John Malkovich: “The theater changes every night. It is the cinema that never changes”

Before dedicating himself to embodying dozens of characters, John Malkovich was already experienced in changing his skin.

He was a school bus driver and house painter, he worked selling spring rolls, office supplies or in a landscaping company.

He dabbled in biology and sociology studies, though he ended up embracing theater.

In his youth, along with the luck of growing up in a wealthy family, there was also violence and a fiery diet of gelatin.

At 16, he was nicknamed “

" (little pig).

Today, instead, they call him divo.

In a way, that advice given to him by one of his first acting teachers sums up a good part of his career: "The greatest sin is being boring."

Or, said in his own words, reminiscent of the Imdb website: “In the cinema you are a product.

And, if so, then I am a Tabasco sauce.”

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John Malkovich: “My father died at 53;

and my brothers at 50, 53 and 59. I never thought he would make it this far”

“I have had a wonderful life, with incredible opportunities,” adds the actor (Christopher, Illinois, 68 years old) on the phone.

The (pen) last one is the show

, which will be staged on August 11 and 12 at the Conde Duque Cultural Center in Madrid, as part of the Veranos de la Villa 2022 festival. The play tells the true story of Jack Unterwege, an Austrian criminal who, once in prison, he became a writer, poet and playwright.

Malkovich comes on stage accompanied by an orchestra and two sopranos.

And because of his own talent and a certain freedom to improvise.

So much so that the author and director of the piece, Michael Stturminger, writes in a text for the premiere: “When it is John who is going to play the role of Jack […], we definitely expect the unexpected”.

“The

that will be seen on Thursday will probably not be the same as on Friday.

Theater is alive, organic, ephemeral.

It makes no sense for him to try to be identical to himself, ”reflects Malkovich.

For him, the spell has been maintained for decades, after hundreds of evenings.

Several times he has told that on boards he feels free, like at home.

And despite more than 100 roles before the camera, his main passion lives on stage: “In both cases it is about acting, although with the same differences as a pianist and a violinist make music.

There is no one better or worse, but instruments, harmonies and notes are different.

In a good production, theater is as simple or as difficult as holding on to a runaway train.

You just have to not fall.

Cinema is a constant process of pushing a stone up a hill and not being run over by it."

He knows about both.

On the big screen, he has left traces such as

, the two Oscar nominations for

and

or the Charlie Kaufman film in which he played himself:

On stage, since he helped found Chicago's celebrated Steppenwolf company in 1976, he has done it all, both in front of and behind the scenes: as an actor, from

to

As a director, he has adapted pieces by Ernesto Sábato or, soon, Roberto Bolaño.

Even on television he won an Emmy for

and has recently played the Pontiff in the series

by Paolo Sorrentino.

And although he has done many roles, his idea of ​​how to prepare them has not changed: Malkovich was never a follower of the so-called method, of living a character, taking him home, understanding him or even imagining his biography.

He interprets them.

Spot.

It is often said that it represents, yes, especially types as sinister as they are intriguing.

Although the actor has explained on several occasions that he never knew very well why they offered him those roles.

Neither he nor he understands the fame of cold that accompanies him.

What is confirmed, on the phone, is his leisurely conversation.

Malkovich's voice reflects slowly, stops, continues.

Sometimes it's hard to understand if his argument is over or if he's just taking a break.

Not even his engaging talk, however, managed to convince Javier Bardem: the American confesses that he was offered to play Salvador Dalí in the theatrical comedy

which he directed in Spain in 2004. “He told me that he loved the proposal, but that he didn't know I saw him doing it," he says.

Here is one of the few professional failures of a man who has also been the face of an exhibition of photographic portraits or a musical composer together with Alberto Iglesias.

John Malkovich in San Diego on July 24, 2014MJ Kim/Getty

Although work has given him everything, life has been less generous with Malkovich.

The son of a newspaper owner and editor and a director of environmental conservation for the state, he himself said that his father and his older brother beat him when he was little.

Although two years ago, in a chat with

, relativized it: “There was a lot of violence in my childhood.

And that?".

Another blow was perpetrated by his destiny: in just five years, he had to say goodbye to three of his four brothers and his mother.

Shortly before, in 2008, he had also seen practically all his savings disappear, which the person in charge of his finances had entrusted to Bernie Madoff's businesses, convicted of one of the biggest investor frauds in history.

And, when he was just a teenager, Malkovich forced himself into another painful loss: he shed almost a third of his body weight, fed up with the fat-phobic jokes that humiliated him.

Among so many forced resignations, the actor now regrets those brought by the pandemic: “It has reaffirmed that one must be very attentive to what one believes and does not believe.

Our leaders have not handled the situation particularly well, nor has the scientific community.

You have to be careful what they tell you.

It may lead you to good things;

however, the number of controls and the freedom that they have deprived us of is worrying.”

But considering vaccination and the health crisis, wasn't that a necessary balance?

“I answer him with an episode.

In January, I was shooting in Venice and they kicked me out of a hotel because, despite being vaccinated, apparently I didn't have enough doses.

I know a few people who, with two boosters, have caught it again.

In the US they say: 'You have to follow the science'.

The pandemic, in any case, also led to the cancellation of his previous planned performance in Madrid.

Faced with so many obstacles, Malkovich explains, a work the size of

became impossible to carry out: “It's colossal.

It needs, among other things, a giant organ.

And for it to be economically sustainable, at least 20 or 25 functions had to be scheduled in various cities.

All this in a context in which we could not rehearse, nor recast nor, for a long time, travel between the US and Europe.

has had to arrive now

for the star to rise to the Spanish charts.

There, in addition to his art, he will display his love for the stage.

“There are actors who think they might get bored doing the same thing day after day, but that's not the case.

Every time you tell a story to someone different, be it your little cousin or your father, the story changes.

The theater changes every night, it is the cinema that never changes”, adds Malkovich.

And he insists: “The cinema always says: 'This is real life.'

It is very difficult to make a film that is open to other ways of narrating, that says: 'I am a film'.

What does vary are the platforms.

And I think it's detrimental.

Among other things because the image for a long time was the obsession of the directors.

Although it is not that it seemed to me particularly wise to give more importance to that than, for example, to construct the

with an actor”.

Once again, Malkovich measures his words and chooses his reflections.

Just like when he says, in the middle of another response, “My time is running out, but it's okay.

Everything comes to an end."

—But you are only 68 years old.

It's not particularly old.

“Not young.

And he adds: “There is a life and in the end there is a death.

Maybe I'll work another 10 years, maybe two days.

I'll keep doing the things I like until I'm not here, can't, or lose interest."

That, of course, never: getting bored is the greatest of sins.