When Malcolm McDowell was a young man working as an extra in the Royal Shakespeare Company, he witnessed what was almost a terrible accident. One day at work, renowned Shakespeare scholar John Barton was lecturing his actors from the stage when he took a step backward — and fell into the orchestra pit.
“Thank god he wasn’t killed,” McDowell tells Polygon, “but he didn’t feel too good for a while.”
Fifty-nine years later, the British actor best known for his breakout starring role in A Clockwork Orange (along with countless performances in everything from Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake to Fallout 3), finds himself once again surrounded by Shakespeare and violence. In his new indie horror, Et Tu, a small-town theater director (Lou Diamond Phillips) is driven to madness by the inexperienced cast in his production of Julius Caesar — and winds up murdering most of them. McDowell plays the theater janitor, who goads the director on.
At 82 years old, and with a sprawling resume worthy of its own Wikipedia entry, Malcolm McDowell isn’t afraid to speak freely. Over the course of our wide-ranging, 20-minute conversation, he calls his Star Trek: Generations costar William Shatner “uppity” and “ridiculous” (with the caveat that he also admires the Captain Kirk actor deeply) and jokes that director Stanley Kubrick “thought everything he did was a masterpiece.”
He also admits to never playing any of the many video games he’s lent his unmistakable voice to, although he shouts out Call of Duty: Black Ops III for its “really well written script.” (McDowell plays Monty, an interdimensional angel taking the form of a British man who appears in Zombie mode). “I thought it was fantastic,” he adds.
Read Polygon’s full interview with Malcom McDowell, edited for clarity and brevity, below.
Polygon: I want to start by asking a simple question: What got you into making Et Tu? What excited you about the script and the character?
Malcolm McDowell: I read the script and thought, God, this is such a quirky, off-the-wall project. I enjoyed reading the character, who I think they wrote for me. The idea of playing a Cockney was so much fun. He’s such a manipulator, but in a fun way. It was just a fun part to do.
We’re not curing cancer. It’s a little independent film. I like doing those. I did one a couple of years ago with June Squibb, Thelma. Brilliant film, and she was amazing. Where was her nomination? Outrageous. Anyway, I enjoy small films because mainstream studios probably wouldn’t touch something this quirky. That’s what I love about it. No apologies. I got a kick out of it, and it was fun to play the part.
“Quirky” is a good way to put it. Et Tu is about a theater director who loses his mind and starts murdering his cast. Have you ever been in a situation where you thought a director might be angry enough to kill you?
Not that I know of, but it’s possible — and the other way around too! Of course, I’m joking. This movie takes it to the absolute extreme, which makes it fun. I loved my character, manipulating everyone and feeding them Broadway nonsense.
You got your start as an extra in the Royal Shakespeare Company. Did making this movie bring back any old memories?
No, it was very different. The Royal Shakespeare Company had 120 actors. It was insanely huge. It was like working for the government. In fact, it was working for the government because they paid for everything.
My memories of the Royal Shakespeare Company are not that great because I was only playing small, 12-line parts or something, wasn’t much fun. But you know, I did learn how to gamble. I learned how to drink and various other things, which we won’t go into now. That was my experience of the Royal Shakespeare Company. And I enjoyed it from that point of view.
But I knew I had to get out and start being serious about my work. And weirdly, it was very soon after I left there that I got my first movie: If, directed by a great director, Lindsay Anderson. That set me off on my way. Then Kubrick saw If and cast me in A Clockwork Orange.
You’ve played many great villains and villainous characters, including in both Clockwork Orange and Et Tu. What makes a great villain?
Every character is different. There’s no formula. I once heard Michael Caine say villains don’t blink, but I’d never thought about that. In A Clockwork Orange, I don’t blink in the opening, but that wasn’t a conscious thing. I was just so concentrated, I guess I forgot to blink.
I always try to find the humor in any part that I do. And if it’s a heavy — if it’s a monster — being funny makes it even more monstrous.
Why do you think A Clockwork Orange remains so valuable and important to viewers today?
It’s more relevant now than when it came out. In one sentence, it’s about the freedom of man to choose. It’s a choice of whether to be moral or immoral, but at least he has the choice.
And it’s very political. There are certain things going on in our country right now which are apropos to this, and I think that’s why the movie is still being watched by generations of filmgoers.
Young people find it like it’s their own. Sixteen-year-olds come up to me and go, “I love Clockwork.” It’s 54 years old! But back then, if somebody had said to me, “Oh, you’ll still be talking about it in 50 odd years,” I would have laughed in their face.
So at the time, you didn’t realize it would have that sort of impact?
I knew it was good, yeah, but I didn’t know how good. Because you’re in the thick of it, you’re actually creating it. You’re not standing back and being objective. Maybe Kubrick was. Of course, he thought everything he did was a masterpiece, so he probably wouldn’t be surprised.
I tell this story, and it’s absolutely true: I was out at Kubrick’s house having dinner before we were shooting, and he walked me to my car in his driveway, and he said to me, “What do you think you’ll wear?” And I went, “Oh, I don’t know, Stanley. It’s a little bit futuristic, isn’t it?” He goes, “Yeah, what have you got?” And I went, “What have I got? I don’t have futuristic clothes. I’ve got t-shirts and jeans and, well, I’ve got my cricket gear in the car.” And he goes, “Put it on.” And then he goes, “What’s that?” I said, “That’s the protector.” And he goes, “Ah, wear it on the outside.” And that’s the iconic look of Alex and the Droogs. That’s where it comes from.
You played the villain in the film Star Trek Generations. Do you have fond memories of that?
I really enjoyed working with Bill Shatner, and, of course, I knew Patrick Stewart from my days at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Bill was hilarious in many ways, and I got to admire him. I got to really tease him a bit. He was kind of a ridiculous figure. But without Bill Shatner, there is no Star Trek. There is no billions and billions of dollars from all these movies and TV spinoffs and everything. I understand he can be a bit uppity at times, but I really admire him.
Would you want to bring your Star Trek character back?
Sure, why not? Though I don’t think there’s a place for him.
You’ve done a lot of voice acting for video games, including big titles like Elders Scrolls and Fallout. Have you played any of those games?
I never play the games. They sent me a box of them. They’re still in my garage. I haven’t opened it. I don’t care. The first one I did was Wing Commander. I did try to play it, but I gave up. It’s not my bag.
I played the president of the United States in Fallout 3. I kind of did my little version of Ronnie Reagan, “My fellow Americans, I’m talking to you from the Oval Office,” and all that bullshit. That was fun, and it became a huge hit. People kept coming up to me, going, “Oh man. Fallout 3 was great.” And when they first did that, I went, “I’m not Terence Stamp.”
You know, Fallout is a very popular TV show now. Has anyone talked to you about bringing that character into the new series?
No, but I know President Eden was popular from the fans’ reactions.
Alright, one more before we go: You played Dr. Loomis in the 2007 Halloween remake. How did that come about? Are you a horror fan?
Not really. I’ve never seen the original Halloween, or any of them, actually. Rob [Zombie] asked me to do it. We had a great meeting. I loved him. He’s such a cool guy. I’ve done three movies with him now, and a TV show, which we won’t talk about. I did it because he asked me to do it. And if Rob asks me to do something, I don’t even pause for breath. We’re friends, and I have tremendous respect for him.
