Terence Stamp: Power, Being Present and The “Is-Ness of Acting”
Legendary actor Terence Stamp is known for so many great roles in such great films like Billy Budd, The Limey, Wall Street, Superman, Star Wars Episode I, Far From the Maddening Crowd and so many more. He stopped by the SiriusXM studios to sit down with Ron Bennington and talk about his career, and his new movie, “Unfinished Song.” Excerpts from the interview appear below.
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Ron Bennington: The new movie out called “Unfinished Song” is already doing great all over the world. But it’s interesting for me to see Terence Stamp in a role that is not bigger than life. (Terence laughs) You’re playing a guy in this film.
Terence Stamp: Always difficult for me, Ron. (laughs)
Ron Bennington: Not easy? To bring yourself down to our size?
Terence Stamp: Well, it’s not that. It’s just that, you know the screen, the camera loves me. I do ordinary very good in the theater. But it’s hard for me to do this kind of character in film, really.
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Terence Talks About the Inspiration for his Character in “Unfinished Song”
Ron Bennington: When you see a script like this, do you think to yourself if you hadn’t made some choices when you were younger, this would have kind of been the life that you could have lived?
Terence Stamp: Yes. And I based it on my own mom and dad because that was the kind of life that they lived. And my dad was a stoker in the Merchant Navy from when he was 15. He left the navy to marry my mother. When war broke out or when war was imminent, he went back into the navy because he thought otherwise he would be called up, be a soldier. And when war ended, he had been torpedoed, he had been shipwrecked 3 times and he was old. He was gray. He was still 28, but he was old. And the grace had kind of been eroded from him as a man. So, I never remember him showing any love for me or hugging me or touching me really. So, I based it on my dad. And what was really kind of interesting about my life, I guess, was that when we first got our, when we got our first TV, I was about 17. And I had never spoken about my dream of being a performer. And I started commenting about actors – I could do better than that, you know. And he wore it for a couple of days. And then he said – son, people like us don’t do things like that. And I went to protest and he said – son, I don’t want you to talk about it anymore.
Ron Bennington: So, do you think that he did that from a place of trying to protect you?
Terence Stamp: Yeah. Absolutely. It was out of the question. It was out of the question for a man like him. If I had said – well, I fancy being an astronaut. There was more likelihood of that than becoming an actor.
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Terence Stamp Talks ABout Growing Up in England
Ron Bennington: And there was such a strong class system in England at that time too. Where people weren’t moving up and down, correct?
Terence Stamp: It only really changed with the music of the 60s and the 60s itself. Until then, it was extremely rigid in every way. And it was reflected in the way you spoke and in the way of your manners and what you wore. I never remember a stranger coming into our house because we were so poor we didn’t have rugs. We had lino. And we didn’t have a kitchen. We had a scullery. And we didn’t have a bathroom. The lavatory was in the yard. So, my first efforts really were what I wore. Because I thought as nobody comes into our house, what I wear, what people see is all they see. So, I was very conscious from very early on, about how I looked. My appearance and stuff. But when I became an actor, the upside of that is that when I made my first movie and it was so well received, I thought – man, I can do this. I can make a living of this. I can do something I love for a living. So, it was like a miracle.
Ron Bennington: And I think a big part that came through too Terence, is that you were authentic. That life that you had lived up to that point, you were able to bring to the screen. Unlike a lot of people who started in the theater at very early on and were kept away from that kind of life.
Terence Stamp: I think it was a great opportunity in my life because when I came out of drama school, the first kids that had been educated – like the law changed in the ’40s and it was possible for all children to pass this 11-plus. And go on merit and get a good education. And that started to bear fruit with Harold Pinter, with Willis Hall, with the great working class playwrights. And they were writing about themselves and their friends and their upbringing. And they required actors who were similar. So consequently, people like Albert Finney, people like Peter O’Toole, they would never have got a job, unless they had become something else.
Ron Bennington: Timing.
Terence Stamp: Yes. The magic was the timing.
Ron Bennington: And the timing itself was when you were in London in the 1960s, it probably was one of the most exciting times in the history of the world. And one of the biggest changes that ever took place of that youth culture just exploding like that.
Terence Stamp: I would absolutely agree with you, Ron. I would absolutely agree with you.
Ron Bennington: And did you get it at the time? Did is seem to you like – oh my God, I’m right exactly at Ground Zero here?
Terence Stamp: No. I thought it was just happening to me because I had been so poor and underprivileged – that when I became famous, I just assumed it was happening to me. It wasn’t until like around ’66 that I realized it was happening to everybody. So, nobody was aware of the ’60s until around ’66, ’67.
Ron Bennington: And then they went – oh, something is happening.
Terence Stamp: Ohhh yeah. It’s after the pill and before AIDS. So it was a good time to be a young guy.
Ron Bennington: Great music. All of a sudden, you guys are making great films. Everything. I wouldn’t get too much into your private life, but you dated the most amazing women, I think that ever walked on the planet Earth. The pictures of you in the 1960s…
Terence Stamp: I’m happy to hear you say that.
Ron Bennington: It’s too much to ask for.
Terence Stamp: I look back with great affection, being careless with my heart.
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Terrence Talks About Downtime Between Films and Being Overlooked
Ron Bennington: But you walked away from all that.
Terence Stamp: No, no, no. I didn’t walk away. I’m sorry to have to correct you on that. I was overlooked.
Ron Bennington: Is that right?
Terence Stamp: Yeah. I swear to God. After ’69, I couldn’t get arrested.
Ron Bennington: Because from my point of view, it looked like you just decided to go to India, as much as George Harrison and those type of people.
Terence Stamp: It was long before all those guys went. And I went from necessity. I went to avoid facing the disappointment of the day to day silent telephone.
Ron Bennington: I had no idea.
Terence Stamp: Yeah. Weeks became months. Months became years. And I couldn’t bear it. I was a young man. And so I thought – well, what else did I want to do when I was young? What else did I dream of doing as a boy? And the answer came – well, you wanted to travel. So, I bought a round the world ticket, first class. I went to Egypt. But when I discovered India, when I landed in Bombay…it sort of…I got it. I thought – I thought I can…I became…I realized I was an adept pupil. And I started meeting creatures that seem lit from within. And fortunately, I met the real thing. I mean I met great masters. Krishnamurthy… I met people who had wisdom. So, I didn’t stay there in a block. Occasionally, I would come back. I’d get a commercial. I’d get a few days on an independent movie. I’d make a few bob, then I’d fly back to Bombay. And then from Bombay, I went somewhere different every time. So, that was my experience, but it was a rich experience. And the call didn’t come. The call didn’t come until ’77 when I got the famous telegram, badly wrongly addressed from Dick Donner.
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Terence Stamp Talks About Coming Back to Filmmaking in the Late 70’s
Ron Bennington: And so, all of a sudden, after these years spending in India, only coming back occasionally – you find yourself in another giant, blockbuster. Were you prepared for that again? Or did all of a sudden, the fame is back – or did it not mean as much to you?
Terence Stamp: I was more than ready. But the fame didn’t mean anything. The fame was bullshit. What I had missed was the work. What I had missed was the “is-ness” of acting. The “what is” of performing. That’s what I missed. I was so hungry for that. I was so hungry that I accepted a villain. I was a leading man. But I wasn’t a leading man. I transmuted into a character actor. And it was only later that I thought – my God, Robert Redford wouldn’t have done this. Warren Beatty wouldn’t have done this. And I’ve done it. I got away with it. So, I was kind of fearless really. And consequently, I had a very long career because I could do anything. Once I no longer had an opinion about myself as a leading man, I could do anything. And I did. And that was the way I kept renewing myself. I kept doing things I hadn’t done before.
Ron Bennington: So, it was certainly better, the time off and then coming back for you. It enriched your career quite a bit. It enriched your work.
Terence Stamp: In retrospect, it was the greatest thing that ever to happen to me. And because, you know what I mean – if you’re going to have a long career, either you start late – like Jack Nicholson didn’t start until after he was 30. Or Cary Grant had a lull in the middle. And that’s what happened to me. I was just disappointed at the time, but with hindsight – yeah, it was the making of me really as a performer.
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Terence Talks About What He Learned in India
Ron Bennington: That was part of your work in India? That was what you were working on? Those type of things?
Terence Stamp: I guess so. I mean the thing I guess… the main thing I learned in India was that power over others is slavery. Power over oneself is mastery. And also, there was a kind of…I watched, I observed people who lived the understanding that the very best of them – the bare kind of awareness of life was kind of self-illuminating. And it was that kind of consciousness that thought comes from and emotions come from and awareness can know them, but they can never know it. It’s like an abstract for thought. So there has to be a kind of profound understanding that that’s what one really is. That’s what one truly is. And that’s not subject to the passage of time. Because I can remember as a boy being thrown back on myself. I remember the first time I saw snow. There was a kind of silence. And in India, I began to realize that that silence was what I was. But it was always there. And it wasn’t stained by the passage of time. And that was the big kind of open secret that I began to live when I was in India. And when I came back, then I was kind of immune to kind of trappings of success, really.
Ron Bennington: And you can still get back there Terry, any time you want? You can still get back to that silent place in yourself?
Terence Stamp: Yes. I mean usually. Yes, yes. I mean I don’t want to make too big a deal of it, but when I’m working, my work…when I hear “action”, it’s a kind of reminder to be present in the present.
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Terence Talks About Being Present
Ron Bennington: It’s really fascinating how little we are present in the present. How many times and days and weeks and months can go by and we’re not paying any attention at all. It happens to us all the time.
Terence Stamp: And I know the present is kind of…is happening while we’re thinking about something else. That’s my condition. So, I’m very lucky to have this reminder factor in the fact that that’s what I do. When the film is turning, it reminds me to be there which is kind of empty – which can be very frightening when you’re on a movie and you’re getting paid a lot of money and people expect something. It’s very intimidating to think I can be empty here. But empty is different from vacant.
Ron Bennington: Isn’t interesting too that we have to keep learning this same lesson over and over. Even though you may know it, it’s gone unless you’re working on it all the time.
Terence Stamp: Yeah, because it’s what you are. And it’s not what you think, it’s not what you feel, it’s what you are. And it’s not anything that can be done. If you’re doing something, you’ve already missed it. (laughs)
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Terence Stamp Talks ABout Death
Ron Bennington: In this film “Unfinished Song” I think is interesting for men because there’s one thing we don’t talk about, but we accept that we’ll never do – we do not want to bury our loved ones. We expect to be buried first. And every man believes that in his soul without ever expressing it. I will go first. Because burying someone we love is way worse than dying, I think, for men.
Terence Stamp: I think for…yeah, I think for most people. And I’ve spoken to a lot of men who have lived through the death of a loved one. And they feel guilt because they realize they’re going to lose their wife. And they feel guilty that they’re going to be still alive. And they’re going to be left and they’re going to be abandoned. I think there’s a lot…well, it’s a fact. But to me, the idea of death…it’s the price of having had an individuality.
Ron Bennington: That’s the receipt for all of this.
Terence Stamp: Yes. Death is the price of having been an individual.
Ron Bennington: And it’s one that you have to accept. You have to accept that deal.
Terence Stamp: You’ve got no option. (laughs) Good luck if you’re trying to avoid it. (laughs)
Ron Bennington: Terence Stamp, thank you so much.
Terence Stamp: Oh Ron, lovely to talk with you, mate. Lovely to talk to you.
Ron Bennington: Same here. I could go one like this for hours. It’s so great to have you stop by. And thank you for all the work. And again, I’m sorry that you suffered broken hearts, but what a life that you’ve lived. The things that you’ve done have just been amazing. I’ll see you next time coming through my friend.
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeAYP23B2jU]
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You can hear this interview in its entirety exclusively on SiriusXM satellite radio. Not yet a subscriber? Click here for a free trial subscription.
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You can learn more about Ron Bennington’s two interview shows, Unmasked and Ron Bennington Interviews at RonBenningtonInterviews.com.
