LOS ANGELES, California - Marie-France Arcilla, whom we last saw covering the Sundance Film Festival for her TV show, "Cinema AZN," e-mailed us with some good news.
The singer-actress who was one of the headliners of off-Broadway's "Shout! The Mod Musical" wrote us: "I've been here in Massachusetts for three weeks now working on a contemporary Cambodian opera, 'Where Elephants Weep.
' Yes, opera. After two years of belting my face off, I'm singing coloratura stuff. It's a learning process - they did ask for a pop-rock belter!
But hey, what doesn't kill you...
"Out of a cast of 15, eight are Filipinos. The director is Filipino as well. There are some locals helping out in the show, too - members of the Angkor Dance Troupe and a local Cambodian rapper.
The cast is composed of four Khmer, two Chinese-Americans, one Korean-American and eight Filipinos. Having so many Filipinos in a cast isn't unusual. There are quite a few of us here trying to make our mark, and when an 'Asian' musical comes along, it's usually a Pinoy reunion.
I'm working with some great New York actors, including Joe Foronda, Christine Toy Johnson, Eric Bondoc and Marc de la Cruz.
"It would be great to bring more attention to the plight of the Khmer - their situation has been largely ignored. It's amazing that they are able to create such beauty out of a painful past.
The opera is in English and Khmer and is presented with both English and Khmer subtitles.
"The show was composed by Him Sophy, one of Cambodia's master composers. We have Cambodian musicians in the orchestra, one of the country's biggest stars is acting in the show and some of the instruments were made especially for the opera!
It's really shaping up to be a huge thing for the Cambodian community here in Lowell, home of the second largest Cambodian population in the US, as well as for their home country. It's one of their first attempts to renew public interest in Cambodia and to remind us of the atrocities that happened there. At the same time, the opera hopes to create international interest in Cambodian arts and culture, which are incredibly rich.
Their ancient tradition has survived despite the execution of 90 percent of the country's master artists.
"I had no idea I would become as attached to this project as I did, and I'm having a wonderful time. You can check out the opera onwww.
whereelephantsweep.net."
The modern opera, which could have been staged in Boston or New York but is being presented in Lowell because of its big Cambodian population, began its preview performances at the Lowell High School this weekend.
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Anthony Hopkins used to be an intimidating interview subject. A talk with him was not exactly what you might call relaxed. But these days, the great actor is more genial.
Now he just laughed off a question as "stupid" and did not brood over it.
The screen's most memorable carnivore, who won an Oscar for "The Silence of the Lambs," gave the main credit for his transformation to his third wife, Colombia-born antiques dealer Stella Arroyave. In this interview, he even broke into barking sounds as he recalled doing the same on a movie set that was too quiet.
Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993, this Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille awardee stars in "Fracture," a crime-thriller whose suspense springs from a cat-and-mouse game between a district attorney and a man who believes he has gotten away with the perfect crime. He is impressed with his co-star, Oscar Best Actor nominee Ryan Gosling.
The young actor sealed his status as the current one to watch by proving to be a match for the veteran.
You seem to be more comfortable talking about yourself now. What brought on this change?
It's just from getting older. I'm going to be 70 in the New Year. I got married four years ago and my wife is much wiser than me.
She says, "Don't take it all so seriously." About eight years ago, I went through a bad patch, not a very pleasant time. I realized that life is more important than acting.
I started painting. I have a show in Las Vegas. I'm composing music.
I wrote music for a film I just directed, "Slipstream." I play the piano a lot. I've got more interests in my life than in movies.
Also, my mother died about four years ago. She was 89. I thought, it is time to really look at my life, put some more value into it.
The funny thing is, once I got to that stage, this movie came out of nowhere.
You don't mind being away from the cameras?
I've got more time for myself now.
I was going to do a movie this May and they postponed it. I was so relieved. My agent said, "I am sorry about that.
" I said, "No, I'm really pleased that I don't have to work." It doesn't mean to say I'm cynical. I suppose as a man gets older, he just gets more relaxed.
Did you have any formal training in painting?
I don't have any academic training as a painter. I used to make all these complex drawings on the flyleaf of my scripts.
Stella found them one day and decided to get them framed. She said, "These are wonderful for our wedding. Would you do some as party favors?
" I said, "What are those?" I thought she meant I had to get up and dance or something. She said, "No, party favors are little presents.
" She said you can do some paintings. How many? She said 75 (laughter).
So I said okay. I did 75 little pen and ink drawings, framed them and gave them away. Then she said, "You ought to start painting in acrylics and oils.
" Acrylics are easy, I guess, but I started using them with a palette knife. We sold all my first works in acrylics at a gallery in San Antonio (Texas). We sold them for charity.
Now I have another show in Las Vegas and Aspen. So I'm painting all the time. People say these are really good.
The colors are beautiful.
Do you wish that you had training in painting and music?
One day, this young musician said to me, "I wish I could write like you do.
" I said, "What are you talking about? You're a composer yourself." He said, "But you don't seem to have any rules.
" I said, "Well, I don't know the rules." He said, "That's good because you're free."
I also told an artist, "I shall go to art classes.
" He said, "No, it will kill you."
I met somebody the other day who said he knew David Lean, the director, very well. David said this to an actor: "Sometimes I want to go and smash the camera.
I want to go and kick it off its tripod." Why? He said, "Because the camera makes perfect pictures.
I'm so bored with it."
Do you mind being critiqued about your works?
No, because Henry Miller said something like, "Paint as you like and die happy.
" Andy Warhol said, "Art is what you make of it." If they (critics) don't like it, all I know is that I'm selling a lot of paintings.
What are your other artistic pursuits?
I'm into designing sweatshirts as well (laughter). Seriously, I am going to do paintings for T-shirts in Japan. I am designing these T-shirts.
My wife takes care of everything. She said, "Just go and paint or write music." I said, "I'll give you the paintings and you sell them.
"
How did you meet your wife?
I had a house in Pacific Palisades and I was looking to furnish it. I walked into an Indian Nation antiques shop.
There was something I wanted. This very beautiful woman jumped up and said hello. I said hello.
She gave me a big hug. I said, "I'd like to buy this." She said okay.
I thought she's really nice but I had just gone through a divorce and I didn't want to become hitched again. I never wanted to get married again. We had a little on-off relationship.
Then I phoned her one morning and we went out. We had dinner that night. About two years passed by and we got married on March 1, 2003.
That was good.
In working with young actors like Ryan Gosling, can you tell if they will make it or not?
You can never tell.
I've worked with some actors when I was young and you think, "God, they're going to be big." They vanish. I don't know why.
I saw Ryan Gosling in "The Notebook" and I thought he was pretty extraordinary.
And what do you think of these young actors whose private lives make more news than their careers?
If they have an entourage that attracts paparazzi, that's their own making.
If they complain about it, they have nobody to blame but themselves. I don't get the attention that Brad Pitt gets (laughter). I go to restaurants on my own and I don't need a bodyguard.
Richard Burton was always surrounded by paparazzi and an entourage. A friend of mine asked him, "Why don't you get rid of the entourage?" He said, "I couldn't live without them.
" My friend said, "But you hate them." Richard said, "You bet your ass that I do."
You told us before that you went on a cross-country trip in your convertible.
Do you still go on long drives?
Not as much now that I am married. I still like to get in the car and drive maybe up to Santa Barbara or San Francisco.
I love to drive.
Are you very serious on the set?
I used to bark like a dog on the set (he made barking sounds).
The people on the set would say, "There's a dog on the set. Get that dog (laughter)!" When we were doing, "The Elephant Man," I remember that it was such a serious set.
It was like being in a morgue. I would make cat meowing sounds. They would say, there's a cat somewhere (laughter)!
They would go look and say, we can't find the cat. Then they would say to me, "It's you." They'd take me away at the end of the day.
Let's say you went on vacation where you were really bored and the only DVDs available to watch were your two movies, "The Elephant Man" and "Magic." Which one would you watch?
Neither (laughter).
I've seen them, they're okay. No, they're good. I did see "The Elephant Man" the other day and I wrote a fan letter to David Lynch congratulating him on what a great genius he is.
It's a wonderful movie but it took me almost 30 years to get around to writing him to say how much I appreciated it.
When you look at yourself in the mirror or in your movies, do you see the genius that you are?
I just see an actor but I don't know.
I find acting very easy. I had to struggle when I was younger but I have been acting for 47 years. I've put together a technique, a way of working and I take it much easier than I used to.
Marlon Brando was a genius but Tony Hopkins, I don't know.
Is it true that your characterization of Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs" was inspired by Katharine Hepburn and Truman Capote?
No, neither (laughter).
The press got it wrong. When I was reading the script, I sensed that Lecter was a machine, almost like a killing machine, very brilliant. So I based his voice on computer voices in 2001, that disembodied, dehumanized man.
Speaking of Hepburn, you worked with her as a young actor. What was your impression of her?
Spencer Tracy had just died so she was feeling a lot of grief.
But it was a thrill to work with her because she was this big, legendary star. I was 28. I played the son.
When I had to have lunch with her, I was scared as hell. I expected her to turn up in black dresses but she was dressed like a jungle soldier, like a mercenary.
She had this cap on which belonged to (Humphrey) Bogart in "The African Queen.
" She had a shirt from Spencer Tracy. Her look was a mess but she was a great eccentric, a strong woman who stood up for her principles back in the big Communist witch hunt days. She was pretty tough, really terrific.
She was like Bogart and Bette Davis, all those powerful stars. They don't make them like that anymore.
Any regrets at this point in your life?
I regret that I wasn't as comfortable a few years ago as I am now (laughing). I wish I knew when I was younger what I know now. But really, no regrets.
Life happens and you make a lot of mistakes, a lot of life-altering mistakes. But everything is as it was meant to be.
Will you ever retire from acting?
I don't know. Maybe when my agent retires me. If I get to a stage when I can't remember my lines, then I hope I'll have the grace to say, "Thanks, that's enough.
" I worked with Laurence Olivier on "The Bounty." I think Olivier had this need to work all the time. In the end, it was sad because he couldn't remember his lines.
He had to have a prompt and he felt humiliated by it. I said to him, "No, it's fine." Everyone understood but he was so ashamed.
This was long after "Marathon Man" but he was feeling pretty miserable with his life. He did a few more films after that and he dyed his hair, tried to look younger. You think, Oh, don't do that.
Leave it alone. You see actors having their facelifts and you think, why? Just grow old.
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