonderful
product of it. Yes, working with her was an
enormously enjoyable experience!"
Eyen more enjoyable, he said, was playing
the role of the legendary director, D. W.
Griffith, in the Taviani Brothers' movie,
Good Morning, Babylon.
"It's the most enjoyable thing I've ever
done," he responded. "I would swap all my
18 years as an actor for those six weeks I
spent making the film with Paolo and
Vittorio Taviani. My role is really a cameo
right in the middle of the picture. Their film
is really a homage to movie-making and the
great days of the silent films. I loved every
minute I spent on that movie."
More recently Dance completed another
two films, Hidden City, directed by Steven
Poliakoff, and the far more lavish, White
Mischief, in which he stars with Greta
Scacchi, Geraldine Chaplin and John Hurt.
His role of the murdered Lord Errol, whose
death in Africa's 'Happy Valley' caused a
major scandal amongst the happy aristos of
that far off community, could well turn out
to be the jewel in the crown of his screen
career so far.
"It's a lovely part," he beamed. "Errol
was an aristocratic philanderer who went to
Africa looking for redemption. He went
through one affair after another with the
reputation for being the local stud in this
little colony where life was one long happy
hour."
White Mischief should be on our screens
in February. Certainly one to watch out for.
The Golden Child, which he did with
Eddie Murphy, may not have been one of his
'jewels' but it gave him the chance to do
something, as they say, completely different
– the role of a villain, not just an ordinary
villain but 'The World's Most Evil Man.'
What did it do for his career?
He shrugged his shoulders. "It put the old
bank balance up a bit! Gave me a higher
profile in America. Expanded the range I
have as n actor. I haven't had that much
opportunity to demonstrate the extreme of
that range. In the theatre, yes, but not in
front of a camera. And, it was good fun to
work with Eddie Murphy. It also gave me an
insight into how extremely commercial
movies are made, and what the priorities
are.
"Eddie is very much his own boss. He
knows exactly what he wants. I don't think
he has aspirations to be seen as a great actor.
He has star quality, charisma, and an extraordinary energy on screen. All those things he's determined to capitalise on. Make hay while the sun shines."
The one woman who has lived through
the vastly changing times of Charles Dance,
is his wife Joanna.
"We've been married 18 years this year,"
he said. "We met at art school. Actually
we've known each other 25 years.
"We were married in Plymouth at a
registry office. I think it was the shortest
service possible. We never had a
honeymoon. We had just one night in a hotel
on the way from Plymouth to London."
This was the cue for another of those
tales of the unexpected from Mr Dance.
"Things didn't quite go the way I
planned," he smiled. "I'd seen a hotel which
I often drove past and I thought it would be
a nice place to spend our wedding night.
But I never bothered to find out the name
of the hotel. I knew it was roughly in a
certain area, so I looked up the phone book,
came across a name and decided this must
be the place.
 "I booked a room for the night, then told
Joanna we would be stopping off at this very
nice hotel. Fine! We got married, and I'm
driving along looking for the hotel thinking
we should be arriving any minute. Suddenly
the hotel flashes by. And looming up was the
name of the hotel I had really booked into.
Wrong hotel, you see! Not the one I really
wanted us to stay in. Pretty ordinary place
it was too! I don't think Joanna was too
disappointed," he beamed.
Joanna, with their two children Oliver
and Rebecca, has watched with great
interest and fascination at the way Charles
has had to cope with his changing fortunes,
from unknown actor to leading star.
"There have had to be adjustments, of
course," he said. "But they have been made
relatively painlessly. We have coped. My wife
is very supportive. She has always had a great
deal of faith in me."
Faith, talent, luck and the unexpected,
have all played their part in the life of Charles
Dance, one of our more interesting stars.
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