We got the pleasure of seeing a flash of Ben Kingsley’s work as The Mandarin in the latest Iron Man 3 trailer, but the oscar-winning thespian has a few more words on how the role affected him.
In an interview with Total Film (via CBM), Kingsley elaborated how Marvel studio head, Kevin Feige, approached him for the role.
“I had peripheral vision of the universe,” said Kingsley. “Kevin Feige came to my house in Oxfordshire. After Sexy Beast, he’d realized I could be really unpleasant on screen. We sat down and had a nice conversation. My garden looked splendid, which I think helped…”
Although director Shane Black had originally responded with disgust towards using The Mandarin in Iron Man 3, calling him a “racist caricature”, it seems as though Kingsley has made the role his own. It’s been said that The Mandarin’s ethnicity is part of his mystery, since he reportedly operates under a number of different symbols and cultural icons.
Due to this disconnect from the original comic book character, Kingsley didn’t feel the need to learn up on his ink-and-paper counterpart. “I didn’t have any template to copy,” said Kingsley. “I’m undereducated as far as Marvel comics are concerned, and that can be a good thing, like coming to a Shakespeare play fresh rather than having done it 20 times.”
Portraying a character with sinister intentions can be fun for some actors, but the craft of acting dictates that you must delve as far as you can into your character’s psyche without losing yourself. Historically, actors playing evil roles have seen sides of themselves that they never thought they would see, and the same was true with Kingsley.
“[It’s a] human portrayal of evil, on a grand scale,” said Kingsley, referring to his turn as The Mandarin in iron Man 3. “[Mandarin] released demonic layers in me…I did go a little crazy!”
In lighter news, it appears that Kingsley will be making an appearance at the Iron Man 3 premiere in Los Angeles next month wearing more than just a tuxedo. According to The Times of India (via CBM), he plans on imitating The Mandarin’s day-wear at all of the Iron Man 3 premieres around the globe.
“Ben’s designer will travel to the states soon to narrow down on the details of the dress, namely the fabric, colors and designs,” said The Times of India. “Ben wants to wear something different for all the premiers and since he had a connect with Gujarat, he decided to go for a Gujarati dress.”