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Christian Slater's second act

Christian virtue: a man in the prime of his second act

Matthew d'Ancona

Wednesday, 12th December 2007

A Hollywood actor on the London stage

All the disasters made him reappraise everything: made him want to be a really good technician as well as a big star. He went to acting classes. Taking to the West End stage and stretching himself — back to the very basics of his craft — was evidently part of this reinvention. And his initial choice of role was no accident.

‘I think coming over and doing [One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest] the first time — it was the first time in probably six years that I had made a decision completely and solely and utterly for myself, because it wasn’t about financial gain or putting my kids through school, or anything like that. I really wanted to take the Jack Nicholson thing by the horns, and do something that he had done such a brilliant job with — and face that, and do it.’

The performance was a triumph and earned Slater a new kind of respect. No surprise, then, that he is so happy when in London — and has even taken to calling everyone ‘mate’.

‘I mean I really do, I love it. I love the scenery, I love the architecture, I love the history of the place, the culture of it, the people. I just find it all very gelling, it just works. The place I stay here [in Westminster], it’s wonderful. I think coming to London really marks a time in my life when I made a decision for myself — to immerse myself completely in something.’

The fruits of this hard graft have been more challenging roles — in the underrated ensemble movie Bobby, about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and in the forthcoming Slipstream, an experimental film written and directed by Anthony Hopkins.

‘He and I met on the set of Bobby so yes, I went into his trailer one day and he and I were just talking. He couldn’t be a nicer guy, he is really a good man, and after we’d finished that project he called me about 90 days later, and told me he had written a script and he had shown it to Spielberg. Spielberg thought it was good and so he was going to make this movie. I was thrilled. I played my part at full velocity. It was like — wow, Anthony Hopkins wrote this and I want to honour this as much as possible.’

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