I was six months behind schedule in
terms of beginning the shooting as planned. Then, one Sunday
morning, Andrés Vicente Gómez called me to ask if we could meet
urgently. He had just arrived from London and had an offer. He gave
me a lot of explanations about the convenience of making a decision
and about how an actor, a star, had unexpectedly shown up at his
hotel to tell him that he knew about the project, that he thought
he could play lead character and that he would like to know how he
could get a personal meeting with me.
So much praise came out of Andrés's
mouth, a man who is usually so reserved, that two ideas crossed my
mind: either we had to start shooting with whoever we could find,
or that actor he was referring to wasn't my cup of tea.
I don't know if I was more
perplexed than surprised. To start with, in the recent films I had
watched with Terence in them, I couldn't even remember him. I
recall Robert Redford and Michael Douglas, but had Stamp really
been in them? Then, on the other hand, who was I to turn down the
offer from a "star" willing to come to Madrid and subject himself
to be examined by me?
Two days later, Terence and I were
sitting face-to-face in my production office. He was wearing black
clothes, his hair was long and his attitude was that of someone who
knows he is being scrutinized and not very affectionately at that.
He maintained a smile although I kept charging at him repeatedly
like a bull. We talked about "Prince of Shadows", about Darman,
about the Civil War, about cinema, about his films, about the
directors who had made them, about his life. Later on we had dinner
and I think that at no time did I give the slightest hint that
there was any possibility at all for him to star in "Prince of
Shadows". Some time later, at the doorstep of his hotel we kissed
each other goodbye and he said to me with a smile: "I'll do
whatever you tell me to do, I'll come back whenever you want."
A couple of weeks later, I went to
London: "Terence is waiting for you in his house," they told me.
"No", I replied, "I'd rather see him on neutral ground." We had
lunch in Saint James. We carried on talking. I reckon he always
knew he'd end up seducing me or at least he played that role
unbeatably well. I asked him to put on weight, get rid of his
suntan, grow a moustache, and so on.
Any test was just a trifle for him.
I think we started forming a relationship because of that sort of
challenge that had not deliberately emerged between the two of us.
For me, he gradually won each round "by points." No chance in his
case; he had always been convinced that Darman was his role.
Throughout the course of three
months, Terence convinced me, not only that he is a seducer but
also a man weathered by life and an actor who collaborated to the
extent that in my hands he was as intriguing, malleable, sober and
attractive as he has been in the hands of the big shots; the best
directors who made a star out of him.
Prince of shadows, yes, there it
is.
PILAR MIRÓ.