BY ANGELA DAWSON,
Front Row FeaturesHOLLYWOOD --
Early in his career, Kenneth Branagh sent a letter to his idol Sir Laurence Olivier asking him for advice on a role he was about to play.
“That, in itself, was exciting: the ritual of writing to a god,” recalls the renowned actor and filmmaker some 30 years later. “That’s what it felt like ” writing to a god with an address in central London.”
More nerve-wracking than actually sending his query to the famous performer was actually receiving a response from him. “I remember my hand shaking when I got the envelope,” Branagh says, recounting the tale like an old storyteller. “On the back it said, ‘Laurence Olivier’ in embossed, raised lettering.”
The young thespian struggled for several minutes on how best to open the envelope without doing too much damage to it. He looked around for a letter opener but couldn’t find one. So he finally just tore open the flap and pulled out the typewritten letter on fancy blue letterhead.
It read: I’m afraid I cannot give you any advice in particular ways in which you should approach this role. It’s up to an actor himself to come up with these individual things. But my advice to you anyway is to have a bash and hope for the best, which I certainly wish for you.
Branagh never met the renowned movie and stage actor, who died in 1989, but he kept the letter, which remains one of his prized possessions. Holding Olivier in such high regard, Branagh paused when he was offered the opportunity to portray him in My Week With Marilyn, a possibly true account of a young stagehand’s relationship with Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl, which was directed and co-starred Olivier.
Read further: http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=47624
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